Recall on Natural Balance Dog Foods
Here is another brand of food to add to the ever growing list of recalls due to concerns over salmonella contamination.
I recently reported on a number of recalls. Here are some related links, in case you haven’t read them yet:
- Diamond Naturals Lamb and Rice Recall
- Kirkland Dog Food Recall
- Chicken Soup for the Pet Lover’s Soul Recall
- Huge recall on Diamond Brand Foods including Taste of the Wild
- Humans Getting Sick from Salmonella in Contaminated Pet Foods.
Today I was informed that Natural Balance, which is made in the same manufacturing plant as many of the previously recalled foods is being voluntarily recalled by the company.
The official company recall can be found here.
Here is the information for what bags are being recalled:
(Scroll to the right for Best Before Dates).
| Formula | Best By Date |
| 5 LB Natural Balance Sweet Potato & Venison Dog | December 12, 2012; December 13, 2012; March 12, 2013 |
| 15 LB Natural Balance Sweet Potato & Venison Dog | December 12, 2012; December 13, 2012; December 14, 2012; March 5, 2013; March 6, 2013 |
| 28 LB Natural Balance Sweet Potato & Venison Dog | December 12, 2012; December 13, 2012; December 14, 2012; March 5, 2013; March 6, 2013; March 7, 2013; March 8, 2013; March 12, 2013 |
| 5 LB Natural Balance Lamb Meal & Brown Rice Dog | December 10, 2012; December 21, 2012; December 22, 2012 |
| 15 LB Natural Balance Lamb Meal & Brown Rice Dog | December 10, 2012; December 21, 2012; December 22, 2012 |
| 28 LB Natural Balance Lamb Meal & Brown Rice Dog | December 10, 2012; December 21, 2012; December 22, 2012 |
| 5 LB Natural Balance Sweet Potato & Bison Dog | December 17, 2012; December 18, 2012; December 28, 2012; December 29, 2012 |
| 15 LB Natural Balance Sweet Potato & Bison Dog | December 9, 2012; December 17, 2012; December 18, 2012; December 28, 2012; December 29, 2012 |
| 28 LB Natural Balance Sweet Potato & Bison Dog | December 9, 2012; December 17, 2012; December 18, 2012; December 28, 2012; December 29, 2012 |
| 5 LB Natural Balance Vegetarian Dog | December 9, 2012 |
| 28 LB Natural Balance Lamb Meal & Brown Rice Dog Large Breed Bites | December 12, 2012; December 20, 2012; December 21, 2012 |
| 5 LB Natural Balance Lamb Meal & Brown Rice Dog Small Breed Bites | December 21, 2012 |
| 12.5 LB Natural Balance Lamb Meal & Brown Rice Dog Small Breed Bites | December 21, 2012 |
So far no illnesses have been reported to the company.
Have you been affected?
Does your dog eat Natural Balance food? If so, I would love to hear whether or not the dog has any symptoms of illness. Leaving a comment will help others who are searching for information. If your dog has become sick please let us know where you bought the food and what your dog’s symptoms are. As always, I would encourage you to share this article so that other pets can avoid illness!
Related Stories
HUGE recall on several Diamond brand dog and cat foods.- Diamond Naturals Lamb and Rice Recall
- Recall on Canidae dog foods.
- ANOTHER Diamond Pet Food Recall
- Recall on Wellness dog foods
- Recall on Chicken Soup for the Soul Dog Food
- Kirkland dog food recall?
- Solid Gold dog food recall
- Are Raw Foods Safe?
- Does the Kirkland Recall affect Costco Canada?
About the author
Dr. Marie is a veterinarian treating dogs, cats, and pocket pets. Click here to ask Dr. Marie a question.
13 Responses to "Recall on Natural Balance Dog Foods"
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My poodle eats Natural Balance Potato & Duck. I don’t see it on the list, so I’m assuming that it hasn’t been recalled. She hasn’t had any issues.
I switched to the natural balance potato and duck. My dog really did not like it and in three weeks he woke up and was lethargic, vomited small amounts and started have bloody mucousy stools. I took him to the ER with early pancreatits, dehydration and abnormal lab work. I contacted Natural Balance and they acted surprised and said they had not heard of other problems. I read them about five of their own website blogs that shows their consumers had absolutely let them know what was happening.
My 9 year old Airedale has been on a mixture of Natural Balance Limited Ingredient Sweet Potato & Fish Dry mixed with Limited Ingredient Sweet Potato & Venison Dry Dog Food & Canned Fish & Sweet Potato Limited Ingrd Formula.
For the past 2 weeks we have been back & forth to the Vet when we noticed he had a brownish dribble from his penis. Took him to the vet the very next day assuming this was a UTI and he was prescribed antibiotics. My vet called me 2 days later indicating that nothing grew in the lab so this was not a UTI as thought but continue on the antibiotic. After one week of on & off dribble, an xray was done which my vet said she noticed no sign of stones. She then referred us to another vet for an ultrasound, this revealed again no stones, bladder looked fine as well as kidneys. She stated that there was some density on his prostate but this could be nothing at all or it could be a prostate infection. After a rectal exam she said that his prostate seemed to be of normal size as well.
