Wellness Canned (Chicken Sliced) vs. Fancy Feast Canned (Classic) Food

Disregarding the price (Wellness is significantly pricier than Fancy Feast), which cat food do you suggest? I know that both are grain-free, both (unfortunately) contain guar gum and that the Fancy Feast Classic has no carrageenan while Wellness Canned does. Both have relatively high review both on the TCS reviews section and on sites like Amazon. I’m currently feeding Raine Fancy Feast Classic Canned food, but I’ve also heard very positive reviews about the Wellness canned.

Besides those two, are there any other high-quality canned foods (no carrageenan, guar gum, or other significant additives) that are not extremely pricey? I know that’s a very limited request but any advice would be greatly appreciated. 

-Stormi

It's going to be hard to find a wet canned cat food that doesn't contain both carrageenan or gums. Even if you do find a grain free cat food that doesn't contain either ingredient, you have to hope your cat will like it.

Stormi said:

 
Disregarding the price (Wellness is significantly pricier than Fancy Feast), which cat food do you suggest? I know that both are grain-free, both (unfortunately) contain guar gum and that the Fancy Feast Classic has no carrageenan while Wellness Canned does. Both have relatively high review both on the TCS reviews section and on sites like Amazon. I’m currently feeding Raine Fancy Feast Classic Canned food, but I’ve also heard very positive reviews about the Wellness canned.

Besides those two, are there any other high-quality canned foods (no carrageenan, guar gum, or other significant additives) that are not extremely pricey? I know that’s a very limited request but any advice would be greatly appreciated. 

-Stormi

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I feed Wellness Grain-free chicken to my crew, and they like it. I also rotate with FF pates (no carageenan) and FF Grilled Chicken, Weruva Chicken. The Wellness is a pricey food - I buy it by the case which gives me at least 10% off through my local pet store. You might look into discounts for by the case food. Go with a family-owned business rather than the larger stores, as small businesses are likely to give you a better deal if you become a regular customer. The Fancy Feast (classics), or pates (for those in Canada), is a pretty decent wet food. I think the key is to pay attention to what your cat tolerates the best and go with this.

Weruva is a hand-made canned wet food, meaning that the company is a small enterprise rather than a large factory. Much of the contents are processed by hand. This food doesn't contain carageenan or guar gum, but does contain xantham gum which is another type of thickener. It's a pretty nice food. Depending on where you are in the world, it will be a bit pricey. Expect to pay $1+ per 3oz. can.

Hound and Gatos is another grain-free wet food that does not contain carageenan, but does contain guar gum and xanthum gum.

I agree, it is going to be hard to find a commercial wet food that doesn't have at least one less than desirable ingredient... I've been looking into various brands, myself. Short of going to raw, it's more a matter of minimizing, rather than eliminating completely.

If you have a Petco, look for Soulistic. They have a lot of fish flavors, which I'm not a fan of for regular feeding. But they do have 2 chicken that I use... Good Karma & Harvest Sunrise.  These are both shredded types, just wanted to note that in case you have a cat with texture preferences.

I also feed Wellness grain-free. Of that brand, the chicken is also the biggest hit with my two. They'll eat the turkey, but with less enthusiasm.

Tiki is another good brand, but lots of fish there too. The "puka puka" chicken is the one I use.

Hound and Gatos, and PureVita are two brands I have yet to try, but are on my short list for future use.

Thanks everyone- I will look into all the brands you suggested. Guar gum is pretty common in all of the canned foods. 

The Wellness pates are more comparable to the FF I think.  You can get a case of 5.5 oz. cans of Wellness Chicken (grain free) for about 1.54/can. FF only comes in 3 oz. cans.  Wellness does contain carrageenan but it makes a change and my cat likes it. FF is 19.33/oz and Wellness is .28/oz. with that price (we pay .58 for FF).  I think Wellness has more calories and may be a little more filling which can be good or bad. 

If you get the dog food in NVI, it comes in the large cans and its somewhat cheaper.  My cat thinks it's great.  I would have to do the figures on the chicken because there are so many other chicken ones that I figured the rabbit and that's an expensive one. (NVI dog formula is the same as the cat - Nature's Variety Instinct) NVI Dog Food chicken by the 13.2 oz. case = .22/oz. but you save on anything that comes in that big of a can.