Wellness canned is POOR nutrition?????

greenvillegal

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So I went downtown to a specialty pet food and supply store today. They sell mostly the high quality foods although they do sell things like Iams, Science Diet, & Purina. I went there because they sell the wellness canned by the case and they have the big 12.5 ounce cans which is helpful for feeding 3 boys a day.

When I plopped 2 cases of canned grain free Wellness up onto the checkout counter, the guy asked me if I was feeding all wet. When I said yes he proceeded to tell me that the food was 78% water (DUH) and that there weren't enough nutrients in the food to feed it as a cat's sole diet. He said I should supplement with some dry food which has all of the vitamins and nutrients in it that a cat needs in his diet. This was all news to me, as I have read over and over that a wet diet is best for cats and that Wellness is excellent quality nutritious food. One good thing he said that made sense was that Ennova was good.

Amadeus is on a new diet (please feel free to visit Amadeus' Diet as inspired by Molly the cat) and I read so many places that Wellness was a great food. So what the heck is this guy talking about?? Sharky, I know you're particularly knowledgeable on foods... any advice?
 

kittymonsters

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Wellness is a good food and more importantly a complete food. Sorry, but the pet store guy doesn't know what he is talking about. There are some cans of Prairie Natures Variety and a few other food which will say on them, not a complete and balanced diet.

It sounds to me like the store has instructed to push dry foods and maybe even a particular brand. Stick with your own research. I would be willing to bet this guy didn't do any research, he is just telling you what the dry food reps told him.
 

urbantigers

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It really annoys me when people talk about the high water content of wet food as a bad thing
Yes it has a lot of water - that's good
Water is a constituent of meat and a very necessary nutrient for cats. Dry food only has a lower water content because it is dehydrated. The guy in the food store is wrong. If a food is labelled as complete (and not all are). it will provide all the vitamins and minerals a cat needs.

Unbelievably, I recently came across similar advice on the website of a cat rescue over here. They advised that cats were not fed wet food because it didn't contain enough protein for a cat! They were not calculating the protein on a dry matter basis and were claiming that a cat had to eat dry food in order to get enough protein. I sent them an email to put them right (didn't go down too well) but hopefully they will take the information on board and stop advising people who adopt from them to feed dry for that reason.
 
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greenvillegal

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Thanks BOTH of you!!! It is really good to hear this. What you both have said is exactly what I have learned and exactly what I thought was right. He did act like too much water was a bad thing, when I knew that cats need to eat water WITH their food. I will probably continue to go there because their food is more affordable than some other places around here, but I won't fall prey to their lack of knowledge.

Thanks so much for reassuring me.
 

sharky

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The blackwood is CORN and then corn gluten meal .. so it has ingrediants 2 and 3 corn or corn related ... umm most of us would pass on that ... I okay one but not both in a food.. plus it has wheat ...

a mouse or bird has a moisture level of 60 ish % thus wet food is in fact closer to a NATURAL wild diet...

I second the as long as it is complete ( wellness outside of their new 95% meats is ) then you are fine
 

cloud_shade

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I think he was confused. Perhaps if you fed the same volume of canned as dry the cat wouldn't get enough vitamins, but since canned is less dense, we feed more of it to get the same amount of nutrition.
 

mbrcpr

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It sounds to me like he is just regurgitating what the sales rep told him to say.

I had a NUTRITIONIST from one of the bigger "good" food companies (ok they are "considered" good but I won't use that brand, ever) tell me that the shape of the kibble was more important than the ingredients in the food. Uh, ok. How about if you put together a good recipe of good ingredients that cats like, and then make it in the shape that most cats will eat? Wow that's just too simple, huh? I was working soI couldn't say what I really wanted to, but I politely disagreed and then excused myself to help a customer.
 

whiteforest

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Originally Posted by sharky

I second the as long as it is complete ( wellness outside of their new 95% meats is ) then you are fine
The Wellness 95% meats are labeled dog food, no? I wasn't aware that they made 95% meat cans for cats.
 

sharky

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Originally Posted by whiteforest

The Wellness 95% meats are labeled dog food, no? I wasn't aware that they made 95% meat cans for cats.
they are labeled dog but 95% meat would IMHO be okay for a cat on occasion but then again I am a bit weird... Innova Evo has 95% meats that are dog and cat thou the dog is far cheaper
 

katkisses

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What a nut. But I suppose he would think the same of us, lol. I looked at the ingrediants too, EEEEK! The ONLY plus about that food is that there are no byproducts.

