# Change in Natural Balance's Duck & Potato formula...



## camfan (Oct 30, 2006)

Kissi's mom mentioned she heard a rumor of this so I went to the website to check it out. It's true. Here's the link and the info: (I consider myself a fairly intelligent person, but what the heck is the change?? I totally don't follow the first 3 sentences...)

http://www.naturalbalanceinc.com/dogformulas/PandD.html

New & Improved! 

We have recently improved our Potato & Duck Formula by adding more fresh duck and potato protein. This improvement enhances the performance of the product, but may lighten the kibble color. This change was made because we have found it increasingly difficult to obtain the quality and quantity of duck meal that our rigorous standards require, therefore we have elected to remove this ingredient. We have been feeding this formula for the last six months to many of our own Natural Balance pets and it has produced exceptional results.

When starting on this new formula, the change should be made gradually, by replacing the current food with increasing portions of Natural Balance® L.I.D. Limited Ingredient Diets® Potato & Duck New & Improved formula. The change should be completed after 5 to 7 days.

A very small percentage of dogs with sensitive stomachs may experience a temporary digestive upset with the formulation change to the Potato & Duck Formula. For this limited number of dogs, we recommend feeding smaller, more frequent meals, combined with the old formula (if available), over a 5 to 7 day period to adjust to the new formula.

If you have any questions please email: [email protected] or call us at (800) 829-4493


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## LJSquishy (Feb 27, 2008)

I believe the change is that they no longer use Duck Meal which I think was a previous ingredient. Instead, they have upped the amount of actual Duck meat and Potato Protein.

The old ingredients were listed as: Potatoes, Duck Meal, Duck...

They now list as: Potatoes, Duck, Potato Protein...

So they have included more potato protein and more duck (not duck meal).


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## dwerten (Oct 6, 2007)

ughhh i was hoping they ditched the flaxseed but they did not  alot of allergy dogs are allergic to flaxseed yet every food of natural balance has it for their limited ingredient diets


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## camfan (Oct 30, 2006)

QUOTE (LJSquishy @ Jul 6 2009, 07:29 PM) index.php?act=findpost&pid=801826


> I believe the change is that they no longer use Duck Meal which I think was a previous ingredient. Instead, they have upped the amount of actual Duck meat and Potato Protein.
> 
> The old ingredients were listed as: Potatoes, Duck Meal, Duck...
> 
> ...


ok, i think I get it, thanks 

I always thought that "meal" was actually better than just "duck" for example. Because "meal" is when they take out the very best ingredients of the duck and get rid of the not-so-good or little nutrient parts. So...basically they are saying that the food has gone DOWN in quality? They even say that they couldn't keep up with their own high standards...hmmmm....so weird. I still don't get it!!


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## sophie (Jul 9, 2006)

Well, this explains Sophie's recent most unpleasant tummy upset! I usually rotate them between the Ultra and the Duck and Potato with no issues at all. But, this last rotation to the Duck and Potato was explosive to say the least! I did notice that the kibble did look a little lighter. 

Note to self: check to see if there have been any changes to the formula before buying a new bag! 

Thanks for sharing this info!

Linda


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## Kissi's Mom (Apr 21, 2006)

I spoke with a Natural Balbnce rep today and was told that anything (canned/dry) with a date starting at Oct. 2010 was the
new formula. Great...ppppppppp...Kissi has done so well on this stuff...figures they would change something. She has
not needed meds for IBS since she started eating the duck & potato....hopefully this won't upset her too much!!
Linda


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## Cosy (Feb 9, 2006)

I wouldn't consider duck meal better over duck. Duck meal is the entire duck including feet, etc., that's been dehydrated
and made into kibble. YUCK!


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## camfan (Oct 30, 2006)

See, I'm still confused...for example, the Canidae website discusses "meat" vs "meal" and explains it as "meat" contains a lot of water whereas "meal" is dehydrated first and all the water is taken out and what's left is more nutrition http://www.canidae.com/ingredients/meatvmeal.html. They are refering to lamb and chicken but I'm assuming that duck is the same...

Anyway, YoYo has not done very well at all on NB duck and potato. Ollie seems to be ok with it still. But of course I need to get something that they BOTH do well on. YoYo does much better on the other NB brands, but still his poo isn't quite as solid as I'd like to see it...


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## Nikki's Mom (Feb 13, 2008)

QUOTE (camfan @ Jul 6 2009, 08:43 PM) index.php?act=findpost&pid=801849


> QUOTE (LJSquishy @ Jul 6 2009, 07:29 PM) index.php?act=findpost&pid=801826





> I believe the change is that they no longer use Duck Meal which I think was a previous ingredient. Instead, they have upped the amount of actual Duck meat and Potato Protein.
> 
> The old ingredients were listed as: Potatoes, Duck Meal, Duck...
> 
> ...


ok, i think I get it, thanks  

I always thought that "meal" was actually better than just "duck" for example. Because "meal" is when they take out the very best ingredients of the duck and get rid of the not-so-good or little nutrient parts. So...basically they are saying that the food has gone DOWN in quality? They even say that they couldn't keep up with their own high standards...hmmmm....so weird. I still don't get it!!

[/B][/QUOTE]

Meal means they extrude the moisture from the protein. I always thought that meal was preferable in dry dog food.

And what is potato protein, anyway?? Anyone know?


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## camfan (Oct 30, 2006)

QUOTE (Nikki's Mom @ Jul 10 2009, 08:32 PM) index.php?act=findpost&pid=803766


> QUOTE (camfan @ Jul 6 2009, 08:43 PM) index.php?act=findpost&pid=801849





> QUOTE (LJSquishy @ Jul 6 2009, 07:29 PM) index.php?act=findpost&pid=801826





> I believe the change is that they no longer use Duck Meal which I think was a previous ingredient. Instead, they have upped the amount of actual Duck meat and Potato Protein.
> 
> The old ingredients were listed as: Potatoes, Duck Meal, Duck...
> 
> ...


ok, i think I get it, thanks  

I always thought that "meal" was actually better than just "duck" for example. Because "meal" is when they take out the very best ingredients of the duck and get rid of the not-so-good or little nutrient parts. So...basically they are saying that the food has gone DOWN in quality? They even say that they couldn't keep up with their own high standards...hmmmm....so weird. I still don't get it!!

[/B][/QUOTE]

Meal means they extrude the moisture from the protein. I always thought that meal was preferable in dry dog food.

And what is potato protein, anyway?? Anyone know?
[/B][/QUOTE]

Yup, that is my understanding too.

Based on the meal vs. meat I'm guessing that potato protein must also mean that the water content is taken out and you're left w/ the protein and other nutrients.

I went through the dog food analysis website last night for quite a while and it looks like Wellness "sensitive" (or something like that, it's new) has all the ingredients that I'm interested in...Wellness is sold almost everywhere around here BUT I wonder how difficult it will be to find the "sensitive" line in stores...


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