Natural Balance Recalled

[wolf_Q]

It's up there now.
http://www.naturalbalanceinc.com/
Nebo hasn't acted sick at all but I'm not taking any chances at "kidney problems" gahh so I'm going to go buy some new food. I wonder if they will reimburse for the food? I don't think I have a receipt but I still have the bag. I just bought it a couple of weeks ago, I'm almost up to my free bag of food too.

Anyone heard any problems with this food? http://www.naturesvariety.com/conten...B3A7rPS3767F6A Nature's Variety Prairie Venison Meal & Millet Medley? I've mixed that in with the Natural Balance before and Nebo liked it, its the only other venison based food I've been able to find.

Of course, if the problem is the venison...they both say its "New Zealand" venison, what if they get it from the same supplier?

[elizabethann]

I haven't heard anything about Nature's Variety (at least anything bad). In fact, the pet food place I go to is selling it.

[Kfamr]

Nature's Variety have some good formulas, I was going to feed their Raw Instinct food. The only thing is though, the Venison formula also has Lamb, so make sure he doesn't have any allergies towards lamb.

[mugsy]

Nature's Variety is another great food. And Mike has talked to the rep and Natural Balance directly and all they are saying is we need to pull the bags until they determine if it is operator error (changing food too quickly) or if they got a bad batch of venison. None of our customers who regularly buy it are having issues. I personally think it's operator error, but, better to err on the side of caution.

As far as Nature's Variety goes...we have a customer who has a 60 pound lab and buys the little bags of the food and rotates the flavors so she doesn't get bored! She has the Salmon and Brown Rice and Venison and Millet this time! There are 5 different dry formulas (not including Raw Instinct).

[krazyaboutkatz]

I just got an e-mail from Starr's foster mom and both the Venison & Green Pea cat dry food and the Venison & Brown Rice dry dog food. Here's the link to the news report:News Report.

I've been feeding some of my cats the Venison & Green Pea dry food but I haven't noticed any vomiting. Although Pearl hasn't been eating very well lately but she just started eating well again last night after I stopped feeding her this food. When will this horror ever end.

[mugsy]

The FDA did NOT recall the food. Natural Balance ,as a PRECAUTIONARY measure ,asked that the retail stores pull the Venison formula off the shelf until the problem can be resolved.

It's obviously not related to the wheat gluten scandal since they don't USE wheat or wheat gluten in their foods.

Oh well, I'm done now...

[mugsy]

OK, I lied, I'm not quite done....

I just got to the store and this is the latest news from Natural Balance...what individual stores do is up to them...

Natural Balance will replace their venison formulas with any of their other formulas, but, will NOT support a refund or exchange for another food.

Mike has had calls all day about it. The people we have on it have said that their dogs and cats are fine and Mike told them to watch them.

Here's a thought...could it be that these animals that are showing distress are showing symptoms of the recalled foods from Menu Foods? They said that it could take from 6 to 8 weeks for symptoms to show up.

And as far as the FDA getting involved...Natural Balanced ASKED the FDA to set up an independent investigation....not the other way around. Also, Natural Balance took it upon themselves to ask that the foods be pulled out of concern for the animals, unlike Menu Foods who covered their poisoned foods up for MONTHS and the CFO sells 1/2 of his stock 3 WEEKS before the recall.... Let's keep it in perspective here people. Don't villianize Natural Balance. I still believe wholeheartedly that these are either symptoms of the recalled Menu Foods crap or the sudden switch upset their systems. At least Natural Balance was PRO active not RE active.

I wonder how many people have bothered to THANK Natural Balance for caring enough about pets to issue the pull themselves without waiting for the FDA (who wasn't planning on doing anything). Probably NO ONE!

Ok, NOW I'm done with this discussion...I've said my peace and if anyone listens, great. If not...oh well, I've done my part.

[Jadapit]

Mugsy,

I've been feeding my fur kids Timberwolf and raw at night. We live in a really small town, there is no good dog food sold here so I was ordering the Timberwolf online. It was costing us $72.00 a bag by the time we paid the shipping. I'm feeding three big dogs, the cost was killing us.

