According to a new post published in PetFoodProcessing.com, Purina Pet Food sales have dropped dramatically in 2025. “Facing continued struggles to gain momentum in pet care, Nestlé is planning to focus in on the cat category, which it revealed during its nine-month and third-quarter earnings call. Additionally, the company also shared plans to reduce its headcount by 16,000 over the next two years in efforts to save costs, according to its financial report for the period, ended Sept. 30.”
This same post disclosed that Purina Pet Food sales have dropped in the first nine months of 2025 (compared to the first nine months of 2024) by $550 million dollars.
Perhaps Purina’s sales are dropping due to increased pet owner awareness of the nutritional differences between highly processed feed grade pet foods (kibble) and minimally processed human grade pet foods, backed by science proving what so many of us already know – the benefits of fresh human grade pet food.
In a recent year long study funded by The Farmer’s Dog pet food – “Senior dogs demonstrated dramatic changes in metabolism after 30 days when transitioned from a kibble diet to a fresh food diet, which were sustained during the year-long feeding period, showing healthy adaptation to a lower carbohydrate, minimally processed food.”
From the press release regarding the study: “Results revealed that dogs fed the fresh food experienced a rapid and sustained metabolic shift after just one month, marked by lower levels of advanced glycation end products (AGEs) – harmful compounds linked to aging and chronic disease. These dogs also showed reduced sucrose and 1,5-anhydroglucitol (a glycemic control biomarker), and notably lower concentrations of specific AGEs such as N6-carboxymethyllysine and pyrraline—highlighting the benefits of avoiding high-heat-processed diets.”
Several years ago fresh pet food manufacturer JustFoodforDogs funded a digestibility study finding a fresh food diet is “40% more digestible when compared to similar studies that looked into dry dog food.”
Dr. Anna Hielm-Björkman of the University of Helsinki has published numerous studies evidencing the health benefits of minimally processed pet foods, including one that “investigated how a dog’s early life diet might influence the development of chronic enteropathy (CE), which is a long-term, chronic gut condition, later in life. Using data from Finnish dogs, we found that feeding puppies and adolescent dogs non-processed, meat-based diets, including raw bones, cartilage, and human meal leftovers, was linked to a lower risk of CE. Berries in puppyhood were also protective. On the other hand, diets high in processed carbohydrates, such as kibble, and feeding rawhides during puppyhood increased the risk of CE. The findings suggest that diet in early life plays an important role in gut health later in life.”
Susan Thixton
Pet Food Safety Advocate
Author Buyer Beware, Co-Author Dinner PAWsible
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Marla
October 21, 2025 at 1:18 pm
The missing comment here is pricing. I know people that have complained about the increase over the past 1 to 2 years for both cat and dog food. Huge increase. Minimally processed foods can make a difference beyond young dogs. My Shepard/lab mix in a kennel for 6 years when I got him. Heavy heartworm. Home cooked until 16. No vax from 11 on. Vet recommended and said he lived so long because of home cooked. Unfortunately, people are looking for even cheaper dog chow. It’s all expensive now.
Sue
October 21, 2025 at 2:02 pm
Marla, great story about your pup. It’s more real-life evidence of the difference a fresh, home cooked diet, and very limited vaxing makes.
Completely agree that the increased expense for dog and cat food is resulting in people choosing cheaper, poor quality food. They may be saving some money on the front end, but ultimately poor nutrition will lead to health issues and vet bills.
People may be surprised to find out that buying and making fresh food for their animals is not as expensive as they might think. I’m buying organic meat for my cats and it’s not costing as much as the little boxes of “human grade” food I bought.
kmangini@sbcglobal.net
October 21, 2025 at 2:30 pm
Hi Marla, good for you, but people dont understand that they either spend the money now for the heath of their pets or at the doctors later when their dogs get sick?
Sam
February 9, 2026 at 10:16 am
It’s funny you mention cost here, in a good way, me and my fiancé are young adults with a young German shepherd and Siberian cat. We love them both very much, we want the best for them. I work in a STEM field so I’m used to sifting through statistically significant papers that have weight behind them. But we just started out really, just bought a home and moved, I’m very grateful. Prior we had less money and I bought diamond naturals puppy food (the ingredients were more acceptable to me) and 4health wet cat food. Low-cost and good quality for their price point. They’re still lower cost than most, but raw is becoming cheaper too.
There’s a small family-owned company near me that sells ground beef and beef organs along with whole beef chews (like trachea). The monthly cost for a box to feed a 80lb dog? 142. While yes, that’s more expensive than our food right now, it’s a price I’m happy to accept for our pup once she’s out of daycare (too young to be fully trusted at home still, causes too much mischief and eats cat poop). For our cat? A raw whole ground chicken monthly cost is about 63. Once again, I’m happy to pay this price.
Just being more mindful out of the gate and trying to feed them raw as a supplement (for now) has led to less vet visits, healthier animals, and happier animals. I know my stomach and GI tract rebels when I eat too much processed food, and I feel awful that for the moment they have to eat processed food nearly every night. I cannot wait to transition away and I’m grateful the diamond at least makes decent food at a decent price unlike others.
Carol Chakeropulos
October 21, 2025 at 1:36 pm
Yipppeeee! That’s good news!
Thank you, Susan. That made my day.
Leona
October 21, 2025 at 3:14 pm
I keep hoping that there’ll be a similar human grade fresh food for cats that they have for dogs. I’m not good at making my own food, but hoping someone out there is.
Joe
October 23, 2025 at 11:05 am
There is. I use smalls DOT com for my cat and Sundays for my dog
Carolyn
October 23, 2025 at 11:00 pm
Hi Leona, I found Caru (brand) on Susan’s 2025 “The List”
Caru checks many boxes: Human Grade, Non-GMO, Humanely raised, Human Grade Supplements, Licensed for Human Food Manufacturing, food is cooked. Cost around $3.50 per day.
