As the name suggests, Natural Balance Cat food will be natural and made with 100% natural ingredients. You may have some concerns about this food. Is it good for cats? Will this food harm our cats? why Natural Balance Cat food recall happened?
So, don’t worry, here’s a brief introduction about this product that will help clear your all doubts. Natural Balance Pet Foods was created in 1989 by Dick Van Patten and Joy Herrick after a conversation between two entertainers about their shared love of animals.
Herrick was interested in animal rescue, and he was the drummer of the Jon Davidson show, while Van Patten had always wanted to open a pet shop. They were thinking about starting a pet food company till the end of their conversation.
The resulting company was called Dick Van Patten’s Natural Balance Pet Foods and became one of the first to take advantage of the growing demand for organic and filler-free pet food. Their food was marketed as “Food for a Lifetime” and “the best food for your pet you can buy.”
All Natural cat food prolongs life to your felines and contains no animal by-products. Also, it enhances healthier living, prevents allergies, helps to maintain weight, and many other benefits to your felines.
In this Natural Balance Cat Food Recall, we’re going in-depth to clear your all doubts about this famous cat food brand. For more information about this food, you can continue this article.
To comprehend this article, we would like to share all its information. You will learn about the good and bad things about this food, and also you will know reviews, recall, ingredients; it includes everything that you need to know so that you can find the right choice for your cat.
Are there Any Recent Recalls On Natural Balance Cat Food?
Yes, there have been a few Natural Balance recent recalls over the years. Here, a list of that and a quick brief:
In May 2021, Natural Balance L.I.D. The single “Best Buy” to date. Limited Ingredient Diets Green Pea & Chicken Formula dry cat food was recalled due to the potential for salmonella contamination.
In July 2020, Natural Balance Ultra Premium Chicken and Liver Pate Formula Canned Cat Food were found to contain potentially elevated levels of choline chloride, which can be dangerous or even fatal if fed to cats. The company said it had already “received reports of adverse reactions” in pets in announcing the recall.
2019 Heart Disease Investigation
We would like to alert readers that, in late June 2019, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (F.D.A.) identified Natural Balance as one of 16 pet food brands that prevent heart disease in dogs and cats—may be connected.
However, none of those 16 brands have been recalled as part of the agency’s ongoing investigation. Most, but not all, pet foods are “grain-free” and dry (kibble) dog food formulations.
History Of Natural Cat Food
Dick Van Patten, an actor who starred in Eight Is Enough from 1977 to 1981, wisely diversified his holdings by launching his line of dog food. The brand debuted, incidentally enough, over a friendly lunch in 1982.
Van Patten was dining out with his friend Joy Herrick, and he shared his experience of unusual pets that he cared for as a child. He was very fond of keeping pets.
In 1989, he and his friend went into a business together; they named Dick Van Patten’s Natural Balance. Van Patten called in his tennis buddy, who happened to be a veterinarian.
Then, the vet pal told Mr. Van that truely pet food should contain no fillers, specifically corn products, wheat, and soy. Wheat later entered the product line, but it was replaced with rice in 2014.
Dick Van Patten was an obvious choice as the company’s face, and Herrick became its president. Van Patten took an active role in advertising and distributing Natural Balance food.
Natural Balance was at a disadvantage until the partners struck a deal with Petco for distribution in the megastore’s 625 locations despite those efforts.
Corporate Changes
In 2006, the Natural Balance brand received funds from investment firm V.G.M. Partners. In 2013, the Del Monte Company purchased Natural Balance for over $337 million, making it part of its pet food brands’ Del Monte Foods portfolio.
In 2014, Del Monte renamed itself Big Heart Pet Brands, following the sale of all of Del Monte’s people-food assets. Natural Balance changed hands once again in 2015 when the JM Smucker Company bought Big Heart Pet Brands for $5.8 billion.
As of 2020, JM Smucker was the 3rd pet food company globally with over $2.8 billion in annual revenue, according to data provided by Pet Food Industry.
What Do Customers Think About This Brand?
Natural Balance Pet Foods doesn’t list product reviews on their website, but plenty of customer comments on Amazon and Chewy. This brand has primarily positive reviews on its product listing.
Because the brand has a great selection of limited ingredient diets, Natural Balance is popular among owners of cats with food allergies and sensitivities. That being said, there are always reviews from cat owners whose cats do not like the product.
The following is a selection of positive and negative customer reviews from the popular Natural Balance cat food listings.
Positive Reviews:
Some Customers gave positive reviews of products of this brand. They said they are extremely glad to feed this cat food to their pet and their kittens like to eat a lot.
They are doing great, shiny coats and no stinky poops or diarrhea. Some other buyers reviewed that they will buy this nutritious food because it comes at a great price.
