ProPlan food for dogs
Perhaps one of the most popular diets on the domestic pet food market is Proplan dog food for all breeds. This is quite easy to explain: strong advertising and sheer ubiquity are the key factors. Let's take a closer look at this food and discover the secrets behind this well-known brand.
This brand of food is produced by Purina, a company part of the Nestlé conglomerate. Everyone knows this company's products, including Darling, Gourmet, and Friskies. Although quality control at the factories is fully operational, many consumers have begun to complain about the quality of the food, especially recently, when production opened in Russia. Unfavorable reviews of ProPlan dog food have become increasingly common. In particular, some breeders are complaining of allergic reactions and digestive upset in their four-legged friends, blaming the food. But is the food to blame?
According to the manufacturer, this brand of food belongs to the super-premium segment and guarantees your dog complete daily nutrition. To find out if this is true, we'll take a closer look at the ProPlan product line and examine the ingredients of one of the brand's most popular foods. Let's get started.
Content
ProPlan food range
The average person only needs to glance at the Proplan shelf at a pet store to immediately become confused. And for good reason: the company's laboratories have developed nine main food groups, each of which is further divided by dog size, age, activity level, and special needs.
In total, Purina ProPlan dog food includes about 30 varieties, plus 10 special veterinary diets. It's mind-boggling, isn't it? However, a closer look reveals a much simpler picture – you can easily choose the right diet, knowing exactly your dog's breed, size, and age.
The manufacturer offers the following formulas:
- Optistart is a complete nutrition for puppies. It's based on chicken. It's available for small and dwarf breeds, medium breeds, large breeds, and athletic large breeds. A special supplement, colostrum, is designed to help the growing body develop properly.
- Optihealth is a high-quality food for healthy, active dogs. The main ingredient is chicken. It's available by dog size, just like our puppy food.
- Optiage is a chicken-based food for senior dogs. This Proplan food is designed for small breed dogs over 9 years old and medium and large breed dogs over 7 years old.
- Optiderma – diets for pets with sensitive skin. To prevent allergies, chicken was replaced with salmon. There are also breed and age categories.
- Optidigest is a special food for animals with digestive issues. Lamb was chosen as the base meat for their sensitive stomachs. The food is available in various sizes according to breed.
- Optiweight is a food specially formulated for neutered mutts, as well as pets prone to obesity. Its increased protein content and reduced calorie content distinguish it from other diets. It's based on chicken.
- Optipower is a specially formulated food ideal for working dogs and active pets who expend a lot of energy. Chicken is designed to meet these energetic pets' caloric needs.
- Dental Pro Bar is a food that helps maintain healthy teeth and oral cavity. It contains rice grains and is only available for adult dogs.
- Duo Delice is a special Purina development: it contains several types of kibble, both hard and soft. This allows even the most fussy dogs to be satisfied and increases their digestibility. This food is based on rice combined with either beef or chicken. Duo Delice is also available with salmon. It is available only for small breeds and adult dogs.
We've only covered the basic formulas designed for your dog's daily nutrition. Purina also offers Proplan dry food for dogs with various health conditions. It's a separate line of 10 products, called veterinary diets:
- Hypoallergenic - hypoallergenic food (with purified protein and hypoallergenic grains);
- Convalescence is a rehabilitation food (easily digestible food for animals during the recovery period after injuries and surgeries);
- Gastrointestinal – diet for animals with digestive problems and pancreatic dysfunction;
- Hepatic – food for dogs with liver disease (contains a low percentage of copper and a small amount of protein);
- FortiFlora – food containing probiotics (to maintain proper microflora in the intestines);
- Obesity Management – food for obese dogs (low calorie and high protein content);
- Renal Function – to support diseased kidneys (low percentage of phosphorus and highly purified protein);
- Urinary – for animals with urinary system problems (maintains urine pH within normal limits and prevents the formation of kidney stones);
- Joint Mobility is a food created to support the joints of large breed dogs (contains Omega-3 fatty acids);
- Dermatosis – food for dogs with skin problems (low protein content reduces itching).
Composition of Proplan dog food
Our test subject was one of the most popular diets (based on the number of online reviews)—Pro Plan Optihealth for adult medium-sized dogs. According to the manufacturer's official website, this food is designed to maintain excellent teeth and gum health thanks to its calcium, phosphorus, and vitamin D content. It also has a positive effect on joint health and intestinal microflora.
What is this healthy food made of? Here's what:
- The first component is dry poultry protein
- Next comes wheat
- The third component is corn
- Chicken is ranked fourth (14%)
- Fifth is animal fat.
Typically, the bulk of the food is made up of the first five ingredients, followed by nutrients, which are present in significantly smaller quantities. These include dried beet pulp and rice (which makes up only 4%), followed by a flavoring additive. Next comes gluten, corn meal, and a component called a processed vegetable product. Finally, minerals, fish oil, and a vitamin complex are listed. Antioxidants come last.
