The (Unbiased) Purina Pro Plan Review

Purina Pro Plan: The most controversial dog food on the market.

Vets love it, influencers hate it.

And if you asked us 12 months ago, our opinion is completely different than it is now.

We ran Purina Pro Plan through our full, evidence-based scoring system - one that looks at:

✔️ Nutrients

✔️ Ingredients

✔️ Safety standards

✔️ Expert formulation

✔️ WSAVA compliance

✔️ Usability

✔️ Price

Here’s what you actually need to know:

🔬 Nutrition & Formulation

Purina Pro Plan is developed by board-certified veterinary nutritionists, the highest level of expertise in pet food formulation.

The food lists complete and balanced nutrient levels, including protein, fat, fiber, calcium, and phosphorus, and even includes data most other brands skip, like linoleic acid, selenium, and vitamin C.

It’s not just theoretical either, Purina conducts feeding trials to prove their food supports real dogs in the real world.

👉 Protein clocks in around 30% on a dry matter basis, right within the ideal range for most healthy adult dogs.

🧪 Ingredient Breakdown

Animal-Based:

• Chicken
• Poultry by-product meal
• Fish meal
• Beef fat
• Dried egg product

✅ These offer essential amino acids, and yes - by-products include organ meats like liver and spleen, not garbage like feathers or floor sweepings (despite the internet rumors).

❌ We do flag generic terms like “fish meal” and “poultry by-product meal”, because lack of specificity isn’t ideal, especially for allergy-prone dogs.

Plant-Based:

• Rice
• Wheat
• Corn
• Soy
• Beet pulp
• Wheat bran
• Soybean oil

🌾 We used to avoid these too. But here’s the truth:

Corn and wheat are two of the most studied and reliable ingredients in pet food.

Soybean oil is a rich source of linoleic acid - an essential fatty acid dogs can’t make on their own.

And so-called “fillers” like rice? They help balance fat, protein, and fiber levels, especially in complete diets.

That said, we still mark down for ingredient splitting (e.g. “corn” and “corn protein meal”), which makes it look like there’s less corn than there really is.

Supplements & Vitamins:

Vitamins, minerals, and other ingredients to ensure every bite meets the minimum nutrient requirements for dogs

👉 A note on synthetics - we’re 100% fine with them because they help ensure consistency and prevent deficiencies, especially since most dogs eat the same food every day.

✅ WSAVA Compliance

WSAVA (the World Small Animal Veterinary Association) recommends five questions to ask any pet food company. Purina checks every box:

• Employs full-time veterinary nutritionists
• Conducts and publishes feeding trials
• Owns its own manufacturing facilities
• Tests finished products for nutrients
• Offers clear consumer contact info

Purina is a Diamond sponsor of WSAVA, but so is The Farmer’s Dog.

That shows that any type of pet food can meet these standards when they take nutrition seriously.

💰 Price Breakdown

Here’s what it costs to feed Purina Pro Plan based on your dog’s weight:

• 25 lb dog: about $25/month
• 75 lb dog: about $57/month
• 125 lb dog: about $84/month

It’s not the cheapest option, but it’s a fair price for a food that’s formulated by experts, balanced, and widely available.

🧠 Final Score: 89/100

✅ Expert formulation

✅ Strong nutrient profile

✅ Fully WSAVA-compliant

✅ Great real-world usability

❌ Uses a few generic meat terms

❌ Ingredient splitting

This food earns one of the highest scores we’ve given - and no, this review isn’t sponsored.

We’ve never taken a cent from Purina or Nestlé.

Thanks for reading and tell your pets I said hello :)

Bryce

P.S. Want to evaluate any pet food the way we do? We launched The Dog Food Evaluation Guide, with the exact steps, criteria, and scoring system we use to grade commercial diets like this one.