Opinions on Purina ONE?

I feed my cats (I have 11 permanent cats and currently 6 strays/ferals indoors awaiting their spay-neuter date----so price IS an issue)) Chicken Soup dry food, along with some 9 Lives and Friskies canned food (they split a few cans every night....not all of them will eat canned food). I've been flirting with the idea of adding a different dry food. I always used to mix their dry foods, but stopped when I switched to Chicken Soup (about 5 years ago? I think). Anyway, my cats are FAT. Almost all of them. I know they should be on scheduled measured feedings (preferably all canned), but my schedule doesn't allow for this, and with so many it's hard to know who's eating what.

So, I looked at Chicken Soup's nutritional analysis. 30% protein, 20% fat. Which seems a little low on the protein and high on the fat. So, ideally, something higher in protein and lower in fat would be good to mix in. I was at Petsmart the other day, and Purina ONE was on sale. I grabbed 2 big bags of the Healthy Weight formula. 40% protein, 9% fat. The ingredients don't look too bad. I mean, I hate to see by-products in a pet food, but it's not horrible. And I would never buy a dog food with corn in it, but I understand that it can be good for male cats. Here's the link: http://www.purinaone.com/Products/Pr...4-E3C4DA93A4B6

So, ideas? Opinions? Keep in mind that any food I mix in needs to cost about the same as Chicken Soup ($22.89 for 18 pounds). Should I get the "lite" formula of Chicken Soup (32% protein, 9% fat)? Or should I just give up on the idea of mixing their kibble?

This is just my personal experience..But I wouldnt use Purina One for weight control my BFs step mother uses the weight control for her Doxie and does measured scheduled feedings..It hasnt helped at all Weenie has not gotten any leaner since being on this formula..More than 2 yrs..Id go with the Chicken Soup one personally...

I was feeding out rescue cats this at one point, and my vet told us that this food makes a cat's urine too alkaline. I am not sure if this is true or not but we did not want to risk any of the cats in our care getting sick. A good priced good quality food to try would be By Nature, they sell it at Petsmart.

Originally Posted by proudmamiof4

A good priced good quality food to try would be By Nature, they sell it at Petsmart.

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I don't think I've ever heard of or seen this food there. Do you have any information on it? Is it on Petsmart's website? I don't have time to look it up today. I have other things to look up and I'm on dialup, so it will take a while.

byNature
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Available in 17 lb., 8 lb., 4 lb. and 1 lb. bags.

Adult Cat Formula
Naturally, nutritionally complete. With added vitamins and minerals.

Ingredients: Chicken Meal, Ground Barley, Chicken Fat (Stabilized with Mixed Tocopherols), Chicken, Chicken Livers, Ground Brown Rice, Flaxseed Meal, Ground Oats, Fish Meal, Tomato Pomace, Natural Flavors, Alfalfa Meal, Yeast Culture, Salt, Fish Oil, Taurine, Vitamin E Supplement, Choline Chloride, Zinc Sulfate, Zinc Proteinate, Vitamin A Supplement, Vitamin D3 Supplement, Sweet Potatoes, Carrots, Blueberries, Cranberries, Dried Chicory Root, Raspberries, Turmeric, Niacin Supplement, Ferrous Sulfate, Manganese Sulfate, d–Calcium Pantothenate, Manganese Proteinate, Copper Proteinate, Thiamine Mononitrate, Copper Sulfate, Vitamin B12 Supplement, Riboflavin Supplement, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Calcium Iodate, Folic Acid, Biotin, Sodium Selenite, Rosemary Extract, Dried Yeast Fermentation Solubles.

