My review is for the canned salmon and sweet potato. My puppy LOVES it and is doing very well with it. She's low on her innova puppy dry and I'm seriously considering switching her to this line she likes it so much. I will have to compare at the pet store today before I do, though. Appropriate review will follow if I do.

Has anyone noticed that a great deal of the negative ratings for this food are from people that only posted the one time and disappeared? Also do you people understand that not every food will work for every dog? That doesn't make it a horrible food. As to the foreign objects in the food, why haven't they recalled anything? I work in a pet store and I've never had a customer tell me any stories about this food that relate to anything like that. If there's really a problem contact the company and return it for heavens sake! I love this website but boy there are some cockeyed people out there!

i wish i could give this zero stars. i thought i was putting my dog on something better. i just want the best for him. i started switching him from iams (gradually for two weeks), which he was doing well with. But when i had him completely on california natural his health deteriorated. he was tired, no longer lively. He had horrible gas and diahhrea. I felt so bad for having put him through it. I am very upset with california natural . what a rip off...and my poor dog. i switched him over to healthwise lamb. i know it's the same company but i think the simple ingredients are better. no extra things that hike up the cost and make him sick. DO NOT FEED THIS TO YOUR DOG

Started my new yellow lab puppy on Innova puppy food. Profuse diarrhea, and vomiting. Severe dehydration. Puppy would not go near this food. Had to switch back to previous food and feed chicken and rice for 3 days. Barley may be the ingredient that is difficult to digest. I was very disappointed with this food.

Notice - This communication may contain confidential and privileged information that is for the sole use of the intended recipient. Any viewing, copying or distribution of, or reliance on this message by unintended recipients is strictly prohibited. If you have received this message in error, please notify us immediately by replying to the message and deleting it from your computer.

I have been feeding the dog the CN Prairie - Salmon dry dog food. She was scratching like crazy on the Science Diet that she was eating at the shelter/shortly after adoption so I transitioned her over and she has been great since. Much less scratching/licking and small, firm stool. Her energy levels are great and her weight is perfect.

I originally put my husky on Nutro puppy when he was a puppy. And then switched him to adult when he was an adult. When I went away to basic training my mom put him on Beneful. When I got him back we tried putting him on nutro again. And for a month an a half he had yellow runs and lost 10 lbs or so. I took in a sample of his stool in to be checked for worms or giardia. Everything came out negative. So I switched foods to NC Herring and Sweet Potato and he has gained weight, his skin and coat is soft and shinny and most of all his stools are normal! I cannot believe the results after switching. I give this a 2 thumbs up and I always recommend it to my customers at work when their dog is having food allergies or need to get a great quality food that's good on the wallet. I have never had a customer return this food. And they have came back to tell me the results.

I have a Wheaten Terrier who had been on several types of dog food before I came upon CA Natural. Those previous types included Nutro, Eucanuba, Iams (Vet prescrip) and Candidae. She would have bleeding fungus between her toes, bleeding sores on her stomach and chronic infections in her ears and under her tail. She was like a walking pharmacy and we thought that we would eventually own stock in her vet's office with all of the treatments and medications. Poor thing. I was told that this breed is prone to skin-related disorders and to be prepared that she would continually be prescribed serious meds like steroids to keep her "healthy." After all, when a vet tells you something, you believe it, right? When that horrible scare happened with the plastic in dog food, it prompted me to do research and that's when I came upon good reviews for CA Natural Dog Food. I gave it a try, as even the vet-prescribed dog food was on the alert list. Within a very short time, her sores under her tail and ears disappeared. Her nails are normal as well as her coat. I think this dog food saved her life, as long-term use on steroids are certainly dangerous. I would question the continual reviews that show up on this site saying it's a horrible dog food. Don't believe it. This food is great for dogs, especially breeds like Wheatens that only have one coat and not necessarily used to hot climate like AZ. As an added incentive for her to lick the bowl clean ( which is not generally necessary) I warm up canned food that had been in fridge for 15 secs in microwave. It actually smells like corned beef hash.

