Natural Balance Limited Ingredient Diets Review
My Natural Balance Limited Ingredient Diets Review focuses on the Green Pea & Duck Formula Grain-Free Dry Cat Food. Much of my review carriers over to the other flavors, but not all. They all have many benefits. My concerns are not specific to Natural Balance Limited Ingredient Diets, but rather to most dry cat food.
Benefits:
Limited ingredients; Is good and means th
ere is less chance that your cat will have an allergic reaction.
Premium protein source; Duck is A NOVEL protein source for pet food at this time and my be of benefit to pets with food allergies/intolerances
It may take months or years before your cat develops an allergic response to a particular food. However, once she’s allergic, she will almost always have a negative reaction to that food. Allergic reactions are most commonly associated with protein sources – usually the meat in your cat’s food. ~ Hillspet.com
and for those without food allergies/intolerances. It can be important to vary cat’s protein source to decrease the chance of a food sensitivity due to repeated exposure.
Watch the Video below on Rotational Feeding featuring Dr. Karen Becker
Grain-Free Energy Sources; Grains can also be a source of an allergic response pets. Eliminating it can help sensitive cats
It contains Salmon Oil; The value of salmon oil is to help keep Omega3 & Omega6 levels balanced.
No Artificial Colors, Preservatives or Flavors; Many of these ingredients are known to contain chemicals that are detrimental to the health of animals and humans. For example:
BHA is on the list of Known Carcinogens and Reproductive Toxicants ~ Petsafe.net
Concerns:
Contains Dl-Methionine; Dl-Methionine is an amino acid that acidifies urine. It has become common place to add this to dry foods to help prevent struvite crystals in cats. Crystal formation in cats can be a life threatening event, because they can prevent urine from passing out of the body. It is with good intent that this is added to Natural Balance Limited Ingredient Diets.
Struvite crystals form easily in an alkaline environment, so by adding an acidifier like Dl-Methionine you decrease the formation of these crystals. The problem, we are now finding, is that cats are now starting to form Calcium oxalate stones because they thrive in an acidic environment.
What can you do?
The most important thing you can do to prevent crystal/stone formation, is to increase the amount of water your cat consumes, so the urine is more diluted. The more dilute the urine is the less chance there is for elements to join together to form crystals.
You can moisten the dry cat food with water or low sodium broth. If your cats doesn’t like this, you can mix some canned food into your cat’s dry food. Alternatively feeding some dry food and some canned food will also help. Either way make sure you add additional water to the wet food first.
Most important is to always have fresh, clean water available to your cat. They will tend to do without water unless it is appealing. I put fresh water out in a clean bowl twice a day. using a variety of bowls will help you determine which is their favorite. I use enamel bowls, glass bowls and stainless steel bowls because I have cats with different preferences.
You could also buy a pet water fountain that filters the water. I recommend staying away from plastic and melamine bowls and fountains because they can become scratched. This can cause bacteria to accumulate as well as allow toxins to be release from the bowl itself.
Conclusion:
Dry Foods are a very convenient, economical and popular way to feed cats. Cats tend to enjoy the consistency as well. My cats loved it. Natural Balance Limited Ingredient Diets are well formulated dry pet food, by a company that prides itself on high quality ingredients. Please feel free to check out their other flavors. I recommend checking out some of Natural Balance canned foods to supplement this if your cat likes it and you can afford it. Remember to make dietary changes slowly.
Disclaimer:I received a sample of this food free from Chewy in exchange for my honest review. I do not make any on going commission on sales of this product or other products on Chewy.com. I am provide links as a convenience for those that are interested.