INGREDIENTS LIST:

Chicken Meal, Ground Corn, Corn Gluten Meal, Chicken Fat [Preserved with Mixed Tocopherols (Source of Vitamin E)and Citric Acid], Wheat Flour, Dried PlainBeet Pulp (Sugar Removed), Menhaden Fish Meal, Natural Flavors, Brewers Dried Yeast, Potassium Chloride, Salt, Calcium Carbonate, L-Lysine, DL-Methionine, Ascorbic Acid (Source of Vitamin C), Yucca Schidigera Extract, Taurine, Vitamin E Supplement, Niacin Supplement, Vegetable Oil, Boitin, Thiamine Mononitrate, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Vitamin A Acetate, Riboflavin Supplement, d-Calcium Pantothenate, Vitamin B12 Supplement, Citric Acid, Menadione Dimethylypyrimidinol Bisulfate (Source of Vitamin K Activity), Vitamin D3, Folic Acid, Ferrous Sulfate, Zinc Sulfate, Zinc Proteinate, Iron Proteinate, Zinc Oxide, Copper Sulfate, Manganese Sulfate, Manganese Proteinate, Copper Proteinate, Manganous Oxide, Sodium Selenite, Calcium Iodate.
 

laureen227

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i've seen Sharky say that menhaden is the only fish NOT approved for human consumption, too.
 

roxanne

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Wellness is a great quality food, but according to a friend of mine ( and also a local pet store owner ) - It's not going to be as good anymore since they're mass-distributing their product to Petco. Anyway, that guy seriously does not know what he's talking about.
 

robertm

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Originally Posted by Yuki

Wellness is a great quality food, but according to a friend of mine ( and also a local pet store owner ) - It's not going to be as good anymore since they're mass-distributing their product to Petco.
Assuming the part about distribution is true (first time I've heard anything about it), what does that have to do with the quality of the food?
 

sharky

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Originally Posted by RobertM

Assuming the part about distribution is true (first time I've heard anything about it), what does that have to do with the quality of the food?
I had a small issue with one bag of wellness/// Ie right after Wellness sent out letters saying it was going into petco... veggie matter was sticking out of the kibble and the size was NOT uniform... I switched to another food and for allergy issues moved back to wellness current bag NO ISSUES
it seems I likely got a amped up manufactur bag
 

sakura

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I'm happy that they are selling Wellness at PetCo now, makes it easier for me to find.
 

roxanne

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Originally Posted by RobertM

Assuming the part about distribution is true (first time I've heard anything about it), what does that have to do with the quality of the food?
I'm not sure. Let me ask him later this week regarding your question.
 

whiteforest

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I have heard feed store people say similar things about Wellness not being as good anymore, but I am also not sure why. I have heard that Wellness sold the company, though I have no idea if that is true or not.
 

whuckleberry

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The company was not sold, they are just allowing Petco to sell their food now. The likely increase in production does not necessarily mean lower quality, IMO. I recently switched my kitty to Wellness dry (from Iams/Euk), he's doing really well, so for us it's an improvement regardless.
 

sharky

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The increase in production for some foods that went to big box from small stores = lesser quality ingrediants used and more ??able things like non uniform kibble , watery or very solid wets.. IT may or may NOT happen .. this is just observation from some of us who have seen a food fo this... I will say the petco pricing is $$ higher than my local store
 
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