Could Walmart actually make a good food?

I never buy cat food at the supermarket because most of it is junk. I was at Walmart a few days ago though, and I saw a food called Pure Balance. It does not have any corn, wheat, soy, by-products, or artificial ingredients. The wet foods do contain carrageenan, but the ingredients seem good otherwise. A couple of the dry foods had rice, but there were also a couple that were grain-free as well. The dry ingredients also seemed decent. The one ingredient that did concern me a little was the animal fat. I find it a little suspicious that the source of the fat (chicken, turkey, etc.) was not identified. Has anyone given this food to your cat? What was your experience with it?

I've used the Pure Balance dog food---they haven't had the PB cat food here yet; is it new? It's reasonably decent.

I've noticed a lot of big brands are jumping on the "higher quality" bandwagon. The new Purina Beyond formulas are really quite good.

The Purina Beyond formulas do seem really good, except for the menadione. Purina puts it in everything.

The purina beyond in the gravy do not contain Menadione

Well I bought a bag of PB cat kibble (chicken and barley). It's not cheap but it's under my $2 a pound limit :tongue2:. We'll see what the cats think. The Turkey and Sweet Potato formula cost about the same per pound (it's a smaller bag but also costs less) so I might try that one next time. The ingredients aren't super impressive but not too bad.

I buy the PB dog food which is amazing my dog was losing his hair no matter what high quality brand i bought none of them helped then i came across PB tried it and now he has a thick fur coat. I wanted to try the cat version but my indoor cats wont eat dry anymore and the bag is way to small and expensive to feed my ferals.

I bought a small bag of the PB Limited ingredient Turkey and sweet potato and opened it last night to see if my feral cats would eat it. I gave them a little as a treat and they gobbled it up and was looking for more.

I hope they can handle this food because I'm struggling to keep buying the Merrick dry food they are on now. I mixed some in their food this morning and they all licked their bowls clean. Now I just watch for them itching a lot, swollen chins and throwing up. If that doesn't happen I might continue with this food.

I never even look at food for my cats at Walmart, because when I had in the past it was old looking.  It would be runny, separating, discolored from what I was used to getting at Petsmart.  I could only assume it had been on the shelf or in a hot warehouse way too long.  I have two rescues I got last year and they are both very different.  The older one has kidney disease and pancreatitis so has to have a low phosphorous diet.  He is very picky and will stop eating totally quite often.  He has had a lot of medication and treatment for both poor eating and bowel problems.  So, I must find something good for him but also something he will actually eat.  I had been more concerned with something he'd eat than it's content recently.  I was feeding him Science Diet Salmon which he seemed to love.  Unfortunately, it didn't give the phosphorous content, but was one of the lower protein foods, which usually means lower phosphorous.  At any rate, the Petsmart shelves were nearly empty the other day when I was in, so I asked the manager about restocking.  He said that Walmart had purchased Science Diet and would be the exclusive seller, once everyone else had exhausted their supplies.  I was shocked, but stocked up on what they had. 

Sunday night I used the last can of food, so ran to Petsmart to get more.  I thought they closed at 8:00, but they closed at 6:00 and I got there at 6:10.  I had no other choice than to go to Walmart to try to find something for the morning.  They did not have any Science Diet at yet, but I read every food label trying something that wouldn't be too bad for one meal.  I found the Pure Balance Turkey and Sweet Potato, which didn't give me all the ingredient analysis, but seemed better than anything else.  I truly was sure if they'd eat it, but had to try something.  Surprisingly, they both gobbled it down, even the old, finicky one.  He usually takes a few bites, comes back for a few bites later, but winds up letting half of it dry up.  He ate every bit I gave him and I gave him more, which he also ate. Now, I just need to find more about the actually content, but at least I know they like it.

I have learned an interesting fact recently though regarding No-Grain foods.  If it's carbs you are trying to avoid then grain-free may not make a difference.  Most of them have potato, barley or some such, which will have as much carbohydrate as grains, but in my mind are better for them if carbs are not an issue for you.

Walmart had purchased Science Diet and would be the exclusive seller, once everyone else had exhausted their supplies

Click to expand...

From what I can find, this isn't true. There are some rumors that certain big-box pet stores have pulled Hill's products in order to protest the company's plans to start distributing to grocery stores and Walmart. But not one word about Walmart buying Hill's or them being the exclusive distributor. I can't believe the manager would say something like that. . .

As of today Hills Science Diet remains a division of Mars Inc.; yes the candy people who have in recent years built a pet food empire.

I doubt that Mars Inc. would sell Hills to Walmart, unless the offer was ridiculously lucrative.  Hills is a solid money-maker for Mars Inc., especially the prescription diet foods.