Cat Food Name: Natural Balance Original Ultra Chicken Meal & Salmon Meal Formula Dry Cat Food
Negative Reviews:
Some customers gave critical reviews of the food of this brand. They said their cats did not like it at first. They need to convince them that their pets are ready to eat, so they want more delicious food for their felines of this brand.
Product name: Natural Balance Original Ultra Chicken Meal & Salmon Meal Formula Dry Cat Food
Overall, this is a nutritious food that is especially perfect for those felines who have digestion issues; else, you can feed this to any feline; it helps maintain a healthy immune system with a superfood blend and antioxidant vitamins minerals.
So, by the buyers’ reviews, this product got 4.7 out of 5 stars. And you can check the price and more information about the product through the given link:
What Type Of Cat Food Natural Balance made?
Natural Balance has a wide selection of cat food, pouches, tubs, and cans, including wet products and dry food. These foods are divided into what Natural Balance calls “special categories,” including grain-free, healthy-weight, high-protein, indoor, and limited-ingredient foods.
Here’s a list of the product lines Natural Balance has to make:
- Delectable Delights
- Original Ultra
- Platefulls
- Fat Cats
- L.I.D. Limited Ingredient Diets
A variety of protein sources are used in Natural Balanced foods. Salmon, chicken, venison, lamb, bison, buffalo, and duck are all protein sources represented in the Natural Balance lineup.
To help customers choose the best formula for their cats, Natural Balance offers a cat food selection calculator. You can select your cat’s life stage, food type preference, and any special needs, and the calculator will select Natural Balance foods that meet those needs.
Sourcing And Manufacturing
Natural Balance sources its ingredients worldwide and their suppliers in the United States, India, France, New Zealand, and Canada. They are willing to disclose the origin of their protein sources but will not disclose sourcing information specific to their plant ingredients or additives.
Their foods are made by several manufacturers in the United States, including a company-owned facility in Topeka, Kansas. However, Natural Balance doesn’t provide more details about the sourcing of their ingredients; they are very transparent about the manufacturing standards they follow.
The brand offers the “Feed with Confidence” promise to the customers, and third-party ISO 17025 accredited laboratories test their products. To view the test results, customers can enter the U.P.C. and lot numbers from their pet food bags.
Is Natural Balance Ingredients Safe For Cats?
All Natural Balance Food is generally made to provide balanced nutrition to our cats. Though there were waves of recalls of their products years ago, the brand remains authentic to its guiding principle – providing food for a lifetime.
The company provides a safe testing program that gives us peace of mind that we are only feeding our cats the healthiest and safest food they can have. It’s also safe for cats, and we can say that this brand tastes excellent, as many people have shared that their cats happily consume Natural Balance products.
Many also shared reviews that eating this brand of cat food improved the coat and muscle tone of their fur babies.
Is Natural Balance Cat Food Being Discontinued?
The JM Smucker Company just found someone to take over its dog and cat food brand, Natural Balance. The premium brand, which generated $220 million in sales last year for the Orville Pet & People Food Company, sold after being part of Smucker for nearly five years.
Smucker said he has agreed to sell Natural Balance for about $50 million in cash. The buyer is Nexus Capital Management LP, a Los Angeles-based private equity firm whose holdings include FTD Floral Products and Toms Shoes.
The deal is expected to close in the third quarter of the current financial year 2021. “The disinvestment reflects their strategy to direct investment and resources into the areas of the business that will generate the greatest growth and profitability,” said Mark Smucker, president, and chief executive officer, in a news release.
Is Natural Balance Cat Food Good?
With their wide selection of limited-ingredient foods, Natural Balance can be an excellent option for some cats who struggle to digest almost everything they are offered. Buy With Confidence® promises to provide a sense of security for those concerned with food security. Still, no lab report can change the fact that Natural Balance foods are packed with plants and not specifically species-appropriate.
This company uses a significant amount of plant ingredients (including plant-based proteins), which means that their foods are typically extremely high in carbohydrates, and a significant portion of the protein content comes from plant sources. People who want to feed a non-vegetarian diet to their cats can opt for another brand.
FAQS(Frequently Asked Questions)
Conclusion
Natural Balance Cat Foods has a wide range of cat foods suitable for almost any cat. In this article, we’ve taken a closer look at some of the reviews of its best-selling products, but with a quick search on Chewy or Amazon, you’ll find much more.
Most of the reviews we’ve read are highly favorable to Natural Balance and especially like their proactive approach to handling the limited number of recalls that have plagued the company over the years.
We are quite confident in recommending Natural Balance Pet Foods to any cat owner.
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