Pro plan has a grain free formula?

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#1
When did that happen? I was at Petco a few weeks ago and saw a bag of it in the sale area. Needless to say the ingredients panel is beyond a joke, but for curiosity sake, lets discuss it shall we? Well, not sure if it's been discussed before or not because Chaz's search function isn't currently functioning (what's new?). So, ingredients:

http://www.proplan.com/dry-dog-food/select-adult-grain-free-formula/
Chicken, canola meal, cassava root flour, chicken meal (natural source of glucosamine), pea starch, animal fat preserved with mixed-tocopherols (form of Vitamin E), fish meal (natural source of glucosamine), dried egg product, pea fiber, dried beet pulp, pea protein, natural flavor, fish oil, salt, calcium phosphate, potassium chloride, L-Lysine monohydrochloride, zinc proteinate, Vitamin E supplement, choline chloride, DL-Methionine, manganese proteinate, calcium carbonate, ferrous sulfate, L-ascorbyl-2-polyphosphate (source of Vitamin C), copper proteinate, niacin, Vitamin A supplement, calcium pantothenate, thiamine mononitrate, riboflavin supplement, Vitamin B-12 supplement, pyridoxine hydrochloride, calcium iodate, folic acid, Vitamin D-3 supplement, biotin, menadione sodium bisulfite complex (source of Vitamin K activity), sodium selenite.
Well, I know what I'm thinking :rolleyes:. Oh, and don't forget to click on the link and read the reviews for it, wow.
 

MicksMom

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#2
I have to say- if it wasn't for the animal fat, I'd give it a try. Our last Lab did great on Pro Plan. Putting on my flame retardent suit now.
 

Fran101

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#5
As for grain free foods, there are too many brands I like better to ever try proplan

but I will say, for a family dog a few others with IMPOSSIBLE allergies.. the proplan sensitive skin & stomach worked wonders. Great coats, healthy stool, healthy dogs and good for the budget. Feed what works for your dog. No flame retardant suit necessary.

I also know quite a few show breeders (especially golden retrievers for some reason) who swear by it and their dogs look AWESOME
 
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#6
When it comes to food, its not always something you can see on the outside. Everyone knows of a person who smoked and drank everyday and lived to be over 100 and was in great shape, or a person who eats fast food everyday and seems very healthy etc. IMO these people are just lucky that their genetics are naturally that good...their nature is so healthy that the nurture part is not as important. Where you can really tell the difference is when you get a dog (or a person ;) ) whos nature is poor healthwise..thats when the food makes the biggest difference.
 

Southpaw

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#7
Not something I'd be interested in feeding, even on paper it doesn't look like anything special and then on top of that, I'm not exactly a fan of Purina as a company. And then you get to the price.... $50 for 24lbs???! Yeah, there is definitely better food out there.

When it comes to food, its not always something you can see on the outside. Everyone knows of a person who smoked and drank everyday and lived to be over 100 and was in great shape, or a person who eats fast food everyday and seems very healthy etc. IMO these people are just lucky that their genetics are naturally that good...their nature is so healthy that the nurture part is not as important. Where you can really tell the difference is when you get a dog (or a person ) whos nature is poor healthwise..thats when the food makes the biggest difference.
And this.
 

MicksMom

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#8
...I also know quite a few show breeders (especially golden retrievers for some reason) who swear by it and their dogs look AWESOME
I know of a lot of Lab breeders who feed Pro Plan, too.

I fell for the "Purina is junk" line and tried Mick on better foods. Over the course of 3 years we tried Natural Balance, Nature's Variety and Canidae. All with the same results- his ear infections and/or hot spots came back. I finally said enough and put him back on Pro Plan. Didn't deal with ear infections or hotspots again. It was after that that I "hooked up" with Lab breeders who feed PP.
 

sillysally

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#9
As for grain free foods, there are too many brands I like better to ever try proplan

but I will say, for a family dog a few others with IMPOSSIBLE allergies.. the proplan sensitive skin & stomach worked wonders. Great coats, healthy stool, healthy dogs and good for the budget. Feed what works for your dog. No flame retardant suit necessary.

I also know quite a few show breeders (especially golden retrievers for some reason) who swear by it and their dogs look AWESOME
This.

Different things work for different dogs. The "best" foods are worthless to me if my dogs do poorly on them.
 
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#10
So glad yall are talking this point.

I have fed Diamond naturals lamb and rice for years. Recently, I thought of switching to grain free and have been doing research.

Tractor Supply has 4-health which we are considering and Diamond just added a grain free kibble.

Regarding the grains, it's just true that we've never seen a wild coyote out grazing in a grain field, unless he has a tummy upset, then it's grass.
They want protein.

I'm wanting as clean and healthy a product without breaking the bank, which can be hard to do with 2 dogs.

And the RECALLS....Lordy, don't even get me started!
 

Saeleofu

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#11
Grain free is getting more and more common. I found a grain-free food at Walmart of all places the other day! It was called Natural Life or something like that. I did a double take when I walked by.

Also, Ol' Roy has a new line called Pure Balance that is actually somewhat sort of decent. Nothing I'd feed, but if it's between that and Beneful or Kibbles n Bits or something, by all means choose the Pure Balance! They don't appear to have a grain-free formula yet, but I wouldn't be surprised if there is one soon.

