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Dick Van Patten's Natural Balance

reviewed by Lisa62

Click through to check prices on Natural Balance Organic Dry Dog Food.

Lisa62
09/25/2009

Dick Van Patten's Natural Balance 1

Two weeks ago I started using Potato & Duck Formula because of my dogs allergies, It seemed to work, less licking. My mini- pin became very ill 2 days ago throwing up and bloody diarrhea so I took her to the vet ,over $300.00 dollars later he said she suffers from Pancreatitis . I don't know if this is a coincidence or not, but reading these current reviews I wonder. If this was the reason for her getting sick I'm VERY angry, not so much about the large vet bill ,but because how sick she is and possible how this my effect her health in the future. It's to bad that these Companies are all about how much money they can make and not about the health of our best friends. Silly thou, because I watched eight is enough growing up and like Dick Van Patten I trusted he would only sell food that was good for are best friends.

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Schnuh330 commented 65 days ago.
(Edited 65 days ago)
Pancreatitis in dogs can be aggravated by high protein foods such as this one. unless you know your dog has pancreatitis a high protien diet is a good thing but in your case you obviously had no idea your dog had a problem. The food was the cause of your dogs condition being aggravated but it's not that it is a bad food. it is actually a really good food from what i've read of the ingredient and seen with my dog, although i usually feed a different brand. we are using this for our new puppy because it has a lower protein level, which is better for puppies, than our regular brand.

Lisa62 commented 62 days ago.
(Edited 62 days ago)
Thanks for the info., I feel better knowing the cause of her illness. Here I think I'm giving her better food and I end up getting her very sick. She is about 8 or 9 years old and never had any stomach problems before so I was clueless to what happened. I have another dog ( gsd mix) about 10 Years old and 45 pounds who was the one with constent licking which did improve but I stopped giving her the potato and duck formula because of fear she would also get sick. I am now back to giving purina one which is not a great dog food. It seem the more I try to find a good dog food the more confused I get =( Thanks again . Does anyone have any thoughts about innova evo Red meat bites?

kdl1981 commented 62 days ago.
(Edited 62 days ago)
It can be a confusing process. I was lucky with my 10 year old min pin- never had health issues, and never had any issues with diet changes. ( from puppy hood on he has had Precise, Iams, Nutro, Eukenooba, and now Blue Buffalo). When i adopted my mutt shown in the pic, we battled gas and stool issues for well over a month. The Natural Balance venison and sweet potato formula completely changed everything. No more loose stool, and his coat is softer, and his eyes are brighter. I am so sorry to hear about your dog. I know you are not feeling too much trust in the company right now, and most likely want to avoid the brand.... but if your feelings change think about using the Venison formula. I researched these foods for hours before I decided to make the switch. Problems reported with some of the formulas ( mainly the duck) were not reported with the venison. Another good option might be the Wellness super5mix Complete Health white fish and sweet potato recipe. It is another LID diet, and while I have never used it, Wellness has a wonderful reputation. You can find Wellness at Petco. If you purchased your Natural Balance there, you should bring it back and exchange. I hope this was somewhat helpful, and good luck!

jeanmarie commented 60 days ago.
Lisa
I also feed my dog the duck and potato but got a call from my sister in NY who owns a pet store and there is a recall on the diamond pet company which makes Natural Balance, Wellness. Canidae and numerous other dog foods...
I do not know all of the details as she is trying to get in touch with the individual companies to find out..
I sure hope that you dog is doing okay..

kdl1981 commented 60 days ago.
jeanmarie- Please keep us updated with what you find out. I am currently feeding the Natural Balance Venison formula to my dog. I tried to find some info about a recall online after I read your post, but all I can find is information about the recall in 2007. Thanks!

jeanmarie commented 60 days ago.
kdl1981
I will definitely post when I hear back any information... Right now my sister is saying it is mainly the cat food made by Premium foods and that Diamond Foods(which is part of the premium foods that had the issue before) is being investigated.. she has several emails out to the companies along with the suppliers that she presently has... The scary part is that she did not know about it and only found out because the vet had sent a couple of people over to change their animals food.. will keep updating as I find out.. at this point she says Not to panic it could be something that is an easy fix.....

jeanmarie commented 59 days ago.
I talked with my sister earlier this morning and so far the recall is on Premium edge Finicky cat food... since it is processed in the same area as the premium dog foods they are doing an investigation and hopefully it was JUST this cat food..

jeanmarie commented 59 days ago.
Everyone
I just got this email from Natural Balance

Thank you for contacting Natural Balance regarding the dog formulas. Please know that we have not had ANY recent recalls. Natural Balance has a strict testing policy to insure the safety of our products in which we test ALL of our products/batches for nine different contaminates.

kdl1981 commented 59 days ago.
Jeanmarie- thanks you so much for all the updates! I am happy to know that Natural Balance was prompt in a reply.

Lisa62 commented 58 days ago.
Thanks everyone for your comments. not much sleep lately, getting up everytime my dog needs to go out to see if she still has diarrhea pretty tired. thought she was getting better had her on cannie i/d prescription food and giving her medicine for vomiting and diarrhea. today she had a soft stool yea! then feed her, now bad to diarrhea with some blood =( getting nervous now because today was the last day the the medicine .

kdl1981 commented 58 days ago.
lisa- Did you vet do a fecal test? I would assume that he did, but I had the same issues with one of my dogs, and it turned out to be whipworms. Whipworms do not always show up in just one fecal test, sometimes it takes multiple. I have alwiays given my dogs Heartguard, thinking I was protecting them from all parasites. Well, I soon learned that Heartgaurd does not protect from the whip worm! Both my pups are on Interceptor now, which protects from all parasites. Just an idea. Please keep on giving us updates on your dog!

jeanmarie commented 58 days ago.
Lisa
Definitely get a fecal sample done.. I have a Jack Russell Terrier that has bloody vomiting and diarrhea several times a year... after numerous vets my equine vet found out a year ago that he has Addison's disease and has put him on prednisone every 3 days and he is doing fine... A week ago he started with a little loose diarrhea and blood in his stool.. they did a fecal thinking it could be worms but come to find out he has way too much good bacteria in his system.. they put him on an antibiotic and within 24 hours he was fine....

kdl
A lot of people have been having with the heartguard not protecting for everything they think... my friend's dog also had worms and the vet said not to use the heartgard... forget what she had to change to

kdl1981 commented 58 days ago.
My vet sells Heartguard and Interceptor. Interceptor prevents heartworm, controls hookworm infection, and will remove and control roundworms and whipworms in all dogs. Price is the same as Heartgaurd. I wonder if some vets have some deal with Heartgaurd, and that is why it is typically sold for parasite protection. It irritates me that it took 10 years of dog ownership for me to realize that I was not protecting my babies from everything! If your vet doesn't sell Interceptor, you can find it at 1800 pet meds.

jeanmarie commented 58 days ago.
kdl
I think that for some reason this year it has been worse for worms... My sister owns a pet store in NY and she said that the vets around there have suggested everyone use the Interceptor... I am in New Hampshire and my friends dog has worms and was on the Heartgard....

Lisa62 commented 53 days ago.
The vet told me that min-pins have a history of pancreatitis. My dog is doing much better, feeding her cannie I/d and just took her for another blood test today. My sisters girlfriend has a min-pin that had pancreatitis about a month ago so maybe it is just the breed. Thanks for all the info!!!! =)

kdl1981 commented 53 days ago.
That is good to know. I have a ten year old min pin myself, and the vet has never mentioned to me that they are prone to pancreatitis!
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