Natural Balance Pet Foods Reviews

I purchased Natural Balance dog food (Sweet Potato and Chicken Formula) trying to put my dog on a healthy diet. He has eaten it for 6 months without issue. I purchased a bag 5 days ago and he immediately ate it and threw up 5 times that night. Each night it was the same thing. He'd eat and hours later threw up. He showed no signs of being otherwise sick. Last night I took him completely off of the dog food after seeing recent posts of illness online regarding this brand dog food. He did not throw up last night. I contacted the pet store and they agreed to exchange it for a new bag but I think I will try another brand.

The limited ingredients dry cat food is killing my cat. I had to throw the second last bag we bought in the trash because we realized it was causing my cat to throw up. I decided to look at the contents of the bag - it smelled different and looked different. Just thought the bag went rancid. When purchasing the new bag, I asked the girl at the pet store if they changed the food or something because it was making my boy really sick. She promised me NOTHING had been changed.

I've read a lot of reviews where it sounds like they changed the food, but we put my dog on NB after that. We had him on Buffalo Blue which on this site they barely have one good review. He got sick on it months later. Soft stool lasted almost two weeks until it was completely out of his system. We went to the vet and it was clear cut information. We had to change his food. We switched to NB and honestly, I'm seeing natural healthy changes such as a shinier coat, sweet breath, his runny eye stopped running, and he's more playful. I'm seriously so happy with this outcome! He likes the food and is doing well on it.

I have been feeding my Labrador LID sweet Potato & fish for 5 years and she has been great but within the last 3 months she has started vomiting on a daily basis. I noticed a change in the texture and smell of the food around the time it started. Concerned I got a bad batch I contacted Natural Balance and they said "no changes had been made to the food" which I didn't believe. Ummm it looks totally different than it did for years. I bought another bag and the problem still persists. After finding this website and seeing the reviews my fears are confirmed. I am going tonight to get a different brand of food and switch her ASAP. HER VOMIT ALWAYS LOOKS THE SAME SINCE THIS STARTED IT ALWAYS IS REALLY GRAINY LIGHT BROWN GROUND UP SUBSTANCE THAT SHE CAN'T DIGEST AND SLIME. I AM GOING TO SEE IF THERE IS A LAB I CAN TAKE IT TO TO SEE WHAT IT IS! Very disappointed. DEL MONTE you totally destroyed a great product with whatever you did! Petco Employees confirmed today to me too number of complaints have gone thru the roof and I can and will be returning unused portion for a refund!

Have been feeding Natural Balance dry cat food (FAT CATS VARIETY) to our 4 cats for about 6 months. Never had a problem till a few weeks ago. Opened a new back and the day after.... first cat severe vomiting and diarrhea.... Day two, cat two and three.... Day four cat 4. All had to go for medical attention, get needles and be put on meds. Poor things were very sick. Returned part of the unused bag to GLOBAL PET FOODS (London, Ontario) and have to say that the sense of urgency was not acceptable. It took over a week for this food to reach the testing facility at Natural Balance... and a lot of phone calls from me to Natural Balance Head office.

We have had our dogs on Healthy Balance for a several years now, but recently they have had some problems. One of our dogs passed suddenly, we had attributed to older age (now suspect). The other 2 were increasingly finicky about their food. They are FOOD MOTIVATED dogs so this was very odd, indeed! And then the throwing up, urinary problems...And then complete disinterest, walking away from their food bowl! In between we shifted from the Synergy to the Ultra NB. The last NEW bag we bought has a bar code #23633 81185, they again walked away from. I have reached out to the company. I just read that as of May 2013, Del Monte bought NB & wonder if somehow quality is affected? I tried Blue Buffalo Wilderness for the 1st time tonight & they went & ate right away. Now, I am running away from Natural Balance.

Josh, our 7-year-old English Setter, has been on strict diet for 14 months for skin condition related to food allergy. He's been on Royal Canin Select Protein, usually Rabbit/Potato and sometimes Venison/Potato with good results. Decided to try Natural Balance Venison/Sweet Potato to see if he could tolerate it. It was an unsuccessful trial. He reacted badly with skin lesions covering his body that became infected. Although he was taking prednisone he still reacted. Called CS to discuss. Basically said, "All dogs are different. Our food will be fine for some dogs but not for all." Getting a refund from the retailer and switching back to Royal Canin. Still hoping to find another less expensive food he can tolerate, but not sure I want to risk putting him through another round of reaction/flare/infection. Natural Balance Limited Ingredient is not going to work for Josh, but as the CS rep said it might be fine for your dog.

I believe there is a contamination with his recent bag of food. He threw up 2 huge piles last night and refuses to touch the food if I put it in the bowl. He will eat some of the treats, same line of the Sweet Potato and Venison but not the food. He was very, very, sick last night...panting, puking, pacing...I will go get a small bag of new food to ensure it's safe.

I have been feeding my dogs Natural Balance, fish and sweet potatoes for over two years and have had no problems. After a week on my new bag, our older dachshund started throwing up several times after meals. Now tonight my female dachshund is throwing up. My dogs are healthy and have not had a problem like this. Is this the food? I see others having the same issues around the same time frame. Bought the new bag second week of October and started using it last week of October.

On October the 26, 2013 my husband and I purchased Natural Balance LID Sweet Potato and Fish Formula as we have given this same formula to our Bulldog for years because it was recommended by our vet due to allergies and skin problems. Our dog has always done well on this formula. I noticed that he had excessive gas all last week with a very foul odor, and on Wednesday 10/30/13 he threw up. I didn't think much of it until I woke up at around 3:00 am to find 3 fairly large piles; he had thrown up. It continued on throughout the weekend. We don't give him any other foods so I know it had to be the dog food. I have been researching and have not found a recall but our dog's symptoms lead me to believe we had a contaminated bag. I saw Darin of New York's post as well, which tells me it wasn't only us. We are continuing to watch him closely. This website was extremely helpful.

My dog is a 4 year old Lhasa Apso and she has been eating Natural Balance Venison and Sweet Potato for about 2 years. We have not had any problems thus far. She is not gassy. She has normal, firm bowels. I actually came on this site to see if anyone was complaining about the Jerky bars. She absolutely loves them, but with all the discussion on Jerky killing dogs, I wanted to see if these were included. I haven’t seen anything but I am still concerned. If anyone has any information on this, I would really appreciate it.

The Lot # is NBFD 07:46 and NBFD 07:45; both BEST BY MAY 22 16. We have faithfully fed Natural Balance LID Sweet Potato and Fish formula to our 2 Bulldogs ages 4 and 2 since they were puppies. Our oldest female is allergic to poultry. We have always had good results feeding her dry and canned Natural Balance. Recently all of our local stores in Manhattan were "out of stock".

I have been feeding my French Bulldog the Duck and Potato Natural Balance for the past 6 years. When he was a puppy, I found he was allergic to beef, chicken, lamb and his skin would break out in a rash and the folds in his eyes would become swollen. When I started feeding him the Duck and Potato everything cleared up and he has been fine. I have recommended this food to all of my family and they are also using it.

My 8-year old Shih-Poo died on 6/24/2013 of Pancreatitis and respiratory failure after a week of vomiting and not wanting to eat. The next week, my 12-year old Springer Spaniel had a stroke. My dogs ate Ultra Premium and Synergy dry dog food after the purchase of Natural Balance by Del Monte. I noticed the food smells different. Both are made with chicken. I've read that Del Monte has had a problem with buying chicken from China that has been killing dogs.

I've been feeding my cats the Venison & Green Pea Formula canned food for a couple of years; in fact, it was one of their favorites. My most recent purchase made both cats sick (vomiting and diarrhea). Both cats are 5 years old and in perfect health. One cat became so sick that he needed veterinary intervention (medication and subcutaneous fluids). I'm just glad that I only bought a couple of cans and not a whole case. The remaining can is being returned to the store where it was purchased. The lot number on the bottom of the can is NBVPC 20:36. Best by Nov 15 15. Will definitely think twice before I buy this again.

We have a two year old Frenchie. We started her on the venison and sweet potato dry food about a year ago, and it was great. This spring we started noticing that her stools were getting soft, but we didn't think too much of it. One day in early June we opened a new bag of the food, and our dog threw up several times. We switched her over to prescription diet for a couple days, not being too sure what the issue was, and she went back to normal. We tried the NB again. She threw up again, almost immediately. I called NB to see if they had any recalls, and they said no. We thought that maybe we just got a bad bag, because we know the company is supposed to be a good, reputable one.

I have a 13-year-old Shepherd and have always fed shavings of the roll for her breakfast. The last couple of weeks... she has shied away from it... Strange I thought. I bought her some of Natural Balance treats to add for something else. Well she got the runs terribly!! My husband said he remembered that happened before with their treats! The texture of the rolls are totally different as they used to be moist, now like hard, dry, off color!! I am treating her as any good mommy would and threw all Natural Balance away! Feeding her bland rice, other real holistic dog food to clear this up. Feels good to share... Beware things are always changing without the consumer knowing...

My 6-month-old German Shepherd ate a bowl of Natural Balance Duck/Potato blend. She had diarrhea, vomited, became lethargic and then began to get stiff in her limbs. I observed her condition deteriorate to a point which I believed was life threatening > within 24 hrs of eating the dog food. I rushed her to pet ER and the vet said she had blood in her stool. After hydration injections and $300 later, we went home where full recovery (normal digestion) didn't occur for another week. Natural Balance folks did not reimburse me my vet bill.

I have fed my cat Natural Balance cat food (dry) for years. The last two times, I purchased it, she started losing fur, and had loose stools. I tried to ask NB if they had switched the ingredients.. I was told no. I once again tried to put her on it. She was throwing up (blood), scratching and loose stools. I got on line to find that they were purchased by Del Monte, and YES, they did switch some of the ingredients. I also found out that some of the food (what my cat was eating) was recalled. However, it was not posted on the front of the site.

I have three kitties, one of which is allergic to gluten and have been feeding them Natural Balance canned food for eight years. About a month ago my gluten-free kitty started getting sick. His mouth/gums swelled up and he was having problems eating. I took him to the vet. They said they thought it could be a food allergy. Two weeks ago he started picking at his food, and now five days ago he refuses to eat his Natural Balance wet food. I thought he was mad because I would not let him eat the food of the other two kitties, but he will not eat theirs now either. Today, he's hiding in the garage, hungry.

I've been feeding Natural Balance to my Boston Terrier and French bulldog for about 4 years now; they love it!!! I feed them the Bison and Sweet Potato. Although it's expensive, I truly believe you get what you pay for. I've tried lots of other brands because my babies were very gassy and Natural Balance is the only dog food that controls that in my dogs. I'm a very satisfied customer!!!

I've been feeding my three mixed breed dogs Natural Balance Sweet Potato and Chicken for about a year. They LOVE it. They eat less, thus poo less, and don't pass gas as often as the cheaper, grain-based dog foods. It costs much more than the corn-based foods, but I wouldn't think of going back!

