Issues: Natural Balance & Treats

[veggienut]

I was in the vets office for 3 hrs on Thursday evening. I was a bit worried with the size & color of stool, but that wasn't the issues they found. They found string in his stool & irritation. He apparently ate some the string of his toy ball. He's never done this!!! Unless it is the treats he’s getting which he’s had in the past, which is Pet Naturals of Vermont which comes in daily vitamin, skin & coat, hip & joint (he’s been on these in the past and only recently I’ve given them to him again, all three of them that is when we play ball which I cut in small pieces and not all the time he eats all) and calming (which is the newest one I’ve given him for his anxiety when I leave).

The vet doesn't like my choice of feeding him Natural Balance and suggested Iams, Science diet or Royal Canine (which he's been on in the past). But they told me it was up to me if I wanted to switch him or what I wanted to do, and now I’m confused if I should switch him again~! He's been on over 10+ food, which isn't good I'm told in the past. I only switched him back in the summer from another food which caused him to have bloody stool (Acana), but he's not having that issue. He only ate the string off of a ball, which he never did (I threw the ball out).

I talked to my Yorkie friend the other night who shows, and she suggested "Royal Canine" over the other two since Iams caused death to one of the show ladies dogs. I just don't know what to do and I just bought another bag of Natural Balance which I order online. When I called the Vet's office last night, they told me that Natural Balance and a lot of these natural/holistic products are new on the market, where Iams, Science Diet and etc have been on the market for years and have the correct balance of protein and etc. I am now more confused of what to do or not to do. Any suggestions of what I should do or not do~

Anyways, he’s on antibiotics again (he’s been on it so many times). They also suggested me to purchase some W/D to mix in his food to get his stool back to normal. He ate last night, but not much this am. So, do you have any suggestions on my issues~? Should I switch him again~? He’s not having issues eating Natural Balance, but he is eating dry and won’t eat unless we play ball (or another toy) with treats. But when he’s hungry enough, he does eat the dry on his own.

[107barney]

I home cook most of the time but I feed royal canin to my boys alot for convenience. They have beautiful long costs, no funky stools, perfect blood work, and they like the food. My friend switched her yorkies over to RC also and same thing - no issues. I think your vet and your friend who shows yorkies is right.

[Britster]

I say if he's doing fine on Natural Balance, leave it be. Obviously the issue was from a string in a toy, not the food, so I'm not sure why you're thinking about switching - unless it's for other reasons.

I personally would never touch Iams. If I had to choose between the 3 the vet listed, I'd def pick Royal Canin. But if he's doing well on NB, I wouldn't change on him again.

[MY OSCAR]

well i can't speak for anyone else but my oscar is on Natural Balance L.I.D and is doing awesome on it..
He got very sick on his last bag of Fromm for some reason not known so i switched him to the L.I.D and he is doing great..


I say if your dog is doing good on the NB keep him on it

[veggienut]

I've thrown out most of his fuzzy toys that are half full of fuzz. I like to save stuff ;D I just talked to my repair guy and he suggested I change to what the Vet said. Also, he suggested I get some chicken and give him a small piece or beef broth and pour it over his dry food to get him to eat. Or a small amount of oatmeal. He feeds his dogs "Kibbles & Bits" and I looked it up on the food advisor site and it isn't a good food. His dogs do good on it and he's not changing.

[chloe2007]

Originally Posted by veggienut

I was in the vets office for 3 hrs on Thursday evening. I was a bit worried with the size & color of stool, but that wasn't the issues they found. They found string in his stool & irritation. He apparently ate some the string of his toy ball. He's never done this!!! Unless it is the treats he’s getting which he’s had in the past, which is Pet Naturals of Vermont which comes in daily vitamin, skin & coat, hip & joint (he’s been on these in the past and only recently I’ve given them to him again, all three of them that is when we play ball which I cut in small pieces and not all the time he eats all) and calming (which is the newest one I’ve given him for his anxiety when I leave).

The vet doesn't like my choice of feeding him Natural Balance and suggested Iams, Science diet or Royal Canine (which he's been on in the past). But they told me it was up to me if I wanted to switch him or what I wanted to do, and now I’m confused if I should switch him again~! He's been on over 10+ food, which isn't good I'm told in the past. I only switched him back in the summer from another food which caused him to have bloody stool (Acana), but he's not having that issue. He only ate the string off of a ball, which he never did (I threw the ball out).

I talked to my Yorkie friend the other night who shows, and she suggested "Royal Canine" over the other two since Iams caused death to one of the show ladies dogs. I just don't know what to do and I just bought another bag of Natural Balance which I order online. When I called the Vet's office last night, they told me that Natural Balance and a lot of these natural/holistic products are new on the market, where Iams, Science Diet and etc have been on the market for years and have the correct balance of protein and etc. I am now more confused of what to do or not to do. Any suggestions of what I should do or not do~

Anyways, he’s on antibiotics again (he’s been on it so many times). They also suggested me to purchase some W/D to mix in his food to get his stool back to normal. He ate last night, but not much this am. So, do you have any suggestions on my issues~? Should I switch him again~? He’s not having issues eating Natural Balance, but he is eating dry and won’t eat unless we play ball (or another toy) with treats. But when he’s hungry enough, he does eat the dry on his own.

Did your vet say if they had any dogs that were sick from eating the Natural Balance? I fed it to Chloe and Munchkin years ago but stopped when Munchkin stopped eating it. I am afraid to feed it to Chloe and Roscoe because of all of the bad reviews on consumeraffairs.com with dogs that have became sick after eating it the last few years.

I have tried so many foods for Roscoe and he does not like any of them, I have tried 3 or 4 Fromm flavors, Merrick, Acana, Orijen, and I just ordered a bag of Instinct rabbit, he did eat a little of it but didn’t really like it. Chloe will eat just about anything but it looks like Roscoe is like my Munchkin was, I tried over 20 foods for her and never found one she liked. I thought about trying the Natural Balance again because I see that there are several on here that have fed it for a long time with no problems and now they have several small breed flavors. I may just talk to the vet about home cooking for them.

[veggienut]

Did your vet say if they had any dogs that were sick from eating the Natural Balance? I fed it to Chloe and Munchkin years ago but stopped when Munchkin stopped eating it. I am afraid to feed it to Chloe and Roscoe because of all of the bad reviews on consumeraffairs.com with dogs that have became sick after eating it the last few years.

I never knew about consumers affairs, but the dog advisor has recalls and I get updates on recalled foods. They also have lists of good and bad dog food and stars for the best to the worst and etc. I'm shocked to see Natural Balance on the list of consumer affairs. That was back in May and he's on the Lamb L.I.D. and I didn't start that till late summer sometime.

[chloe2007]

Originally Posted by veggienut

I never knew about consumers affairs, but the dog advisor has recalls and I get updates on recalled foods. They also have lists of good and bad dog food and stars for the best to the worst and etc. I'm shocked to see Natural Balance on the list of consumer affairs. That was back in May and he's on the Lamb L.I.D. and I didn't start that till late summer sometime.

I may get some of each flavor in the small bites and see if Mr. Picky will eat it. I see a lot on here that have been feeding theirs N.B. for years with no problems and at least I can get it on wag.com with next day delivery!