
Natural Balance Pet Foods Reviews
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About Natural Balance Pet Foods
For over 22 years Natural Balance Pet Food has worked to provide the best possible nutrition for your pets. Natural Balance has led the way in pet food safety as the only pet food company to post the test results online for every batch of our food. We appreciate your concerns and want to talk with you directly.
Natural Balance Pet Foods Reviews
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Reviewed July 7, 2022
My dog started eating Natural Balance this year. I definitely believe that something changed in the ingredients because out of nowhere my Yorkie developed severe allergies. She was eating the salmon and sweet potato flavor. We use to not have issues with this brand, so this is why I think there must’ve been something changed with the ingredients. I wanted to keep her on the same brand, so I got her the duck and potato flavor. BIG MISTAKE. My dog started throwing up for days. There would be a day when she would be okay, but then the next day, she would throw up the food.
Same thing happened when she would eat the NB treats… She would throw up those snacks. It was very upsetting and hard to see my baby girl suffer like this. I had to take her to the vet to get an X-ray, bloodwork, and a pancreatitis test. She also had an iv done. Everything came back normal, but her vet now has her on the Royal Canine gastrointestinal food to help her get back on track. Never again will I purchase anything from Natural Balance.
Reviewed March 23, 2022
A co-worker brought dog treats into work that her dog didn’t like and threw up. So my dog is sometimes picky about what he eats so I took only 4 treats to try. My dog ate the 4 treats and then the next day had bad diarrhea and threw up a bit. After reading some reviews I was not happy to hear that I’m not the only one!!! Why is this still being sold? Our animals are family, they depend on us to feed them right! I now have told everyone I know to not give this to their dogs. I hope and pray my dog gets better and not worst. This company should be ashamed that they produce food that makes animals sick.
Reviewed Jan. 25, 2022
We used Natural Balance for years, and it was the only food that worked well for our Blue Pit's skin and our Malamute's sensitive digestion. The company was sold and the new company changed the recipe. The Pit developed a severe skin outbreak, mast cell tumors, and vomiting and diarrhea while the Malamute has developed renal failure all within a year of eating the new formula. In addition, the new company added sodium nitrite which is a carcinogenic and outsourced numerous ingredients not naturally sourced. This is not the same product made by the previous company in any way other than using a quality product name to distribute a non-quality, unhealthy product.

Reviewed Jan. 23, 2022
My dog loves the food, never have problem getting him to eat. He seems excited every time he sees me go to the dog food bin. He also jumps on top of me when it's time to eat letting me know he wants his food.
Reviewed Nov. 1, 2021
I used to feed my cats this cat food and usually my cats loved it. The last time I used it my cats had loose stool and vomiting. It was really disturbing when I found blood in their stool. I discontinued use of it and threw nearly an entire bag in the trash. It took a week for the barfing to stop and their stool to look normal. I also bought some probiotics for them. I give Chewy a great deal of credit as I was credited back my purchase. I will never buy this type of cat food again! There is no excuse for food this expensive to make pets sick! Your company should be ashamed! Too many pet guardians think of their pets as family. This is how I feel about mine!
Reviewed Oct. 28, 2021
I was recommended this brand and to opt for a grain-free formula by my prior vet. My bull terrier was recently diagnosed with DCM (dilated cardiomyopathy) and my vet said it was due to the grain-free diet he had been on for several years. I am completely shocked how these grain-free products are being sold when so many dogs are being diagnosed with heart failure. Unfortunately, my pet will have to be on medications for the remaining time he has left. I was told he only had a few months to live and it's devastating to hear the news. Specifically because all this time I thought I was feeding a nutritional food to my dog. I just spent five thousand dollars in the ER to try and save my dog. These companies need to be held liable for their actions.
Reviewed Sept. 12, 2021
My dog went on this food because of her skin sensitivities 2 years ago. Recently I bought her a new bag. There are two dogs that live here, one living downstairs the other one up. They don’t share the same space at all. My dog was extremely sick. Throwing up and diarrhea (with blood). The vet got her mended, now she’s on prescription food. Since I changed her food I gave the food to the dog upstairs. He got terribly ill, same symptoms but waaaay worse. He was in emergency for 3 day and hook up to intravenous. The food is the only common denominator. No one should buy this food. The vet bills were close $5000. My dog will be on meds for the rest of her life. If I hadn’t gotten the dog upstairs to emergency he would have died.
