Is Purina “complete” dry cat food the most nutritious brand for adult cats?

 

Its not poison, but it definitely isn't the most nutritious food out there.  

 

The ingredients are sorted by their quantity in the recipe:

 

1) Poultry by-product meal:    This is undefined meat, and by-product at that, meaning it has very loose regulation and should be considered an inferior primary protein source.

 

2) Corn meal:  This isn't even concentrated corn gluten, but rather plain jane corn meal which is even worse to be listed as a second ingredient.

 

3) Corn gluten: Cheap inferior replacement for actual meat protein.

 

4) Ground whole wheat:  Cat's aren't vegetarians, there is no need for this much plant material.

 

5) Brewers rice is worse than regular or brown rice, as its a byproduct and devoid of nutrients

 

6) Soy flour is a common allergen. 

 

7) Bone meal, meat meal, animal digest are all rather poor ingredients. 

 

An online calculator I use estimates the formula to be around 34% carbohydrates, which is much too high according to most nutritionists.

 

BTW, if looking for alternatives, my two enjoy Blue Wilderness Duck formula for their dry (but also only eat half their calories in dry food, the other half is wet food):

 

 

As you can see, the primary ingredients are all named quality meats, its high protein and fat as a cat diet should be according to most, and while its not the lowest carbs (likely due to the potato), its quite reasonable and the food is manufactured for an ideal urinary PH.  

 

There are plenty of other great manufactures if you want to list what is available by you.   

 

 

That is Wesley, my quality control and product taste tester, and he takes his job very seriously.  

Welcome to the Forums!!!! Glad you found us and hope you enjoy your time on TCS There are higher quality dry foods on the market than Purina , but it depends on how much you want or can spend on feeding your cat/cats. Then there are the dry foods with grains and without grains as well. You will get many opinions on the subject of what to feed your cat and we will try to help you in any way possible on the subject.

 

 

It depends on what you do have where you live.  Compared with many cheap brands it is good.  And thus - it MAY be the best dry food you can get at your local food shop.

 

A tip:  it is easier to make a decent wet cat food, than a decent dry food. Thus, if your cats do eats wet food - consider wet food.

 

Next tip, is, if you only do have your local food shop and want good quality dry food - look after the versions for Kittens or for Active Cats.

Dont take the versions for  Adult cats or Indoor cats.

 

But as my collegues says, compared with many other brands, Purina its so so. There are many betters.

 

Welcome to the TCS site (look at the article part!)  and the Forums!

 

Good luck!
 

 

Splendid and well done!

 

Do visit also frequently our forum for Feral and stray cats. Tell about your experiences, learn from others experiences. We do have members there also from Hawaii.

 

Tx a lot!

 

Good luck!   *many vibes*

 

 

 

I feed my ferals Purina Cat Chow. Of the cheaper brands, I find it's the best. Alley Cat, Meow Mix, Whiskas, and the store brands are just junk, IMO--my ferals looked unhealthy on those foods. Friskies is also acceptable, but I HATE artificial colors in pet foods so it sort of annoys me (yeah, Cat Chow has coloring, too, but not nearly as much). There's just something wrong with purple and green striped kibble, LOL. But I will buy Friskies if the sale price is a lot lower. Cat Chow is an all-life-stages food, so it'll be fine if there are any kittens or pregnant/nursing mothers.

Now, if price isn't an issue, I think Purina ONE is better. I got a really good price on it so I fed it to my ferals for a while, and they got such shiny fur and looked really healthy. It is nearly twice the price of Cat Chow, but I try to mix some in with their Cat Chow now and then, especially when it's cold. If you have a CostCo membership (if Hawaii even has CostCo), I hear that their Kirkland Premium food is fairly high-quality and is about the same price as Cat Chow.

For housecats I'd recommend something better like Wilderness or Taste of the Wild. But since cost is usually a factor in feeding ferals, that could really get to be a problem. Besides, for some reason it seems like outdoor ferals don't do as well on the premium foods. I think they're mainly designed for housecats.

Online might be pretty pricey, at least it is compared to what we have locally in Texas.  If your local guys just carry all the Purina recipes, Purinas good stuff is called "ONE beYond".   Basically, try to pick one that is high in protein and fat, and check that the first ingredients are named meats that way you know the protein percentage is from quality meats and not byproducts or corn gluten (gluten is concentrated protein, but it has incomplete amino acids and isn't as readily digested as proper meat protein) and the like.  

 

Blue has other formulas, Wellness makes good stuff, Natural Balance Ultra Premium, Innova Cat and Kitten, By Nature, Simply Nourish, Royal Canin and others. 

I think you may have misunderstood. . .I said I very much DON'T recommend Meow Mix, Whiskas, and Alley Cat (and Kit and Kaboodle). They really are very junky. As for ingredients from China, I don't know where to find that information. How did you find out that Cat Chow doesn't have ingredients sourced from China?

I would like to know about "The China Connection" as well.

 

Not to step on any toes, but as far as I know, Royal Canin was better than most - many YEARS ago...

these days, there are many options that are much better for the same or less $$$. In fact, I think RC still uses corn...  

 

Yes - Here are the first ingredients on Royal Canin 27 for example...

Ingredients: Chicken meal, brown rice, rice, corn, corn gluten meal, chicken fat, chicken (Finally, some meat!), natural chicken flavor, pea fiber, rice flour, rice hulls, wheat gluten, dried beet pulp (sugar removed), soya oil, sodium silico aluminate, dried brewers yeast...

 

Perfect example of "Ingredient Splitting" - wonder what the total % would be if you add the 4 types of Rice and 2 types of corn together?    

 

Blue Wilderness uses Potato Starch, but it is Grain Free and MUCH better than RC - for less money.

 

 

Purina - actually, Nestle Purina PetCare Company - is the largest pet food manufacturer in the world. They absolutely source some ingredients from China.