After about 4 years of being on Natural Balance Salmon & Sweet Potato Limited Ingredient, the latest bag we bought is making my dog sick: lethargic, belching, vomiting, loss of appetite. As others have mentioned, this food doesn't look or smell the same. The pellets are darker than usual, slightly smaller and don't smell like salmon at all. Usually, the salmon food is pretty potent smelling. I don't trust this brand anymore. I've already complained to them once, maybe 2 years ago, for finding a metal shard in one of the pellets.

I have been feeding my dog a mixture of limited ingredient Sweet Potato & Chicken and Sweet Potato & Fish again about 6 months. I had stopped feeding her the food before because she would not eat it. Now not only will she not eat the food, but she has a very bad case of the runs! I will never again feed her Natural Balance again!

I called Natural Balance about 6 weeks ago. My dogs wouldn't eat the limited ingredient fish and sweet potato anymore. When I opened it, the food looked double the size and smelled weird. After convincing my dogs to eat it with mixing pumpkin or peanut butter in it, the diarrhea began and then the vomiting. I took them to the vet. Toxins built up in one of my dogs, I almost lost her. The vet said we need to change the food ASAP. I went back to the store to get something diff and return my bag. I only had it for 8-9 days. They would not take it back. I called Natural Balance. Even though I buy in bulk and had purchased two large bags, they only gave a coupon for one. I have sent the samples from the bad bag in. Then I got a bag from a diff store. They let me open it up and look first. The food appeared to be Normal.

Because of allergies, I had been feeding my 6-year-old German Shepherd NB Fish & sweet potato LID dry dog food. He had eaten it for about 4 years. Then I bought a bag, and when I opened it, it did not look the same. Even more, it did not smell the same. My dog would not eat it. After a day and a half of him not eating I took the bag back to Petco. They were very good about it. They allowed me to open other bags to check it before taking it home, since I have to travel about 15 miles to a Petco. All the bags we opened looked different. None of them smelled right. The manager called her NB representative and I got to talk to her. She said the company was aware of the problem and were working on it.

My 15-year old cat, Sasha, was on Science Diet until 2008. I switched her to Dr. Andrew Weiss Pet Promise and she ate that for 2 years. About 3 years ago, Pet Promise was pulled off the market due to bad economy. I searched for a cat food that my Sasha would eat since she is very picky. I was introduced to Natural Balance Salmon and Pea Formula and it sounded great. She took to it quickly. About 8 months later, Sasha wasn't acting right. I took her to the doctor (7-11-11) and urinalysis was done and x-rays. Nothing was found. Two days later (7-13-12), we ended up at another doctor (after hours) with same complaints but this time blood. Antibiotics were given. On 7-24-12, we had another visit. Urinalysis was done again but nothing was found.

I recently started feeding my dog Natural Balance soft food with his Diamond dry food, both owned by the same company, Diamond. After feeding him soft fish and sweet potato, he began vomiting and having severe bloody diarrhea. He has refused all food after (it's been 5 days) and has been pooping nothing but blood since. We have been to the vet four times and he was hospitalized overnight the past two nights. He has lost 10 pounds and now weighs 64 lbs. We aren't sure if he will make it or not and trying to slowly force feed him along with meds but allow him to pass on at home as he kept removing his catheter at the vet and was growing to ornery.

I tried the Venison and Bison L.I.D formulas and my 4.5-month-old puppy had great solid stools. The hardened stools seemed to take care of his anal gland issue. When I tried the Venison formula, my dog smelled like cat urine and had increased hair loss. I thought my cat had urinated in his crate, but my wife and I didn't find that to be true. I had to bathe him the next day and started to notice the smell again. I did a Google search and found out that it has happened to other pet owners. Well, I returned that bag of dog food and used the rest of the Bison and it seemed to decrease. I have to say the food defiantly gave my puppy great stools, but the cat urine smell is unacceptable and makes me wonder what is causing it in the food, and if any harm has been done to my puppy. I have a real hard time trusting but a very few pet food companies at this point. It’s a shame.

I have two standard Poodles (one male I have had problems with diarrhea, bloat and very bad gas after he ate). I tried ten types of food before I found this one that gives him comfort. I have spent $5,000.00 on med bill which includes flying him to another hospital for help to stop the diarrhea/bloat. I recorded his behavior everyday from April 2012 to now. I am happy to say it has been three weeks and my male does not show any sign of pain when he eats the can, but a little when he eats dry. I'm thinking it is the couple of ingredients in the dry that cause his gas. Either way, with all that I and the vets have done, I thank them all for I really thought my dog was going to die that I took upon myself the old school and looked at all the ingredient to see what was affecting my dog. I think am on a great path of recovery! My old is so happy and tons of energy. It's great! He loves to play with his sister. Oh, he is 3 years old and she is 4.

Our 3 papillons have been fed Natural Balance Dog Food Rolls (cut into pieces) for years. They have always eaten and enjoyed the Lamb and Rice Roll. For the past month or so, they have not been eating the food at all. It is given to them and they refuse to eat it. It ends up drying on the plates and getting thrown out. I usually end up giving them chicken and rice and some veggies. My husband contacted the Natural Balance web and asked them if there was a formula change. No answer to that question. When we used to buy the rolls, they were soft and fresh. I have noticed that the rolls are harder (very hard) now too! I need to find a new dog food that they will eat. They are very fussy. My question is, is anyone else having the same problem? It is strange that all 3 of them will not eat the food.

I purchased at Petco in January 2013, lot # 222002-004-301. I cut open the end of a new roll and discovered a large amount of mold on the food inside! The mold is multicolored, white, tan, green, black and orange! It's frightening and disgusting! I will no longer feed my pets Natural Balance food.

Natural Balance Bison & Sweet Potato - I have nine dogs, all different breeds and I feed them all the same food. I have dogs that have all different health issues and I breed Boston Terriers. I would recommend this food to anyone. I also know that they are currently setting up their own manufacturing facility and breaking away from Diamond.

When I first got my Rottie, they were feeding her Pedigree. She had a lump on her left side, the size of a quarter. I switched her to Natural Balance Reduced Diet. After 3 months the lump is completely gone. Her coat is shiny, her teeth are white, and her gums are clean and pink. Overall she is in excellent health at 6 years old. I would buy any kind of food so long as it’s good for my pet.

I've fed our two short-haired cats NB Limited Ingredient Diet Salmon or Venison & Green Pea wet food for a few years now with success. Starting earlier this year, I noticed that the smell and color of the food had changed, but I wasn't too concerned about this. However, one of my cats began having projectile vomiting frequently and they both had shiny stools and exhibited lethargy. Also, one of the cat's allergies became worse (which is the reason we started the LID in the first place). Once I found these complaints, I switched them to EVO wet food and called NB to request a refund, to which they complied. However, the woman stated this is the first she'd heard about this issue, which I know to be false. I feel fortunate that both cats' issues have been resolved. My heart goes out to those who have greatly suffered the effects of this recent NB issue.

Our dogs have always eaten Natural Balance food due to allergies. We purchased a 28-pound bag of duck and potato. Our one dog ate it without complaints, but our other dog really didn't like it. About 3 weeks after we began using it, our one dog became lethargic, vomited and had multiple bloody mucous stools. We made it to the emergency vet and he is now in treatment for pancreatitis, dehydration and abnormal lab work. The symptoms came on very quickly. We were fortunate to be at home to catch the progression. I called Natural Balance consumer line and basically got denial, excuse, and another denial. I was told that many things could have happened and the duck and potato were not one of the recalled foods. I read the representative direct quotes from the multiple complaints that cited the same symptoms. I still did not get anywhere.

I had a sheltie who was 15 1/2 years old and his name was Flash. I bought Natural Balance for Flash for a long time and about six months ago, our dog began getting sick. We did not realize that Flash was sick and then he started vomiting and getting diarrhea. Our kitty was getting sick because she had been eating the Natural Balance dog food. We had to pick up the dog food and the kitty started getting better. On March 21st, 2012 we took Flash to the vet and he gave him a shot to control the diarrhea and vomiting. At that time, we did not realize that Flash was not eating. When I took Flash in for the shot, the vet told us that Flash was very sick and he would not survive. We hand-fed Flash from March 21st to the day he passed away on July 5th, 2012. Flash died from the Natural Balance dog food.

We have an 8-yr-old German Shepherd who we have been feeding the Sweet Pot/Chicken for some time. In the past few weeks, she had bad stools, was very lethargic, not her old self. We went to a rice/hamburger diet for a few days and when she seemed well and had normal stools, we started feeding her the dog food again. Again, she started having bad stools and not acting herself. I think something is wrong with the food or there has been a change in it.

My 13-year-old dog has been eating NB Fish and Sweet Potato for many years and the 6-year-old we adopted last summer has been eating it since she's been with us. They've done well on the food until the last bag we purchased a couple of weeks ago. Both dogs vomited and refused to eat and the older dog became so lethargic, I thought I was losing her. I coaxed her to eat the Science Diet intestinal food the next day (since the other dog was placed on it due to developing similar symptoms a couple of days prior) and she bounced right back. Both dogs have refused to eat the NB Fish and Sweet Potato since then, giving me the sense that something is wrong with that batch even though it wasn't on the recall list. I contacted NB 2 days ago but have not received a response.

We have an 11 year old Cockapoo and a 12 year old German shepherd/Collie mix that have never had any food issues. We fed Natural Balance Sweet Potato and Fish for two and a half weeks. On May 23, both dogs vomited and refused to eat the food. Our Cockapoo was lethargic and had to be carried in and out of the house to use the bathroom. We took our Cockapoo to the ER vet that evening and she was treated for nausea and given fluids for severe dehydration.

I placed cats on Salmon/Green Pea formula for one of the cats that is allergic to chicken. I fed the second cat the same diet even though she had no issues with allergies just to make feeding time easier with a single food choice. Within 6 months, the second cat got a bladder infection requiring a month’s worth of antibiotics. I immediately took her off that diet and placed her on Hills cd. She has never had bladder problems until she ate that food. Finally, got her cleared up and then noticed the first cat with food allergies was now also displaying bladder problems. I am taking her off the Natural Balance food and throwing the rest of it away. I will never purchase again. They obviously have quality problems. That crap all needs to be recalled before a bunch of animals die again.

My dog became very ill and was taken to the vet on May 11th, 2012 for vomiting, diarrhea, bloody mucusy stools and not eating. She was tested and showed high levels of clostridium bacteria in her intestines. She went on a round of antibiotics and has mostly recovered. I went yesterday to buy more food and found out about the recall. Only the one I feed my dog is not on the list (Grain Free Potato & Duck). I called my vet back and asked if the test results could have been because of salmonella? I was told, "Absolutely!" Natural Balance is downplaying the risk to our animals, and from what I can gather, many have been infected. On another note, I do love Natural Balance as it has been the best food for my very allergic dog!