Back to the part about fats, someone told that the add fat in SD was restaurant by product could that be possible??
I do check protiens vs fats vs carbs and where the protien comes from but have one with cat who is grain free .
Barely is a grain with gluten I think, it is funny how different brands will have one good food and the a lot of crap iams sensitive stomach has corn? And it's multi cat has cellulose???
But the grain free is much better...
I try to avoid Walmart but my cat budget is killing me right now so I might look[emoji]128579[/emoji]

My finicky cats have been eating Authority (Petsmart brand) pretty well lately.  And for the budget conscious it is under $1/can.  They also like the Blue Turkey and Chicken.  They change their likes a lot.  One of them was crazy for salmon, but now won't touch it.  Anyway, was glad to find something cheaper that isn't too bad for them and they will eat.

Actually, since feeding my kitty-kids the Pure Balance chicken and Brown rice kibble, Hades (who has blocked tear ducts) has a cleaner face. I mean, his eyes don't leak the red-brown stuff as much. They still leak, but now it's more clear tears. That's the only thing that changed, so I blame the cat food. I'll take it!

For a budget food, it's not bad imo. It's not amazing by any means, but for the price point it's great. The flavour of canned I tried with my little guy wasn't received well, but I'll go for a couple other flavours to test before ruling it out as an option. While I prefer feeding higher grade foods, I've been a bit low on funds lately and need to budget, so I'm trying to budget brands of wet food and the Pure Balance is one I'd really like him to enjoy.

Thank you for your comments on Pure Balance. My Vet had prescribed Hills CD Urinary Care. My four beautiful cats HATED it. So I was looking for a high moisture canned replacement. The version "with sauce" they LOVED. but it is so hard to find. I buy the entire stock when I go, but they never have more then two boxes that only have 12 cans. I have Four cats. So can I ask you guys about IAMS purrfect grain free flaked in sauce? It has less fat then the other, more moisture 83% and more meat. My cats like it, but they like Pure Balance.

IMO, from all the reading I've done on my FLUD cat and the advice received here:

Carbs are not the end of the world, keep max level under 3%

You need low phosphorous & magnesium to keep urinary tract healthy

Feed canned, not kibble

Even the cheapest canned is better than kibble

Water, water & more water, add extra to your canned food, 1-2 tbsp., extra water dishes in other places, water fountains, anything you can do to encourage more water intake

Pick your battles, do your best to find food without soy, carrageenan, fish as those are high in phosphorous due to bones, menadione and cranberries, those ingredients aren't good for long term feeding. Short term better than no food at all. I personally am not going down the gluten free road. A bit of potato or pea starch or veggies isn't the end of the earth, providing total carbs remain under 3%.

Unless you are willing to feed raw, with supplements and know the source of all ingredients, there is no commercial food out that that will 100% meet dietary needs without some kind filler or chemical that they shouldn't have.

I"m feeding Royal Canin Feline Urinary SO right now, both it, Purina have carrageenan in it. I refuse to feed anything from Hills. Will get mine off the RC soon as we get clean bill of health from the vet. Will feed only muscle meats like chicken & turkey, possibly some rabbit, no fish or seafood of any kind.

Once you are able, look at Dave's Pet Food, they have a low phosphorous & magnesium line. Some weruva brands, like Cats in the Kitchen will work for FLUD cats, I don't know anything about kidney disease & approved foods for that condition. Also, check out catinfo.org, she's a vet & has some good advice and a whole section on dietary needs for compromised systems.

Best of luck, trying to figure out which is the healthiest food at an affordable cost is enough to boggle the mind.

I just discovered Pure Balance because all of my cats got really sick from some Friskies. All 8 cats got sick and were sick for about a week. The Friskies people said they haven't have any other reports like that, so I don't know how I got the bad can or cans.  Maybe one of the cans had a bad seal and bacteria got in. I tend to mix all the food together in a mixing bowl and then dish it out into the cats' bowls, so I could have contaminated the whole big bowl with one can. Anyway, it's finally getting out of their systems. I took one to the vet and he was nice enough to send me home with enough antibiotics for all of them. He never did figure which kind of bacteria it was, because he didn't get a stool sample. Just prescribed a broad spectrum antibiotic which he said should kill anything. Anyway, since they are finally eating again and I don't want to go back to Friskies, I've been searching around and trying a few small cans of different things to see what they will like. I got some Natural Balance, some Rachel Ray, some Purina Beyond, and some Pure Balance. They do seem to like all of them well enough, but it looks like the Pure Balance might be the better deal money-wise. I think I tried the Pure Balance for dogs on my dogs a while back and noticed some diarrhea issues, even after gradually switching and giving them enough time to adjust to the food, so I switched the dogs to the Kirkland's from Costco. I'm going to watch for diarrhea issues with the cats. Right now they all have diarrhea, but that's because of the illness they are getting over. Anyway, it looked to me like the Pure Balance is pretty good from the ingredients list and I might want to keep using it. I'm also going to start cooking for them, so the Pure Balance might be just an add-on to home-cooked food, since I'm a little afraid of just home-cooked food in case I do it wrong and they don't get all the nutrients they need. It seems that there are some positive views of the Pure Balance here, so I hope I can work out a diet that will keep them all healthy and hopefully no more bad cans.