Reviewed March 28, 2021
Trying to find a limited ingredient dog food after recently getting an allergy test for our dog. 10 minutes after eating this she threw up the entire thing, followed by her losing her balance and falling, shaking uncontrollably, pooped and peed on the floor (which she never does), small fever, and panting uncontrollably. It almost looked like she had a mini stroke or seizure. She got better over the next 30 minutes and eventually went back to normal. Needless to say, the dog food immediately got thrown out.
Reviewed March 15, 2021
In 2018 I adopted my sister's nine year old Shih Tzu-Yorkie cross dog (Miss Sara). She joined my 13+ year old miniature Schnauzer (Angus) that I had since he was 8 weeks old. Miss Sara had a lot of allergies that gave her skin problems. I put them both on Natural Balance Fish and Sweet Potato grain-free food. Although Miss Sara's skin problems cleared up, the next time each of the dogs had blood work done, it showed problems with liver enzymes. A lot of tests were done. The normal problem that shows up is HEART but don't be fooled. LIVER problems can show up too. A lot of costly tests were done, they were put on RX medication and veterinary diet food.
Last spring, a friend lost his dog to the same kind of problems Angus showed. When I asked what kind of food he was on, the answer was Natural Balance Limited Ingredient Fish & Sweet Potato Grain-Free Food. We lost Angus on Oct 29, 2020 and the only way to describe it was HEARTBREAKING. Sara is still with us but the liver problems don't magically disappear when you switch food. She still has those problems and will have a liver ultrasound done soon. This isn't Dick Van Patten's original formula. Out of love for the $$$, the company changed the food.
Reviewed July 17, 2020
Several years ago, my cat had severe issues with eating and was throwing up her food every day. I was told I needed to cook organic cat food for her. The Vet could not diagnose the issue. The organic recipe I made worked to fix the problem, but many hundreds of $$ later and after spending an hour or more weekly cooking for her, I was looking for another option. I found Natural Balance grain free pouches. Not only was my cat able to eat it without throwing up, she loved it! Also the health benefits have been amazing. She is older than 15 years and climbs the posts on our raised deck like a kitten! Great product!
Reviewed March 7, 2020
Just went through months of trying to figure out why CKD cat wouldn't eat some of the Natural Balance pouches. Found some had tiny leaks. If turn to back can see the seal defective usually at top corner and air justs in. My beloved Doo was doing so well as vet said CKD cats never put weight on she had. Till the stupid leaky foods. After 2 months of total worrisome frustration, noticed bit of leaking on one pack. Then could see how many were. I REPORTED to NB.. They sent me a check for 1.26. For a one of few cans of food tried..one dry and yucky..other smelled like nitrates so bad..couple others Doo ate some. So after all the food lost to their packaging..1.26. Please don't trust these folks. Likely to kill your furry friend.
Reviewed March 6, 2020
I am so happy to see that others have had the same experience as I have. Not happy about your pets being sick, but that I'm not imagining things. I have been feeding the small breed bites for years to my dogs, mixed with the wet food of the same brand. Last summer, one of my dogs, who has a voracious appetite wouldn't eat his food. I was worried something was wrong with him, he is 14, but he would eat anything else I gave him, so he wasn't sick. Then my husband and I noticed the smell. Disgusting. I've since been making their food, and they love it. Thank you for sharing your experiences.
Reviewed Feb. 11, 2020
I am so mad right now I am trying to not type in all caps!! About a month ago, our 10 year old dog Fudge began getting sick. He would randomly vomit foam in the mornings every couple days. Then, every couple days he would wake up and not want to eat. Only every three or four days, then he would be fine. After about two weeks, on the days he wouldn't eat, he would get horrific diarrhea. He would come back in the house and sprawl out on the floor and shake uncontrollably. After about 6-8 hours of this it would stop. He would then be fine for about two days, and it would repeat again. We took him to the vet, and they did every test they could and found nothing wrong with him! Nothing!
A few days later it started again, except this time he was vomiting amounts of blood. That morning I rushed him to the vet, shaking, falling asleep. I thought he was going to die!! They told me the next step was an ultrasound of his digestive system. That night, I decided to google his food. I dont know why. I just did. And I came across this thread. I saw that a few peoples stories read like mine verbatim!! So in a last ditch effort, I switched his food to Fromm. He needs food without chicken since he has allergies. It has been a solid week.... And he is perfectly FINE!!! No problems, nothing! I am so mad right now that he went though all of that and the entire problem was his Natural Balance food! DO NOT give it to your pet!

