Pro Plan dog food: reviews and composition analysis

Pro Plan cat food is quite well known. Its manufacturer is the American company Purina. It has an official website proplan.ru, which presents all types of products, their descriptions, recommendations for use, advice from veterinarians, specialist advice, etc. In addition to this product, the company has developed other types of food for cats and dogs; they belong to the economy class.

general characteristics

ProPlan food is a brand. Available in several versions: dry - in different packaging weights, wet - in small bags and cans. You can purchase it not only in specialized stores, but also in ordinary ones. Manufactured in factories in France, Italy and Russia.

Several types are available:

• For daily consumption.
• For regular use with special properties: hypoallergenic (HA ST Hypoallergenic), with gastrointestinal diseases (EN ST/OX Gastrointestianal), overweight (OM ST/Oxobesity Management), Delicate for chronic diseases and Derma for sensitive skin .
• For treatment and diet. Use as recommended by a doctor.

The food is created for all age categories:

• Junior (Junior) - kittens.
• Adult - for adult animals up to 7 years old.
• Adult 7+ - for older pets. Contains prebiotics necessary to increase life expectancy.
• Sterilised (Sterilized) - for cats and female cats after castration or sterilization. Available in versions for both adults and seniors.

Class

Proplan is classified as premium. It has increased the percentage composition of meat products by 20-30% and reduced by-products. The content of cereals is high, in particular rice and corn flour (this is a big minus).

From the author: if Pro Plan dry food can still be classified as a premium class, although there are options in this category of better quality (in particular, without corn) and at a lower price (for example, Carmi, Probalance, Brit), then I would rather classify wet food as to the economy, although they contain more vitamins. Why? Let's compare the compositions of the two foods:

• Whiskas jelly with turkey and vegetables: meat and offal (including turkey at least 4%), vegetables (carrots at least 4%), cereals, taurine, vitamins, minerals.
• Pro Plan pieces in jelly for adult cats with turkey: meat and meat products (including turkey 4%), fish and fish products, minerals, sugars, vitamins.

On the plus side: there are no grains in the Pro Plan, but there are no vegetables either, but cats still need them. The first components, as we see, are identical, and there is only 4% turkey, which is not enough and looks like economy. The rest of the compositions are also very similar. By the way, many Pro Plan wet foods contain vegetable protein extracts in second place; it is not entirely clear what is hidden behind this word.

Advantages and disadvantages

The benefits include:

• A large assortment. You can choose for any age and weight of the animal. There are types both medicinal and for regular nutrition.
• Widely spread. Sold in many stores.
• Good quality. Made only from high quality ingredients with vitamins and minerals.
• Various tastes. You can always find what suits your particular cat best.
• Various shapes. In addition to dry food, they produce wet food and canned food.
• Highly appreciated by veterinarians. Test results confirmed that the food is suitable for daily use.

There are the following disadvantages:

• The benefits of some ingredients are unclear. You need to carefully study the composition so as not to harm the health of the animal.
• Contains components that can cause an allergic reaction.
• There are no recommendations for which breeds to use, so the condition of the coat may deteriorate in some of them.
• Overpriced compared to other foods in this class.

Manufacturer

The manufacturer of Pro Plan food is Nestle Purina PetCare Company.
It has existed for more than 80 years, and currently its team consists of approximately 18,000 employees and several hundred scientists. And it all started with horse meat. Yes, yes, ordinary horse meat! Horses that died of old age (or for other reasons) were fed to dogs, and a little later - in 1860 - the American James Spratt began producing the first commercial food.

The first company was founded in 1894: it was renamed several times, expanded, and production was modernized. Eventually the Nestle Purina PetCare Company was formed.

The head office was made in St. Louis, America, and the divisions were “scattered” all over the world: Oceania, Australia, Africa, Asia, Europe...

Manufacturers assure that in their work they are guided exclusively by the interests of animals and work for their benefit. Experts in the field of nutrition, veterinary medicine, formulation developers and even animal psychologists are involved in the work.

Feed range

The composition was developed by scientists, so they contain all the necessary components for the health of cats throughout their life. The range allows you to maintain optimal weight and strengthen all organs of animals. All dry food contains about 17 ingredients without indicating their percentage, except for the main one:

• 3 points relate to animal proteins, which is quite good;
• 5 points are cereals or their derivatives;
• fats of animal and fish origin;
• vitamins;
• egg powder;
• rice;
• corn.