Sweet Potato and Chicken formula - I believe that this food is contaminated. My King Charles Cavalier has been sick with the runs over this past weekend. I took him off the NB food and made him rice and turkey which settled him down. He was feeling fine the next day, so for dinner I mixed in a little of the dry food with his turkey and we were up about three times in the middle of the night getting cleaned up. This was not on the list of recalled foods; however, I do believe there is something wrong with it. Tomorrow, my baby is going to the vet for some antibiotics, and I will never purchase this product again for my dog. I have no faith in it. It was recommended to me by the breeder and he had been fine on it; however, with all the recalls, I think they got this one wrong.

In March, both of my cocker spaniels stopped eating the NB Sweet Potato and Venison. They have been eating this for about ten months. I figured they just got tired of the same thing, so I warmed the gravy and convinced them to eat it. Within three days, both dogs were vomiting with diarrhea. I called NB to inquire of any recalls and spoke with Heather. She advised me that NB is tested and the sickness must have come from an outside source. I believed her. Of course, they sent me a coupon for a free bag of food. I threw the old bag away.

This is an update to comments last month regarding my dog becoming ill. After several tests and a day and a half stay at the vet's office, he was diagnosed with a bacterial infection, the source of which could not be determined. The infection coincided with me starting him on a new bag of bison and sweet potato, so it seemed a likely culprit given the media reports at the time. I'm now convinced that it wasn't the dog food. He continued to eat NB canned food and he even returned to the dry food a week after coming home without any problems. I'm pleased that NB's staff (Jennifer) reached out, had my dog's records reviewed and spoke with my vet. If I knew how to delete my previous comment, I would.

There is also information on their website. I guess we are not all crazy. For the record, my older dog had never been the same since the time when both she and my Westie became sick (and he died) and now she is gone too - organ failure. Although she was old, it certainly didn't help her that she was so sick earlier in the year for weeks until I took her off the Duck and Potato dog food. I cannot believe the amount of testimonials - so many sharing the same experiences/symptoms that my dogs experienced are posted here since my last post!

I am writing to withdraw a complaint that I made yesterday regarding Natural Balance Duck and Potato dog food. I posted a complaint yesterday after my dog became extremely ill with symptoms of Salmonella after eating the food, knowing that the company had a recall on other flavors of their food due to possible Salmonella contamination and after I saw that another person had posted a complaint about their dog becoming extremely ill after eating the food. I am writing to withdraw that complaint after speaking with a representative of the company and being assured that the duck and potato formula was not affected. My dog is being treated with an antibiotic and seems to be doing better today.

Natural Balance sweet potato and duck dry dog food - My 13-year old black lab cross has eaten the sweet potato and duck formula for years, but suddenly with this last bag, he has stopped eating it completely! He has always had love for food, he eats anything and everything. This weekend, he became very ill, vomiting, diarrhea and complete loss of appetite. I strongly recommend that if you are feeding your dog this formula, stop. It is not on the recall list, but it absolutely should be! I have emailed the company, but have received no response. I do not care about having my money refunded, I care about this company's moral obligation to ensure that this does not happen to others (from what I have read here, several others are having a problem).

I believe Natural Balance Turkey and Giblets (canned) is contaminated. I have been feeding it to my cats for several years, and 4 weeks ago, my cats started not liking it anymore. One of my cats stopped eating entirely. We took her to the vet, and they thought she had an upper respiratory infection. They gave her antibiotics, and she got better. After she had finished the antibiotics, she got sick again. Her stomach looked swollen, she wouldn't eat, and she was drinking a lot of water. We took her to the vet again, and they said she had liver disease, fluid on her abdomen, fluid in her chest cavity, her pancreas quit working, and her sugar levels were all over the place. We had to put her to sleep on May 3, 2012. I totally believe the cat food is the reason for my cat's illness, because she was fine before this.

I have been feeding my cats Natural Balance Duck and Green Pea for a little over a year. Mr. Grapes became ill not long after I got the new bag and stopped eating and drank lots of water. I took him to the vet and the vet thought it was pancreatitis and gave him a shot and some medication. Mr. Grapes continued to get sicker and I noticed the other cats were not eating the food; we cleaned the cat food dishes out and gave them store-bought food and they were eating as if starved for days.

The smell of the Natural Balance pet food was horrific. My pets got sick. The stench of the food was so strong I had no idea what I had brought into my house. I finally realized the smell was coming all the way from the kitchen. We have a huge house. It was so bad I could not sleep. When I got up and traced it to the pet food, I threw the whole lot outside. They spray the food with recycled oil from restaurant waste. I just read an article on it before the recall. Thanks. Poison our pets and make money off it. Typical.

My cat developed severe diarrhea upon eating the LID Duck & Pea dry and wet food I just purchased. He had no problem until I opened the new bags/cans. He had pancreatitis, and his last blood work was completely normal. Now, the poor guy is just hating having severe dripping diarrhea. I had the vet run an ELISA fecalysis, and nothing showed up. Is there Salmonella in your food that I should be concerned about? I love this cat and don't want to lose him or the others in our household!

Follow-up to my March 03/12 complaint of N.B. duck and potato - As I said in my previous post, my Rottweiler got sick after eating Natural Balance duck and potato dog food. A day or so later, during which time I tried to get her to eat hamburger and rice, I found she was still lethargic and not herself so we took her to the vet. He examined her and found she had pancreatitis. He gave her a steroid shot and put her on antibiotics. She was very much improved the next morning and finally started to eat normally. This time, she ate Blue Buffalo. My vet said it was as if she had eaten a huge greasy meal and that the pancreatitis was definitely caused by what she had eaten. All she had was some duck and potato out of the new bag of NB dog food and some venison and sweet potato canned. The dog food had to be bad.

Changed about 6 months ago to NB Sweet Potato and Bison. I have two mixed breed dogs, 10 years old and 11 years old. The Lab mix just stopped eating about two weeks ago. I took her to the vet when she got so dehydrated and lethargic. She was quickly diagnosed with pancreas issues as well as gall bladder problems. The doctor gave her a 50/50 chance of surviving. She was there four days and when I took her home, I had to feed her with a syringe four times a day. She had 5 different prescriptions to take at different times a day. She is better but still not herself. I have her on a very low fat diet and will have to do so, I guess, the rest of her life. No more NB for my dogs. Very costly mistake just to change them to something different and supposedly healthy. So long, NB.

There was a two week period where complaints were not taken on this site. Why? Is it about "follow the money," and ignore complaints against this company's products? The problem is bigger than a recall for Salmonella; it is about ingredients, additives and lack of nutrition that is adversely affecting or killing our pets and the lack of any oversight of what these companies are doing to our pets and us. What is in the additives? Where are the ingredients sourced from, industrial waste, China, rendered fats or what? This is not "proprietary" when it affects the health of our pets. We have a right to know, to make a decision based on facts not costly merchandising of the product. I wrote a complaint during that two week period, it has not been on the site at all.

I had been feeding my 3-year-old American Bulldog NB Lamb and Rice for the past year. I bought a 28lb. bag on line for the first time the end of March. My dog that previously had never been sick started to vomit, have mucous diarrhea, lethargic behavior and loss of appetite. I gave her a bland diet and she seemed to get better. The symptoms always came back. I thought she might have worms and took a fecal sample to the vet. They, as a precaution, gave me meds which were costly. The sample came back negative. Her symptoms persisted. I was totally baffled never thinking it could be her food.

I've been feeding my six cats and Yorkie Natural Balance for the last seven years. I know that they changed the formulas due to the fact that my pets have refused the food several times. The dry food also has a strange odor which is not a good sign. Does anyone know where Natural Balance buys its ingredients for their pet food? How about the location of production?

I changed my mini poodle to Natural Balance L.I.D. Potato and Duck. She did not seem like she wanted to eat, but I kept feeding it to her. After about half of a 5lbs bag, I noticed her stomach looked bloated and was worried it might be the Natural Balance dog food. So I started a search on the internet and found many many complaints of this bloating and much worse from this dog food. I am getting in touch with the company. Wish me luck.

After all the denial, Natural Balance announced yesterday (May 5th) a recall for many varieties of their dry dog food. But the recall also denies that there have been any reports of pet illness or that their food has tested positive for salmonella. How ludicrous! This company does not care about our pets.

Natural Balance Duck and Potato Small Breed Bites - The last 2 bags of this food that I bought, in my opinion, made my 2 small dogs very sick. They started not wanting to eat their food, having less energy, seemingly tummy distress and small, black, sticky stools. This product has gone back to the store, I have informed the manufacturer and I have also filed a report with the FDA. The manufacturer's customer service director told me the last lot number was tested and came back fine and I don't have the lot number from the previous bag because I threw it away. I have 2 samples of the last 2 dog food bags I bought and am trying to find a lab to test them. This company, Diamond Pet Food, has had 2 other recalls this month. My dogs are still sick and they are going back to the vet tomorrow. I only pray they will be okay.

I lost my sweet little Westie a few months ago and I am convinced it was the Natural Balance Potato and Duck formula I was feeding him. Both of my dogs got very ill, displaying all kinds of strange behavior and gastrointestinal distress and I stupidly did not research any problems with their dogfood. Natural Balance was recommended by their vet to address skin allergies. I never had a problem with the food and was pleased with how their skin cleared up - until around January/February of 2012 when they became ill- flatulence, up all night walking around licking the air distressed, diarrhea, suddenly urinating on the floor (never ever did this before) and total lethargy. My Westie got the worst of it and I rushed him to the vet - all labs, bloodwork, stool samples came back okay but x-ray showed an enlarged liver. She thought it might be his back but was really only guessing.

I noticed a change in formula many months ago. The color of the dry Duck and Peas cat food was suddenly darker. My cats seemed to notice a change as well and didn't want to eat it, but I have a cat with allergies and this is one of the few foods he can eat. I left it out and they reluctantly ate it. I have fed my cats Duck and Peas dry food for years in addition to several brands of higher quality wet food. Two of my cats will only eat dry food and I noticed that one of them was vomiting on a daily basis for months.

On March 27, I filed a complaint and wanted to post a follow up. NB rep asked me to do so. She called me right away after I emailed her and she was very polite etc. and wanted to talk to my vet and test my food. I already took the food back to pet supermarket and they gave me a bag of Biljac (food my dogs were on prior) in exchange. I stopped feeding my dogs the NB Lamb and Rice LID following my 3 dogs’ onset of watery bloody stool, vomiting, hair loss and flaky skin. I gave them chicken and rice for several days and the vomit and diarrhea cleared up completely.

I have been feeding my dogs the Natural Balance Potato and Duck because one has allergies to wheat. The last bag I bought the first of March 2012 (product # NBPO202B2SL GF 01:08 and best before 11/April/2013), my one dog would not eat much of it so I substituted other food. My other dog, the one with the allergies did continue to eat the product but I noticed that he was experiencing increased flatulence. I didn't think that there was a real problem until one night he ate what he normally does and went to lie down. He experienced gas and seemed uncomfortable. He died on the way to the vet. I will never buy this product again. I had been cooking for my animals prior and it seems that this will have to continue for the other two that are living. I only wish that I knew of these problems. I would never have continued to give my beloved friend it. I have lost him forever and he was not ready nor I for him to go.