I purchased several cans of chicken and lamb with rice (two different kinds, same brand). Last night my dog had a terrible bout with direrreah. He's not allowed outside loose so I can't think of anything else it could be from although I'm not 100% certain either. How can you be?? But just to be on the safe side, I will not buy it again and see what happens.

I have 2 Pugs. I got my first Pug as a 12 week old puppy and fed her Eukanuba for the first 5 years of her life because the breeder told me it was a great food. Wrong. When the contaminated dog food fiasco happened, I researched Eukanuba, discovered it to be a horrible food and switched her to Blue Buffalo, which gave her immediate and constant "pudding poops". Next up was Canidae until they went behind everybody's back and started cheapening their ingredients. By this time, I had added another Pug to my family, a little 3 year old rescue. When the reports started surfacing on the internet about how the new Canidae was making so many dogs deathly sick, I started my little girl on California Natural Chicken Meal and Rice. I had to go with CN Lamb Meal and Rice for the boy because he has many allergies. Both dogs are doing great on CN. Lots of energy, nice firm stools, no gastric problems of any kind. I am especially impressed with how my little guy's coat has improved. He was almost bald on his neck and abdomen, groin and armpit areas, due to allergies. He now has a thick full coat on his entire body and it is soft and shiny. Before it was brittle and coarse. I would like to rotate their food to something else now and then because that's supposed to be better for the dog, but I am totally distrusting of the dog food industry anymore. Unless and until I have a reason to switch, my Pugs are staying with CN. I supplement daily with fresh fruits and vegetables and they get yogurt every morning and some canned pumpkin every evening with their meals. But I couldn't be happier with CN and both Pugs love it.

I thought I had found something great for my terrier mix puppy that scratches and chews a lot. She did show improvement with that. But, when I switched her completely over to the lamb and rice California Natural she came down with severe diarrhea even with some blood in it. I'm still trying to get her completely well again. I will take a close look at the food itself as suggested since I haven't returned it yet, but definitely will be taking it back for a refund. I think this food is dangerous to pets from my experience and what I read here.

I found clear plastic fibers sticking out of the kibble. Thank God I only gave it to my dog once. This is going back to the store. Now I need to find another food for my BIchon puppy.

My cat started eating CN chicken and rice when she developed a vaccine reaction or and began swelling and coughing daily. I am not sure if this food is so good, i noticed these hard whitish chunk in the food that look like bones along with the black chucks! even saw what seemed like white fuzz in the food on close inspection! This is very strange! I also put some food down on white computer paper and came back the next day it the paper looked soaked with grease! If you don't believe me try it! Examine your pets food in bright lights and look for these things. I noticed it when I washed my cats food bowl out and was quite shocked. These hard bone like beige chucks can't be good for cats teeth, I noticed she has a discolored tooth since shes been eating this food. I'm scared because I don't know what else to give her with now that shes sick. 

I got a smooth coated Collie from Collie rescue. He was ematiated and his coat was coarse, brittle, spotty. I started CN. His coat grew in beautiful. I bought a large $45 bag once and he refused to touch it. I had to switch to another brand for a while. I recently started CN back up. I noticed the kibble was lighter in color also ( I feed the Lamb and rice). He loves it but within 2-3 weeks he has lost just about all his hair again. His skin is not red yet, but he is starting to lick his feet. I can not believe how the hair has fallen out in chunks. He's not bald yet but heading there. His coat is dull, and I noticed he is eating grass a lot. I really liked this food and now my trust level is wavering a bit.

BEWARE!!! We had feeding our dog CN Adult Lamb & Rice for a few years with no problems. We got another new dog and continued. CN then changed the formula... The kibble color was lighter and one of our dogs began puking on a regular basis. The other dog began having seizures. We took them off of the CN Lamb & Rice and have not had an incident for 6 months. Why they changed the formula is a mystery.

As a follow up, i'm convinced that it is the dog food that i causing these problems. I'm not here to bash CN but I'm trying to figure out what to do next as this is unacceptable especially since i'm paying 45 dollars a bag.  

