Purina Pro Plan Kitten (Wet) Review

Purina Pro Plan Kitten pate is made up of seven recipes and receives the Cat Food Advisor second highest rating, 4-stars.

Purina Pro Plan food includes 25 essential vitamins and minerals, including vitamin A and taurine, an amino acid, to support healthy vision and the growth and development of a kitten in the first year.

The table below shows each recipe in this range including our rating and the AAFCO nutrient profile: Growth (kitten), Maintenance (adult), All Life Stages, Supplemental or Unspecified.

Recipe and Label Analysis

Purina Pro Plan Kitten Wet Food Development Chicken & Liver Entree Classic Grain Free was selected to represent the other products in the line for a detailed recipe and nutrient analysis.

Label and nutrient data below are calculated using dry matter basis.

Ingredients Analysis

The first ingredient is chicken, which 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 11 essential amino acids required by a cat to sustain life.

The second ingredient is liver.  Normally, liver can be considered a quality component. However, in this case, the source of the liver is not identified. For this reason, it’s impossible to judge the quality of this item.

The third ingredient is meat by-products, an item made from slaughterhouse waste. This is what’s left of slaughtered animals after all the prime striated muscle cuts have been removed.  With the exception of hair, horns, teeth and hooves, this item can include almost any other part of the animal.²  

What’s worse, this particular item is anonymous. So, the meat itself can come from any combination of cattle, pigs, sheep or goats — which can make identifying specific food allergies impossible.  Although most meat by-products can be nutritious, we do not consider such vaguely described (generic) ingredients to be as high in quality as those derived from a named animal source.

The fourth ingredient is water, which adds nothing but moisture to this food. Water is a routine finding in most wet cat foods.

The fifth ingredient is artificial and natural flavors. This doesn’t give us much information about the particular ingredients included in this cat food for flavoring purposes. 

There are so many great quality palatants, gravies and flavors to use in cat food which are meat based, that it is disappointing to find artificial flavorings. 

We understand that flavorings are used to make the foods more appealing and tasty for our cats, but natural or meat based flavors are always our preference.

The sixth ingredient is rice. Is this whole grain rice, brown rice or white rice? Since the word “rice” doesn’t tell us much, it’s impossible to judge the quality of this item.

The seventh ingredient is minerals potassium chloride, a nutritional supplement sometimes used as a replacement for the sodium found in table salt. 

From here the list goes on to include a number of other items. But to be realistic, ingredients located this far down the list (other than nutritional supplements) are not likely to affect the overall rating of the product.

This recipe receives a  4-star rating.

Nutrient Analysis

Based on its ingredients alone, Purina Beyond wet cat food looks like an above average product.

The dashboard displays a dry matter protein reading of 51.1%, a fat level of 25.5% and an estimated carbohydrate level of 15.4%.

As a group, the brand features an above average protein content of 51.7% and an above average fat level of 24.6%. Together these figures suggest a carbohydrate content of 15.7% for the overall product line, alongside a fat to protein ratio of 48%.

This means the Purina Pro Plan Wet Food product line contains above average protein, below average carbs and above average fat when compared to typical wet cat food.

Has Purina cat food been recalled in the past?

Yes, Purina has had a number of cat food recalls over the years.

The last one was in July 2021 when cans of Purina Pro Plan Complete Essentials Tuna Entree in Sauce Wet Cat Food were recalled as they may have contained plastic.

In March 2019, Purina issued a recall of one of its Muse cat foods.

In 2012, a single lot of Purina Veterinary Diets OM Overweight Management Feline Formula was recalled due to low levels of thiamine. Production Code #11721159.

In June 2011, Friskies issued a small recall due to the potential risk of salmonella contamination. This recall only affected a small range of Friskies products, – the Friskies Grillers Blend dry cat food recipe in 3.15lb and 16lb bags with best-by dates of August 2012.

In the same year, some other Purina dry cat foods were recalled due to suspected salmonella contamination. The products affected were: Purina ONE Vibrant Maturity 7+ dry cat food, 3.5 lb. and 7 lb. bags, with a “Best by” date of May 2012 and Production Code #03341084 or #03351084 and Purina Cat Chow Naturals, 6.3 lb., Production Code #10331083 13, with “Best by” date of August 2012.

You can view a complete list of all cat food recalls since 2021 here.

To stay on top of any cat food product recalls, sign up for our free email alerts, here.

About

Nestlé Purina PetCare is an American subsidiary of the Swiss corporation Nestlé, based in St. Louis, Missouri. It produces and markets pet food, treats, cat and dog litter. 

The cat food brands owned by Purina are: Beyond, Breeze, DenaLife, Fancy Feast, Friskies, Kit & Kaboodle, Petivity, Purina Cat Chow, Purina ONE, Purina Pro Plan, Purina Pro Plan Veterinary Diets, Tidy Cats and Whisker Lickin’s.