All veterinarians unanimously say that economy food is not the best solution for your four-legged friends. However, when the conversation turns to Purina One products, the opinion of experts changes greatly. The fact is that such food is considered the best of all representatives of the economy category and is even slightly closer to the premium class. Today I will tell you about the composition of Purina Van food , what types of nutrition the manufacturer offers, and what disadvantages the product has.
Purina One Cat Food Review
Dry cat food Purina One (“Purina Van”) is produced by the American company Nestle Purina PetCare Company (USA) at factories in France, Italy and Russia.
The official website is , it contains information about the entire line of food (compositions, feeding recommendations, etc.). “Purina Van” belongs to the economy class, although in composition it is somewhere in the middle between economy and premium class. In addition to this food, Purina also produces other food for pets, namely Darling, ProPlan (premium class), Dog Cow, Cat Chow, Gourmet, Friskies, Felix.
Composition of Purina One food
Let's study the composition of Purina One food using the example of the option “for sterilized cats, with salmon and wheat.” To do this, look at the image below (you need to click on it to enlarge).
Above is a photo of the composition from the food packaging, below is a screenshot from the official website. It should be noted that there are differences in the composition of the indicated packaging compared to what is indicated on the official website. Since the photo is from 2017, the formula may have changed, and the data on the site did not have time or forgot to update.
The first component is salmon 15%. Although it is not known how much fish meat and by-products there are, the meat ingredient still comes first - a rarity for economy-class food. Other sources of animal protein include “dry poultry protein” and “dry fish protein”.
In second place is wheat 15%, which is a source of carbohydrates, like corn. Soy flour, wheat gluten, and corn gluten are rich sources of plant proteins. Animal fat is a source of fatty acids. Dried beet pulp is a source of fiber.
Minerals and vitamins are useful supplements. Flavoring feed additive - it is impossible to say for sure whether it is harmful or harmless, since it is not specified exactly what kind of additive it is. Yeast - in theory, has a positive effect on the skin and coat. Antioxidants - which ones are not specified.
Advantages and disadvantages
Among the advantages of this food:
- widespread, available in many supermarkets;
- relatively low price;
- The basis of the composition is not just by-products, as in many economy feeds.
Among the disadvantages of Purina Van food:
- Quite a high content of vegetable protein;
- low quality of raw materials (“dry protein”, “salmon” - such general formulations usually conceal processed products, “waste” from the food industry).
- relatively few vitamins, minerals and other beneficial substances.
- The antioxidants and flavoring additives used are not indicated.
Brand "Purina": pros and cons
Purina is a manufacturer of pet products. The company is part of the Nestle group. Cat food is produced at the company's facilities in Russia, Italy, France, and Hungary.
Cat food includes:
- meat ingredients (minimum 17%);
- cereals such as cornmeal, rice, wheat, oats;
- vegetables and herbs;
- vitamin and mineral complex;
- fatty acids and omega fats.
There are 7 brands of cat food produced under the Purina brand.
The advantages of food from this manufacturer include:
- a large assortment;
- high protein content (though mostly vegetable);
- availability of specialized products for animals requiring special care;
- the presence of various enzymes and probiotics that improve intestinal function;
- low price;
- availability - can be bought both in pet stores and supermarkets.
Flaws:
- contains corn gluten, which can cause an allergic reaction;
- content of dyes, preservatives and food additives;
- low nutritional value;
- a minimum percentage of vegetables (in some feeds they are replaced by offal).
Purina One cat food reviews
At the moment, there are many reviews about dry food of this brand on cat owner forums and specialized review sites. Below, for completeness of the review, we have collected several of them.
Reviews from veterinarians
Unfortunately, we were unable to find veterinarian reviews on the Internet about Purina Van food. If you are a veterinarian, do not hesitate to share your opinion about this food in the comments.
Customer Reviews
Nastya writes:
Hello to all owners of four-legged furry cats. Today I want to share a review about One food, which I recently came across. Usually they tried Brit Premium, and before that Royal Canin and Perfect Fit, but these are separate stories. So, one day I forgot to buy a new package of the usual food on time, and in the morning it turned out that there was nothing to feed the cat. Delivery from the online store is carried out only the next day after ordering, so I ran to the nearest supermarket to choose something temporary from what was available there.
The best thing was Purina's One food, it's certainly worse than Brit, but at least it's not Whiskas. The food has a pleasant aroma, small triangular granules, the price is very low (90 rubles per 200 g). Among the shortcomings, it is necessary to highlight the quality of raw materials and composition. Also, after this food, the smell from the cat’s toilet is more unpleasant than usual.
As for the cat’s reaction, he didn’t turn up his nose and ate no worse than usual. In general, I would not feed this food, except in unforeseen situations. I recommend that everyone who loves their pets buy premium food, and I recommend One food only to those who do not have the opportunity to buy more expensive professional food.
Irina writes:
About a month ago we started thinking about feeding our pet dry food; before that, we fed her “from the table” for almost 10 years. Recently, the stool has become a little thinner, so we added dry food to the diet. The most attractive composition turned out to be in Purina One, unlike Whiskas, meat and more vitamins come first here.
The cat eats the food with pleasure and drinks a lot of water after it. The stool has become more formed, no other problems are observed. True, we have not completely switched to dry food, in addition to it we give chicken breast, beef, liver, and fermented baked milk.
Many people write that dry food should not be mixed with natural food, but we have excellent results from such mixing. The cat's fur is soft and silky, and despite its age it is quite active. Therefore, we recommend this diet.
Elena writes:
Do not under any circumstances feed your pets this food, now I’ll tell you why. My cat only eats beef and fish from homemade food, so I have to feed her dry food. I always took Leonardo Adult 32/16, but due to financial problems I had to save even on a cat. So I bought Purina One.
The cat liked this food, she ate well, but trouble happened - after a week I noticed that the cat was going to the toilet less and less. I thought maybe it was because of the change in food that everything would soon return to normal, but the constipation only got worse, the cat basically only walked once every couple of days!
As a treatment, I fed her some raw meat, and when the constipation went away, she went back to her previous food. Now everything is normal. I recommend Leonardo food and do not recommend Purina One food.
Quality and composition of feed
Purina is a cat food that belongs to premium and economy class. However, this does not mean that the company produces food of poor quality. The range of products is huge. It presents 8 lines of food, each of which has several directions. These include:
- Purina ONE is a food that helps maintain intestinal microflora.
- ProPlan is a balanced nutrition designed for kittens, cats with sensitive digestion, sterilized pets, as well as older individuals.
- Purina Veterinary Diets is a line of medical nutrition. Suitable for cats that suffer from allergies, diabetes, genitourinary diseases and kidney failure.
- Cat Chow is a food that contains a large number of natural ingredients. The line includes food for kittens and adult cats, as well as medicinal food.
- Gourmet – wet food treats with turkey, chicken, trout and salmon flavors.
- Felix is a food product that includes sauces and jellies with pieces of meat, as well as dry granules. In addition to meat flavors, it also has a cheese flavor.
- Darling – dry food and canned food for kittens and adult cats.
- Friskies are another balanced and complete food for cats.
Important! Each type of Purina food is carefully prepared for a specific group of cats and has an optimally selected composition.
Purina foods contain:
- natural meat of animals, poultry and fish (at least 17% of the total composition in dry and wet food);
- cereals – rice, oatmeal, wheat, corn flour;
- vegetables and plants;
- omega fats and fatty acids;
- vitamins A, E, D and K, as well as microelements (magnesium, phosphorus, calcium, iodine, selenium, manganese, etc.).
Conclusions about Purina Van food
There are both positive and negative reviews about Purina One cat food. The composition raises fewer questions than many economy class foods, but still remains relatively poor. The PetObzor website does not recommend this food as the main diet for your cats.
However, we note: if it is not possible to keep your pet on a natural diet, and better food is not affordable, then “Purina Van” is perhaps the best that you can choose from the economy class.
- Purina
- Economy class food for cats
About the manufacturer
The first mention of Purina dates back to 1902. Since 1922, industrial production of pet food began. Since 1985, Purina has been under the leadership of Nestlé. The dry food factory itself is based in Italy.
Interesting fact: despite the fact that the company has been distributing products in Russia since 2014, Purina’s sales volume accounts for 18% of the national feed market.
Today the brand produces food for dogs and cats of varying quality. These include: Purina ProPlan, Dog Chow, Purina One. In the article we will look at the latest line of diets.
How to choose food
Veterinarians advise choosing a diet in accordance with the characteristics of the animal’s body. Leading manufacturers have feed intended for:
- for kittens from 1 to 4 or from 4 to 12 months;
- pregnant and lactating cats;
- after sterilization or castration;
- for weakened pets;
- elderly cats.
Important! Treatment series are not intended for daily use. They can only be prescribed by a doctor who will monitor the entire period of therapy.
Pouch Gourmet with chicken
Classes and tastes
All everyday cat food is divided into three classes: economy, premium and super-premium.
- Om-Nom-nom!..
Economy is the most inexpensive and low-quality food. This does not mean bad, but simple in composition with cheap ingredients. But you can only feed it, since it is complete.
An affordable price is achieved through cheap packaging and inexpensive raw materials. However, there is little protein there, which means the animal does not eat its daily norm. After all, a cat is a predator and needs a lot of proteins. It turns out that the feed rate needs to be increased. Therefore, how profitable it is to purchase it is up to everyone to decide for themselves.
Representatives of this segment from Purina are Friscas, Darling, Cat Show, Gourmet, Felix and Purina Van.
Premium - considered midway between economy and super-premium class. His prices are average, the raw materials are of better quality than economy. It is more balanced, that is, it contains more proteins (20-30%). There is also a wider variety of flavors and textures. This food is guaranteed to contain no dyes or flavor enhancers.
ProPlan belongs to the premium class.
Super-premium - the most expensive and high-quality food. Balanced for all microelements, complete. They contain everything a cat needs and in the right quantity.
Better quality ingredients, minimal grains, more meat. The shape of the granules is convenient for cats. Animals fill up faster with this food because it contains enough protein. This means you need less feed than economy class.
Purina does not have food of this class. The medicinal Pro Plan Veterinary Diets can be classified as one of them, since it is developed according to special recipes.
Moreover, in this context we are not considering Holistic class food.
Purina food comes in a variety of flavors. Purina Van has the flavors of chicken, beef, salmon, and turkey. Plus it contains a lot of grains.
Reviews from veterinarians
Sinelnikov Nikolay “If veterinary pharmacies offer Purina products, they are of the highest quality. Despite the active advertising of the brand, I cannot recommend it. The first reason is the low animal protein content (<20%). The second is the increased content of grains and undesirable components. For example, gluten can cause allergies in your dog. What can we say about preservatives and antioxidants, which are present in almost all foods. Purina One cannot be called complete food.”
Symptoms of food allergy in kittens and adult cats
Allergy to cats: how it manifests itself, symptoms in adults
Every owner should know how cats are allergic to food:
- itching, which causes the animal to scratch its back, paws, ears, belly, face;
- discharge from areas of the body where the mucous membrane occurs, for example, conjunctivitis and rhinitis may begin;
- allergic dermatitis;
- increased sweating, which is not normally typical for a cat - the armpits and groin area are constantly wet;
- loss of teeth and hair, which significantly worsens the well-being and appearance of the animal;
- swelling of the limbs, muzzle;
- swelling of internal organs, for example, the respiratory tract, which leads to shortness of breath, heavy breathing, and a prolonged cough.
Important! Owners often confuse allergies with intolerance to certain types of foods. In the latter case, dyspeptic reactions occur in the form of nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea.
Allergic conjunctivitis
Fats and healthy supplements
The isolated fat sources here are animal fat (#8) and less than 1% fish oil.
Vitamin and mineral supplements, although indicated in general terms, are still deciphered - we have added a description of their composition after the main list of Purina Van ingredients so that you have a more complete understanding of this food.
Reviewing useful supplements, we note the presence of dried beet pulp and chicory root - they enrich the PURINA ONE diet for sterilized cats with beneficial fiber and prebiotics that normalize the intestinal microflora. Yeast also serves as a source of prebiotics, but I would like to clearly understand which variants of yeast were added to the product. The manufacturer does not tell us about this on the label.
Tips and tricks for feeding your cat
Proper nutrition for a cat is the key to its health. In order for your pet to please its owners for many years, you should adhere to some rules when feeding:
- constant access to clean water;
- You should not overfeed your pet; an adult animal needs to eat 2 times a day;
- be sure to read the description of the food indicated on the packaging or the manufacturer’s official website (the animal may not tolerate any component);
- any incorrect reaction of the cat’s body to food is a signal to change food;
- without prerequisites, you should not change the brand often - the animal’s body will not have time to adapt to the new composition;
- It is worth choosing food taking into account the characteristics of the animal (sterilization, gastrointestinal problems, obesity).
Before purchasing food, it is better to consult a specialist. And if veterinarians talk about the need for a certain diet, then you need to purchase food according to their recommendation.
It is also recommended to add specialized medications to the diet, for example, Fortiflora for cats. The supplement is indicated for use by all animals with digestive problems, and in some cases, by kittens.
It contains lactic acid bacteria, which improve the functioning of the gastrointestinal tract and strengthen the immune system. The drug should be used according to the instructions for use.
Many owners are concerned about the nutrition of their pets. It is difficult to prepare complete food at home, even in combination with vitamin supplements. Therefore, Purina commercial diets are the best option for pet health and human peace of mind.
Prevention measures
The risk of a negative immune system reaction is reduced if the owner adheres to the following rules:
- introducing cat food gradually so that the owner can identify the cause of the allergic reaction;
- use only high-quality meats;
- carefully read the instructions for dry food, which should not contain carcinogenic chemical additives;
- promptly treat various infections, viruses, parasitic diseases;
- eliminating household allergens, such as dust, chemicals, household items;
- To prevent the development of chicken allergies in cats, it is better to feed rabbit or beef.
Allergy is an unpleasant phenomenon that can manifest itself in both a kitten and an adult. It is easier to promptly detect emerging negative manifestations than to treat further disorders. Therefore, there are rules of prevention that allow you to avoid an increased reaction of the animal’s immune system.