The diet for adults over 7 years of age and kittens does not contain corn, and Elegant Adult does not contain rice.

Treats and wet food for cats

Wet or liquid food PRO-PLAN NUTRISAVOUR is prepared in several forms: jelly, sauce, pate. Combining dry and wet options in the diet provides variety. In this case, the cat receives all the elements it needs for healthy and normal development.

The manufacturer does not produce special delicacies, but there are delicious pates. To feed throughout the day, you need several of these jars, which are expensive, so owners use them as a supplement to their daily food.

Composition of treats and wet food for cats

Approximate ingredients: meat, fish, plant components, minerals, oils and proteins from plants, vitamins, antioxidants, thickeners, dyes. The composition may vary slightly depending on the type (for example, some types of jelly do not contain plant components).

*Delicate sauce and Housecat jelly additionally contain Omega-3 and Omega-6 fatty acids.

**Delicate and Adult 7+ pates also contain vegetables and their products.

Veterinary ruler

All Proplan foods are designed as specialized food for every day. There are also special veterinary foods represented by the Veterinary Diets line. They are prescribed by a doctor in addition to the main treatment. They have nutritional characteristics and composition necessary for a specific disease. Available only in the form of dry food:

• HP Hepatic – in case of liver disease.

• DH ST/OX Dental Health (Dental) - promoting oral health and preventing dental diseases. Provided thanks to the large size of crispy granules designed for thorough chewing.

All options include:

• NF Renal Function (Renal Function) - for the treatment of kidney disease (chronic stage), with their pathology.

• DM ST/OX Diabetes Management (Diabetes) - to lower glucose in diabetes mellitus.

• UR ST/OX Urinary (Urinari) - ailments in the lower parts of the urinary tract and prevention of their occurrence, urolithiasis.

In addition, in two variations (dry and wet) are presented:

• EN ST/OX Gastrointestinal (Gastro Intensinal) - digestive disorder.

• OM ST/OX Obesity Management (Obesity) - the desire to reduce the weight of the pet and to comply with a mandatory diet.

If necessary, restore the cat's health by giving CN Convalescence pate. There is also a probiotic supplement Diets Fortiflora, which is used to normalize the balance of microflora.

Compound

• meat and meat products;
• fish and fish products;
• wheat gluten, rice, corn;
• animal fat;
• egg powder;
• chicory;
• aromatic feed additive;
• preservatives;
• natural prebiotic;
• yeast;
• vitamins and minerals.

Daily feed requirements

To properly feed your pet, you need not only to choose the appropriate food, taking into account all its features, but also to calculate the dosage. The package usually contains a table indicating the daily value, based on the age and weight of the animal. Super premium food contains all the necessary substances, so you need less of it than cheaper ones. The daily portion is divided into equal shares using scales or a measuring cup and given 2 times a day to adults, 3 times a day to kittens and pregnant cats.

For older individuals, the dose is reduced. It seems that this is not enough for feeding, but increasing the norm is not recommended to avoid health problems. It is also undesirable to alternate between professional food and natural products.

Cost and replacement feed

Dry food is sold in bags of 400 g, 1.5 kg, 3 and 10. Wet food is sold in bags of 85 g. The cost depends on the type chosen:

• Junior, Sterilized and almost all diet products have the same price: dry 322, 981, 1651 and 5136 rubles. according to the weight of the package.
• Adult - 292, 981 and 4991 rubles. (3 kg packaging is not available).
• Adult 7 + and Light: 400 g cost 322 rubles. and 1.5 kg respectively 981.

The price of a jar of canned food and spiders is the same for all categories and is 70 rubles.

In addition to Pro Plan food, Purina has several other cat food options, but they already belong to the cheap class. These are Felix, Friskies, Darling, Gourmet, they contain 19.6 (or less), 20% meat. In terms of price, they are slightly lower: from 60 rubles. for 300. In addition, a budget version of Cat Chow is offered, which has cereals in the first place in its composition. To replace the Pro Plan, only similar ones can be considered, i.e. feed is not lower than premium class.