Pet Food Ingredients - XYZ

XYZ

X-ray

Yankee

Zulu

Me?

No not you Zulu.

Oh.. 

There are no interesting xyz food items to talk about - that I have not already covered in other posts.

So what should I do instead?

How about comparing 3 major brand bags of cat food?

Hills Ideal Balance

Purina One Beyond
 







Orijen
-all grain free
-all fish type

 

Ingredients
Hills Ideal Balance

Salmon, Potatoes, Pea Protein Concentrate, Yellow Peas, Chicken Fat, Potato Starch, Dried Egg Product, Chicken, Chicken Meal, Natural Chicken Liver Flavor, Flaxseed, Lactic Acid, Vegetable & fruit blend (Green Peas, Apples, Cranberries, Carrots, Broccoli)

 

Calcium Sulfate, Choline Chloride, L-Lysine, Potassium Chloride, DL-Methionine, Fish Oil, Calcium Carbonate, Iodized Salt, Taurine

 

Vitamins (Vitamin E Supplement, L-Ascorbyl-2-Polyphosphate (source of vitamin C), Niacin Supplement, Thiamine Mononitrate, Vitamin A Supplement, Calcium Pantothenate, Riboflavin Supplement, Biotin, Vitamin B12 Supplement, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Folic Acid, Vitamin D3 Supplement)

 

Minerals (Ferrous Sulfate, Zinc Oxide, Copper Sulfate, Manganous Oxide, Calcium Iodate, Sodium Selenite), Mixed Tocopherols for freshness, Phosphoric Acid, Beta-Carotene, Natural Flavors.

Ingredients:

Purina One Beyond

Ocean whitefish, chicken meal, pea protein, pea starch, cassava root flour, dried egg product, beef fat preserved with mixed-tocopherols, dried yeast, canola meal, pea fiber, natural liver flavor, dried sweet potatoes

Phosphoric acid, potassium chloride, salt, sodium bisulfate, choline chloride, taurine, L-Lysine monohydrochloride, calcium carbonate, 

Vitamin E supplement, zinc sulfate, ferrous sulfate, manganese sulfate, niacin, Vitamin A supplement, copper sulfate, calcium pantothenate, pyridoxine hydrochloride, Vitamin B-12 supplement, thiamine mononitrate, riboflavin supplement, Vitamin D-3 supplement, calcium iodate, menadione sodium bisulfite complex (source of Vitamin K activity), folic acid, biotin, sodium selenite.

Ingredients:
Orijen 

Whole salmon*, whole herring*, salmon meal, herring meal, Pollock meal, whole flounder*, boneless walleye*, boneless northern pike*, boneless lake whitefish*, salmon oil, herring oil, chickpeas, red lentils, green lentils, green peas, pea fiber, canola oil, sun-cured alfalfa, pumpkin*, butternut squash*, spinach greens*, carrots*, Red Delicious apples*, Bartlett pears*, cranberries*, mixed tocopheral.

Choline Chloride, Vitamin A, vitamin D3, niacin, riboflavin, folic acid, biotin, vitamin B12, zinc proteinate, iron proteinate, manganese proteinate, copper proteinate, Sodium Selenite.

*delivered fresh


It may be an unfair match up. 

Hills Ideal Balance, Purina Beyond, Orijen 

So two brands that I highly dislike and one brand that I can not get. 

I think it is a great match up - it shows you the difference between a company that will not expand its operations just to make more money - and two that would probably run over a reindeer for 5 bucks. 

I have not tried any of these foods personally. 

Meaning none of the cats or foster cats have tried any - I would probably never actually eat cat food. 


So here we go !

Round 1 - Best Protein

In round 1 we have 

Hills - Ideal balance - Grain Free - Salmon & Potato - Adult Cat


Protein: 33%
Fat:      23%
Carb:    35.7%
Fiber:    0.9%


10 to 15 lb Cat to eat - 3/8 to 3/4 cup  - A Day
First Ingredient - Salmon
Main Ingredient - Peas



Purina - Beyond - Grain Free - Whitefish & Egg - Cat


Protein: 35% - Min
Fat: 14% - Min
Carb: - not listed
Fiber: 4% - Max

10 to 14 lb Cat to eat - 2/3 to 1 cup - A Day
First Ingredient - Ocean Whitefish
Main Ingredient - Peas


Orijen - Six Fish - Cat

Protein: 42%
Fat: 20%
Carb: - not listed
Fiber: - 3%

9 to 13lb Cat to eat - 1/2 to 2/3 cup - A Day
First Ingredient - Salmon
Main Ingredient - Salmon/Herring - Fish (Named)

*****************
Winner of Round 1 - With 42% Protein - non plant protein 

round one goes to Orijen
*****************

Round 2 - Most informative Website 

Hills

• "We make every bag of our dry dog and cat food in our own U.S. facilities with the highest quality natural ingredients from North America and Europe"

• There is an abundance of information available on the Hills website

• Pet Health Questions to ask your vet - not the answers... its what you would bring to the vet and ask them. 

• If you have any questions the will provide you with the right direction - to their food.

• They have special offers
• A large amount of different available products

Purina 

• "95% of Beyond^® products are made in our own factories, all located here in the United States."
• Offers a product comparison  - sort of - limited to what they have already picked to compare.
• Not a lot of useless information - on the Beyond site - the linked Purina site - has a vast amount of information.
• They state Honesty In Pet Food - claiming to aid in helping pet owners understand the myths and truths of their product. 
• You can chat with a pet adviser right from the website

Orijen

• They state that they never outsource their ingredients

• If you want to know where their ingredients are from - Meet their farmers 
• They do not offer a wide variety of items - Just a few foods - and a few treats
• Impressive awards 

• Information is minimal - but useful - explaining Biologically Appropriate foods 

*****************

Winner of Round 2 - with an almost endless amount of information

Round 2 goes to Purina 

*****************

(though personally I do not want or need most of their information)

Round 3 - Over all quality for Cat

Would I feed it?

What about their other products, would I feed them?

Ignoring personal preference - and personal dislike - name one bad and one good thing about each company 

Hills 

•  No I would not feed this to my cats - but I have before (prescription)
• I would probably not feed any Hills products to my pets based on personal preference
• Good thing - They have fantastic marketing skills
• Bad thing - They have fantastic marketing skills

 

Purina 

• No I would not feed this to my cats - but I have previously 
• I would probably not feed and Purina products to my pets because I highly dislike the company in general 
• Good thing - They have been around for a very long time
• Bad thing - They seem to spend more money are marketing then making a better product 

Orijen

• Yes I would feed this to my cats
• I would feed Orijen products to my pets 
• Good thing - They make Biologically Appropriate pet food
• Bad thing - Availability - smaller company 

 

**************

Winner Round 3 - Over all Quality 

round 3 goes to Orijen

**************

Winning round 1 and 3 makes 

 

Orijen the over all winner

In reality this comparison was not all that equal - it was like comparing Apples to Pop Tarts.