View Full Version : Natural Balance vs. Candiea for 8 yr olds
YorkieLover
02-08-2005, 11:49 AM
Hi guys, I was wondering if anyone had any thoughts on Natural Balance versus Candiea? We have both at home that our 6 month old wouldn't touch and was wondering about trying it on the 8 yr old boys we adopted... From what I've read it has to be better than Nutro which is what the rescue lady told us to give them...
Renee750il
02-08-2005, 12:19 PM
Nutro is pretty much garbage if you really read the ingredients. Clever packaging makes people think they are buying something worthwhile.
You may find out that Cocoa decides she likes them when she sees Myles and Houdini eating! It's amazing how that works sometimes . . . :D
YorkieLover
02-08-2005, 01:34 PM
Boy do you have that right... We already have to put Houdini in a different room because he eats both Myles and Cocoa's when he's finished with his. Myles is in the breakfast area and Cocoa is in the kitchen but boy she wants to run over to his dish every chance she gets... They are all sooo funny together it is like follow the leader. If one is getting a drink the other two pop their heads up over the couch to see what is going on. They crack me up.
gaddylovesdogs
02-08-2005, 02:36 PM
They are both great food. Canidae and Natural Balance are two of my favorite brands. NB is available at my local Petco while Canidae is not (I feed neither. My dogs get raw/kibble)
pitbulliest
02-09-2005, 02:10 AM
Natural Balance is actually not one of the greatest foods in my opinion..I personally consider it a little on the low quality side. Canidae isn't that bad I guess...I think its better than NB...
Have you ever looked into Wellness? Alot of people are switching to that brand and have noticed some great results. Maybe you can take a look at it as well. Good luck :)
Mordy
02-09-2005, 02:46 AM
natural balance isn't a bad food at all. the company uses high quality ingredients and supplements. the products are carefully formulated and work especially well for sensitive dogs.
on the other hand, i'm not a big fan of wellness for various reasons:
1. it contains only about 30% meat and is way too high in grain content for my taste. a dog is a carnivorous animal and has a dietary requiremend first and foremost for animal protein and fat, not carbohydrates.
2. for what the food offers it is vastly overpriced, especially if you take ingredient quality vs. price of other foods into consideration.
3. from personal experience (and that of many other dog owners i have talked to) wellness is one of the foods that has the worst effect on a dog's teeth that i have ever seen from what is otherwise considered a high quality food.
4. wellness is going mass market after OMH went into a partnership with an investment company. whenever this has happened to other pet food companies in the past, quality has suffered. one of the latest examples of that is iams/eukanuba, which used to be a decent brand before P&G took over and put it into grocery and department stores.
pitbulliest
02-09-2005, 04:07 PM
lol Just as well because I stopped feeding Wellness anyways...I feed http://www.timberwolforganics.com now...but I still think Wellness is a pretty good food... however if you say its going mass market, I wouldn't be surprised if it reaches the same low level as IAMS for example (sooner or later)... no wonder I've started to see it in just about every pet store...hmm
As for natural balance...my mistake...I confused it with natural choice for some reason...sorry.
What do you think of timberwolf?
Mordy
02-09-2005, 07:55 PM
timberwolf has nice, unique products made from quality ingredients. i like their approach to nutrition and the fact that they are one of the few companies who will not go around spreading myths like feeding raw is bad for your dog and you should never feed bones of any sort and so on.
however, the good quality of the products they make nonwithstanding, their customer service has a lot of room for improvement and the owner is quite the arrogant snot who gets very defensive when you start asking in-depth questions. just some personal experience. lol
I am currently feeding my dog California Natural, but am thinking of switching only because it is very hard to find. Not all Pet supplies Plus sell it and the ones that do have a very short supply of it usually. I really like the food a lot too!! I wanted to know what food you think I should switch to...I was thinking Innova or Canidae??
Herschel
02-28-2007, 11:56 PM
Wow, this is an old thread.
Natural Balance is a great food, as is Canidae. I feed Canidae and support it completely. I think the formulation is great, easy to handle, and does wonders for my dog's energy level and coat. We tried Innova but had terrible results.
If anyone is wondering, you can't go wrong with Natural Balance or Canidae.
Thanks Hersh...I will try the Canidae then! :)
juliefurry
03-01-2007, 12:30 AM
I think the canidae is great! Natural Balance was ok but wasn't a great food for the price you would pay for it. I would definetely try the Canidae though it's great I have to switch back to it this coming week and I'm going to stick with the chicken meal and rice formula of canidae.
showpug
03-01-2007, 01:07 AM
I think they are both quality foods. I wish NB had a formula with a little more fat and protein, but I have had good results regardless.