My husband had to go work in Aspen last week, they do have good pet food in that area. They didn't have the Timberwolf but the pet store owner told my husband Natural Balance was a very good food so he picked up two bags of the Natural Balance Ultra it came to $92.00. I could not believe my eyes when I saw Natural Balance had been recalled.

This is from USA today. It says that Melamine was found in the rice protein concentrate, a new ingredient used in the dry foods. I'm at my wits end here. Do you think they used the same rice in the Ultra food?

I dont know what to do about feeding my dogs the Natural Balance at this point and time. I feel like crying, I really do. What do you think?

Here is the link to USA today.

http://www.usatoday.com/money/indust...recalled_N.htm

[Freedom]

So they have to recall because there is melamine in the RICE!

What the heck???

[Jadapit]

So they have to recall because there is melamine in the RICE!

What the heck???

I guess so! I was reading on a blog, a lady called NB today, they told her the rice they had used was only in the venison not any of the other brands. I just dont know what to believe.

[mugsy]

I stand corrected and offer my apologies!

I just spoke to Natural Balance...

They tried a new rice protein and it was tainted with melamine.

This affects only the Venison and Brown Rice for dogs (dry, canned, and treats) and the Venison and Green Pea for the cats (dry only) for the batch labeled Sept 28, 2008.

They said that if the consumer wants to bring any of the Natural Balance food back the store should give them an exchange or their money back without question...even if they bring it back in a garbage bag!

Oh, and Timberwolf is excellent, however, there are a lot of great foods out there. Feel free to call the store at 260-483-0944 M-Th 10-7 10-6 Fri and Sat and 12-5 Sun EDT and talk to Mike about foods and he can check availability closer to you.

[Jadapit]

Thank you Mugsy! Does that mean you can take back any brand of the NB or just the venison?

[lizbud]

This today article was the latest about this natural Balence recall. It has
a link to the company's web site to check info .





PET FOOD RECALL
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PETS
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New Issue Forces Pet Food Recall
Natural Balance: Issue Not Related To Melamine

POSTED: 8:27 am EDT April 17, 2007


The Food and Drug Administration said Natural Balance Pet Foods is recalling two kinds of pet food after getting reports of animals vomiting and experiencing kidney problems.

The recall includes all date codes of Venison and Brown Rice Dry Dog Food and Venison and Green Pea Dry Cat Food. The company doesn't know the cause of the problem, but said it is focused on one particular lot.

Natural Balance Pet Foods said it is working with the FDA to investigate the matter and is urging consumers to not feed either product to their animals.


Last month, Menu Foods recalled 60 million cans of dog and cat food after the deaths of 16 pets, mostly cats, that ate its products. The FDA said tests indicated the food was contaminated with an industrial chemical, melamine. It is believed the contamination came from wheat gluten.

Officials said the Natural Balance foods did not appear to be related to the issue with menu foods.

The company provided a notice about the recall at


http://www.adn.com/24hour/business/s...12877827c.html

[Crazy-Cat-Lover]

Just when you think the recall is over, another food goes on the list. I have been feeding my cats Orijen, it is formulated with a biologically correct (75/25/0) ingredient ratio of 75% meat, 25% fruit and vegetables and 0 grain. I was feeding Felidae, but now I am terrified to feed anything other than Orijen. DH was shocked when he went to the pet store and saw that Orijen went up in price nearly $3.00 - he was almost ready to give up and buy a cheaper food.

We pay almost $20.00 for a 2.5 KG bag of Orijen, and it lasts us 2-3 weeks. I convinced him that it is safer to feed Orijen because it contains no grains. He agreed to buy the largest bag (saves money) from now on. I am thankful my husband cares as much about our cats as I do.

In June, Orijen will have 6 Fresh Fish with Sea Vegetables (for dogs), a single protein kibble. I wish they were making it for cats too. I hope and pray that no other animals get sick/die from food. It is a tragedy, I couldn't imagine losing any of my cats.

It is a Canadian food, but they do carry it in some parts of the US...

Florida
Washington
Georgia
Oregon

Here is the site: Orijen Pet Foods

[mugsy]

They said at Natural Balance that if the consumer brings it in a garbage bag we are to take it back and offer our apologies regardless of what kind of NB it is. That's straight from the customer service department and she checked with her supervisor.

Anyone with questions is free to call Mike at the store!