Recently, both of my dogs, a lab and a terrier mix, have been throwing up several times a week. I have been feeding them Natural Balance Sweet Potato & Chicken Grain Free because the limited ingredients seemed to help my lab's loose stools. However, recently, with the last bag purchased, I have noticed the upset stomachs.

I have been feeding my three dogs this brand food for about 6-10 months and just this last month, my larger dog started throwing up and bleeding when he urinated. He has gotten kidney stones and I now have him on Royal Canin Urinary SO. The two little dogs, I continued to feed the Natural Balance and in the last two weeks, they have started throwing up and are bloated and one started bleeding when he poos. Both have mucus soft or watery poo. I was confused at what was happening with all my dogs as they were all fine before and suddenly this. So I started to research and found this complaint site. I am so upset and will stop feeding my dogs this food immediately. I wish I knew what to feed them. I guess I will go back to Bil-Jac or Wellness.

I gave my English Springer Spaniel, Natural Balance Duck and Potato thinking she would love it. She had a bad experience vomiting, and had diarrhea. I took her to vet and they thought she had liver failure which is luckily in early stages. Lots of time and care went into her recovery besides money. I would not recommend this food at all.

Months ago, I put my German shepherd/golden retriever mix on Natural Balance due to allergies. She had loose stools but nothing major. Then about a month ago she started vomiting and had diarrhea constantly. The vet couldn't find a problem, so we just went to bland diet. Everything's okay. We had run out of food so bought a store brand. Everything's still okay. Finally, knowing that was not good, we went back to Natural Balance. Explosive diarrhea! Then I found this site. I had chosen NB because they had fewer recalls. Now I see that they had fewer recalls not because it was a better or safer product, but just because they don't care enough to recall when they should!

I have been trying to figure out what is going on with my dog (Barnabas) for the past few months, as he has been experiencing diarrhea and vomiting on occasions. He has been losing massive amounts of hair. His stool is rancid and he just doesn't seem to be as energetic as he was when we first got him. Barnabas is 9.5 months old and we adopted him about 5 months ago and started him on Natural Balance Pet Foods right away as we heard it was an excellent dog food and allergy sensitive.

We were told by the pet store that endorses Natural Balance dog food that it was wonderful. Well, we gave it 2 chances with our 4-month old lab. Both times he got diarrhea and went several times. I would not recommend this dog food to anyone. Please pass this along to prevent any further animals from getting sick; it can lead to serious problems. I am just an average citizen with no affiliations to any dog food company, just a passionate animal lover!

Robin, Natural Balance uses ingredients from China in their pet food. If you do an internet search using the words "rat poison" and "China," you will see why it is entirely possible that rat poison could make its way into pet food and treats. The symptoms of rat poisoning are kidney and liver failure and internal bleeding (which results in bloody stools and/or vomit). In the massive 2007 pet food recall (in which some Natural Balance foods were recalled), it was originally thought that rat poison was the contaminating agent, though it turned out to be melamine.

I am still in disbelief as I read through these complaints. We lost our 5-year old Miniature Greyhound/Jack Russel last month to liver failure. The only reason I ran across these posts was because I was searching for a good brand for my German Shepherd puppy. We currently have her on sweet potato and salmon dry food and her stool has gone from solid to diarrhea within a few days. I thought it may have been due to too many treats. But after reading through this, I am almost positive it is the food. My older dog who had to be put down last month was on the same sweet potato and salmon food. I had no idea that I could have been possibly poisoning her. I am so upset right now. The symptoms came on fast as she stopped eating and drinking her last two days of her life and began to just pace and drool around the house.

A Natural Balance representative contacted me and sent me a voucher for another bag of dog food. They also sent a label to have the food shipped back to the company that I purchased for testing. They told me they would share the results when they had them. I will share the information when I receive it.

I fed my three Pomeranians over 2 years your food, Natural Balance Original Ultra Small Breed Bites. I was thinking I was giving my puppies the best food with it being all natural with the fresh chicken, brown rice, lamb, oatmeal, pearled barley, duck meal, fresh potatoes, and fresh carrots. And all three of them died with organ failure (mainly liver). My little girl, who just passed on 3/1/2012, was on medicine for her liver. She was never sick, and in fact before I started feeding her this food, my vet said she was growing old gracefully. Then, it started with her liver panel off the chart. Despite being on liver medicine, her panel got worse in December. I stopped feeding her your so-called Natural food a month and a half ago and had her liver panel drawn a week ago and her liver values started coming down.

My latest bag of NB Sweet Potato & Bison had a funny smell and an oily appearance. It almost smells like plastic. I've returned it to my retailer who provided me with a new bag of Sweet Potato & Venison. After reading all these posts however, I"m not sure if I even want to feed this. We've been feeding this brand for about four months and have noticed really dark stool.

We started feeding Natural Balance Duck and potato dry dog food to our Rottie in July 2011. She loved it and all was well until this last bag purchased a week ago, (Feb. 24th 2012). She took sick on Monday and by Wednesday; I decided it might be the dry dog food. I gave her canned N.B. sweet potato and venison, which she did eat, only to be sicker than ever the next day. She just moped around and had some vomiting and diarrhea (she refused to eat the new bag of food after the initial meal). I went to get the bag it came in, only to find it had gone out with the garbage. I regret that I do not have the info from the bag.

My pet started throwing up within hours after eating the food. She had gas, refused food, water and Natural Balance treats. She is shaking, can't stand to be touched. Your food is the only brand she eats. She will be seen by the vet for scheduled appointment on Monday. Due to other family circumstances, she could not be seen earlier. Numbers on the can are available. Not sure how to read . Expect a reply ASAP to advise veterinarian.

My puppy was found to have food allergies, we thought, the middle of 2011. She was probably 12 weeks old when we found this out. We waited and put her on steroids to see if it was seasonal allergies. We ruled out seasonal allergies in the winter and sought other causes. January 2012, I started mixing Pedigree (what she had been on) with sweet potato and venison NB. My 11-month old puppy died on 2/18/2012, the same day she finished the bag. She had no signs that she was in poor health in any way. I am waiting for the complete necropsy results to come in. However, preliminary showed no signs of anything "abnormal" for a puppy of 11 months. My other dog (who is 6) was also on NB at the same time and started being very "lazy". His coat (flat coated retriever) started getting unpleasant.

My 2 standard poodles have been on Natural Balance for at least 10 years. They get wet and dry food. I have never had a food-related problem with them and Natural Balance. I have never had them reject a wet food flavor, although I am trying to determine which flavors may not be as popular as others. I rotate through the wet flavors. I have recommended Natural Balance to the owners of every puppy I see.

My dachshund had been eating this food for about six months. After buying a new bag of the Venison and Sweet Potato, he developed horrible gas and bloody stools. His stools are very loose and he tries to go to the bathroom 4 and 5 times a day. He has also been drinking a lot more water. He strains to go even though his stools are loose. All tests from the Vet have come back normal...blood, fecal, and urine tests. He has even had an X-ray, all fine.

I am about halfway through my first bag ever of Nature's Balance dog food. I got the venison and sweet potato version. My dog's stools immediately got darker and larger, and now they are tar black on the outside, which can be a sign of bleeding in the upper intestine. She leaves the food in her bowl all day even though she has never been a picky eater and usually devours her food right away. I've stopped feeding her the food and started her on a well-balanced, home-cooked diet. I may keep her on that or look for a new brand of natural dog food.

I recently posted that my cats had gotten sick eating Natural Balance. I could not find another food that did not have chicken in the ingredients that wouldn't break the bank. So I went back to Natural Balance. The cats have been just fine with the new bag. Natural Balance voluntarily contacted me to understand my issue. We discussed the situation and settled on the fact that the bag of food may have been expired as they had not had other complaints about any batches of the salmon formula being bad. I was impressed with the way they handled the issue. I'm now using Natural Balance again.

My Shih Tzu suddenly began having grand mal seizures last year, and went into acute renal failure. I switched him from Natural Balance Original Ultra Small Breed Bites to home cooked and Science Diet renal prescription, then to Fromm Chicken and home cooked. He stopped having seizures, and his renal numbers normalized. His vet says he's never seen a dog so sick recover in all his years of practice. Recently, he has become pickier about his food, and has been eating more home cooked. I decided to try some Natural Balance again, since he liked that, before the seizures started. Within 24 hours of eating the Natural Balance, he had a grand mal seizure, his first seizure in 4 months. His labs were drawn a couple of weeks ago, and his renal numbers were normal.

I have been feeding my cat Natural Balance Green Pea and Duck Dry for approximately 5 years. Due to his allergies to chicken, fish, and turkey, my opinions for food are limited. Six months ago, I noticed my cat began to have loose stools, was tired all the time, drinking more than usual, was loosing weight despite eating more than usual, and began to have blood in his stools. He was diagnosed with anemia at the vet. He tested negative for parasites. My doctor made a diagnosis of probable IBS. I noticed that my other cat also began to have looser stools and I decided to try a different food for both cats. Within several days of changing to a different brand of food (also a duck based product), my sick cat stopped having blood in his stools. I have to wonder what the change was 6 months ago that resulted in my cat (and ultimately both cats) not being able to tolerate Natural Balance Green Pea and Duck Dry any longer. Their new food has very similar ingredients, so I really don't believe it's an allergy problem. I believe it's a Natural Balance Green Pea and Duck problem.

I have spent thousands of dollars on blood tests and vet visits in the last few months. Now, I find out this food from Natural Balance could have caused the problem. I called the company today, trying to get some reassurance that their food could not be causing the problem. That was a joke! I was disconnected after being on hold for over 15 minutes. During the 15 minutes, 3 different people picked up the line, and then told me that they were on the wrong call. After calling back, I was told someone would call me back. Yes, someone did call me back, but she was so rude and uncaring, I could barely believe she was in customer service. That is very poor customer service, if you ask me.

I've been feeding this product for over two years, and was thoroughly satisfied, until about 6 months ago. At that time I had a nursing dam, and her sister who had been losing coat, and looking very un-thrifty. The nursing dam is still recovering from her 11 puppies, but her coat is of very poor quality, when it was lustrous and profuse. I thought she had a thyroid problem. Stools are huge, and very smelly. I took the dam for a complete workup, and thank you God, she's fine. The sister also has smelly stools, and has taken to urinating in the house on occasion, as well as pooping.

I initially posted a complaint after my dog refused to eat her Natural Balance food when we bought her a new bag. She had eaten the food for two years and never had a problem with it. After three days of our dog not eating, we bought a bag of Iams, and she ate it right up. Natural Balance refunded the cost of her food and encouraged us to try another bag to see if she would eat it. We did, and she still refused the food. We fed our dog Iams ever since.

I have the same story as all of the other complaints. I am insanely disappointed in Natural Balance and extremely saddened that I've essentially been poisoning my dog. I actually thought he was becoming depressed and thus exhibiting anorexic tendencies. Little did I know, he was just trying to let me know that he wasn't going to continue to eat food, that has basically been killing him! I've used Natural Balance for about a year and a half, but noticed a shift in my dog's eating behaviors/health (diarrhea/vomiting) in November. I'm so mad that it's taken me this long to realize the connection between his food and his health. I will absolutely never buy another product from Natural Balance.

