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Author Topic:   Natural Balance and Nature's Variety
Jamiya
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Posts: 1392
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Registered: Sep 2003

posted 01-18-2004 10:40 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for Jamiya     Edit/Delete Message
For those of you who have done a lot of food research, how do you think Natural Balance (http://www.naturalbalanceinc.com/) and Nature's Variety kibble (http://naturesvariety.com/canine/chickenrice/) compare to products such as Innova or Canidae? And what do you think about those tubes of food Natural Balance sells?

Natural Balance would be SO convenient for me to get. It's sold at PetCo right down the street (we walk there for treats and other non-heavy stuff), whereas Innova and Nature's Variety are sold at a specialty shop about 30-40 minutes away (and on back roads - no good highways access - I hate that!).

I am looking into switching to a homemade raw diet, but I am not ready yet.

Also, Natural Balance and Nature's Variety don't have a puppy formula - you just feed more of the adult formula. Nala is about 8 months old and currently I am mixing adult and puppy food for her (Healthwise, made by the Innova people). She is not growing terribly quickly anymore, but she is still growing. She's about 40 pounds right now.

I also feed her Nature's Variety frozen raw some of the time, but I can't afford it all of the time.

I need to go buy her food later today, so any help anyone can give me to make my decision would be great!


Jamiya

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Maisey
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Posts: 1387
From:Portland, Oregon US
Registered: Sep 2003

posted 01-18-2004 10:58 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for Maisey     Edit/Delete Message
It would take me a while to compare the foods side by side..let me say this though. I don't remember you saying Nala had any food issues...Natural Balance is an excellent food, if it's more convenient for you to get that for her...do it. Side note** the sausage rolls from Natural Balance are not meant for meals, they are a treat and quite rich. My dogs love them in small amounts. I cube them up all at once and store them in ziplocks in the fridge. I have also not taken a close look at Natures Variety kibble, by that point I was into the raw and not going back. If you are wanting to feed a raw diet there are many brands and "styles", for lack of a better word. But as you said, it is more expensive and you won't find that anyplace but a specialty type store unless you do homemade. I just got a meal planner from a company called Raw Advantage, it's for a month at a time. I plan on figuring out how much it would cost to feed this to my big boys, but haven't done it yet. Day by day I am becoming more convinced that the raw diet is better than kibble, I just need to figure out how to do it and feel comfortable with it.

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Jamiya
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Posts: 1392
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Registered: Sep 2003

posted 01-18-2004 11:41 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for Jamiya     Edit/Delete Message
I am reading a book called "Give Your Dog a Bone" by Ian Billinghurst and I already read "Natural Nutrition for Dogs and Cats" by Kymythy R. Schultze. I have another book specific for cats that I am going to read. I am hoping that these books will help me to figure out how to feed a raw diet, and then I can start looking into prices.

I'll look for Raw Advantage and see what that can tell me. I also want to start feeding bones in the meantime - probably I will start with chicken necks. Nature's Variety has all sorts of bones, but I think they're pretty pricey. I need to see what my grocery store has or find a butcher shop.

I worry about the salt in the Natural Balance, but other than that it does look very good. I like that it has three kinds of meat in it.

Ian Billinghurst says one major cause of health problems is feeding a "complete and balanced food" at each and every meal. He says by feeding high protein meals (raw meaty bones) at one meal and things like veggies at another meal, the dog's body handles the protein better and never develops some of the problems later in life with the pancreas and kidneys.

The cats are still up in the air. I got one switched to Wellness canned, but even she won't touch the Nature's Variety raw food. I am going to start trying to hide it in tiny amounts in her Wellness. The other cat won't eat anything but his old kibble. Maybe I will try switching to a new kibble if I can't get him on the canned or raw. I wish I had known what I do now when they were kittens.

Although, all of our animals have been very healthy even eating Science Diet. But perhaps some of the health differences don't show up until the senior years, by which time it's too late to counter them. The cats are 13 so they are just starting to get into the health problems that can come with age. One dog ran away and the other died at 11.5, spry as a puppy until 2 days before she died.

It's so hard to know what to do. And I really need to start feeding my children as well as I feed the pets...


Jamiya

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Maisey
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Posts: 1387
From:Portland, Oregon US
Registered: Sep 2003

posted 01-18-2004 01:12 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Maisey     Edit/Delete Message
That point seems to get missed frequently when we talk about SD and other brands that we feel are low in quality. It's not that I don't think your dog can appear to be perfectly healthy while eating it for 10 years, I could appear healthy eating bacon and eggs for the rest of my life...that doesn't mean it isn't causing long term health issues that won't show up until the damage is done, which is what I believe the case to be.
As far as the cats go...I had a really hard time getting them switched, super hard! Here are a few tips:
Start out using one teaspoon with each normal feeding for 3-5 days. Mix it into the regular food, warm it to room temperature, you can use canned food or something like liverwurst diluted with warm water if it helps. Increase to 2 tspns and decrease amount of normal dry food by a 1/4 to 1/2 for the next three days.
Then 3 tspns and replace at leaste half the normal diet for three more days.
Before final stage replace one meal entirely.

I didn't do this...I was bad. I just switched them and offered them nothing else. I did warm it by placing it in a ziplock bag and floating it in warm water for them. I have since come to understand that part of the trouble was that I was using a product that had veggies in it as well as the meat, which cats are generally not fond of. So if I were going to do it again I would use a meat only product to get them started. Now that they are on it they LOVE it. They hound me for it everytime I go to the fridge. Something else I have read is that when starting them you should give them enzymes and/or acidophilus with it. I think thats a great idea. My cats went for several days refusing to eat at all, eventually they got hungry enough to eat it. If you can do it in a gentler way go for it. I didn't have these tips when I did it.

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Maisey
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Posts: 1387
From:Portland, Oregon US
Registered: Sep 2003

posted 01-18-2004 01:16 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Maisey     Edit/Delete Message
Here is a link to Raw Advantage's site, even if you don't use their brand the charts and information are really helpful.
http://www.rawadvantagepetfood.com/

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Jamiya
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Posts: 1392
From:
Registered: Sep 2003

posted 01-18-2004 01:25 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Jamiya     Edit/Delete Message
Nature's Variety has veggies in it. What all meat product do you use for the cats?

I would think mixing it with dry kibble would seem weird to the cats, but I'll give it a try.

I picked up a bag of Natural Balance for Nala. I may mix it with Healthwise Puppy or something. I still need to go to the specialty shop.


Jamiya
***edit: Just looked at the Raw Advantage site. No stores in my neck of the woods. (KS).***

[This message has been edited by Jamiya (edited 01-18-2004).]

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