What does this mean? Maybe people are starting to wake up! :)
 

Beanie

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#12
What does this mean? Maybe people are starting to wake up! :)
Yeah, I agree... I think no matter what you will always have a range of lower end and higher end foods. There are food companies out there who will never let their foods be sold at Wal-Mart so there is a niche there that will be filled one way or another. The ingredient list on this isn't impressive by any means but it could certainly be worse.

Also, contaminated grains tends to be the worst offender when it comes to aflatoxins, so if the companies who will fill the lower end niches are going to have questionable sources for their ingredients, better to remove the ingredients that historically seem to have done the most damage. (Of course meat fed contaminated grains can also carry high levels of aflatoxins...)

I wouldn't feed it, and I think that price tag is silly, but if there's somebody out there who switches their dog onto a slightly better food because "grain free" is an increasing trend these days, I don't really have problems with that!
 

SizzleDog

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#13
Hate to say it, but the one kibble my dogs did the best on was... Pro Plan.

Of course, we feed raw now so it's kind of a moot point, but still. Friggin' Pro Plan, folks.
 

Southpaw

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#14
I'm just not "into" grain free foods in general. Unless I suspect there is a grain intolerance going on... I'm much more likely to stick with grain-inclusive.

Juno was sent home from her breeder on Pro Plan, her breeder seemed to almost feel bad about it because she was nutrition savvy, but she said this was the only food that ALL her dogs did well on (while still being cost effective).


Also, I think a lot of "average people" have a different viewpoint of what "doing well" means. I see lots of dogs with dry, dandruffy coats. Mushy poop, and lots of it. These owners don't question the food, they think they don't need to try "higher quality" because their dog is doing well on what it's on. And just.... no. A lot of people just don't know what "good" should really look like.
 

JennSLK

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#15
I think its a good idea. While I feel there are much better food out there some people just cant afford it. I fed Solid Gold BATM. $80 per bag. Feeding one small and one large breed. Now I cant imagine feeding 4+ dogs that. I dont think I could have afforded it.

I think its a great thing for those who want to do well by their pets but cant afford the "best". Around here Innova, Taste Of The Wild, ect.. are all around the $70-$80 price range.
 
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#17
I wouldn't feed it, it's an upgrade for many many people's dogs though, maybe some will switch.

As for pro-plan that's what started my Shiba, Ruffians allergies flair up. She had no hair on her ear tips, had chewed the fur off her ribs, tail and inner thighs, after testing for mites, mange and a few other things the vet was stumped. A lady at a pet supply store recommended Solid Gold, haven't looked back at purina again.
 

MandyPug

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#18
Regular proplan is $70-80 a bag at my store for I think 35lbs, I can't see how this will save anyone money especially when they have to feed more of it too.

All these companies are just jumping on the grain free train for money, they don't care or believe in it. The scidie rep flat out told us theirs was to hook the "brainwashed" folks back in as they really don't know what their pets need.
 
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#19
Very interesting discussion indeed. And I would like to say first off, I know where you are coming from who say they know of many dogs that this is all they ever did good on, my childhood companion lived her entire life on Pedigree because she outright refused to touch anything else.

However, as the quote below says, it's not always about what you're seeing, and in the end my beloved Maddy suffered terribly from a build up on her skin of a slightly chalky ash colored grease, it was beyond NASTY! And, at around 14 started to loose her mind, by the time she passed at 16 1/2 she had the brain function of a 1 month old puppy left, it was the most traumatic thing I've ever had to watch, on top of the severe osteoarthritis that finally took her ability to even get around. She was 16 1/2. How much of that was the food, Vs vaccines and or the fact she was spayed around 7 months old? We'll probably never know.

When it comes to food, its not always something you can see on the outside. Everyone knows of a person who smoked and drank everyday and lived to be over 100 and was in great shape, or a person who eats fast food everyday and seems very healthy etc. IMO these people are just lucky that their genetics are naturally that good...their nature is so healthy that the nurture part is not as important. Where you can really tell the difference is when you get a dog (or a person ;) ) whos nature is poor healthwise..thats when the food makes the biggest difference.
---

It's creepy that so much of the protein is coming from peas and canola. Bleargh.
Not something I'd be interested in feeding, even on paper it doesn't look like anything special and then on top of that, I'm not exactly a fan of Purina as a company. And then you get to the price.... $50 for 24lbs???! Yeah, there is definitely better food out there.
The point I was hinting at, for the ingredients list I'm looking at, you want me to pay HOW MUCH?! At that point, I would rather buy TotW or 4Health made by Diamond. I mean, I guess for people who probably wouldn't change brands no matter what, okay, but when I can get a food that's better, grain inclusive or not, for the same price or less, think about it.

Oh! And I also looked at the new Ol'Roy Pure Balance, I think it's a wonderful addition to Walmart and for the many people who either don't or can't shop elsewhere, but I'll be honest, I priced it out and have been paying less for the Fromm Gold I've been buying, it's a bit of a drive to the place I buy it from but to me it's worth it (especially since I trust the Fromm company far more than I would any of these other ones we've been talking about, to me that is actually a huge factor in buying products).
 

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