Purina

Sorry if this has been asked already, but here in South Africa I think probably our foods for cats are fairly limited.

Our biggest and only sellers that I can think of now are

hills science diet, royal and a few others which are very pricey at pet stores. I normally alternate between Hills and royal, but realise that they are not that great.

I've heard the name Purina mentioned? (sp?) and I see it is half the price and sold at supermarkets. But it seems it is held in high regard in the USA for eg.

is this so??

Purina, IMO, is a lesser quality food than both Hills & Royal Canin (is Royal Canin the same as Royal?).

It's actually held in fairly low regard in the US.
Some purina brands are better than others.
In a pinch I would feed Purina Pro-plan and if I were desperate I'd feed Purina One, but I'd never consider the other Purina brands.

I've never had any luck with Science Diet, and to me, it smells bad anyway
No experience at all with RC, so I can't comment there.

Originally Posted by white cat lover

Purina, IMO, is a lesser quality food than both Hills & Royal Canin (is Royal Canin the same as Royal?).

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yes sorry I hit a blank royal canine... so I will stick to hills science then for now!

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you would think it's held in high regard because its commercials are all over TV...It's certainly better than the really cheap stuff that's like 50 pounds for $5 though and a lot of people will feed their cats with that stuff - probably none on this site but in real life, yes they do

Most people on here would probably vote for Royal canin as the best of your options, then science diet (over here we dont use the Hill's part of the name) and lastly Purina. Its all marketing Feed what you can.

RC is the one that is IMHO the better of what you mention... then purina then hills

Wow, I live in the US, and I've never heard anything about Purina being an inferior brand of food. My cats eat Purina dry food (Indoor Formula) and Friskies (also Purina, isn't it?) canned food.

I've been wary of Hills Science Diet since I remember some Science Diet products being on that huge pet food recall a few years ago. I know someone whose dog died because of the contaminated food...I remember being relieved that no Purina foods were contaminated. (EDIT: I just did some research at www.thepetfoodlist.com and discovered that some Purina foods WERE involved in the recall. None of the foods our kitties ate...still, this worries me. I'll look into switching dry foods.) (2nd EDIT: I just did some more research on the food brands I have seen forum members praise most often...Wellness, Innova Evo, Orijen, Chicken Soup, and Nutro...it seems that all are either associated with Menu Foods or have sickened cats before. It's starting to look like no cat food is safe

)

I've heard Wellness is a good brand of kitty food, but after seeing the price, there was no way my cats could eat that regularly. Never tried Royal Canin. Are there any better dry cat foods with prices comparable to Purina's?

You can try Nutro Max or Authority (Petsmart brand)...

I have been feeding my CRF cats Purina NF, the canned prescription diet, for over 7 years. They positively thrive on it. They also get Hill prescription k/d canned, and Hills k/d dry as a treat. When I received a case of Purina NF from my vet that had many dented cans in it, I contacted Purina, and they sent me two $30 coupons (the price of two cases of food!) They also were not involved with the melamine scare of a year or so ago. Their prescription diets are wonderful, and I can't say enough good about them. I've never fed their commercial diets, so I can't really comment one way or another.

I guess like humans, some cats thrive on some things others dont.

I did find my cat vomited a lot on Royal canine although it is a good product as when I would add the shine coat one, his coat was divine.

But he would vomit a LOT.

now he has stopped vomiting. So for now I will stick with Hills science diet.

I just want him to get the very best, I dont care what it costs.

But it makes you wonder with all our sciences if a mouse or two would be ok as that is probably what they would eat heheheheheh

No - with your choices - I'd feed Royal Canin - its the higher quality then any of them.

Mine likes Purina One

Originally Posted by MzKitty

Sorry if this has been asked already, but here in South Africa I think probably our foods for cats are fairly limited.

Our biggest and only sellers that I can think of now are

hills science diet, royal and a few others which are very pricey at pet stores. I normally alternate between Hills and royal, but realise that they are not that great.

I've heard the name Purina mentioned? (sp?) and I see it is half the price and sold at supermarkets. But it seems it is held in high regard in the USA for eg.

is this so??

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Purina is a pretty low quality food. By Royal, do you mean Royal Canin by chance? That is actually a pretty good food. And I'd definately hold Science diet way above Purina.

You could check to see what type(s) of cat food your local veterinary clinic sells. At least in the United States, this is where the highest quality pet food is sold, but it is more costly than the pet food sold in supermarkets.

Originally Posted by Lorie D.

You could check to see what type(s) of cat food your local veterinary clinic sells. At least in the United States, this is where the highest quality pet food is sold, but it is more costly than the pet food sold in supermarkets.

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That is simply not true.
Vet's sell what is promoted to them, usually in this country it's Science Diet.
Why? Because that's who sponsors most vet schools minimal nutrition course.

Most vets know next to nothing beyond the basics of nutrition, because next to nothing is what they are taught, unless they specialize.

i feed my babies purina one and they LOVE it. I tried other stuff, buyt this is their fave!

Originally Posted by Arlyn

That is simply not true.
Vet's sell what is promoted to them, usually in this country it's Science Diet.
Why? Because that's who sponsors most vet schools minimal nutrition course.

Most vets know next to nothing beyond the basics of nutrition, because next to nothing is what they are taught, unless they specialize.

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Interesting...I didn't know that.

Keep in mind that Purina is, essentially, a grain processing company. The WILL put grain in almost everything. Grain isn't something cats need or can use very well.

That said, I've known cats to eat Purina Cat Chow all their life and live good, healthy lives. My brother's cats are like that, and 16+ years is pretty typical.

Originally Posted by Arlyn

That is simply not true.
Vet's sell what is promoted to them, usually in this country it's Science Diet.
Why? Because that's who sponsors most vet schools minimal nutrition course.

Most vets know next to nothing beyond the basics of nutrition, because next to nothing is what they are taught, unless they specialize.

Click to expand...

I never found good food on the vets... They only seem to sell Science Diet, which is nasty. As a rule of thumb, to be safe, don't listen to the vet when it comes to food, unless there is a VALID health reason behind it. IMO they completely lack any knowledge on the subject.