Calorie Content: 460 kcal/cup** (calculated)
Guaranteed Analysis
Crude Protein (minimum) 33%
Crude Fat (minimum) 18%
Crude Fiber (maximum) 4%
Moisture (maximum) 10%
Ash (maximum) 7%
Magnesium (maximum) 0.10%
Copper (minimum) 35 mg/kg
Manganese (minimum) 35 mg/kg
Zinc (minimum) 200 mg/kg
Vitamin A (minimum) 17,600 IU/kg
Vitamin E (minimum) 275 IU/kg
Taurine (minimum) 0.15%
Omega-3 Fatty Acids (min.)* 0.35%
Omega-6 Fatty Acids (min.)* 3.30%
* Not recognized as an essential nutrient by the AAFCO Cat Food Nutrient Profiles.
By Nature Adult Cat Formula is formulated to meet the nutritional levels established by the AAFCO Cat Food Nutrient Profiles for all life stages.

Suggested Feeding Plan
Age\tBody Weight (Lbs.)\tApprox. Cups per Day**
Kitten\t \t
10 weeks\t3⁄4 – 21⁄4\t1⁄4 – 1⁄3
20 weeks\t21⁄2 – 41⁄2\t1⁄4 – 1⁄2
30 weeks\t31⁄4 – 6\t1⁄4 – 2⁄3
40 weeks\t43⁄4 – 81⁄2\t1⁄2 – 3⁄4
Adult\t3 – 5\t1⁄4 – 2⁄3
\t5 – 10\t1⁄3 – 3⁄4
\t10 – 15\t2⁄3 – 1
\t15 +\t3⁄4 +
** A standard 8 oz. measuring cup holds approximately 4.2 oz. of By Nature Adult Cat Formula.
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Another one to think about is Blue Buffalo

Yes, it has less fat but it is FULL of carbs, grains, and junk that will not only be bad for your cats, but it is very fattening...
IMO, stay away from weight control formulas - you would be better off going to a grain free diet.
Taste of the wild would be an excellent option cost and quality wise...

from your link
Ingredients

Turkeybut this really falls to fish meal after cooking, poultry by-product mealby products in a dry are a NO go for me too little control, corn gluten meal, soy flour, brewers riceSoy is a high allergen and brewers rice is low quality, whole grain corncorn and corn gluten IMHO are a NO go in the same formula, soybean hulls*, fish mealhulls are INDIGESTABLE and fish meal can be treated with chemicals, brewers dried yeast, non-fat yogurt, animal fat preserved with mixed-tocopherols (form of Vitamin E), phosphoric acid, wheat gluten, animal digestthis far down not a big issue but this is a flavoring similiar to a by product, calcium carbonate, tetra sodium pyrophosphate, potassium chloride, salt, choline chloride, taurine, Vitamin E supplement, zinc sulfate, ferrous sulfate, manganese sulfate, niacin, Vitamin A supplement, calcium pantothenate, thiamine mononitrate, copper sulfate, riboflavin supplement, Vitamin B-12 supplement, pyridoxine hydrochloride, folic acid, Vitamin D-3 supplement, calcium iodate, biotin, menadione sodium bisulfite complex (source of Vitamin K activity), sodium selenite.

the protein is coming from things like corn and soy mostly

IMHO chicken soup is better , more meat and less allergy prone ingrediants though it is a grain heavy food ...

IMHO this is = to chicken soup

Originally Posted by proudmamiof4

byNature


Adult Cat Formula
Naturally, nutritionally complete. With added vitamins and minerals.

Ingredients: Chicken Meal, Ground Barley, Chicken Fat (Stabilized with Mixed Tocopherols), Chicken, Chicken Liversorgans in a dry cause me issues do to vitamin levels , Ground Brown Rice, Flaxseed Meal, Ground Oatstwo grains and a legume that the body thinks is a grain, Fish Meal, Tomato Pomace, Natural Flavors, Alfalfa Meal, Yeast Culture, Salt one can have things like Msg in it .. alfalfa is a HIGH allergen .. unknown yeast is also an allergen and IMHO salt is to high, Fish Oil, Taurine, Vitamin E Supplement, Choline Chloride, Zinc Sulfate, Zinc Proteinate, Vitamin A Supplement, Vitamin D3 Supplement, Sweet Potatoes, Carrots, Blueberries, Cranberries, Dried Chicory Root, Raspberries, Turmeric, Niacin Supplement, Ferrous Sulfate, Manganese Sulfate, d–Calcium Pantothenate, Manganese Proteinate, Copper Proteinate, Thiamine Mononitrate, Copper Sulfate, Vitamin B12 Supplement, Riboflavin Supplement, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Calcium Iodate, Folic Acid, Biotin, Sodium Selenite, Rosemary Extract, Dried Yeast Fermentation Solubles.