I purchased the ultra dog food in the hopes of making sure I was helping my dog, since it was supposed to be holistic. She was twelve years old, and healthy until I started feeding her this food in November. Now, it is February, and I am mourning her loss. She started vomiting, and had diarrhea with tarry black stools. She began losing weight, and her hair. I called Natural Balance with my concerns, and like others, have said was offered a coupon to try another type of their dog food, and was asked to mail in the bar code, with the code showing the lot, and never heard back, but was assured they had received no complaints. I would like to be contacted concerning the class action lawsuit, I feel like I am entitled for my financial loss, vet bills, and medications, besides emotional pain. I can't quit crying. She didn't deserve this type of death.

I fed our cat the NB Green Pea and Duck Cat food for approximately 8 months, because he had intestinal issues (loose stool), and itchy skin. We tried a variety of different foods over time, and this one appeared to have solved both. About a month ago, I noticed that the color and smell of the food had changed. The color was more greenish, and smelled strongly of peas. Our cat would not touch the food. I called NB, and asked if there had been a change, and they said that the color change was normal, since they don't use additives.

I've been feeding my cats the Limited Ingredient Duck & Pea, wet and dry food for months, with no incidents. I opened a new bag and a new can (from a new 24-pack) a couple of days ago, and ever since, both cats have eaten much smaller amounts than usual, both have diarrhea, and one vomited up her food yesterday, which she's never done before. Today, they both refused both wet and dry food entirely, something neither has ever done before. They're normally voracious, non-discriminating eaters. I'm so grateful I found this page. I am never feeding this brand to my cats again. I'm appalled that Natural Balance has been so unethical.

I cannot say for sure why my cat is so ill with pancreatitis, but I wanted to post this in case anyone else has the same problem and it begins to look like a pattern. I have switched my cat's food four times in her (3 year old) lifetime. I changed her from Iams, which she ate at the shelter, to Natural Balance Ultra. She was on that for a long time.

Links aren't allowed, so my reference below is vague. Just Google "Pets Ring Dings” and the Leda Harvard Law School paper is first.

Read the paper on the Harvard Law School website and forward it to every pet owner you know and see the facts on why we need to be diligent regarding the "stuff" we feed our pets, why so many veterinarians won't blame commercial pet food, and why people need to be reminded of what happened in 2007 over and over and over and stop being so trusting of industries which you think has regulation until it's too late.

I will not feed my dogs this food any longer! I have been feeding my golden retrievers Natural Balance Sweet Potatoes & Fish and Sweet Potatoes & Bison for about a year. In November 2011, I noticed a slimy substance on my dog's poop, and the poop was very big and dark (slimy substance on poop is a sign of an gastrointestinal irritation). My golden retrievers also started vomiting shortly after eating the food. My dogs also picked up a new habit of pooping in the house these huge very dark stools, and the dogs seemed to have a strange new cat like urine smell coming from their pores, along their back, neck, and head. A urine smell coming from the pores of a dog's skin can be a sign of a kidney issue.

I don’t know why there are complaints on this product; my dogs are doing great on this food. I’ve been feeding them Natural Balance and can’t say enough good things. After reading an article about dog health and then reading the ingredients of the food, I was previously feeding them that turned out to contain many not-so-healthy foods, I knew I had to switch. I was a bit unsure about Natural Balance after reading the complaints on this site, but I also found many positive comments on other websites.

My Yorkie has been eating NB Duck and potato tiny bite kibble for approximately 3 years. After opening a new bag, she has had soft mucous stools and is lethargic. After reading all the similar stories, I will not be feeding her anymore of this food.

To clarify my previous post, my vet has not filed any complaints with the FDA or the Health Department as of today. They were waiting for more information from me after I contacted Natural Balance and filed a complaint first. I hope this clears up any misunderstanding between Natural Balance and my vet.

All 4 dogs (and my rescue dogs in other states) became violently ill after eating their new bag of Natural Balance LTD fish and sweet potato, purchased on Dec 2011. I noticed the food to be very dark, very smelly and of odd texture. I called my pet shop where I purchased the food and they were told by Natural Balance that the formulation had changed and the food was fine. Obviously, they called because they were having so many complaints. My 4 cats also became very ill with projectile vomiting and weight loss after eating from their fresh bag of Alpha Cat. I found mold in their food and the oddest thing was that their stool also became "moldy" within a short time of them defecating.

I had gradually made a switch to all Natural Balance products for my 2 year old, 8 pound Chihuahua/Terrier, named Jackson. Using the tubes of food for training treats, and mixing a combination of canned and dry kibble for meals. Two and half hours after eating the combination of the canned NB Original Ultra Reduced Calorie, and NB Original Ultra Small Breed dry kibble, Jackson began vomiting the entire contents of his stomach.

I'm glad I read these reviews. I am searching for another food for our shelter animals since I have the same issues with both Purina ProPlan chix and rice for cats and Taste of the Wild Parrie. This sounds like another 2007 massive across the board poisoning from many different manufacturers. Apparently the FDA (in bed with the Mfg) is making sure no negative information gets to the public that could affect corporate profits. Who cares that we are losing our beloved friends and family members? May I suggest to all that as we did in 2007 we bite the bullet and just start making our own food? That way we know what we are feeding our pets. I have so many in renal failure now our vet bills are out of sight.

Feline Alpha Cat Chicken Dry Food: I purchased a bag of dry food for my cats in December 2011. They had eaten the exact food before. Long story short, since it is the same as the stories below, my 7 year old healthy cat got sick after one meal out of the new bag, 1/4 cup of the food. Within 12 hours he was vomiting, dry heaving, lost his meow, curled up in a ball, and wouldn't eat.

I have six indoor cats that I have had on premium foods including Natural Balance Alfa Cat CT&D formula (exp: 2/07/2012) which my cats love. I had to purchase the NB Green Pea & Duck formula (NBG1002LC) exp -12/20/12012 due to my pet store being out of the Alpha Cat.

I am so glad I have read these posts. Both of my cats are sick from the Green Pea and Venison canned food. They have been eating it for quite a while and they are sick with the batch I bought in December, 2011. Both are vomiting, one has had loose stools and the other has reduced output. This food is horrible and the company is obviously not accountable.

This is very similar to the 45 complaints posted on this site from 2011. I too purchased a new bag of Natural Balance and my dog, Yukon, became very sick. I purchased the 28 lb. bag of Natural Balance Original Ultra Reduced Calorie Formula dog food (Lot Number NBL110383SL Exp. 19/Nov/2012) on 12/18/11. I started feeding it to my 12-year-old American Eskimo just after Christmas. My dog experienced what I would call "projectile" vomiting with the entire stomach contents being launched out onto our carpet or tile with some of the most disturbing heaving I have ever seen from our little guy. I stopped the new bag of food after a few days and rushed our dog to the vet. Fortunately, after $300 worth of tests, Yukon did not have any significant kidney, liver, or pancreatic damage.

My dog, Zissou has become very sick after eating the Natural Balance L.I.D (Lamb and Rice formula). The proof of purchase # is NBR080432AR exp: 31/AUG/2012.

My dog died from eating your food. She died after eating her first bowl of food. You will be sued.

I have been purchasing Natural Balance Green Pea and Duck dry cat food for a long time. In fact, my pet food store has a loyalty program and I have earned a number of free bags because of how long I have been purchasing it. Yesterday, I purchased a new bag and opened it to feed my four cats. I noticed a stronger smell from the food as well as a darker color; also, the pellets were thicker than usual. I posted a question on the company's facebook page and called their customer service. I got somewhat of the same answer from both, with one key difference.

I have had my 5 month old Akita puppy on Natural Balance potato and duck for the last three months without a problem. This is now the fourth bag I have purchased and it seemed different. It has a dull smell and dark color but I called and they said it was due to when the potatoes were harvested. I fed my dog Bodie the food and he became extremely sick. I had to take him into the vet because he was throwing up and having runny stool all over my home. He was in the vet for two days and received a number of test for common animal virus's and he tested negative for all of them.

This food is horrible. We purchased the Sweat Potato and Venison dry food, canned food and dog treats. It almost killed my 9 year old Boxer. She was only on it for one week and she became very tired, did not want to eat, did not drink any water and did not want to eat her cookies. She could hardly walk she was very weak!

I wanted to follow up on my recent posts regarding Natural Balance. Both the sample I submitted to an independent laboratory and the sample I returned to Natural Balance came back negative for any known toxins. Jennifer from Natural Balance was very thorough and understanding in her follow-up to my complaints. She sent a prepaid package for the sample, got it tested in an independent lab, followed up with my vet, and kept me in the loop throughout the process. At this point, there's no conclusive way to say what was going on with my Boston Terrier, though I'm happy to say she's made a full recovery and her blood tests are all now within normal range. We haven't gone so far as to return to feeding Natural Balance, but the vet and I agree that there is no "smoking gun" pointing to the food as the issue now, only correlation with her digestive problems. For our part, I'm considering the matter closed.

I have been feeding my dog Natural Balance Venison and Sweet Potato for approximately one and a half months. This was recommended by a vet in response to some food allergies which my dog is having. My dog's hair is now dry and unhealthy looking and he has been throwing up for the past two days.

A follow-up to my post of 11/15/2011: I contacted Natural Balance and found them very responsible and eager to assist me. Jennifer ***, the head of NB's customer service called, offered me a refund, plus a coupon for a new bag of food. She also asked that I send a sample of the NB Ultra 33-lb (BB 06/24/2012) that had caused the issue and forwarded me a FedEx label to send the food to them, which I did.

There are more complaints about your brand of pet food on this site than any other brand! So many pet owners out there that depend on these very limited ingredient diets for their sick and allergic pets. It appears that your co-packer is not able to process this food in a consistent and safe manner. Perhaps they are purchasing substandard ingredients or using improper storage or both! There are just too many similar complaints about the food. Who is the co-packer? Is it Diamond?

I've been feeding my 8-year old Lasha Apso Natural Balance Organic dry food for two years and it's worked out great—until about three weeks ago. She started vomiting and refusing to eat her food. It became so bad that I had to take her to the vet fearing she was becoming malnourished. Imagine my shock to find many others having similar food-related problems! I'm very disturbed that Natural Balance has not made a more credible effort to identify and resolve these issues before more pets are affected.

I am very disappointed to say I found moldy food in a bad of Natural Balance Cat Food. This food was working wonders for my cat with allergies. The past week both of my cats have been throwing up a bit. I thought nothing of it until I looked into their food bowl this afternoon and saw four kibbles held together by mold. Who knows maybe my cat could have thrown up in the bowl and in 12 hours it formed mold. I doubt it I've switched their dry food for now. At least until Natural Balance steps up and corrects the problems they are having. If you notice anything different with your pets and they are eating this try something else!

