Unbiased Purina Beyond Cat Food Review

Kirsten McCarthy / Cats.com

Purina Beyond Cat Food claims to go above and beyond to provide nutritious, high-quality natural food for pets. But is Purina Beyond really a good choice for your cat? Find out in our unbiased Purina Beyond cat food review.

The Cats.com Standard—Rating Purina Beyond on What Matters

We’ve analyzed Purina Beyond and graded it according to the Cats.com standard. Here’s how it rates in each of six key areas:

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Ratings

Species-Appropriateness – 7/10
Ingredient Quality – 7/10
Product Variety – 6/10
Price – 7/10
Customer Experience – 8/10
Recall History – 7/10

Overall Score: 7/10

We give Purina Beyond cat food a 42 out of 60 rating or a B grade.

Why Trust Cats.com

Our expert reviewers put many hours into researching cat food brands, evaluating nutritional information, and testing products. Before testing, we conduct in-depth company research to get a feel for a brand’s recall history, customer satisfaction rate, nutritional philosophy, and manufacturing practices. We also consider details like product packaging, marketing claims, and product availability.

In addition to evaluating the brand itself, we analyze the nutritional information for several products before putting them to the test with our cats at home. The entire testing process is funded by Cats.com with no direct influence from the brand.

About Purina Beyond

Beyond is a Nestlé-Purina brand emphasizing natural ingredients and traceability. The brand is Purina’s answer to the growing demand for natural foods made from simple, identifiable ingredients.

The Purina company itself dates back to 1894 and has since become a leader in the pet food industry. In addition to Beyond, the Nestlè-Purina PetCare company owns popular pet food brands including Friskies, Fancy Feast, and Kit & Kaboodle.

In contrast to some other Purina brands like Cat Chow and ONE, Purina Beyond products don’t include corn or soy. They’re also free from artificial additives like synthetic colors, flavors, and preservatives.

Purina Beyond Video Review

Sourcing and Manufacturing

Like other Purina brands, Purina Beyond cat food is manufactured in Purina-owned facilities in the United States. According to Purina’s FAQ, “all Beyond products undergo rigorous quality assurance and safety standards.”

Most, but not all, of the ingredients used in Purina Beyond cat food appear to be sourced from North America. The company also buys ingredients from France, Japan, China, New Zealand, Chile, and other countries.

As part of the brand’s traceability guarantee, they provide sourcing information for every ingredient. The Beyond Ingredient Source Map shares the origins of all of the grains, fruits, vegetables, meats, vitamins, minerals, and amino acids used in Purina Beyond pet food.

Recall History

Purina has been producing pet food for over half a century and, during that time, various Purina brands have been affected by product recalls. That said, Purina Beyond products have never been recalled. It’s worth noting, however, that these products are likely manufactured in the same facilities as the other brands.

What Kind of Cat Food Does Purina Beyond Offer?

Kirsten McCarthy / Cats.com

The Purina Beyond cat food lineup includes about two dozen wet cat foods, dry cat foods, and treats. According to Purina, the Beyond product line is formulated “with purposeful ingredients” to help your cat thrive. Purina Beyond offers limited-ingredient, certified organic, and indoor cat recipes as well as grain-free and grain-inclusive formulas.

Here’s a quick overview of the different categories of Purina Beyond cat food:

Grain-Free
Organic
Mixers & Toppers
Simply Limited Ingredient
High-Protein

Purina Beyond cat food formulas appear to primarily feature chicken, turkey, or fish as the main proteins. There’s also a few novel protein options like Canadian duck, trout, and catfish. Every Beyond recipe starts with an animal-sourced protein at the top of the list, and many contain multiple sources of animal protein.

Purina Beyond wet cat foods come in a smooth pate texture or chunks in gravy. You can purchase cases of single Beyond wet cat food flavors or try variety packs of mixed flavors to see what your cat likes best.