Reviewed Jan. 31, 2020
My miniature dachshund Roxie had allergies, also at a young age, so we found NB salmon and sweet potato. We switched her to this food for 11 years now and was doing fine until we ordered a new bag and suddenly last Saturday started throwing up several times. On Sunday she was unresponsive so we took her to animal hospital. Vet said it looked like a bone or metal in her stomach after taking x-rays and ultrasound. Dr. said after tests and it was clear that she was very ill and in pain so we had to put her down.
Needless to say we are devastated and heartbroken. When I received the doctor's report, the conclusions say there were mineral materials within the stomach could represent a recent dietary indiscretion or foreign material, or oral medication, which she was not on medication. She lived 3 days short of her 13th birthday. Heartbroken, crying just coming home and not seeing her or greeting us. I’m giving this zero star. If and when I get another pet it definitely not be NB.
Reviewed Jan. 31, 2020
At first this food seemed to work wonders because my dog has food allergies. But she started to act weird and I would have to mix stuff into her food to get her to eat it, and she became lethargic and would continuously go diarrhea. I came across an article this morning and several brands were tested for **, yes found in EUTHANASIA, and the company that manufactures Natural Balance and 11 other brands was found positive for 60% of the food tested.
Reviewed Dec. 26, 2019
My 20 pound lhasa/silky terrier mix has always had a sensitive stomach. For 10 years I have fed him Natural Balance and he's been through a couple of formula changes with no problem. This most recent formula change has been a catastrophe on his poor digestive system. He's been to the vet twice and has had to have an IV because he was so dehydrated from all of the vomiting and diarrhea. They have done away with the Ultra small bites, so I gave him the small bite chicken formula. He only ate it for 2 days until he got sicker than he's ever been. The vet has him on a Royal Canin gastrointestinal diet and that seems to be helping him. I will never buy Natural Balance again (and I've been a loyal customer for 10 years). I fear that with his age, I will now have to continue giving him prescription pet food. If you love your dog, and I am sure you do - DO NOT FEED THEM THIS NEW FORMULA DOG FOOD.
Reviewed Dec. 2, 2019
Do not feed your dog this food. Stay away from their products. They obviously do not care about animals! So many negative reviews all year!!! It poison!!!! We have been buying this brand for over 4 year. My Yorkshire terriers have sensitive skin so this used to be god sent formula. Beautiful coats and clear skin. I’m so devastated that my dog were consuming this food this year. My dog got significantly lighter in weight but I say him eat his food, why wouldn’t he? He’s been eating the same food. I should’ve questioned this more after the venison and sweet potato was no longer on shelves. I trusted the brand and got the fish one.
November Thanksgiving week he started to throw up! Non stop! I stayed home for two days giving him fluids and fresh food. He got better. He was still eating so I was able to help him! We switch food! He stopped being so sleepy and got his energy back! All 2019 I thought he was just decline due to age but his energy is back without this food! He is still dealing with skin problems
Reviewed Nov. 20, 2019
Both of our smaller dogs have been eating the LID Sweet Potato & Venison dry food for years and it was great. I just bought 2 new bags about a week and a half ago and just opened one and fed them from it 1 week ago. By the next morning the smaller dog was vomiting followed by diarrhea. Within 2 days we were at the ER vet with the dog who they thought had probably eaten something. By that afternoon the 2nd dog was having diarrhea as well. By Monday afternoon both dogs were at their regular vet who after taking an extensive history and an exam suspected that the new bag of food was the problem. Both dogs are now being treated for colitis and are slowly recovering.
I contacted the company with the lot # etc. of the bag of food and they denied there were any reported problems with the lot or food. My vet kept digging and found this consumer affairs comment thread with complaint after complaint from people in the last few months who have had the same experience with "new" bags of this food. While we have no clear answers there seems to have been a "change of formula" or something but all I know is my dogs had 1 or maybe 2 meals from the new bag and got very ill. Clearly no one should use this pet food brand.
