Wellness Core vs. Taste of the Wild

After a lot of research on the web, I decided to try out Wellness Core dry food on Beau. The shelter fed Iams, so he's been on that for the past month that I've had him. He had a cold when I got him, so I waited for that to be over before I finally started doing the gradual switch. The local pet stores here gave me samples for Core and Taste of the Wild, and I opened the Core first and gave some to Beau and he scarfed it up like crazy and begged for more. I've been gradually giving him more over the past few days mixed in with the Iams.

My question is which do you guys and girls think is better, the Core or TotW? Is there another brand that's good? I've heard about Evo, but I'm sort of wary of the high phosphorus levels that I keep reading about. I haven't opened the TotW samples yet since I had heard more about Core. Beau's been eating almost twice as much food now that I've added Core to his plate.

After I get Beau settled on the new dry food, I'll be looking to introduce a good canned food into his diet. The shelters here feed either Fancy Feast or 9Lives canned, so I got Beau some 9Lives when I first got him, and I give him a teaspoon every now and then, but it makes his poop sloppy. Is it supposed to do that, or does that mean the canned food is just bad quality? He loves wet food, too.

Thanks!!

Taste works well with all five/// to date NO GRAIN FREE is UTI good

Kizzy gets TOTW, but I did try him on Wellness Core.

He could not handle the WC, and had horrible gas/diarrhea and OMG did it ever stink...peeeeeeewwwwwwwwww.

I personally like Totw.

Is Wellness Core not UTI good? I will try him on Taste of the Wild then.

What about a canned food? Should I maybe do TotW dry and Wellness wet?

Beau's poop has been good on the change to Core. It's only wet food that gives him the runs. I've given him bits of 9Lives and Nutro canned and both result in runny poo. If I give him a little, there's a little bit of his poo that's runny. If I give him more, more of his poo is runny. I haven't given any to him in a few days though. I was going to get the Wellness canned to try, unless there are any other recs here?

Some cats digest wet differently ( ie poo issues)... I would try some grain free wets and see if grain is the issue..with the 9 lives I would think it is the colors causing issues mainly ...

UTI friendly is based on minerals and certain levels ... to date NO grain free matches up mostly do to more bone from meals and higher fish levels

I checked out both Wellness Core and TOTW, and decided to go with Core since I could get it locally. The kitties liked it okay, but not as much as some other dry foods. Unfortunately, the food itself was really smelly. I got samples of TOTW and they loved it. I either have to order TOTW online or drive about 40 miles to a store that might or might not have it in stock. So guess which I do.

Originally Posted by GoldyCat

I checked out both Wellness Core and TOTW, and decided to go with Core since I could get it locally. The kitties liked it okay, but not as much as some other dry foods. Unfortunately, the food itself was really smelly. I got samples of TOTW and they loved it. I either have to order TOTW online or drive about 40 miles to a store that might or might not have it in stock. So guess which I do.

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I have the opposite situation. I went ahead and bought a 15lb bag of TOTW for Beau after he tried both. He'll eat TOTW no problem, but he scarfs down Wellness Core. I went for TOTW due to recc's here and it's cheaper. The pet store I get it from is a bit more out of the way than PetCo across the street where I can get Core, but $27 a TOTW bag beats $40 a Core bag. Still, I may go for Core if I can budget it in since Beau seems to love it.

Re: the wet food-- I bought some Wellness grain-free canned (the smallest cans) for Beau to try and the first time I fed him some beef and fish one, he vomited and had diarrhea. I only fed him half the small can. Today I fed 1/4 the small can of only Chicken flavor (avoiding fish). I notice a tiny bit if runny poo on top of his normal tootsie rolls... Does this mean these are no go? Should his poo be runny at all when he's eating wet food? I only plan on supplementing his dry diet with some wet, or at the most 1/2 and 1/2. I'm wondering if he can take the wet food at all.

try a teaspoon a day for a few days of wet

Alrighty, I'll do that. The 1/4 of the small can (3 oz.) was pretty much 1 teaspoon. It was actually less than 1/4 the can.

How long is the can good for if refrigerated but open? At this rate, one 3 oz can can last 5 days. I put it in a freezer bag and then in the fridge.

I'd love it if I could feed Beau just wet, though, with supplementing dry. He really loves the wet food but it's always given him the runs! He'll eat anything I give him really, but the foods he loves are the ones that he wolfs down (the Wellness Core, any canned food, and any treats).

Originally Posted by Cat.Ling

Alrighty, I'll do that. The 1/4 of the small can (3 oz.) was pretty much 1 teaspoon. It was actually less than 1/4 the can.

How long is the can good for if refrigerated but open? At this rate, one 3 oz can can last 5 days. I put it in a freezer bag and then in the fridge.

I'd love it if I could feed Beau just wet, though, with supplementing dry. He really loves the wet food but it's always given him the runs! He'll eat anything I give him really, but the foods he loves are the ones that he wolfs down (the Wellness Core, any canned food, and any treats).

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I usually try to use the food up within 3 days.

You may want to consider freezing it to avoid wasting. Just either freeze it in ice cube trays or by dropfuls on a cookie sheet, once frozen stick in a ziploc type bag, and then you can just take a cube out the night before...thaw and serve. Thats what I did with bigger cans.

Your cat sounds like mine No matter what the wet food, it gives him the runs if he gets too much. I even tried the 100% meat ones ( Before Grain) and still, he got the runs. Cheap brands, expensive brands, grains, no-grains....If he eats more than a tbsp or so, he will get the runs.

Which sucks because I'd like to have him eat 1/2 wet and 1/2dry but there's no way I can get him to have as much wet food as recommended for his weight without diarhea.

But he's getting better. I feed him FF chicken, the small cans, and he gets 2 cans per week.... after a couple of weeks of doing this, he's not getting the runs but just a softer stool and no more dingleberries. Which is ok by me.

Thanks for the freezer idea, I will have to do that. So it is possible some cats just can't take wet food?

Beau's poop was good yesterday and this morning! I fed him another teaspoon this morning. He loves the wet food. He licked his plate clean, licked the sides where he pushed it off the plate, and sniffed the spot on the table that he dropped the piece of food. It's hard not to give him more.