Strictly Wellness

[eternaljester81]

I guess I can wait until I run low on Complete before making that decision. I probably have a couple weeks worth left, though. (That 2.8lb bag goes a long way, even with two cats.)
[/quote]

I've been surprised at how far the rather small (both 2.8 and 5 lb) Wellness bags go. And we have five cats. Three of our cats do eat a meal of Wellness canned everyday also, so I'm sure that helps.

[himimom1254]

I have to measure out Andy's food because otherwise he'll be a chunk.  He gets 1/2 cup dry (but very seldom eats it all everyday) and 1/8-1/4 can of Wellness canned.  He definately eats less in the warmer weather and it's pretty darn hot right now even though we have a/c.

[jenny]

I think they are all over 500 calories in a cup.  Considering my cats used to eat a cup of prescription cat food that was 235 calories for that cup, over 500 is a lot!  My IBD cat is getting just over 1/4 cup a day plus about 3/4 can of food.  But he can eat a lot more than my other two - they only need about 215 calories a day (they were gaining weight on the old food).

[garypen]

I'm sure the Healthy Weight is under 500 calories per cup. My guess would be under 400. Most non-prescription weight management formulas that I've seen seem to be between 300 and 400.

[Sharon L.]

I've toyed with the idea of mixing Core and Complete.  I still might do that on down the line.

I'm doing that now. I'm mixing 1/2 Core and Salmon Complete. Funny thing is that the cats are picking through to find the Salmon kibbles. Now I'm thinking that I'll try to mix with Chicken Complete instead of Salmon. The whole purpose of mixing was to provide higher protein in their dry while trying to reduce calories ... but if they pick through for the Chicken kibbles then I'm just going 100% Complete Care.

Yes, I am my cats food slave

/Sharon

[garypen]

The whole purpose of mixing was to provide higher protein in their dry while trying to reduce calories ... but if they pick through for the Chicken kibbles then I'm just going 100% Complete Care.

Complete Health and Core are roughly the same calories. So, you aren't reducing anything by mixing those two. (3845 kcal/kg for Core, 3950 for Complete Chicken, 3970 for Salmon.)

If, otoh, you mixed Core with Indoor Health or Healthy Weight, you would be reducing calories from Core alone. (3590 Indoor, 3490 Healthy Weight.)

Just so you know.

[jenny]

According to an email from the company,  Healthy Weight is 450 calories.  So, unless there was a typo when they emailed me.  Indoor Health is 465.  The others are all over 500.

[garypen]

I guessed wayyyy wrong on the calories per cup. I was just going by typical amounts for similar foods, and the kcal/kg posted on the website. (My calculator batteries must be dying.  Yeah. That's it! )

I think what may be the case for Wellness dry formulas, is that since they are so dense, they have more calories per cup than another brand with the same calories per weight. That's just a guess, of course. But, I think a valid one based on the kibbles I've used over the years.

BTW, what were the exact numbers per cup for Core and Complete Chicken / Salmon, according to their email?

[jenny]

Hi Gary.  Here was the info they provided me with:

Hi Jenny:  Thank you for taking the time to write about Dry Cat Wellness®.

Dry Cat Foods - Calories per 8 oz cup:   Complete Health Chicken 550   Complete Health Salmon 556   Healthy Weight 450   Indoor Health 465 Complete Health Kitten 553        Core 536         Beverly Robitaille Specialist  Consumer Affairs

I think you are right - i.e. more dense.  The old RC 38 they were eating may have been only 235 calories per cup but the kibble was much, much larger (i.e. puffed).   I did find it interesting that the Core was not the highest calorie food - I had expected it to be.

[garypen]

Those per cup numbers are all about the same comparative difference from each other as their kcal/kg numbers. That's to be expected, of course. But, I didn't expect the per cup numbers to be so high in general.

But, after about a week on Wellness Complete Chicken dry, and Chicken and Turkey canned, they haven't gotten chubby or anything. I know it's only a week. But, when Lucky and his previous girlfriend Tootles were eating Waltham Urinary food, they put on weight immediately. I think skinny Lucky may have put on a few ounces. But, he was getting too skinny anyway. And, he just loves this food, and gobbles down both the wet and dry like I've never seen him do with any other.

BTW, while Lucky was sitting on my desk last night, he noticed two pieces of the Indoor that I had been examining the night before, but which he didn't seem to care for at that time. Well, this time he gobbles them down, asks for more, and ate a bunch that I fed him right on my desk like it was a snack treat. Now I know that an Indoor/Core mix should go over well!

[Sharon L.]

Complete Health and Core are roughly the same calories. So, you aren't reducing anything by mixing those two. (3845 kcal/kg for Core, 3950 for Complete Chicken, 3970 for Salmon.)

Yup ... I think I swapped a few numbers when I was creating a comparison spreadsheet during the recall. I received the same kcal numbers as Jenny so I guess I'll just have to cut down on kibbles.

Now off to eat my strawberry ice cream ... which has less calories than the chocolate I hear

/Sharon

[jenny]

Now off to eat my strawberry ice cream ... which has less calories than the chocolate I hear

LOL 

But, when Lucky and his previous girlfriend Tootles

I love the names - Lucky & Tootles!!

[garypen]

Tootles is gone now. So, now, it's Lucky and Lucy, which only serves to confuse the vet's receptionist. (They're both brown tabbies, as well.)

[jenny]

So sorry Lucky lost his friend Tootles.  But glad he still has Lacy. 

[catmom5]

Okay, I've been following this conversation for a while and have a bit of an issue here with one of my cats.  CJ has both ARF and IBD.  She came home from the vet hospital on Eukanuba Prescription (hate using that) but after feeding tubes twice I was glad to have something she would eat!  Now I see on the bag the they are changing the Eukanuba to an Iams Prescription and if I have to change, I want to change to something better. I did use Cal Nat for a while and was pretty happy with that.  The cats did well and we had no problems.  I think the limited number of ingredients was a bonus for us.  However, when I started seeing the photos of the " extra stuff" in the kibble and talking to Natura and hearing about their response (or lack of) I didn't feel safe with them.  I tried Wellness Indoor Health because it was fairly low phosphorus but seemed to have decent ingredients. CJ got some nasty diarrhea on it, though so we're back to the Eukanuba right now.
I'd like to get her on more quality protein, less grain but that means higher phosphorus levels which isn't great for her ARF.  The more grain, lower protein is better for her ARF but not the IBD. I tried homecooking and she wasn't impressed.  The only cans she likes are the Fancy Feast and that's not an option either.  I'm just majorly @%$#@@ that Natura has handled these concerns so badly because the Cal Nat seemed to be a good food for her.
Any thoughts?