Purina One

Is Purina One food brand good? Which is the best affordable brand out there?

Is this the Purina One dry food for your new kitten? I'll attach a link to the chewy page, to make it easier for our resident nutrition experts to evaluate: https://www.chewy.com/purina-one-healthy-kitten-formula-dry/dp/119347

I think, that it's not a bad food. That being said, it does contain a lot of rice flour. Cats are obligate carnivores, so they don't need grains, which is why many cat owners prefer to feed a grain-free diet. You can learn more about that here: Grain-free Cat Food – What Does It Mean?

I've had success raising healthy kittens on Purina ONE kitten food and canned Fancy Feast kitten. It's not top quality but it's a solid budget choice.

To add to Willowy above, Sheba wet is also a good one for "finicky eaters".
I find that a "finicky" eater enjoys IAMS dry as an aside from the wet. Again, not top rated, but when on a budget, does the trick nutritionally, and they seem to like it. I feed my ferals the dry Purina One and Friskies canned, even cheaper, but cannot afford to feed the ferals as well as my own cat. Oh, and "Fancy feast" is another favorite for the "finicky, picky" eaters.

Chewy promotes and rates kibble dry food, regardless of the brand. I was looking into Crave. It appears to be high in protein and the ingredients are not so bad.

I used to feed my cat Purina One when I used to catsit her, and there are better options out there. I remember she shed a lot on that and got constipated pretty frequently. I switched to Purina Pro Plan after that, and while she preferred that it wasn't much better. I think you can find better options with better-quality meat at similar price points. Here are some high-protein kibbles that have pretty good ingredients lists, that aren't too expensive:

Nutro Chicken and Brown Rice ($11 for 3 lbs):
https://www.chewy.com/nutro-wholesome-essentials-indoor/dp/114488

Wellness Chicken & Rice ($21 for 6 lbs):
https://www.chewy.com/wellness-complete-health-adult-health/dp/146730

Fussie Cat Chicken & Turkey ($8 for 2 lbs):
https://www.chewy.com/fussie-cat-market-fresh-chicken/dp/125711

Nulo Turkey & Chicken ($22 for 5 lb, but only available at Petsmart):
Nulo MedalSeries Indoor Adult Cat Food - Grain Free, Turkey & Chicken | cat Dry Food | PetSmart

Every quality "grain-free" dry food I've come across (including Dr Elsey's Cleanprotein) has some sort of starchy filler, like chickpeas, peas, rice or oats. I'd rather feed my cat that type of filler though instead of something like corn or potatoes, though. With the exception of the Nutro I mentioned above, none of these foods contain corn or potato or fish.

smosmosmo said:

Every quality "grain-free" dry food I've come across (including Dr Elsey's Cleanprotein) has some sort of starchy filler, like chickpeas, peas, rice or oats. I'd rather feed my cat that type of filler though instead of something like corn or potatoes, though. With the exception of the Nutro I mentioned above, none of these foods contain corn or potato or fish.

Click to expand...

Clean protein has no plant matter other than flaxseed for skin and coat. It’s binder is gelatin. It’s one of the best quality dries on the market right now.

cheesycats The salmon flavor has more chickpeas in it than flaxseed. But you're right, the chicken flavor looks pretty perfect. My cat hates poultry but she ate up her entire sample of the chicken Cleanprotein - it's a really, really nice option for those who can afford it.

Ah, I don’t feed fish so didn’t even consider the salmon.