So there you have it. It seems like such a highly-hyped food, but the ingredients leave much to be desired. Let's analyze the guaranteed nutritional content:
- Proteins – 25% (average);
- Fats – 15% (normal level);
- Ash content – 7.5% (slightly below the norm);
- Fiber – 2.5% (also below the norm for dry food).
There's no mention of carbohydrates in the ingredients or guaranteed content—the manufacturer may not specify this figure. However, simple math shows that carbohydrates are around 40%—a significant amount. Moisture content is also not specified, so we'll assume an average of 10% for dry food.
Squirrels
The protein base listed is poultry protein and chicken. Chicken protein is essentially a highly processed product containing only protein. Any beneficial properties present in the raw material before processing are simply lost, which is why dry protein is considered a low-quality ingredient in dog food.
Chicken, which contains a whopping 14%, is a good nutrient, but it's important to remember that we're talking about whole chicken—the whole bird goes into production. Furthermore, after processing, moisture is removed from the raw material, and the chicken content will significantly decrease.
The food also contains gluten, which serves as a source of plant proteins. It often causes allergies and therefore cannot be highly valued as a protein source.
Fats
Everything here is very meager – animal and fish oils. Fish oil is second to last on the list, meaning its content is negligible. However, as a source of lipids, this raw material is highly valued.
Animal fat is an undesirable ingredient in pet food. This is because this term often conceals low-quality beef and pork fat, which is difficult for dogs to digest. Furthermore, the quality of the raw materials is also unknown, making it more of a negative than a beneficial component.
Carbohydrates
As we've already mentioned, the manufacturer "forgot" to list the carbohydrate content of the food, and here's why. Judging by the list, almost half of the food consists of grains and their derivatives (wheat, corn, gluten, corn flour). This doesn't provide any nutritional benefits for dogs—their stomachs simply don't digest it, and so, basically, it's excreted in its original state. This is a clear omission!
Additional ingredients
The source of plant fiber is the pulp of beets and a mysterious byproduct of the plant. While beets are clear and can be considered a relatively healthy food, this mysterious "byproduct" raises many questions. What lies behind this name? What benefits does it bring to the body? All these questions remain unanswered.
The flavoring additive deserves special mention. The company makes no secret of the fact that they add a substance of unknown origin to Purina Proplan dog food, designed to enhance its appeal. Does this mean that without this ingredient, dogs simply wouldn't eat the food? So, the inclusion of flavorings is definitely a negative.
Vitamins and minerals are mentioned in passing, and most likely, some ready-made basic premix containing the necessary minimum of elements and vitamins was simply added to this diet.
Antioxidants are last on the list. This means their quantity is very low, and the origin of this nutrient is unknown. While it's good that they're present at all, whether they're enough to provide benefits to your dog is a big question.
To summarize, we can say that this food can be classified as premium, but certainly not super-premium. It is a worthy replacement for economy food, but it is hardly particularly healthy.
Reviews of ProPlan dog food
Thanks to their availability and relatively low price, these foods have long since conquered the market. Many owners have been buying them for years, and a vast database of opinions and reviews has accumulated about them. Let's explore the most notable ones we found:
Svetlana, owner of Yorkie Mark:
"Our breeder gave us a pack of Proplan with the puppy, and the dog generally likes it. As she gets older, we've changed her diet, but we haven't switched to any other food. She's lively and happy, and there are no problems—I think the food plays a big role in that."
Alexander, husky Purga:
"At one point, we decided to switch our dog from a natural diet to dry food. On a friend's recommendation, I bought a pack of Proplan for active dogs. He had the worst diarrhea on the planet! We barely managed to calm his stomach, and the vet told us to buy more expensive food. Since then, I've been wary of Proplan!"
Zhanna, owner of basset hound Bori:
"Borka is a lazybones and doesn't really like to run, so as he got older, he started to struggle with his weight. Our vet recommended switching him to Pro Plan for weight loss. Since then, the problem has gone away. We feed him a food designed for those prone to obesity, and everything is fine."
As you can see, opinions vary widely. We believe that most negative reviews are not due to the food itself, but rather to dogs' individual sensitivity to the ingredients or a sudden change in diet. However, the majority of reviews are positive.
However, there are also reviews from veterinarians about Proplan dog food. However, these reviews mostly concern veterinary diets: doctors agree that these foods can support the body during illness. However, if possible, doctors recommend switching to more expensive super-premium brands or holistic nutritionThey also contain veterinary diets, and much higher quality ones at that.
Price of feed
Finally, I'd like to talk about price. Proplan dog food, while not particularly expensive, is in the mid-price range in terms of price/quality ratio. The average market prices for this product today are as follows:
For adult dogs of small breeds: 0.7 kg – from 400 rubles.
- 3 kg – from 1400 rub.
- 7 kg – from 2900 rub.
Proplan for adult dogs of medium breeds: RUB.
- 3 kg – from 1,230 rubles.
- 14 kg – from 4550 rub.
As you can see, this food isn't particularly expensive, and most breeders can afford it. We wish your pets good health, and we remind you that ProPlan veterinary diets should only be purchased with a veterinarian's prescription. Otherwise, you risk seriously harming your dog's health!
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