Comments on: Natural Balance Reimburses Pet Owner For Pet Food Recall Vet Bills

By: Sheri

Sheri — Mon, 23 Jul 2007 22:20:58 +0000

I also had a positive experience with Natural Balance. My 8 year old Sheltie,Denver had eaten nothing but NB venison and rice for a year or two, when the recall news came out. I called and emailed them frantically trying to get lot numbers and when I did not get a response I rushed her to the vet for tests. It cost $120.00 and not only did they pay it but followed up on it 3 times. Denver was fine, and they certainly handled it with compassion and professionalism. I feel very sad for the people that lost their pets and feel very fortunate.

By: janet

janet — Sun, 22 Jul 2007 22:58:18 +0000

I think Royal Canin reimbursed my vet for the blood work, it added up to over $200. I have not received a statement from the vet for a long time so I assume it’s paid. Thankfully, my dog is fine, he was eating sensible choice lamb and rice and the day it was recalled, Royal Canin told me to have my vet bill them for the blood work.

By: Sandy

Sandy — Thu, 19 Jul 2007 06:16:25 +0000

Hey they did the right thing. That is more than we can say of any other petfood company….

By: Amy

Amy — Thu, 19 Jul 2007 03:42:03 +0000

Hmmm… I wonder what they need for claims; my girl got sick after I switched her to NB due to the recall; I thought it would be safer than the Iams and Fancy Feast, and then the NB was recalled and turns out I was wrong. Now I have a CRF cat and I think it’s because of the NB but I all have are receipts from Petco/Petsmart and then my cats health history which shows she suddenly got sick after the food change. I assumed they wouldn’t do the right thing so never pursued a claim, dumb I know, but hey I’ve been through a lot this year with sick kitty and all… maybe I need to try filing a claim. She didn’t eat the NB for long but now she’s on daily sub q’s and visiting the vet every 2 weeks and the bills are adding up.

By: nora marasco

nora marasco — Thu, 19 Jul 2007 01:37:53 +0000

I was giving my Aussie Rufus at about 5 months of age in November of 2006 Natural Balance wet food and dry, thinking I was giving him one of the best. In January 2007 he started vomiting after each meal (among other sparadic typical symtoms) and then refusing to eat what I was offering him (Natural Balance). Apparently these early batches were not as heavily tainted as the later ones. I thank GOD and ITCHMO.COM for breaking the news of the tainted dog food and instinctively I knew before Natural Balance was recalled that something was wrong and of course immediately stopped feeding it. Then I switched to Nutro Natural Choice with the same results (another recalled product!). THANKYOU Itchmo, my beloved Rufus is still with me (now eating homecooked food since March 2007) and looking smashingly beautiful and glowing with health!

By: Julie

Julie — Wed, 18 Jul 2007 23:33:57 +0000

I had to put my sweetest Bichon “Missy” to sleep on March 14th due to a sudden and unexplainable acute kidney failure. The very next day the recalls came out. Since Missy and my other dog had been both eating Natural Balance (NB), I immediately took my other dog to the vet to have her kidneys checked, and even though they were high, they were not as life threatening as they were for Missy. Since both my dogs ate NB, I contacted NB immediately and told them that I thought their food had killed my Bichon and my other dog was on the verge. They were very sympathetic and wrote down all the details.

Then we had the recall for Natural Balance’s Venison & Green Pea dry cat/kitten food. My 4 month old kitten had been eating that, and I was again devastated and shocked about the recall! Off we went to the vet to have her checked too. Fortunately, I had a bag that was an older lot number, and it didn’t harm her.

What I’m trying to say here is that, Natural Balance was very sympathetic to my concerns; wrote down all the details; they contacted my 3 Vets to get all the Vet charges; and then contacted me at least a dozen times asking for the completed claim forms. I never believed they would reimburse me, but here I was with all these vet bills and I couldn’t bring myself to fill out the claim forms because I would start crying about losing Missy and how I could have lost the rest of my babies … because I trusted Natural Balance for their food.

But now, I can see that they are really doing the “RIGHT THING”, and really doing what they said that they would. Wow, I’m kinda impressed. I’ll try to fill out those claim forms now. I may even trust them again to buy dog and cat food from them.

By: E. Hamilton

E. Hamilton — Wed, 18 Jul 2007 23:21:25 +0000

If the fact the Natural Balance IS paying claims with some sense of fairness can be confirmed, and I am going to have see proof of this-if Natural Balance has a problem with that they can take it up with the lying bastids who have destroyed our pets and the reputation of the pet food industry- I would have to take another look at them.
I may faint, a pet food company doing the right thing, yes, I definitely am getting shaky in the knee’s, this is indeed welcome news.

By: Toniann

Toniann — Wed, 18 Jul 2007 22:56:18 +0000

My cat Mary became very sick after eating Natural Balance Venison and pea, he had lower feline urinary tract with urinary blockage, and he was in the Veterinary Hospital over a week.

I contacted Natural Balance, I told them what happen.
I was e-mailed claim forms and with in about 2 months they sent me a check for all my Vet bills.

Thank you
Toniann & Mary

By: pat

pat — Wed, 18 Jul 2007 20:53:08 +0000

Well well well, a pet food company that knows right from wrong, how refreshing! Like Ruth, I hope this isn’t an isolated incident. The insurance company acted the way I expect insurance companies to act… no surprise there. But for Natural Balance to make good instead of saying, “oh too bad, we’re only paying out through our insurance carrier” shows a least some sense of morality.

By: Ruth

Ruth — Wed, 18 Jul 2007 20:36:14 +0000

I am glad for this pet owner who got back money to cover Vet bills.

I wonder why Natural Balance hasn’t made the insurance company to totally reimburse the claim. Have they also been losing customers? I hope they cover all pet claims not just a few to make them look better.

I am still suspicious…….are they really being honest or just a PR ploy to get some postive posting on Itchmo?

By: Katie

Katie — Wed, 18 Jul 2007 18:15:38 +0000

Glad too, that Natural Balance is covering the claim in full.

Katie

By: E. Hamilton

E. Hamilton — Wed, 18 Jul 2007 16:18:35 +0000

Good to see, I hope other pet food companies follow the example, though I will not be holding my breath.

If Natural Balance is not a member of the PFI, then I shall refrain from saying nasty things about them. If they ARE a member of the PFI, they get no free pass from me but I will moderate my comments a teensy bit when speaking of them.

By: vida

vida — Wed, 18 Jul 2007 15:37:13 +0000

I’m so glad that they did the right thing, now if only it never, never has to come to this again.

By: Pukanuba

Pukanuba — Wed, 18 Jul 2007 13:57:20 +0000

Finally, a pf company stepped up to the plate & did the right thing. Kudos to you, Natural Balance. Nice to know there really are human beings who run these companies or at least this one. I won’t say what I think about the insurance company……