My two retrievers have been eating Natural Balance Ultra mixed with the Sweet Potato and Chicken since they were puppies (4 years ago). I have been willing to pay more for this brand, because I have been told that the cleaner it is (less processing, additives and no fillers), then they would eat less and have fewer BM's because they are using the food for energy. I have never had any problems until we purchased the last bags of each. I am wondering if they changed their ingredients or started processing out of the country with substandard quality foods.

I have been using limited ingredient Natural Balance Fish and Sweet Potato for my dog, as he is allergic to grains. We have been using it for a couple of years now. When I was getting down toward the end of the 28 lb bag, there was corn in it. The corn had dog food attached to it. I returned bag to pet store. They replaced the bag, but recommended another brand.

I feed my dogs Natural Balance Fish and Sweet Potato. Recently I have found whole dried corn kernels in the dog food. What gives? The ingredients do not list corn. I'm paying a lot of money for premium dog food. If you're going to put corn in the dog food, man up and tell us so we can feed our dogs something healthy.

My dog is a 3 years old westie. I bought Natural Balance canned Duck and Potato dry small bites and mixed it together. Three days ago, my dog threw up and didn't want to eat. I fed her chicken and rice for 1 day. I thought she just had upset stomach. She had diarrhea today. Her breath smells horrible. She's lethargic. I will also take my dog to vet to check her out. I didn't know there were issues with the food. My dog hasn't eaten the food since she was a puppy .

I am so glad I discovered all of the entries on this site. I purchased a new bag of NB Ultra last week, but my Golden Retriever had a few bowls of the last bag to finish up. Since making the switch a few days ago, my exuberant young dog has become lethargic, unhappy about eating, and has had violent(!) diarrhea. A small amount of blood is in his stool, and two accidents occurred in the house, as well as he has this frequent need to urgently urinate, twice in the house. That's not like my boy. The food is going back for a refund today! I trusted this company, and was loyal, and I am completely convinced this food is the cause. Nothing else has changed. If his symptoms do not improve in 24 hours, we will be visiting his doctor. I hope others find this site for their poor animals, before they suffer too much.

We have a four year old feline which had begun to develop a hypersensitivity to her typical cat food. After determining that her symptoms were related to her diet, we purchased Healthy Balance Green Pea and Duck dry food, and Green Pea and Venison wet food to replace her typical brands. All was well for approximately two weeks until she developed severe GI symptoms which included nausea and palpable inflammation in concert with reduced output by both GI and urinary systems. She also became dehydrated, which was determined by compressing her posterior skin mass which was +3 seconds before losing shape.

I have six dogs; three rescue beagles and three golden retrievers. In mid September, all of them came down with diarrhea plus vomiting. I immediately took them off their food, which is Natural Balance premium, gave them a bland diet of rice for several days and slowly reintroduced their dog food again. Within two weeks, the diarrhea and vomiting returned. Once again, I took them off the food, gave them rice, and had their stools checked by the vet, which in turn were all negative! After four days, they all seemed okay so I reintroduced their regular food and within a few days the same symptoms returned!

Our dog has been eating Natural Balance, dry and canned duck, and potato dog food for the last 2 months, with no problem. However, after eating several cans of the newest batch of food that I bought, he has gotten an upset stomach, and has been shaking, and lethargic. I am hoping Natural Balance will check to see if there is something wrong with this batch of food. I will be feeding him a different brand today. This is the info from the bottom of the can: NB00 09:26 ( A )BEST BY JUN 02 14 I bought this food online from Petflow.

I have been using the Natural Balance duck and potato formula for my 12 yr old Dashchund. He liked it a lot, and it seemed to do wonders for his irritable bowel problems. I had been buying the medium sized bag, but decided to get the large size to save some money. I noticed right away that his usual zest for meal time, was waning. Also, the color of the dog food was much darker than the smaller bag. He would often wait for hours to eat, which was not at all his usual behavior. I also began to notice what appeared to be a sandy substance in the dog bowl. Almost like beach sand! I do not know what is going on, but I will not buy the larger bag again, and am weary about buying the Natural Choice at all, in the future.

My dogs and I used to love NB Potato and Duck but the last three bags I have purchased, I have dogs who no longer want to eat and when they do, they have diarrhea and want to drink a lot of water. I was doing some research to find out why. When I found this, I realized that I did notice a change in the food and how much greasier it was coming out of the bags. This is not a cheap food and I am seriously disappointed at the cost to not only my pocketbook but my dog’s health. I kept wondering why they went from devouring it to not wanting to eat, now I know.

We have been using the NB Duck and Potato for several months without incident. About two weeks ago, we bought a 33 pound bag, and since then our dogs have been having digestive problems and diarrhea, and their feces have been abnormally large. These are 8 and 9 year old Boston Terriers that are completely house broken, but have been going number 2 in the house, every night for the last week. They seem to have gained a considerable amount of weight in the last two weeks as well, enough that the conversation started with us, thinking we needed to feed them a little less before I started wondering if maybe NB changed their formula.

We started our Bernese Mountain Dog puppy (6 months) on the L.I.D. Venison/Sweet Potato dry food a few weeks ago because he was suffering diarrhea and really itchy skin. The diarrhea cleared up and his skin seems less irritated...and he seems to enjoy the food. But I am so relieved to read the posts here because he reeks. Smells just like cat urine. Breath is pretty awful too and it shouldn't be. His poops are big and dark as well, but I expected big poops. He's already nearly 90 pounds. I figured at least they are solid again.

Writing as a follow-up to my previous review. I switched my 5-mo old GSD puppy off of the Natural Balance: Venison and Sweet Potato food immediately after writing the review to a different limited ingredient dog food and lo' and behold, all of the problems cleared up within a day or two. Fur stopped stinking like cat urine, feces became smaller (normal sized) and of appropriate smell and color. I was contacted by a NB customer service rep after I wrote the review. I gave her all of the product's information and the circumstances surrounding my dog's problems with their food. I was told they had never received complains like mine before. (have they read this forum?!) I was told, it wasn't the food that was causing these issues.

I am not writing this to get something from the company. I am writing this in hopes that they will test their food. From all the complaints I see here, all recent, I wanted to add my experience. About 3 weeks ago, I bought a new bag of venison and sweet potato. Klaus was not interested. This is very unlike him as he is always ready to eat. Then we noticed that he was having diarrhea—another thing he never has on this food. I started searching the internet and saw all of these posts and I immediately returned the food and switched to a new brand.

Here's an email that I just sent to the company, describing our experience with Natural Balanced Pet Foods. I now have $4,500 worth of veterinary bills.

I switched to NB Duck and Potato after my 3-year-old beagle mix showed signs of allergies to certain grains. After seven months of good results with the food, I believe I purchased a "bad" bag of food. Within six hours of ingesting food from the new bag, my beagle mix had severe digestive issues, vomiting and diarrhea to the extent that I sought veterinary care within 36 hours. After ruling out infections conditions, she was treated for pancreatitis and put on a bland diet of chicken breast and rice (after the vomiting stopped). Her symptoms resolved within 24 hours, but when I reintroduced the NB food after 48 hours both my beagle and my rat terrier (who can eat anything) both began vomiting and having severe diarrhea again. I again had to take my beagle back to the vet for fluids and supportive treatment. Had only my Beagle shown symptoms, I may not have concluded the food being the problem.

I bought a new 33-lb. bag of Natural Balance Ultra Premium dry dog food for my miniature schnauzer, who has been eating this same food for about six years (Best Before Date: 06/04/2012). I noticed the food seemed different: it was harder and flatter, and didn't smell good like it used to; also, the food does not absorb hot water the way it used to.

We have switched to Natural Balance 4 months ago. After doing some research, we decided to give a grain free dog food. And also thinking that the most expensive in the market must be good! Big mistake of course, no such thing! I have a golden and a beagle which can develop sensitive skins. Both dogs have been going on and off with very loose stools, which they had never had diarrhea 3 years of their lives before.

Our dog is a 7 year old, very food-focused, Labrador Retriever. At the suggestion of our Veterinarian, we recently switched to the Natural Balance Sweet Potato and Fish Formula (Production No. NBR0601D22XJW 03:15 - best before date 07/JUN/2012). We blended the new food with his old food over 4 days until he was eating only the Natural Balance product. After about 2 weeks, he became lethargic, showed signs of distress and his food intake decreased markedly over several days until he absolutely refused to eat the Natural Balance dog food.

I have been feeding Natural Balance venison potato grain free food for a long time. It is the only food that stopped my dogs 4 year battle with loose stools. The last large bag I bought did not smell the same nor look the same. The dog refused to eat it. I then purchased a 5 lbs bag thinking the large bag was just bad or old. This 5 lbs bag was fine. Dog loved it and ate it all. Same old smell and look I always remember. Then, I purchased a larger bag and the dog won't eat it. Side by side comparison of the two bags of food shows it smells and looks different yet I was told there was no change in formula. My dog has never refused any brand of food before, I don't know what's up with the venison/potato GF but recently something changed.

My dog has been on Natural Balance Alpha Dog (Chicken, Turkey, and Duck) for about 10 months now. He has a food allergy, and this was the only food that agreed with him. His diarrhea cleared up, his hair grew back, and no more vomiting! Last month, he got his diarrhea back, and has been vomiting. He has been to the veterinarian, with no problems found. I can only conclude Natural Balance changed their formula.

Enough! How many more pets have to die before NB pulls those lots that are killing and sickening dogs. This is a travesty that they try to blame the owners for the poisonings. It is not a coincidence that animals from all over the country are having the same grave problems with the same food and the same new batches. The other brands are having a mirror image problem with their food. Probably the same manufacturer or a supplier of one of the mystery components. It is the new batch that people are buying that is still on the shelves. NB, at least, go in during the middle of the night and pull that batch from your outlets. How long in 2007 did you deny a problem before you recalled the poisoned food and let how many other animals die or suffer? You should pull the food as an honorable company would and show some concern for the pets who say you love. If it is proven later that your food was not a problem, put it back on the shelves later.

Several months ago, I lost my 4 year old lab, Stella. She was one of the sweetest dogs in our "pack". She had allergies and was on NB due to this. At the time, I was so upset over Stella's untimely death that upon reading this column, I was sure it was her dog food. This of course led me to be even more emotional thinking that I had been daily poisoning my sweet girl. Now after being able to sit back and look at the events with a less emotional mind, I am sure there was something else involved. We are pretty sure that she may have gotten a hold of a mouse that had been into poison.

It was a terrible experience. My dog has been eating the Natural Balance Formula (sweet potato and fish) for 7 years. (He had skin issues prior to using it.) I just bought a new bag of food at Petco last week. He reluctantly ate 3 meals of it, then stopped eating completely. He did not eat anything for over a day (this dog is super food-focused.) and was still refusing the NB. He has started eating plain brown rice, and I am trying to figure out if he needs to see a vet or get new food.

I recently bought a new bag of Green Pea and Duck cat food. When I opened it on the 26th, it didn't look right. The food had a grayish white color. I was concerned but decided to use it anyway. I fed my sweet boy a equal mix of CD Dry and Green Pea and Duck which has been his diet for 3 or more years now. He had it for two days and started showing signs of illness. He is now in hospital for testing to try and identify what is wrong. Unfortunately, I have not found a local place where I can have the food tested here in the Bay Area. I have notified my local cat food store of my situation. The information I saw on this site was instrumental in helping me decide on a course of action.