Purina Beyond Cat Food—Top 3 Recipes Reviewed

Product Name	Food Type	Main Protein	Calories Per Ounce	Price	Our Grade
Beyond Grain-Free Simply Wild-Caught Whitefish & Cage-Free Egg Recipe Dry Cat Food	Dry	Hake	104 kcal/oz.	$0.20 per oz	B-
Beyond Simply White Meat Chicken & Whole Oat Meal Recipe Dry Cat Food	Dry	Chicken	107 kcal/oz.	$0.16 per oz	B-
Beyond Cage-Free Turkey, Sweet Potato & Spinach Recipe in Gravy Canned Cat Food	Wet	Turkey	24 kcal/oz.	$0.43 per oz	B+

#1 Purina Beyond Grain-Free Simply Wild-Caught Whitefish & Cage-Free Egg Recipe Dry Cat Food

$19.99 At Chewy $19.92 At Amazon

Featuring wild-caught whitefish (hake) as the first ingredient, this grain-free dry cat food also contains chicken meal, dried egg product, and pea protein as supplemental protein sources. Measured as dry matter, the food contains 38.6% protein. Beef fat offers a species-appropriate source of fat, contributing significantly to the recipe’s nearly 16% dry matter fat content.

Purina Beyond Ocean Whitefish & Egg Dry Kibble Cat Food

Kirsten McCarthy / Cats.com

In addition to proteins and fats, this recipe contains several sources of carbohydrate (cassava root flour and pea starch). Unfortunately, these are largely starchy carbs that provide limited nutritional value. Dried sweet potatoes also appear on the list, but not until just before the nutritional supplements.

Overall, this recipe contains moderate amounts of protein and fat, but it’s high in carbohydrates and low in moisture. The limited list of ingredients might help improve digestibility, boosted by the probiotics added to the mix. Being a multi-protein recipe, however, the food might not be appropriate for cats with food allergies.

Ingredients

Hake, Chicken Meal, Cassava Root Flour, Dried Egg Product, Pea Starch, Dried Yeast, Pea Protein, Beef Fat (Preserved With Mixed-Tocopherols), Canola Meal, Pea Fiber, Natural Flavor, Dried Sweet Potatoes, Sunflower Oil, Phosphoric Acid, L-Lysine Monohydrochloride, Calcium Carbonate, Salt, Sodium Bisulfate, Potassium Chloride, Choline Chloride, Taurine, MINERALS [Zinc Sulfate, Ferrous Sulfate, Manganese Sulfate, Copper Sulfate, Calcium Iodate, Sodium Selenite], Dl-Methionine, VITAMINS [Vitamin E Supplement, Niacin (Vitamin B-3), Vitamin A Supplement, Calcium Pantothenate (Vitamin B-5), Thiamine Mononitrate (Vitamin B-1), Vitamin B-12 Supplement, Riboflavin Supplement (Vitamin B-2), Pyridoxine Hydrochloride (Vitamin B-6), Folic Acid (Vitamin B-9), Menadione Sodium Bisulfite Complex (vitamin k), Vitamin D-3 Supplement, Biotin (Vitamin B-7)], Vitamin E Supplement, Dried Bacillus Coagulans Fermentation Product.

Ingredients We Liked: Hake, Chicken Meal, Dried Egg Product, Beef Fat

Ingredients We Didn’t Like: Cassava Root Flour, Pea Starch, Dried Yeast, Pea Protein, Canola Meal

Guaranteed Analysis

Crude Protein: 34%

Crude Fat: 14%

Crude Fiber: 4%

Moisture: 12%

Dry Matter Basis

Protein: 38.64%

Fat: 15.91%

Fiber: 4.55%

Carbs: 40.91%

Caloric Weight Basis

Protein: 32.69%

Fat: 32.69%

Carbs: 34.62%

What We Liked:

Top two ingredients are animal proteins
Relies primarily on animal-sourced fat
Limited list of main ingredients
Enriched with probiotics to support digestion

What We Didn’t Like:

High in carbohydrates
No dry food provides the moisture your cat needs

#2 Purina Beyond Simply White Meat Chicken & Whole Oat Meal Recipe Dry Cat Food

$9.79 At Chewy $18.49 At Amazon

Like the previous recipe, this dry cat food contains a limited list of main ingredients. However, it’s grain-inclusive instead of grain-free, made with nutritious whole grains like barley and oatmeal. Chicken and egg make up most of the formula’s protein content, though pea protein still appears on the list.

Kirsten McCarthy / Cats.com

Purina Beyond White Meat Chicken & Egg Dry Kibble Cat Food

Kirsten McCarthy / Cats.com

Measured as dry matter, this Beyond dry food contains 37.5% protein and 13.6% fat. It’s still pretty high in carbohydrates (which is common for dry foods), but the carbohydrate sources might have higher nutritional value than the starchy plant foods in the previous grain-free formula.