ToscasMom
03-01-2007, 02:01 AM
I switched from Natural Balance to Candidae for Tosca. I wasn't that pleased with the protein number in NB for a puppy. I wanted her to eat Eagle Pack, but she didn't like it much, so I was mixing the two. I finally went to straight NB with protein boost from raw egg, but I noticed that she was starting to gain weight on the NB so I switched to Canidae and she loves it, her weight is stable and she eats less. Her coat looks as good as it did on NB and I noticed her stool is practically scentless, no kidding. And it looks like it's going to disintegrate/crumble. I am told that this is optimal for a dog and that if you want to judge a food for your dog, check out your dog's poop, so to speak. Anyway, that's my story.
I have both of my guys on Canidae, and have converted quite a few of my clients. I love the formula, and love the price.
BUT...I did pick up a "bad bag" the other day. I got it home, opened it up, and it smelled like death. It wasn't out of date, just a bad bag. I called the company and they told me to take it back to the retailer. They called the store and had her open all of the bags from her last shipment. Sure enough, many of the bags were bad. They replaced all of them free of charge and sent her a whole extra pallet to give out to her customers for free for the inconvience. I thought that was a really great thing for a company to do. Most would have just tried to play it off.
Lizmo
03-01-2007, 04:53 PM
Me, from what I have heard, will never feed NB.
I am feeding Canidae ALS right now, and the dogs are doing wonderful on it :)
Momof2Pups
03-01-2007, 08:54 PM
I think they are both usually considered high end foods but I consider Canidae better quality. For my own dog I would prefer Canidae. And NB is way too expensive while IMO it's not really better than Canidae (which is a very reasonable price considering its price).
rabbitsarebetter
03-01-2007, 09:00 PM
i use nutro high energy and Ruckus is doing awesome on it (in comparison to the other nurtro foods i was feeding) i used eagle pack once but the shipping on it is crazy.
whats so wrong with nurto? i have read the ingredients and compared them to natural balance. maybe i just dont know what i am looking at.
showpug
03-01-2007, 10:05 PM
i use nutro high energy and Ruckus is doing awesome on it (in comparison to the other nurtro foods i was feeding) i used eagle pack once but the shipping on it is crazy.
whats so wrong with nurto? i have read the ingredients and compared them to natural balance. maybe i just dont know what i am looking at.
Nutro High Energy Ingredients:Ingredients
Chicken Meal, Ground Rice, Corn Gluten Meal, Poultry Fat (preserved with mixed Tocopherols, a source of natural Vitamin E), Dried Beet Pulp, Rice Bran, Rice Flour, Lamb Meal, Natural Flavors, Soybean Oil, Sunflower Oil (preserved with mixed Tocopherols, a source of natural Vitamin E), Potassium Chloride, Monosodium Phosphate, Choline Chloride, Dried Kelp, Dried Egg Product, Vitamin E Supplement, Ferrous Sulfate, Zinc Sulfate, Zinc Proteinate, Biotin, Ascorbic Acid (source of Vitamin C), Manganese Proteinate, Glucosamine Hydrochloride, Niacin Supplement, Chondroitin Sulfate, Manganous Oxide, Calcium Pantothenate, Copper Sulfate, Vitamin B12 Supplement, Copper Proteinate, Sodium Selenite, Riboflavin (source of Vitamin B2), Vitamin A Supplement, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Thiamine Mononitrate (source of Vitamin B1), Garlic, Vitamin D3 Supplement, Menadione Sodium Bisulfite Complex (source of Vitamin K activity), Calcium Iodate, Folic Acid.
I put in bold the ingredients I don't like. This food contains a lot of grain fragments. It's fat source is generic. Instead of "chicken fat" it has "poultry fat" so you don't really know the exact source of the fat. I also don't like the fact that it contains corn gluten meal and soybean oil. Both of those ingredients aren't the best quality and are common allergens. Lastly, it contains menadione which I refuse to feed.
It's not a horrible food, but there are many others that are much, much better!
Luvntzus
03-01-2007, 11:24 PM
Showpugs pointed out the exact ingredients I would have. Nutro is IMO a midgrade food. There are much worse, but also better foods.
shazbot
03-02-2007, 08:07 AM
I fed NB switched to California Natural to Canidae. I love Canidae. With NB I found the dogs looking for more food even after feeding a little more than the recommended amount. With Canidae I feed much less and they seem more satisfied and I pay half the amount for Canidae than I did for NB. I've definately an advocate for Canidae now. :D
Momof2Pups
03-02-2007, 11:21 AM
I think they are both usually considered high end foods but I consider Canidae better quality. For my own dog I would prefer Canidae. And NB is way too expensive while IMO it's not really better than Canidae (which is a very reasonable price considering its price).
I meant to say, "which is a very reasonable price considering its quality." ;)
ToscasMom
03-02-2007, 01:15 PM
I am not sure if this is related to area and popularity of foods, but to be honest, Natural Balance doesn't cost much more than Canidae where I am. In fact, the difference for the 15 pound bag was one dollar, for the larger bag, roughly two dollars last time I looked. I didn't switch for cost, I switched for other reasons I explained. I also find that Tosca eats less and is more satisfied on Canidae, and not in danger of weight issues.