Reviewed Oct. 14, 2019
My dog (2yr) has eaten NB since he was 8 mo old. Starting in August 2019 the formula seemed to have changed. He hated the new taste, and lately the food has a more red/orange tinge, a rancid smell, and gives him diarrhea. This company needs to go back to their original formula and straighten things out.
Reviewed Sept. 4, 2019
I have used Natural Balance duck and potato for my dogs over the last few years. It was recommended as a good limited ingredient dog food. Unfortunately the company that bought it seems to have changed the formula and my sensitive dogs are having a horrible time with it. They added a red coating to the kibble and most recently the color of the canned has changed, texture is different, and smell reeks of bad meat. I'm now searching for a new brand as natural balance refuses to admit they've changed things.
Reviewed Aug. 26, 2019
I'm not accusing Natural Balance of anything, I'm only wanting to bring light to an issue my dog has had since I've been feeding her Natural Balance canned dog food. I've been feeding my dog Natural Balance canned dog food for a couple of years now, I learned about the brand while working in holistic pet stores. I also feed my cats natural balance canned and dry cat food. My dog has been diagnosed with bladder stones, cats seem fine, but am already switching the food to make sure they all stay healthy. My cats and dog are my life, I will go without, if that means they are taken care of. Totally going off subject, but anyways, I just wanted to bring light of the bladder stones just to see if anyone else has ran into this problem and bring it to the attention of Natural Balance.
Reviewed Aug. 1, 2019
Our first dog (Aussiedoodle) has been on this food since he was a puppy with the breeder. For 6 months he ate this food with no problem, Petsmart recently advised that NB was coming out with a new formula and since the release of the new formula our poor doggo REFUSES to eat and he LOVES eating. The last couple of days he eventually ends up eating some of it and throws it up a few hours later. We are switching his food today. Goodbye NB. I hope you figure out your formula soon.
Reviewed July 13, 2019
NB Sweet Potato & Fish Kibble. I have been feeding my 2 Jack Russell pups this food for the last 5 years, but I noticed a change in the food quality. Last year I noticed the food was lighter in color so I called the company and they said it was a batch that didn't get the "fish coating spray" so bring it back to the store and get another one. I did and the color was better. The last bag I bought I noticed little white hard things sticking out of the kibble! I called the company and they said it was fish bones that had gotten through into the food and that their quality control deemed it safe to consume. She told me if I wanted she could send me a coupon for a free bag that it only affected the batch with the sell by date of March 2020.
I went back and bought a smaller bag with different exp date and it seemed ok. Now I am out again so I went to the store and bought a big bag this time with a sell by date of April 2020 and now this bag has the same pointy bone fragments in it again!! I will be looking for another dog food.... There has been too many negative changes since Van Patten sold the company. So sad...
Reviewed July 1, 2019
I’ve had my two chinchilla silver persians on venison & green pea LIT since Nov 1, 2018. I purchased the last bag June 2019. Best Buy date 05 2020. #9080 028 41214. I noticed a huge change in color so I went on NB website. A chat box appeared so I let the company know of my concern. She said everything would be fine as each batch could be slightly different?!!!
The following day my cat had horrible diarrhea. This time I called the company direct. I spoke with the same customer service rep who chatted with me the previous day. She asked me to throw the kibble away and she would send me a voucher for a new bag. I went to Petco and purchased another bag thinking I possibly got a bad batch. Color was still the same. Neither of my cats had diarrhea from the next batch although I noticed both of my cats were having issues with their vision!!! I immediately took them off this kibble and started them on Fromm.
I’m also questionable that NB has put adequate amounts of taurine in their food as lack of taurine can cause retinal degeneration in cats. This doesn’t happen overnight. It can take 5 months to a year! Something is horribly wrong with this food and so far I’m not seeing a recall. Amen for ConsumerAffairs! PLEASE STOP FEEDING YOUR CATS NATURAL BALANCE UNTIL WE KNOW MORE!!!!
Reviewed June 28, 2019
Our 17 pound dog Cairn Terrier mix has been eating this dry limited ingredient dog food for a very long time. A few days after we started a new bag - and there were changes in the size of kibble and the color of the food and smell of the food - our dog started vomiting blood and diarrhea blood. Vet put him on a diet of white rice and boiled chicken, along with some meds, and his issues cleared up. Now he's back on the Natural Balance LID food for a few days and he's vomiting again and soft poop. I'm removing this food from his diet and putting him back on the rice and chicken before he gets any worse. I can't say in certainty that the food is causing his illness but I'm not taking any chances. If you are having these problems too, I'd love to know about it and how your dog was treated to recover. Thank you.