Susan does a wonderful job of indexing all the foods she trusts on one page then has a separate page with more information on each manufacturer. Please check out her list, hopefully you will find something that suits your situation.
All the best!
Judy
October 21, 2025 at 4:00 pm
I feel Purina is losing money, not only due to fresh foods, but due to quality. Consumers are getting smarter about ingredients/brands. My pets haven’t done well overall with Purina wet/dry foods. Raw foods have had recalls for salmonella and listeria, so caution is advised, but pet owners should do their research re: ingredients. I used Purina for years but no longer do. I give my cat several small meals of wet food each day, and keep out a small bowl of dry, in case she runs out of wet or it sits too long, plus she gets hungry overnight.
Sam
February 9, 2026 at 10:21 am
I think it’s important to note that anybody who feeds and handles raw food and raw meat in general takes a layer of precaution in clean up and prep. Because raw meat is known to be a higher risk factor for humans, and sometimes pets, so there’s an extra layer of due diligence from those owners.
Kibble and other heavily processed foods are sold to consumers under the premise that all you do is pour it out and feed. There is no thought to handle with care or that food born illness is even a possibility. That layer of due diligence isn’t there.
That’s part of what bothers me I guess when people say “raw is dangerous!”, yes and so is sushi and steak tartare yet here we are. Proper handling makes the risk so much lower.
Heck, I’ve had salmonella and it was my fault- didn’t get it from raw meat or eggs because I handle them properly and account for illness. I got it from wild blueberries when I was in the field. It never occurred to me that wild salmonella could be a thing, at least at the time, now I know better. I handle my foraged berries much differently now.
Judy
October 21, 2025 at 4:07 pm
Follow-up comment: if you can’t afford fresh foods or are wary, you can boil chicken or roast chicken or turkey in the oven. Do not use any spices!! Give your pet a few small pieces to supplement their food. Make sure there are no bones!! My cat won’t eat any veggies so I just give her a few bits of turkey I bake in a cooking bag. She goes wild!
Judy
October 21, 2025 at 4:28 pm
Purina may be losing money due to recent quality concerns. My cats didn’t do well w/this brand, so I switched, as many others have. Raw foods have had recalls for salmonella/listeria, so use caution and do your research. If you can’t afford fresh foods or are wary, you can boil turkey/chicken or cook in the oven (I do mine in a cooking bag). Don’t use any spices!! Give a few thin, short pieces and be sure there are no bones or chunks of cartilage!! My cat won’t eat veggies but goes wild for the turkey!
Lynn
October 21, 2025 at 9:49 pm
I think this is great news. I’m hoping it’s because people are getting more knowledgeable about fresh feeding and just how detrimental kibble can be. There is a lot of competition with kibble which may also explain the loss. They also, fairly recently, had all those pets getting sick. I don’t think that was ever resolved. Regardless, I’m happy for their loss in sales. Again, I’m hoping it’s because people are feeding fresh nutritious foods.
Bonnie S Morris
October 22, 2025 at 8:10 am
Susan, I wish I could hug you. This is tremendous news, you have helped to give pet owners much needed knowledge about exactly what these companies are putting in the food that do so much harm to these animals we love so much.
Yes, feeding fresh food is not cheap but vet prices have gotten out of control and you will have to pay one way or another. I would much rather pay for food than vet bills. Thank you for all you do. My dos are so much healthier and happier on real food than dried up kibble.
Karin Yates
October 22, 2025 at 1:25 am
I told The Farmers Dog folks that farmers have cats, too (my cats do love their dog recipes…)
Melinda Smith
October 22, 2025 at 7:27 am
I’m so happy pet owners are finally realizing how bad overly processed feed grade kibble is for our pets and are switching to human grade food. It just takes common sense, processed food isn’t good for ourselves much less our pets and thank you so much for all the long hours and research you do to help us keep our pets healthy. I feed RAW, home cooked and gently cooked human grade to my 3 dogs and all are thriving!
Burb
October 22, 2025 at 9:53 am
As much as I love this news, I can’t help but wish that it was the same for cats. There are more variety in dog food options now than in cats. Take Just Food For Cats, for example. They really only have one line compared to many options for dogs, and even that has rice that cats don’t nutritionally need. Some fresh food companies don’t even have a cat line. I wonder if there’ll come a day when dog and cat options are on equal footing, same with research studies too.
Kerri
October 24, 2025 at 10:04 am
Hi Burb,
There is a lot more for cats now and it’s growing. You can purchase Susan’s, “The List”, which is totally worth it that gives you amazing info about pet food she has researched. I rotate about 5 different brands right now that include raw, freeze dried and gently cooked.
PJ
October 22, 2025 at 10:04 am
I’m new to all this. After losing a dog and a cat due to GI cancer I’ve been doing more research on pet foods and stumbled upon your site. THANK YOU for all your hard work!
We are doing human grade meat usually boiled and mixing with wet pet foods and vegetables. Do I need to be adding a multivitamin? We have two cats and one dog,all previously feral.
Susan Thixton
November 5, 2025 at 4:44 pm
You need to provide a balanced diet – with all required nutrients in the proper amounts. You will need a recipe for that – from a reliable source (make sure the recipe states it is complete and balanced).
Christine
October 22, 2025 at 2:09 pm
We tried Darwin fresh food and yes, it was terribly expensive. Shortly after both our Shelties got some kind of a skin fungal infection that they still have 6 weeks later. We’ve spent a fortune on vet bills and medications only to be told that while they don’t have an official diagnosis, raw dog food is “dangerous”. What does the vet suggest? Purina…Ugh.