I've loved the CN Lamb and rice for our allergic cockapoo. She has been on it since we got her 2 1/2 years ago due to allergic reactions on the first food we put her on. Within the last 2-3 months she has been licking her paws like crazy. Vet said to try Benedryl, then we put her on Choratrimitron, still no luck. All of this seems to coincide with the new labeling. I've taken her off all treats and we aren't using anything new in the house (floor cleaners etc). She seems to really go at them right after eating, so I'm thinking something changed. I'm going to switch her food over to see if we get any different results.

I feed California natural to all 7 dogs. I got urine tested this week on 3 of my dogs since I started working at a vet and ALL HAVE HIGH PH AND CRYSTALS!!! Now I have to give them meds and switch to a urinary diet. None were showing signs of discomfort and did the urinalysis because I got a 50% discount. Thank god I caught this early before they developed into stones. I thought my dogs were doing great on this too!!! Always get your pest urine checked once a year. If I had not it could have wound up costing me major $ for surgery. I am very dissapointed as California Natural was the best thing for allergies and they seemed to be doing good. Now I have to get the other 4 dogs urine tested and I am sure they have it too!

I put my 11 month old bully baby on this food earlier this week.  He was experiencing loose stools and terrible gas from the Evo I had him on, but they firmed up in two days on the California Natural Herring and Sweet Potato. I'm seeing small improvements in his coat already so hopefully this high omega 3 food will help with his dermatitis.  I do feed him a mixture of shredded boiled chicken and brown rice twice a week just to keep his diet well balanced, I also give him 1 tablespoon of plain whole milk yogurt at each feeding to aid in digestion.  Yogurt in small doses is good for bulldogs, not sure about other breeds.

I have a 3-4 year old shitzu mix that I started feeding CN's Salmon and Sweet Potatoe wet food mix too. Within 8 hours my dog had horrible runs, it is now over 36 hours later and she still can barely take in food, and I need to walk her every 20 minutes in order to somewhat preserve my house.

I will never again go near this food and now I am seriously considering switching her to human food.

I've noticed a difference as well. I switched from Iams to CN hoping for a difference and it was great. However like the poster before (southern Maryland) i noticed a color change in the product and my little guys stomach is upset more often than not now. I'm not sure what happened but I did call into CN and they said they didn't switch their formula or antything like that. Something is wrong here and i'm getting tired of the commercial dog food industry.

Have had good results with CN Chicken and Rice for my dog who has allergies and other sensitivities. Opened a new bag last night, added my usual warm water to her food, and in a few minutes I noticed her food did not smell right. I did feed her, thinking maybe it was just me, and this morning she has been very nauseated. She has enjoyed CN but now I will look for something else, as CN may be inconsistent in its quality control, have also noticed color differences in the past. This particular bag has an exp. date of Aug. 12, 2009. Has anyone else had problems recently? Southern Maryland

My bichons did fairly well on this food. Their coats suffered, as they really thinned out and slowed down in growth. They also had bad GAS! Phew!

The California Natural Herring and Sweet Potato stabilized both my labs - 5yr and 18month after a run in with the Wellness "new bag but same ingredients and formula" fiasco. They had been on Wellness for year(s) - since the aflatoxin scare - then a new group bought the company and I suspect their protein source for Chick and Rice changed - as did both my girls' stools and not for the better! The Herring and SPot mix has been great for both - coats are coming in very dense and their ears are cleaner and eyes seem to be brighter - I can even use the kibble for training as they LOVE the scent and know we are working right away!

I thought that I did careful research before starting my pup on CN chicken.  What a disappointment!!  After 3 weeks of carefully adapting him to CN he has developed severe diarrhea and now won't even touch the food.  He has had no other food, no treats or snacks.  My vet is now treating him for enteritis.  My poor pup!

This food digests well. It is easy for my dog to chew and nutritional. He loves the taste, and is great for large and small dogs. I have six dogs, and all do well on this food. I highly recomend California Naturals. It digests very well.

I have used CN Lamb and Rice for years, since my 15 yo Yorkie has a sensitive stomach and this was the first food that never seemed to bother her.
I will say that in August 2008 I have gotten 2 different bags of Lamb and Rice small bite that one of my four dogs will not eat, and my 15 yo Yorkie has gotten repeated stomach upsets. I am not sure if this is a quality control issue or possibly spoiled food (is the distributor letting it get too hot in storage etc) but the kibble appears darker than normal with more of an odor than previous. I hope very much that this is a temporary problem I have seen. Otherwise, I have always thought this was one of the best foods on the market.