Ok everyone I am a biochemist andd a natural foods adherent.
I stumbled onto this page, and glad I did, bc there's some serious misinformation here. I will address it.

1. First off, just bc something is contraindicated in a cat with a certain illness, ie kidney disease, does NOT mean then that it is bad for healthy cats, and it certainly doesnt mean that the healthy cats should be put on restricted diets fed to KD cats. Every healthy cat should eat a balanced diet unless a vet says otherwise. Do not go restricting and lowering minerals in healthy cat's diets, just bc that's what's done for a sick cat. Healthy kidneys handle minerals just fine, and restricting diets to prevent one problem could lead to others. A treatment IS NOT to be used as a preventative. Treatments are chosen bc the benefits outweigh the risks, but you dont go treating healthy cats that dont need treating. Ie lowering ph and mg in kidney dis. cats is necessary bc the kidneys can no longer regulate blood pressure and the metabolic nuances with these minerals BUT low magnesium and phosphorus have very real risks, like brittle bones. Well, brittle bones is not as importantvas KD, so the benefits of low mg to a KD cat outweighs the risks. But in a healthy cat whose kidneys are fine and has no problem with mg or phosohorus, the risk of brittle bones for no reason, is ridiculous, and negligent. The only correct info about preventing KD, wass the water water water. THAT is accurate, and the only thing that needs doing to an otherwise healthy cat.
Dont play vet. Dont use treatments for a sick cat on a healthy cat. Treat a sick cat when hes sick and

2. Animal fat is extremely healthy for cats. They're carnivores! Do not assume human diets are the same for cats.

3. Menadione is the best vitamin K there is. Usually calked phytomenadione. It's just the scientific name for very high quality vitamin K. The cheap vit K is metabisulfite. THAT can lead to sulfite allergies. (The sad irony is your ill knowledge and fears are actually making you choose the more harmful kind. Good grief) Dont just assume long unpronounceable names are bad. They are world scientific classification names so that in chemistry, everyone uses the same terms and can understand every chemical.

4. Cellulose is just a scientific name for the healthy fiber in all vegetables. Celery gets its crunch and stringy things from it. It's absolutely great for the colon and soaks up water. Helps maintain healthy bioflora.

5. Barley is one of the healthiest grains a cat could eat. I grow barley for my cat in a hydroponics bay. He, cries for it and beats the door down to the bay just to get at it. Barley has amazing immune system strengtheners and modulators.

6. Cranberries actually prevent bacteria from adhering to the stomach wall, and urinary tract, they cured my cat of his utis. The healing chemical in cranberties is D Mannose. I buy it in powder form and put it on my cats food. Cranberries in commercial catfood are good. The phosohorus is precicely calibrated in the cat food. The cranberries add no extra phosphorus to the food. The phosphorus must meet vet legal standards. All food produced must meet legal phosphorus content. But do not feed fresh cranberries to a cat. Low phosphorus is a prescription food.

7. Carageenan is a healthy food thickener from seaweed. You can find it in most vegetarian healthfood stored.

Please everyone, please do actual research, and research what it is you fear, before starting to fear it.

GayleMG said:

 
Pure Balance might be just an add-on to home-cooked food, since I'm a little afraid of just home-cooked food in case I do it wrong and they don't get all the nutrients they need..

Click to expand...

That sentence stuck out to me.  The genius marketing strategists would make us mere pet owners believe that we are too stupid to feed a cat and the veterinarian industry jumped on board with the message.  The fact is that domestic cats have been kept for thousands of years, but processed bags and cans of "cat food" have only been around and sold as a complete diet since the 1950's.  People can seriously screw up a home made diet in which case canned or even kibble would be better.  But....with many veterinarian-developed home cooked and raw diet recipes posted on the internet these days, there's really no excuse to do it wrong.  (Sorry...veering off topic again.)

As far a canned cat food goes, I think the Pure Balance looks decent enough.  I read your story on another thread about the Friskies troubles you had.  Even if you got a damaged can, I would also have an aversion to buying that brand again too.

I'm thinking of a sort of combination bought/homemade food, at least for now. Might end up going full homemade if I feel it's working ok.