The brownish dribble had gone away for about 4 days until the ultrasound and additional exam so we thought whatever this was was being addressed by the antibiotic. However the day following the ultrasound he has dribble again and this now seems to be leaning toward red more than brown in color. The vets have no idea what this is and we are at wits end with this. Still no resolutions. Coule this be an effect from the Natural Balance Food effecting a certain organ and passing through his urine????
Dear Dr. Marie,
My 110 lb. golden retriever has been on Natural Balance L.I.D. Sweet Potato & Venison for a few years due to food allergies. For the past couple of weeks I had noticed he wasn’t eating normally, was a little on the lethargic side, and started eating grass/vomiting once in a while. Today I received notice of the recall, phoned PetCareRX (who I purchase the food from), and was reimbursed for the past 2 orders (I did not have the bags anymore). I truly am not certain if his “illness” was attributable to the food, but he ate from a new bag (not on the recall) in a matter of minutes, so I am guessing there was something in the previous food that wasn’t palatable…difficult to know for sure without it being tested.
My lab who suffers from glomeruli nephritis is on the Taste of the wild lamb and brown rice. I always empty the bag into a food bin so don’t have the bag to see if his food was on the recall list. The past 4 days he has vomited once per day, and today he also had diarrhea in addition to the vomiting. He seems fine otherwise but he doesn’t seem to as interested in eating hid food lately. I don’t know if this could be a flare up of his kidney disease or could he have contracted salmonella poisoning fron the food?
My dog was eating Natural Balance Venison and Sweet Potato when she became ill. She died one and a half weeks later. I still have the dog food. How can I tell if it was contaminated? Where can I send it for testing? I’m not sure the dog food company is the best route to use to have it tested.
My healthy dog died after eating their product, potato and duck. This is made in the Meta, Mo plant where there is now a recal on one of the Diamond’s products…this is how it started in Gaston, S.C.. I don’t think it is salmonella, it reacts more like a toxic reaction. This company does use ingredients from China.
My 5 yr old wiener dog has been on sweet potato and bison by natural balance for the last two months or so, and at first he really liked it, but has zero interest in his crunchies now, blackish green hard stool, vomites a few times a week, and oddly enough a very itchy face and snout. The vet advised me to try for 12 weeks. I cant believe i didnt hear about this sooner i feel awful. Were turning to homemade food for the next while. i wonder if the itchy face has any relation
I am currently fostering a 3 yr boxer and have learned he was feed gravy train in his formitive yrs. I am concerned his poor diet will cause problem later in life. I already have a 4 yr boxer who has allegries and is expensive . I can’t afford another dog who will have health problems because of his poor diet. HELP my boxer and I are falling in love with him.
I am currently fostering a 3 yr boxer and have learned he was feed gravy train in his formitive yrs. I am concerned his poor diet will cause problem later in life. I already have a 4 yr boxer who has allegries and is expensive . I can’t afford another dog who will have health problems because of his poor diet. HELP my boxer and I are falling in love with him.
I am currently fostering a 3 yr boxer and have learned he was feed gravy train in his formitive yrs. I am concerned his poor diet will cause problem later in life. I already have a 4 yr boxer who has allegries and is expensive . I can’t afford another dog who will have health problems because of his poor diet. HELP my boxer and I are falling in love with him.
We have 3 dogs and were feeding them Natures Domain Sweet Potato and Salmon. We opened a new bag just over 1 week ago. (slightly later production batch number than the company is reported as tainted. Do I trust them? NO.) . Our healthy 6 year old Shepherd got sick. Uncontrollable shaking, a limp. Panting. Took him to ER. He worsened in 2 days. Took him to Emergency neurology MRI center. They operated on spinal cord, 7 1/2 hrs long, by 2 of the neurosurgeons. Hemorrhaging spinal cord, from NO injury. He survived. Parapalegic, incontenint, will be in a doggy wheelcair for the rest of his life. Vets said they think he was poisoned. My other shepherd and pit bull mix won’t eat this food, but will eat other things. We visited him yesterday, brought him a pillow with his daddy’s scent on it and a quart ziplock of tainted food. Just found out about recall and called vet, they gave him half of the ziplock this morning. Told them about recall & they said they will monitor him. My 4 legged family members will NEVER eat this again. We will make our own food for them from now on.
My dog hot so sick that still sick to this day. She is been with diarrhea for about a year or over, her food was the well balance lamb brown rice, she got so sick that we stop giving it to her , she is been to hospitals, doctors and lots of meds, only to see her still sick, not as bad, but still sick, did not know about the recall and now I wonder if that what starter my nightmare, she is an Australian Shepherd that we adore, we spent so much money on her and she is still sick with diarrhea. The sad part is that she liked the food and we kept feeding to her without knowing the recall