My own dogs are on the Herring and Sweet Potato formula (although, I do change brands after every two bags, so my results may not be the same as others who are always feeding this food).  Every time they get back on to California Natural, their coats and their eyes are fabulous and shiny.  I have noticed that the stoole on CN is larger and more wet (absorbs more water) than when they are on other foods- because of this, the stoole smells worse.  I honestly don't know if a slightly more wet stoole is better or worse for the dog.  My dogs are notorious for not drinking enough water and their stooles are, in my opinion, usually too dry.  But, overall health is fabulous and the food is afordable and easy to switch on to- we usuaully use it to get foster dogs off of Science Diet without having to take a week to slowly switch it over- we just abruptly switch food.

As I have mentioned two posts down, the dog developed sympotoms (low energy, sleeping a lot, increased water consumption) and got higher BUN 3 weeks into mixing CN w/ dry Innova. I have been feeding dry Innova mixed w/ little bit of human food (lean meat and veggies) for the past 2-3 weeks. Symptoms are gone and BUN is down to 27 (upper normal limit) from 30. I already made an appointment w/ a dog nutritionist (a faculty member at a large University) and I am gonna start home cooking. I had enough of the dog food industry!

I recently switched all 3 of my dogs to CN Lamb and Rice. I'm aware of the possible upset a new food can cause to a digestive system. However I had my dogs on this food for over a week and it did nothing but cause severe diarriah in ALL 3 dogs. I have spent 2 nights taking the dogs out every hour to potty. After switching to a bland diet of home cooked food for a few days then to another food they have gotten better.

I will NEVER feed this food a again. Nor will I ever recommend it to any one.

This is a great food for allergy dogs. There aren't many choices when your dog has allergies. Would highly recommend.

After the dog food scare, I started feeding my dogs California Natural.  My little Morkie adapted well to the food.  My Maltese who is more picky wasn't so accepting.

Soon after strating California Natural, my Morkie started vomiting every morning.  We finally attributed the vomiting to the dog food.  I switched dog foods and the vomiting immeditely stopped.  My maltese loves the new dog food as well.  Whatever is in this food was detroying my little Morkie's stomach.  He is so much better now and has been for the last 6-10 months.

This is a very good dog food, made by a VERY trustworthy company! My dogs have done wonderfully on the Chicken Meal & Rice Adult...their eyes are bright, coats are gorgeous, and they have so much energy! They also LOVE it (we have a picky eater)!  I would definitely recommend this and any of Natura's products! 

This food is a good product and contains only three main ingredients.
This food is great for dogs that suffer from allergies, sensitive stomachs, or as part of a rotation with other foods that contain different meat protein sources and a range of fruits/vegetables.
Read the following for an article on the need to rotate diet.  
http://www.dogfoodanalysis.com/changing_foods.htm
I would not feed this food solely straight unless supplementing it with other foods.
Eg: straight dry in morning and mixed in evening with 1/2 dry and 1/2 raw or canned.
One night a week I add "Solid gold" brand green beef tripe, one night some raw eggs,and on chicken night I add the chicken gizzard pack raw (hearts,liver, and gizzard).
The nights that I dont add raw food I add "Natures Variety" or "Merrick" brand canned foods, your dog will get needed additional meats, fruits and vegatables that are present in the canned food.
The puppy formula has 591 calories per cup and is the highest calorie count of the foods I've seen so far.

My pomeranian is VERY allergic to chicken and after trying other allergy blends like Merrick's Wilderness blend we put him on CN Lamb and rice. (Wilderness was too rich for him) Instantly his stools were small and firm and after 3 weeks the hair he had loss while we tried to figure out his allergy grew back and he looks like a pom again. Very great food I recommend to pets with sensitive stomachs. For those with a concern over the meat content I would say give your dog meat treats like liver or jerky to give that extra protein boost.

