Our vet recommended a limited ingredient diet for our 10 yr old cat who began pulling out his belly fur. The vet thought perhaps his tummy was hurting and a limited ingredient diet my ease his discomfort. After weeks of research we purchased this cat food. Our cat exclusively ate this food for 8 weeks and throughout this period of time, continually lost weight. The weight loss became so extreme his health was at risk . we had to switch him to a higher protein diet. Cats need a high protein diet and this food did not meet the necessary requirements for our cat to have a healthy diet.

One of my cats has bad food allergies that make her ears really gross and she gets really bad dandruff, so I was advised by my vet to switch to a protein she had never had before such as duck. Have been feeding her this for about 2 years now and her ears are much cleaner and her dandruff is much more under control. I have 2 cats and they steal each other's food so they both get this duck food despite one not having any allergies.

Pros: They have the absolute SOFTEST and shiniest fur out of any cats I have ever touched. Seriously - they are like fuzzy blankets. It's ridiculous how soft they are. They've always been pretty soft cats but this food has made their coats 10x silkier. Everyone who touches them comments on how ridiculously soft they are. They also seem to drink a lot more water when they eat this food, which is good because cats are generally pretty dehydrated. It has also almost entirely cleared up one of my cats allergies, which is what the main goal was.

Cons: Duck has a LOT of protein and this food is pretty calorie rich. My cats gained a lot of weight since starting this food, like 2lbs each. I now have switched them to "slow feeder" balls to help with dieting because there is not any weight control duck food that I can find on the market, and switching proteins is not an option unfortunately. While I am happy this food makes them drink more water, it also means they are using the bathroom more so I have to change their box more frequently.

The biggest downside has definitely been the weight gain, but my cats are also lazy/10 years old so it may not happen for your pet.

All in all this food is great and my cats seem to enjoy eating it. The 10lb bag lasts me about 2 months with 2 cats.

BEWARE cat owners who have cats with health issues. A new formula (see manufacturers website, or Chewy.com for comparison) has now added preservatives, rosemary and salmon oil to the Duck/Pea LID. My cat has IBD/IBS and can't have fish or chicken ingredients. She is a finicky eater and loved this brand. I had done a lot of research to find a good quality food with limited ingredients and a specialty protein she could eat. This was one of the few, and affordable, options available. Even better than the vet-prescribed brands that usually have too many bad unhealthy ingredients. The list of ingredients is now a lot longer than it used to be - so much for "limited". What a HUGE disappointment.

I live with an elderly indoor kitty, Fred, who has had tummy troubles in the past -- we've had to cycle through a lot of different dry foods including some outrageously pricey stuff from the vet. We'll find something that seems to work and then after a few months, he starts having trouble again. So the search goes on.

He's been on this for a few weeks, and so far, it seems to be working OK. We're not getting the usual reactions to "problem food" (upchucking, diarrhea, etc.), and he's showing increased energy recently and more interest in birds outside. He seems to like it, too -- I took a few days to introduce it by mixing it in with his current food until we were 100% Natural Balance. We're entering week 4 and things are going nicely.

I'll keep an eye on this but if the good results continue, I may switch him over to this permanently. It seems to suit him.

This review is for the green pea and salmon formula.

I have a 10-month-old kitten. I just got him last month from a rescue group. I started him out on a different food and he kept scratching the same place under his eye. I've had lots of pets with allergies and food sensitivities in the past (so I know what to look for), and there wasn't anything wrong with his eye, itself, so I suspected a food problem and decided to switch him to something else.

His past food was a different brand and was a chicken and rice formula. Not being sure what was causing his issues, I wanted a food with neither chicken nor rice. (In general, I don't think cats should be fed grain anyway, so I was happy to be switching him to something grain free. He was only on the rice food because I got a free bag from the rescue group. I had previously tried to get him to eat wet food and he wouldn't touch it. So kibble it had to be.) It is actually quite difficult to find a dry cat food without any chicken in it, but I came across this.

I have past experience with Natural Balance foods for cats with digestive and allergy issues and they've generally been quite positive, so between that experience with the brand and looking at the ingredients list, I went with this and slowly mixed it in to his old food over the course of a week or two.

First things first. The cat eats it. He likes it. Sometimes my other cats get to his bowl and they like it too...in fact, they emptied it this morning.

Secondly, it is not giving the cat I feed it to any digestive issues. He seems to process it quite well. His fur looks nice, his eyes look nice, and he has a lot of energy. So I feel he is getting appropriate nutrition. He has gained a little weight (0.25 pounds only) but he is not quite through growing yet, so this seems adequate for supporting growth in an older kitten. (The bag claims it is good for all life stages. I haven't had a very young kitten for a long time so I can't speak directly to that.)

And, most importantly, now that he has been on this food exclusively for a little while now, he has stopped scratching under his eye and it is healing up.

Other items of interest: this has a fishy smell when you open the bag but that dissipates after the bag is open. Also, the bag does not appear to be resealable so you may want a clip or a separate storage container for it. (I have the 5 pound bag. I don't know how the larger bags are but since this trial was a success, I'll go up to a larger bag for next time.)