Alternatives to Natural Balance

[Deborah Brown]

I had not realized that Del Monte bought the Natural Balance foods until reading an earlier post about it here.  My doodles have been eating NB for years now and it seems to be a good choice for all three.  One doodle cannot tolerate wheat and corn and another has "poodle tummy" and does best on certain blends that don't contain potato and have a moderate amount of protein.  We keep things interesting by switching between flavors.  They love the legume formula.

So should I be concerned enough to switch to another food?

Deb

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Probably not yet. It took a year for the recalls to start after Proctor & Gamble bought Natura. But now, a lot of owners of dogs with digestive issues who are eating California Naturals are hysterical. So you have some time, but it would be a good idea to start looking for alternatives. 

None of the foods on our recommended list contain corn or wheat, so that's a non-issue. A lot of our recommended foods now contain legumes as a carbohydrate source instead of grain or potato, so as long as they don't need exotic animal proteins, it shouldn't be hard to find lots of other good choices. And even if they do, we can help you find something else.

[Teresa]

I also fed Natural Balance for the last 5 years and was so disappointed to find out about the Del Monte purchase.  I have worked for several of the Big Food companies and while I love my job and the companies I have worked for, I do not want them purchasing a dog food company.  So I have started to transition my dogs and cats off of Natural Balance.  "NOW" is made by Petcurean and both my dogs and cats are loving it.  It is a family owned Canadian company sourcing its products from North America only (except for the lamb which comes from New Zealand?) and nothing from China.  I still supplement with some home made food mixed in - always will, or least as long as I can and my animals are all doing extremely well.  

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Petcurean is a great company and is on our recommended brands list. I know that it's the only brand of kibble that has worked for Jane, whose doodles both have very sensitive stomachs. Petcurean's Go! Sensitivity line might be a good choice for you, Deb, the turkey formula is grain and potato free. 

[Jane, Guinness and Murphy]

Yes, my guys get the Petcurean kibble in the morning and the home cooking mixed with Honest Kitchen at night.  It has worked really well for them.

[Deborah Brown]

Thanks for the ideas.  I kind of hate to switch since NB has been good for us.  I will look into these other options.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Here's the thing. There is no way that Del Monte is going to use North American ingredients. It's a given that the ingredients in all Natural Balance products will now be imported from China, because that's the way Del Monte (and all the multinational corporations) do business. The ingredients are purchased through third party food brokers who use the cheapest suppliers, which are always in China. Del Monte's track record in this area speaks for itself. The Milo's Kitchen Chinese chicken jerky debacle is a good example, including the lack of disclosure and unwillingness on Del Monte's part to issue a voluntary recall.  

When Natura sold to P & G, there was language in the sales agreement that the formulas for all products would stay the same for one year, which meant that the ingredients might be purchased from foreign sources, but the formulas themselves would not change. I haven't seen the agreement between Natural Balance and Del Monte, but if a similar clause is not included, which is probably the case, the formulas can change at any time, and you  won't even know it, because by law, they have six months to change the labeling. So while an ingredient label might not show potatoes, for example, there might very well be potatoes in there. 

There are very few kibbles that Jackdoodle can eat without ending up in the ER. He was also doing well with one of the Natural Balance LID formulas, but I wasn't happy with it and switched him to the Wellness Simple Solutions line. I'm happy to say that he has done even better with this than the NB, maybe because the fiber and protein percentages are higher. And it's cheaper, because it contains more calories per cup so I feed less. 

[Deborah Brown]

I get it and I'm disappointed.  We have two "natural" pet stores in Oak Park so I'm going to take a visit to Sirius Cooks and see what options they have.  I think they carry most of the brands suggested.  Going in person let's me compare ingredients, protein levels and prices.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

When you look at prices, look at the feeding guidelines as well. Natural Balance was actually costing me more than Orijen, as I had to feed almost twice as much. 

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Del Monte unsuccessful in getting a Milo's Kitchen lawsuit dismissed:

http://www.courthousenews.com/2013/07/03/59058.htm

[Deborah Brown]

Thanks for posting the update!

[Deborah Brown]

I picked up a small bag of Fromm Chicken A La Veg yesterday.   I'm not sure if the dogs think it is anything special.  It turns out that potato is a popular ingredient so this was one of my limited choices.  Fromm has a couple of other flavors without potato as well so we'll see how well it goes.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

JD loved the Salmon a la Veg, and my neighbor's dog does too.

Did you look at the Pork & Peas?