I've been feeding the New Brunswick (NB) dogs vegetarian formula for several years. I have 2 dogs and one has allergies, so I feed it to both. Neither dog would eat from the last bag I purchased. I left the kibbles in their bowls and eventually during the day they would eat it. My allergic dog is now displaying skin reactions so I've stopped giving it to them.

I started feeding my German shepherd puppy NB LID sweet potato and venison. Not even a day after beginning to feed her this new food, she has started to smell awful. Her breath and now even her fur have a tangy, acrid sort of stench. And she's going to the bathroom in larger quantity and more frequently than normal. Her feces are far darker than normal (darker than the food). And it reeks worse than it has with any other food I've given her. After reading these reviews of similar symptoms and worse, I will be switching foods. I will not keep my dog on a food that I suspect will have worse effects on her than making her smell bad, as if that wasn't bad enough! Yes, I am positive it is the dog food. Nothing else about her routine, bathing, or anything else has changed. I have gone over everything thoroughly and she is an indoor dog. No, she did not roll in anything. It's the food. I'm 100% positive of this.

I have been purchasing for my dog the Sweet Potato and Venison for over three years; with no problems and a healthy dog.

I have been buying Natural Balance Duck and Pea cat food for over a year and had good results. In fact, it replaced the expensive Science Diet prescription Duck and Pea for my cat with food allergies/sensitivity. However, the last bag of Natural Balance that I purchased made my two cats very sick. It took some time for me to figure out that it was the food. I did notice a difference in color and smell when I opened the bag but didn't think much about it at the time. I switched to Blue Buffalo Basics. After I changed the brand of food, one cat immediately got better and the other continued to worsen and died last night.

I have been giving my dog the Fish and Sweet Potato formula for 5 years. After purchasing my most recent bag of dry food, my dog all of a sudden refused to eat it. She would eat the canned food and the treats but wanted nothing to do with the dry kibble. This lasted for about 4 days, at which time she slowly (and reluctantly) started eating the kibble again. Soon after this time she began drinking excessively and urinating clear liquid constantly. She had a leaking episode one night where I woke up and found a large wet spot where she had been sleeping.

The last 2 bags of duck & sweet potato dog kibble have looked different (different color). My dog refused to eat the kibble. I mix in some canned food with the kibble, and he sucked the canned food off and left the kibble. I checked but there are no teeth or mouth issues. I purchased the NB Original Ultra and he gobbled it up. I called Natural Balance and asked if they changed the formula. But they said, "No." They had not changed the formula. The person I spoke to never mentioned that the company received these complaints!

I am writing this follow-up to the reply that NB made after my complaint. It is about the possibility of their pet food being involved in the death of my little friend Buster. I need to address some inaccuracies and insinuations that we did not pursue or authorize the best care for him. We did not have any idea that his pet food maybe what caused his death, until after he died. It was an accident that I landed on a complaint from someone else about the food. We did not see the "evidence" until we looked back over the last month and saw more information than just coincidence.

Our dog has been fed sweet potato and duck for 6 years. Over some months, I bought ten bags of food from Petco and just returned from using my free bag coupon. I see that you have shrunk your bags to 28lbs. That's awesome. Your bags keep shrinking but the price stays the same. Congrats. You have successfully chased away a loyal customer. If more people feel the same angst, good luck.

I have been feeding my french mastiff Natural Balance sweet potato and fish for over three years, with no problem and great health. All of a sudden, my dog has diarrhea with blood and liquid stool. First, I tried adding rice. Then after four days, I took him to the vet. They put him on Metronidazole for diarrhea. They said that there were no parasites or anything in his stool and to give it a week. After a week and out of medicine, he is still having liquid poop. I googled the sweet potato and fish. I found out that other people were having similar problems. And they had changed the fish to fish meal. I wrote the company. They told me to try another bag. But were there no problems with that production run? And they told another person that they had changed the recipe. And why would they tell me to try another bag with a different date? I am now feeding hamburg and rice and gradually adding blue buffalo food in. So far, it's good. It had to be the food.

We buried my sweet male Shih Tzu today. Buster B. was released from his misery on 8/26/11 after suffering since 7/14/11. He and Teddi, my female, have been eating Natural Balance for approximately three years. They loved the Duck and Potato and ate 10 lbs. a month.

I have a small show kennel. I've been feeding NB for a little over a year? Last month I bought 4 bags of Natural Balance Ultra Premium dry dog food. The dogs started having diarrhea (sometimes bloody) and occasional vomiting. Appetites were unreliable and irregular. The dogs were not "sick" and since we had a similar experience prior with Canidae when they changed their formula, I suspected the dog food - perhaps a formula change too. But first took a "31 flavors" mix of multi dogs stool to the vet to be checked and came back all clear to the cost of $55.00. Called the company, gave her full description, told her I had ruled out illness, gave her all my label codes, and told her I was considering going to another dog food but would try one more shipment to see if the dogs would adapt. She did mention the only change was going from fish to fish meal Feb 2011.

I'm writing this in hopes that others out there may be having the same problems. I have a 7 month old Australian Shepherd who seems to have had skin issues since a young pup (constantly itching, shedding in huge amounts leaving large patches, and having rashes on entire belly).

My dog died today. She vomited eight hours after eating. She started a new bag of Natural Balance sweet potato. She then vomited blood. She was taken to the vet first thing in the morning at 8 a.m.

Bad. I have fed my lab Natural Balance dry food for a year now and she has done well. Suddenly, with a new bag of Venison and sweet potato she got VERY sick, bloody diarrhea and more. I switched to Bison and sweet potato and she is recovering, but slowly.

Our Labradors both started eating Natural Balance Sweet Potato and Venison dry dog food in March of 2011. Our 23-month old Chocolate Labrador, Humphrey Charles, has food allergies and that is why we had them on this. On June 7th, 2011, we opened a new bag and started them both on that for their evening feeding. They both had it in the morning on June 8th. About 2 hours later, Homer Griffin, our 1-year-old Yellow Lab, threw up very violently. About an hour later while we were out playing, he had very bad diarrhea. About 2 minutes later, Humphrey had to do the same thing. It looked like a tar like substance. Homer continued with both symptoms and Humphrey continued to have diarrhea for the next several days.

I have a 2 years old male Shih Tzu. Since he was 2 months, I had fed him Natural Balance dry food. Once, about one year ago, he ate the sweet potato formula then he started vomiting, diarrhea and not eating well. After I stopped this flavor, he started recovering. He is doing fine but after reading other complaints on Natural Balance Food, I'm worry about him. He always has a bad smell, even after bathing him and washing his teeth. Also, his stools at least every other day are soft. He ate a lot of grass and throw up at least twice a month. I hope this review is helpful. I am going to switch my dog from this brand.

My two healthy cats almost died from eating both dry and canned Natural Balance cat food - duck and pea, and venison and pea formulas. The problem began over the summer 2010. My cats started having breathing problems, then vomiting and the runs. My black cat's fur turned reddish, my other cat lost his fur.

My dog has been throwing up every day so I took her to the vet and she was diagnosed with pancreatitis. I could not figure out why the dogs were not eating. I bought special food at the vet and mixed it with the Natural Balance and my little dog threw up immediately. I then gave him only the vet food and he was fine. The Natural Balance venison and potato and duck and potato was making my dogs sick. I am taking it back to Petco today.

I have been feeding my Bichon Natural Balance "L-I-D" Sweet Potato and Venison canned. I recently detected an artificial smoky odor. I called the company and they said they put artificial smoke flavoring in their treats but not the food. They sent me free coupons to replace the two cases I had just bought that smelled smoky. Today I went to my local pet food store. Before I replaced the two cases, she let me open a can up and smell it. There was an overpowering smoky smell so she called Natural Balance for me and was told that they are now adding it to their small cans and will be adding it to their large cans soon. I guess my question is why. When pet owners and their animals like a product, why mess with it and why add artificial smoke? It is awful. After reading all these other complaints, I am glad I decided to give my little Bichon the same canned food that I now give my PWD and lab, Merick's, which is a fabulous food.

I have been feeding my Bichon the Natual Balance "L-I-D" Sweet Potato and Venison canned and recently detected an artificial smokey order. My Bichon backs away from her food dish and her fur smells awful on her face after eating. I called the company and they said they put artificial smoke flavoring in their treats, but not the food. They sent me free coupons to replace the two cases I had just bought that smelled smokey. Today I went to my local pet food store and before I replaced the two cases she let me open a can up and smell it.

I've had two dogs drop dead of symptoms related to "cancer" at 6 years and 7 years of age. The first dog had gastrointestinal issues and we found out after the 2007 recall that this was common for dogs eating the Natural Balance food. It was too late for our dog. When the food came back on the market, we were assured it was safe so we gave it to our new dog that had skin allergies. She died yesterday exhibiting the exact same symptoms that our first dog did, basically just dropping one day with labored breathing to find that she had congestive heart failure most likely due to cancer since there were no toxins around. The product needs to be removed permanently.

Similar to other recently posted complaints, we have been feeding Natural Balance Sweet Potato And Duck to our four dogs for years. With the most recent bag (Best By of Aug 2011) they have all started vomiting, and now refuse to eat it. We have been very happy with this product for years, but there appears to be a bad batch or some other change that is making our dogs sick.

You may have old stock for immediate release on June 18, 2010. The Natural Balance Pet Foods Incorporated of Pacoima, CA announces a voluntary recall of Natural Balance Sweet Potato & Chicken Dry Dog Food. It has a ‘Best By’ date of June 17, 2011 in 5-lb. and 28-lb. bags because it has the potential to be contaminated with Salmonella.

I have been feeding my dog Natural Balance Sweet Potato & Venison Dog Food and the Sweet Potato & Venison Treats for over a year. That is the only food my dog ingests, nothing else. A few months ago, my dog started vomiting at least once a week and I noticed that the treats looked darker in color. So I contacted the manufacturer so see if they changed the formula. They said they did not, but the vomiting continued. I discontinued feeding my dog the treats, but continued with the same dog food. Then about 3 weeks ago, my dog suddenly started vomiting blood and had bloody diarrhea. I rushed him to the emergency vet and he was diagnosed with hemorrhagic gastroenteritis and had to be hospitalized. I have discontinued using that dog food and will never go back to it again. Since switching to a different brand of sweet potato and venison, my dog has not had any problems. Someone needs to look into this company and recall the food.

I recently switched my 12 year old Australian Shepherd dog to Natural Balance wet food. She had been eating big name brands like Iams up until 3 months ago when I switched her to Blue Buffalo. She seemed to love the food but it was getting a little expensive for me at $2.60 per can, 2 can a day. So I switched to Natural Balance after being referred to it by a friend and Pet Supermarket, as it was $1 cheaper per can.