Calorie Content: 460 kcal/cup** (calculated)
Guaranteed Analysis
Crude Protein (minimum) 33%
Crude Fat (minimum) 18%
Crude Fiber (maximum) 4%
Moisture (maximum) 10%
Ash (maximum) 7%
Magnesium (maximum) 0.10%
Copper (minimum) 35 mg/kg
Manganese (minimum) 35 mg/kg
Zinc (minimum) 200 mg/kg
Vitamin A (minimum) 17,600 IU/kg
Vitamin E (minimum) 275 IU/kg
Taurine (minimum) 0.15%
Omega-3 Fatty Acids (min.)* 0.35%
Omega-6 Fatty Acids (min.)* 3.30%
* Not recognized as an essential nutrient by the AAFCO Cat Food Nutrient Profiles.
By Nature Adult Cat Formula is formulated to meet the nutritional levels established by the AAFCO Cat Food Nutrient Profiles for all life stages.

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Solid food but there are less grainy ones within the price bracket

Thanks....the By Nature looks OK, but has about the same percentages as Chicken Soup so I don't see any benefit. TOTW is about $35 for 15 pounds....a little out of the budget, theough I could probably swing it if I had to. To tell the truth, I'm not convinced that "grain-free" foods are worth it. I just don't see much of a difference between grains and potatoes . I suppose I'll stick with the Chicken Soup for now, without mixing....but I do want to look into a higher protein food.

Although, just as an arguing point, my cats did do very well on Purina ONE when I used to feed it to them (before I knew better). Nice fur, not fat, good stools, etc. So it can't be ALL bad. Maybe on the low end, but not terrible.

Quite a few of my kitties eat Purina ONE, as they make a UTI formula. They've done well on it for years now.

I feed Iam's Naturals. I know its not a high end food but my kitties seem to be doing fine on it.

TOTW is only $25 for 15 lbs here wonder why so high there.

By chance have the option of Diamond Naturals, I compared it to Chicken Soup last week and it seemed much better and is cheaper here, runs me $14 for 18 lbs.

Leslie

I tried the Diamond Naturals Hairball formula, for a while, and it made them all throw up a lot. I thought they were just adjusting to the higher fiber content, but it went on like that for 2 months before I gave up. I haven't tried the other fomulas, though. Might look into it.

Willowy, what about Kirkland (Costco Brand). It is very cheap and a pretty decent food...just rice for grains. I'd feed it to my cats if they tolerated grains!

There isn't a CostCo for 150 miles. I COULD go down there once or twice a year to stock up, but it doesn't seem worth it. Diamond Naturals is the same as the CostCo food, and only costs a couple dollars more.

I believe it was the "indoor" formula of DN that I tried. It said that it's good for hairballs and weight control (they don't really have trouble with hairballs, but the weight control sounded good). But like I said, that one just didn't agree with them at all.

Some of them will do anything to get to the ferret's EVO. Although EVO is pretty expensive, it would increase the protein content considerably.

Originally Posted by Willowy

There isn't a CostCo for 150 miles. I COULD go down there once or twice a year to stock up, but it doesn't seem worth it. Diamond Naturals is the same as the CostCo food, and only costs a couple dollars more.

I believe it was the "indoor" formula of DN that I tried. It said that it's good for hairballs and weight control (they don't really have trouble with hairballs, but the weight control sounded good). But like I said, that one just didn't agree with them at all.

Some of them will do anything to get to the ferret's EVO. Although EVO is pretty expensive, it would increase the protein content considerably.