Reviewed June 21, 2019
I have been feeding my dogs the Natural Balance Chicken formula. I have had my boxer mix not wanting to eat her food and it's getting worse. Recently I bought a new bag and noticed the smell coming from it. Thought nothing of it, just thought it was me. My boxer went 3 days refusing to eat it, we thought maybe she had a bug and switched her to homemade chicken and rice...after several days, returned her to the food slowly mixing it in with the homemade chicken and rice. In the meantime my dachshund was eating it, four days in he started vomiting and we put him on the homemade chicken and rice after that.
Again, thinking that now he had what the boxer had (used this food for several years and not noticed a problem so why would we think it was the food). Now I have both of them pooping without control and the boxer wouldn't eat this morning and now is throwing up. Decided to Google the food to see if there has been any recalls and found the reviews and the problem with this food....Why isn't it off the market.... TAKE YOUR DOG OFF THIS FOOD!!!!
Reviewed June 20, 2019
My gentle Sammy has been on the sweet potato and fish formula for about 5 years because of her allergies. Over the past month she has been off her food and lethargic. At first I attributed it to the loss of our life companion. I would augment her meals on and off with chicken and rice to get her interested. But she’d leave most of the kibble. She wasn’t eating, smiling ... upset stomach,diarrhea and seemed feverish. My poor, loving girl.
After much worry and trying all sorts of combinations I have narrowed it down to the kibble. She’s on home cooking now to help her to. How can this company and the pet store not warn the consumer about a change in formula or possible contamination? I am now aware of recalls for contamination. The bag may say packaged in the US, but there is NO information where the ingredients are from or where it’s made! Their irresponsibility could result in serious illness and deaths. I will never return to this brand, and will “spread the word”. Heading to her veterinarian specialist and Hopefully that she will recover.
Reviewed June 15, 2019
I’ve been feeding my male pug Natural Balance Bison kibble since I got him at 5 months old. Never had a problem until about 3 bags ago. He started with no eating right away and he’s a gobbler. Now it’s to the point he just doesn’t want to eat. After reading many reviews I’m thinking I need to stop feeding him this. Like others said, I did realize when I opened a bag the smell and color were different but as long as he was eating it I figure it was fine. I was feeding him that because he has a sensitive stomach. But now, honestly I don’t know what to feed him. Going to have to cancel that automatic delivery from Chewy.
Reviewed June 13, 2019
We have a 7 year old mix breed 50 lb dog who has been eating Natural Balance Sweet Potato & Bison Formula for the past 7 years without problems. Recently I noticed the color of the food was a bit darker but did not put a lot of thought into it (my mistake). A week or so later our dog began to have stomach problems and honestly we thought he may have gotten into something in the yard. In the event the food may have been a bad batch as it was a relatively new bag, we returned it to PetSmart and purchased a new bag (same brand). Gave our dog a couple of days with a bland diet to recuperate and he did.
Began using the new bag Natural Balance and again started to experience the same issues. Slowly began experiencing our dog not wanting to eat his food, seeming lethargic and then experiencing vomiting and diarrhea this time much sicker. Stopped the Natural Balance and started with white rice and chicken for a week and then slowly introduced a new brand of food, Wellness. Although our beloved dog is much better, he did not bounce back fast the second time. Concerned, we looked into reviews and we were shocked to find all the negative reviews for Natural Balance and issues that people were having with their pets. I am not sure what the problem is but I DO NOT RECOMMEND using this dog food. I will be contacting the company and PetSmart.
Reviewed May 21, 2019
Had to take my cat to the vet for diarrhea and vomiting. Could find no health issues - thought maybe the cat ate a toy etc. Fast forward to opening a new bag of this cat food. Looks completely different than the last bag - which was darker in color AND also had small black specs in it everywhere! I gave her the new bag and guess what? Diarrhea from a food change because it wasn't the same food!!!! Same package, they obviously do not care at all about these pets!! I've had so many veterinarians say to stick to the brands that have been around the longest. This company is terrible!
Natural Balance Pet Foods Company Information
- Company Name:
- Natural Balance Pet Foods
- Website:
- www.naturalbalanceinc.com