The high quality ingredients made me eager to try this brand of food. One of my dogs got very sick after switching to this food but we didn't think it was food caused. Since he avoided eating the CN and went for the other stuff in the bowl, I stopped feeding CN to him and sealed the bag. A couple weeks later I started feeding it to my other dog who got the runs. (Expected with a new food). After a few days instead of getting better, they got WORSE. Either I got a bad bag of food or something is severly wrong with their Herring product. My dog was instantly better after switching to Innova. I'm talking OVERNIGHT better here. I'm not taking any risks with CN anymore after this nightmare. Yes it might have been just one bad bag, but thats not okay with me.

i began feeding my 7 year old male cat california natural chicken & rice dry food. less than 2 months later he developed crystals and blockage. after his first vet visit & a round of antibiotics, i continued feeding him this food only to have him relapse into severe blockage. I researched to find the magnesium, calcium, and phosphorus percentage is too high in this food. All minerals that contribute to crystalization are in this food at alarming high amounts. My cat had to be catheterized and stay overnight his condition got so bad. I am expecting to bring home my baby from the vet today and will never feed this to him again. I refuse to donate this to the local animal shelter as it would be a disservice.

My greyhound had some weight problems, as well as some developing liver and kidney problems when we were feeding him one of the "top" brands.. We also got an old english sheepdog puppy since, and he had diahhrea on a puppy formula of a similar brand. After several trips to the vet for stool and blood work on both of them, my wife and I spent a fair it of time doing some research, coupled with watching a television program on CBC called DocZone, the episode entitled "A Dog's Breakfast", a documentary on the dog food industry (which is very sad to watch, very disheartening - but I would strongly urge any caring dog owner to watch), we ended up trying California Natural Chicken Meal & Lamb formula. I am happy to say, that after 2 months on this stuff, the sheepdog's diahhrea completely dissapeared (actually stopped days after we changed the food), and after 2 monthly visits to the vet for our greyhound, his kidney function has gone back down to normal levels, as well as his weight being within range (he was about 5lbs overweight, lost that within the month). I am very satisfied with this brand. We also are switching the formula up every month or two for some variety, but both our boys love it, and no health issues relating to food at all.

I have three cats, and have tried this brand two seperate times, trying to figure out if it was the reason why one of them was getting so sick. The second time around, all three of my cats wound up with serious runs. I'm not sure what it is in the food that is causing this, but I am now sure that it is this brand of food that is making them all sick. I have had no trouble with any of the other holistic brands.

This is a great food for dogs with allergies - it is a high calorie food so it is important to overfeed.  Our active dog went from 6 C nutro to 4 C. california natural.  This is a very affordable food.  The same dog had a hernia and could not get back onto Wellness (we tried for 3 weeks), we switched her to this and her stools very quickly became solid.  Limited ingredients in the lamb and rice may help to figure out allergies as well.

Our five month old American Eskimo vomited yellow bile on Nutro (which she had been fed by the previous owner; I don't know if she did it with them, too). After a night at the vet (and $1200 later) and some trial and error, we permanently switched her to CN lamb and rice puppy food. She has huge waste, which I believe is a result of all the rice in the food, but she has a lot of energy, no vomiting and seems to like the flavor a lot. I would prefer less rice but it's a good, simple blend and I would recommend it.

Since California Natural only has one source of meat would it be a good idea to add more lamb meat to eat?

The herring formula is a good food for dogs with skin sensitivities.

California Natural's ingredients are simple and, for the most part, healthy. The limited number of ingredients (only 6 plus the vitamins/minerals) makes this an especially good choice for dogs with sensitivities to certain ingredients. I put my shih tzu/yorkie on the lamb meal and rice formula and he seemed to like it.

The quality of this food is far better than many other "top-selling" brands. What I especially like is that the first ingredient is a "named" meat-based protein, which is something that ALL dog foods should have but unfortunately do not.

The only possible drawback to California Natural is that the two ingredients following the meat are rice. This technique used by many pet food manufacturers is called ingredient splitting (listing a base ingredient several times).  When combined, there is actually more rice in this food than there is meat.  For active dogs this should not pose a problem.  But for the less active ones then some problems they could face would be obesity and possibly diabetes. A dog who gets regular excercise, and maybe even the mildly active canine, shouldn't have a problem. And by rotating this food with others it really shouldn't be a problem for almost all dogs.