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IMHO no it would not be worth a 150 mile trip ... kirkland is similar to the reg naturals ... Diamond has a higher protein formula , I use it to mix in sometimes ... Evo is a DRAMATIC increase in protein but not digestibility , plus you would have to feed far less as it is Calorie dense

Can you afford all wet? 9 lives I figured would actually cost more than wellness as I would have to feed a 13 lb cat 26 oz per the recommendations on the label vs wellness at 6oz to 13 oz

No, I really couldn't. I figure a 13.5 oz can per cat per day (of Friskies), at 70¢ a can, times 11 (if I don't end up keeping any of the strays---unlikely) = $7.70 a day, times 30 days = $231 a month!!! And that's the absolute cheapest I could do it for.

Really, 9 Lives says 26 oz for a 13-pound cat? I'll have to look at that. Friskies says 1 oz per pound. I usually buy Friskies, because I can get a 13.5 oz can of that, and that's more convenient than opening 3 5-oz cans. But there are some flavors of 9 Lives that they really like, way better than the Friskies flavors.

EVO isn't so digestible? Is TOTW better? Although I'm afraid of using a grain-free with the boys....they're all 6-10 years old (all the young cats are girls) and I'm really afraid of urinary trouble.

I once went through the pet stores and bought one of each kind of canned food. The cats didn't like ANY of the higher-quality canned foods. Picky beasts. I hate to spend a dollar or more per 6-oz can just to feed it to the dogs.

I thought about one of the Authority dry foods, but it costs $28.99 for 18 pounds, which isn't too bad, but I consider it to be lower quality than Chicken Soup, and I don't like to pay more for lesser quality.

I'll look into the higher-protein Diamond Naturals. That sounds like it might work. Is it this one: http://www.petfooddirect.com/store/p...d%5Fid=4&Page= ? Do you think the 20% fat content would be a problem?

Originally Posted by Willowy

No, I really couldn't. I figure a 13.5 oz can per cat per day (of Friskies), at 70¢ a can, times 11 (if I don't end up keeping any of the strays---unlikely) = $7.70 a day, times 30 days = $231 a month!!! And that's the absolute cheapest I could do it for.

Really, 9 Lives says 26 oz for a 13-pound cat? I'll have to look at that. Friskies says 1 oz per pound. I usually buy Friskies, because I can get a 13.5 oz can of that, and that's more convenient than opening 3 5-oz cans. But there are some flavors of 9 Lives that they really like, way better than the Friskies flavors.

EVO isn't so digestible? Is TOTW better? Although I'm afraid of using a grain-free with the boys....they're all 6-10 years old (all the young cats are girls) and I'm really afraid of urinary trouble.

I once went through the pet stores and bought one of each kind of canned food. The cats didn't like ANY of the higher-quality canned foods. Picky beasts. I hate to spend a dollar or more per 6-oz can just to feed it to the dogs.

I thought about one of the Authority dry foods, but it costs $28.99 for 18 pounds, which isn't too bad, but I consider it to be lower quality than Chicken Soup, and I don't like to pay more for lesser quality.

I'll look into the higher-protein Diamond Naturals. That sounds like it might work. Is it this one: http://www.petfooddirect.com/store/p...d%5Fid=4&Page= ? Do you think the 20% fat content would be a problem?

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20 % fat is closer to a "natural" diet .. remember cats are very good at processing protein and fat ... Authority is a good option, IMHO I put it with Chicken soup as soup has so much in the grain dept...

I found Taste was a bit more digestible ( ie what was in the box ) but in my house with 2 species and over 10 animals trying evo none has stayed on it do to issues( stool and allergies

the 9 lives I have is the tuna and it reads ..it says feed an adult cat 6-8lbs one can Twice a day ( the cans are 5.5 oz ) so my 13.5 would take four cans

Hmm, I'm at my mom's house and all she has is Friskies shredded and Natural Balance salmon (1 6-oz can per day for an 8-pound cat)---all her cats will eat---so I have to wait to get home to read the cans of Friskies "pate" and 9 Lives. I wonder if the tuna 9 Lives is different from the "pate" kind?

Wait, I found the 9 Lives website---it does say 1 can twice a day for a 6-8 pound cat for the loaf food. Huh. Do you think that means it's lower in calories than Friskies? Or just fewer nutrients in general?