I have been feeding both my dogs Dick Van Patten's Natural Balance Dry Dog Food for about six months. I purchased a new bag and after the first feeding my Westie began vomiting. Knowing that the breeds are sensitive to many things I chalked it up to coincidence. The next day right after feeding she began vomiting again and so did my Shi-Poo. That’s when I realized the food was tainted and returned it to the place of purchase. Thankfully both dogs are ok now. I will not use this brand or recommend it again.

I started my dog on Natural Balance dog food at the recommendation of my friend. My dog unfortunately hasn't been adjusting well to it. She has had really bad diarrhea for over a month. There is no blood but it's usually a solid stool followed by a watery stool. I thought she was just adjusting to the food since we switched recently. Our lab has adjusted well but I thought maybe the food was the culprit. Now after reading this page I know it's the food. I will most likely switch her to another type or brand. Thank you all for your posts.

Thank God for your web site. My four year old German Shepard has had very impressive diarrhea for about a week. Otherwise he is ok we have been systematically addressing the things he put in his mouth. I never thought it was the dog food until this morning when I decided to get on the web before I took a specimen to the vet I found all these complaints about Natural Balance dog food. It has to be a recent problem since my dog has been on this food for over three years.

I found out that my Westie has food allergies and the vet recommended that we start feeding him a different type dog food. We purchased Wellmess brand the first time around and all went pretty good. Next I visited the local Petco store and decided that Natural Balance Dog food looked like my best choice, so I purchased the biggest bag of Sweet Potato and Fish Formula that they had. My dog ate a couple of bowls of it and now he refuses to eat any of the food, even after not eating all day. I have not seen and loose stools, but he just seems to eat the taste of oat. I listed this complaint in hopes of being able to return this food back to Petco for a brand that he will eat.

I started my two doxies on the Venison and Sweet Potato dry food. Within 36 hours, the male began to wreak of bad breath. After a couple days of attention to the dog's mouth and teeth, I noticed the odor appears even worse. As a matter of fact, virtually, every part of the dog smelled especially his chest and belly. The odor seemed to be coming out his pores. A check of the female doxie showed the same symptoms but not as acute. I watch my dogs at all times when they are outside and know they did not consume any foreign matter. There was no loose stool or constipation.

This is another update. Since Natural Balance has called me repeatedly and asked for me to say more about my experience with my cats, I will repeat once again. Natural Balance found nothing wrong with the food I sent in for testing. I have yet to receive the complete results from the autopsy in writing but I received a call from the veterinarian explaining that they found out that the cause of my cats death was anti-freeze poisoning. I hope that Natural Balance is now happy with my updated post and will realize that I have done all I could do in re-posting that their results concluded that the food was okay and nothing was wrong with it. I would like to put this nightmare behind me.

My 9-year old golden retriever has been on Natural Balance sweet potato and fish formula for 4 years now. He has never had any problems with it. But when I started feeding him from a new bag of the same product in mid-July, he started having bloody diarrhea and vomiting. I got a full blood panel done and found nothing wrong, but his watery stools persisted. I got him checked again 2 weeks later when he pooped only blood. Again, nothing appeared in his bloodwork. Everything, including PVC and all organ functions, was within normal range. I strongly suspect that the dry food was tainted. I have switched him to home-cooked food and he is recovering fast. I have paid over $2400 at the vet already. I sincerely hope Natural recalls this batch of food because everything points to it being the cause of the bloody stool and vomiting.

I had been cooking all of my miniature pinscher's food and when we added a Siberian Husky puppy to our family, it became very expensive and time consuming so I asked the staff at Petco what the healthiest brand of food was. They suggested Natural Balance. I gave both of my dogs the duck and potato flavor dry good. I slowly added the food in with the food I had cooked and my puppy kept having diarrhea. I thought it may be after the change in food but even after 2 months she continued having diarrhea. My miniature pinscher also gained 5 pounds in two months! This is a huge amount for a small dog. I was actually feeding him a little less than the recommended amount. I started cooking for both of them and our puppy's diarrhea has stopped and our miniature pinscher has already lost two pounds. It's a lot of work to cook for them but much better than the health problems this food has caused!

Shortly after buying and feeding my 5 pound Chihuahua Natural Balance Small Bites Dog Food, she became very ill with vomiting, and bloody diarrhea, to the extent that, I had to rush her to the pet emergency clinic, since it was after hours for my regular vet, to the tune of $500.00 for the visit. The next day I took her to my regular vet. She would not eat for a week, needed extensive hydration due to not keeping anything down. She spent days at the vets ,until she finally started to feel better, which was another $1000.00.

In June, I purchased Natural Balance dry dog food for the first time. It was fish and something, for a very large quantity. I've long since tossed the bag, as I store his food in a large container. It was on sale. Since then, my 5 year old miniature Schnauzer has been ill, and has begun an odd habit of eating dirt. His eating pattern has changed as well. He used to eat dry food only at night. Now he eats it in the morning, and at night. If I didn't know better I'd think he was starving to death, but his dish is never empty.

Update- I received a call from Jen at Natural Balance and she wanted me to know that they tested the food and did not find high levels of Zinc which I suspected. The customer service follow up was great however I still believe there is something not right with the food. My toy poodle who is 13 made an incredible bounce back by simply feeding her beef and rice. All symptoms she had are gone, i.e. her coat was dull and brittle, her eyes were tearing non-stop, her breath had an awful strange smell and she was lethargic plus explosive diarrhea for 2 days. My dog did not get into anything toxic, only her food which she began to avoid and not eat. Again if your animal gets sick and the vet tests do not find anything wrong, switch food before you give up on your animal.

I purchased Natural Balance Sweet Potatoes & Duck small breed for my Min-Pin. She initially was eating it for approx 3 weeks just fine. Then about a week ago, she began to eat a normal early meal. She ate it and vomited about 4 hours later. We attempted to feed her in the evening and she would not eat. I then attempted to feed her the next day. She would not go near the food.

Natural Balance Lamb and Rice Dog Food, which is best by Oct 1, 2011, recently gave my dog explosive diarrhea and I now believe is the cause of my own illness. What is so unbelievable is that in 2008, I lost a dog to Nutro that was never officially recalled however, it was responsible for making over 3,000 animals sick. What is happening to my current dog is exactly what happened to Shelby, the one who died. You send the company the food, they claim they test it and find nothing wrong. Well I suspect the food has a high concentration of Zinc which is consistent with what happened before, however the company will never admit it.

*Update. After sending the food back for testing, Natural Balance said they found nothing wrong with the food.

We bought a new bag of Natural Balance dry cat food from a local pet store on or around 6/18/2010. We added the new bag of food to the last few cups of the Natural Balance we had been feeding our cats. Both cats are approximately 11 months old. We noticed on the night of the 21st, one of our cats, MJ, had thrown up and we thought it was a hairball or from the heat of the day. The next day, we didn't see her until 8:30 pm which was very unusual for her. When we found her, she was covered with 1000's of fly eggs and larvae and we rushed her to the veterinarian.

Just an update on my previous post. I called this company on June 16th, not the 23rd. I was told there were no complaints on the Natural Balance fish and sweet potato cookies. This is a true statement; they actually have had no complaints on any of their products. That was not made clear in my first phone call with Kristi. Jennifer from the company called me today and was very thorough, she went over the products I purchased, events, vet visits, etc. They are following up with phone calls to the vet and I am sending in samples of both the food and dog cookies. I am very pleased with the response I have received. I want to express that they are on top of the issue and we now will wait to see the outcome of the testing, which they are sending out to an independent laboratory. Just thankful I have a happy dog again and want to thank Jennifer for taking the time to follow up on this complaint and I hope we come to a good resolution.

I called the company Wednesday, June 23, 2010 to advice of tainted dog biscuits, Natural Balance sweet potato and fish. Dog was in vet twice and was super sick. I reintroduced his food, Natural Balance bison and sweet potato on 6/25/2010, and again he was a sick dog. Back to vet. I called the company to inform. They have recalled chicken and sweet potato, but obviously it is across the board on their products. They said there are no complaints received, but I complained on 6/23. So obviously they are telling everyone "no complaints", not true. This caused a vet bill of $375.00 plus one very sick basset hound!

My 7-year old golden retriever developed a severe kidney disease. She has been eating only a Natural Balance dog food. My 5-year old has constant bladder infections. Both dog are eating the same food. We are paying thousands in the vet bills, but most importantly we love our pets dearly and losing them due to the contaminated pet food is unspeakable.

Regarding Natural Balance Cat food "Green Pea and Duck" and "Green Pea and Salmon" dry. We also fed our cats "Venison and Green Pea" canned food. We noticed that the duck formula that we had been using for over a year changed shape. After that both cats seemed lethargic and one cat, KC, would vomit daily. Ted lost weight more rapidly and eventually passed away. KC continued to lose weight and still vomited daily. We got a new cat and the new cat started to vomit after eating the food.

We had well over $1000 in vet bills, and their insurance company wants to give us $71/for each cat, and told us to get the rest from Natural Balance. Both the emergency clinic and our own vet the next morning confirmed the poisoning and kidney/heart failures in our kitties. They were part of our family for 13 years and sat in our laps every night. We miss them and deserve to have compensation. The food was supposed to be organic!

Natural Balance told me on April 20th, on the phone nad in writing, that all their products except Venison and Peas were OK. In fact, all their other products tested OK at UC Davis and I should continue to use them. This after I told them my cat developed a relapse of renal symptoms after feeding him their non-recalled food (not venison and peas).

This is about my service dog. I opened a new bag a week ago and my dog threw up every day for 2 days. He had a hard time holding food down throughout the night He woke me up. It was very odd.

I have 4 Golden Retrievers and one of my Male Furkids, Harley who is 9 and acts like a puppy with NO previous health problems, has been poisoned with Natural Balance Venison and Brown Rice. Two of my four dogs ate the food and I have had to have all four dogs undergo testing several times to make sure they were ok. Harley has been in the hospital since Wednesday 4/11/07 and I have spent almost $3,000.00 so far with the bill on going. He still is not able to go home and his kidneys have 75% failure and I am told IF he makes it he will NEVER physically be the same.

We have an in-home kennel where we raise Cavalier King Charles Spaniels. Last week our dogs began getting sick. I took two of my dogs to my local vet and she said to withhold food for 12-24 hours until their vomiting stopped. Then by late Friday night my oldest girl, Katy, began to go down hill quickly. I took her back to my vet early Saturday morning and my vet said that she appeared to be in Acute Renal Failure. By 6:00 p.m. Saturday, we very sadly lost our precious Katy.

On Fri. 13th April I bought a new bag of the Venison & Brown Rice dog food which I fed to my dog that same evening. During the night he was sick and vomiting. Over the next few days he was lethargic and wouldn't eat. On Tues. 17th April I heard that Natural Balance had recalled this particular dog food and then I became really concerned. I made an appointment with my vet right away and he did tests on him and told me he was suffering from renal failure.

Myself and my husband have had to miss work for a week now and counting. We are at a hotel 5 hours from home.

I sent the following email to Natural Balance after discovering that the allergy formula I'd been feeding my cats was taken off the market: