Purina Pro Plan (Canned)

Rating:

Purina Pro Plan Canned Dog Food gets the Advisor’s second-lowest rating of two stars.

Currently, in addition to the company’s Pro Plan Selects brand, the Purina Pro Plan product line lists twenty-two canned dog foods… two designed to meet AAFCO nutrient profiles for growth (puppies) and the rest for adult maintenance.

• Purina Pro Plan Adult Beef and Rice
• Purina Pro Plan Senior Beef and Rice
• Purina Pro Plan Senior Beef and Rice
• Purina Pro Plan Adult Beef and Potato
• Purina Pro Plan Adult Chicken and Rice
• Purina Pro Plan Puppy Chicken and Rice
• Purina Pro Plan Adult Chicken and Potato
• Purina Pro Plan Adult Beef and Vegetables
• Purina Pro Plan Adult Lamb and Vegetables
• Purina Pro Plan Adult Turkey and Vegetables
• Purina Pro Plan Adult Chicken and Vegetables
• Purina Pro Plan Adult Large Breed Beef and Rice
• Purina Pro Plan Adult Sensitive Skin and Stomach
• Purina Pro Plan Adult Beef and Brown Rice Classic
• Purina Pro Plan Adult Large Breed Chicken and Rice
• Purina Pro Plan Puppy Chicken and Brown Rice Classic
• Purina Pro Plan Adult Shredded Beef, Carrots and Barley
• Purina Pro Plan Senior Chicken and Rice Morsels and Gravy
• Purina Pro Plan Adult Weight Management Turkey and Rice
• Purina Pro Plan Adult Shredded Chicken, Pasta and Spinach
• Purina Pro Plan Adult Shredded Turkey, Peas and Brown Rice
• Purina Pro Plan Adult Weight Management Turkey and Veggies

Purina Pro Plan Chicken and Vegetables Dog Food was selected to represent the others in the line for this review.

The first ingredient in this dog food is water… which (of course) adds nothing but moisture to this food. Water is a routine finding in most canned dog foods.

The second ingredient is chicken. Chicken is considered “the clean combination of flesh and skin… derived from the parts or whole carcasses of chicken”.¹

Chicken is naturally rich in the ten essential amino acids required by a dog to sustain life.

The third ingredient lists liver. Normally, liver can be considered a quality component. However, in this case, the source of the liver is not identified. Because it is anonymous, this liver could come from almost anywhere.

For this reason, it is impossible to judge the quality of this item.

The fourth item is turkey. Nutritionally similar to chicken, turkey is another quality meat.

The fifth item lists wheat gluten… the rubbery residue remaining once wheat has had most of its starchy carbohydrate (the good stuff) washed out of it.

Compared to meat, glutens are inferior grain-based proteins low in many of the essential amino acids dogs need to sustain life.

This less nutritious plant-based ingredient can significantly boost the total protein content reported in this dog food.

The sixth ingredient is meat by-products… slaughterhouse waste. Meat by-products are the inedible leftovers of slaughter considered “unfit for human consumption”.

Since the source animals are not named, the meat can come from almost anywhere. Road kill, dead zoo animals, diseased or dying livestock… even euthanized cats and dogs.

Many consider meat by-products nutritious animal protein. We still see it as nothing more than anonymous slaughterhouse waste.

The seventh item is corn starch… a starchy powder extracted from endosperm found at the heart of a kernel of corn. Corn starch is most likely used here to thicken the broth into a gravy.

By the way, please forgive our software’s “red flag” treatment of this otherwise satisfactory item.

The next three items include a series of nutrient-rich vegetables…

• Carrots
• Green beans
• Potatoes

We’re always disappointed to see the use of artificial coloring in any dog food.

Coloring is used to make the product more appealing to you… not your dog. After all, do you really think your dog cares what color his food is?

Which brings us to our final observation…

We note the minerals here do not appear to be chelated. And that can make them more difficult to absorb. Non-chelated minerals are usually associated with lower quality dog foods.

Purina Pro Plan Canned Dog Food
The Bottom Line

Judging by its ingredients alone, Purina Pro Plan appears to be a below-average canned dog food.

But ingredient quality by itself cannot tell the whole story. We still need to estimate the product’s meat content before determining a final rating.

The dashboard displays a dry matter protein reading of 50%, a fat level of 14% and an estimated carbohydrate content of 28%.

As a group, the brand features an average protein content of 48% and an average fat level of 17%. Together, these figures suggest an overall carbohydrate content of 27% for the full product line.

Above-average protein. Below-average fat. And average carbs… as compared to a typical canned dog food.

However, when you account for the protein-boosting effect of the wheat gluten, this is the profile of a wet food containing only a moderate amount of meat… with some of that meat sourced from low-quality meat by-products.

Bottom line?

Purina Pro Plan is a plant-based canned dog food using only an average amount of meat and meat by-products as its main sources of animal protein… thus earning the brand two stars.

Not recommended.

Those looking for a higher quality wet food from the same company may wish to check out our review of Purina Pro Plan Selects Canned Dog Food.

A Final Word

Remember, no dog food can possibly be appropriate for every life stage, lifestyle or health condition. So, choose wisely. And when in doubt consult a veterinarian for help.

Have an opinion about this dog food brand… or maybe the review itself? Please know… we welcome your comments.

Notes and Updates

11/30/2009 Original review
07/10/2010 Review updated

Tagged as: adult, canned, growth, health issues, large breed, maintenance, puppy, senior, weight control