Despite this, a dog fed California Natural would be getting a quality food with absolutely no low-quality or harmful ingredients, something  many other "top selling" brands cannot claim. For more information on this, go to Naturapet.com then click on the "Compare Pet Foods" link.

I have learned that switching, or rotating,  to a different dry dog food every  two or three months is important for a dogs overall health. Some foods may contain nutrients that others do not. Periodically changing brands, or even just formulas, will help fill in the gaps.  When doing this for my dog I will always have California Natural as part of his food rotation. 

Warning - to all current users like myself who purchased the California Natural Herring and Sweet Potato Dry Cat Food to avoid products containing any chicken or chicken oil because my pet is allergic to chicken products.

The ingredients in this product have been changed and now contain chicken oil as the 5th ingredient on the ingredient list. This change is mentioned only if you take the time to read the very small print of the ingredient list on the back of the package. If you are a new user, you will find the chicken oil listed in the ingredient list on the company website, but for those of us who did the research months ago, this is a new development.

None of the retailers I have contacted in my area were made aware by the manufacturer of the changes to the ingredients in this product.

I did contact the company directly concerning this issue and was informed that the chicken oil is not from organic chickens. I was told that the chicken oil is tested to insure that no antibiotics or hormones are contained.

I am looking for an alternative cat food which does not contain meat or chicken in any form. This feels like a "bait and switch" product to me.

I think the rosemary in this product makes my dog puke. Didn't use this product for a few months while trying to find out why she pukes and why she has ear infections and 2 days ago tried this product again and she has puked twice. Will continue using Timberwolf Organics as it lacks rosemary and she doesn't puke.

I have 3 kids,"The Mod Squad" who are: "Scooter", a 9 year old Pointer mixa/ka/a his Highness; Sunny, a Yellow Lab, who is 8 years old; and my girlie girl Gracie, an Italian Greyhound/Pharoah Hound a 5 year old hottie! From the beginning I fed them the Wellness brand and believed it was the best because my Pet food supplier then-9 years ago (local business) advised me the first ingredient listed was "Deboned chicked" plus the fruits, vegetrables and the omega 3,6 and Glucosemine and chondroited for their joints. I never connected the yellow bile vomitting, allergic skin issues my Lab experienced could be due to the healthiest food money could buy!
Long story short, I just made the time to research sites like this, and dogfoodanalysis.com plus many others I learned that the food could well be the problem. My pet food shop owner recommended Califonia Natural to address the allergic skin issues of my Lab. It has been 8 weeks and everthing has changed! No longer do any of my kids vomit yellow bile! That is such a HUGE relief! Any my sweet Sunny, the Lab, his skin issues within 6 weeks dissappeared by 90%! Yet I had nutricional concerns since this formula didn't include glucosomine or chondroiten or high enough levels of omego 3/6. 2 1/2 weeks ago Orijen 6 fresh fish formula with sea vegetable/grain free became available which I now include in their diet (1 c for the big guys and 1/4c for Gracie]. Their hair is shinnier and energy up! I am so thrilled I made the change and will follow another point of advice I read about, to rotate their food around every quarter of the year!

My dog has been having vomiting and a lot of diarrhea for the last 6 weeks. It started about the time we bought his currant bag of CN Chicken and Rice. When I take him off and give him boiled hamburg and rice his diarrhea improves, if I add a little CN to hid food it worsens again. Any one else having this problem with their dog? Anyone else concerned?

One of the best dog food available.  The reviews are consistanly good.  The California Natural ingredients say it all.  My dogs love it. You can get free shipping on all California Natural dog foods at www.k9cuisine.com with a $50.00 order.

I have a senior dog who developed allergies to chicken, and she was 5 lbs overweight. I tried CN Herring & Sweet Potato and her scratching & hairloss improved with the first bag. She lost the 5 lbs also. We are currently trying CN Lamb with great results. We suppliment with 1/2 raw beef, lamb, elk, or bison. It is a simple diet with few additives and nasties. I give it a paws up!!