Complete Health Pate Adult Canned Wet Cat Food, Natural, Protein Rich, Grain Free, Chicken and Herring Dinner Recipe, 12.5 oz, Pack of 12 Cans

I have been feeding my cats Wellness Food for four years now. What I like most is that, like most of the Wellness line, this Chicken and Herring blend is made without grains. Cats are obligate carnivores, meaning they only need meat...in the wild they only get grains in the stomach of prey they eat. If you put grains in food, cats continue to eat until they've had enough protein. So the grain is just added calories for nothing. Since grains are cheaper per ounce, it's a great way to save the manufacturer money, but it's not good for your cats. In the first year after switching from dried food and lower-quality grain-filled wet food, both my cats lost weight and their fur became softer and shinier. The difference was most evident in my plump, dumb inactive cat; he lost a couple of pounds and went from middle-aged dumpy to sleek and active. He has gotten a lot smarter and is more lively in general. I also like that this food doesn't have any rendered animal fat or meat byproducts, which are disgusting slaughterhouse waste it is illegal to sell to humans. As far as how my cats feel, they think this is just okay. They would give it three stars for the smell/taste. They always prefer the cheap stuff, like fancy feast, because it is swimming in rendered fat which smells delicious to cats just like potato chips do to humans. I call it "kitty crack." Cats choose food mainly on smell, not taste, which works great in the wild but not so much with commercial foods where their quality sensor is way off. To get my cats to eat this food at first, I needed to mix it with kitty crack--first only a quarter good to 3/4 kitty crack and gradually building up to 100% over about six months. It's never a good idea to get into a battle of will with cats...first of all, you'll lose, and second it is not safe for them to go more than 24 hours without food because of potentially fatal liver issues. After the initial break-in period, my cats ate this happily. This is the favorite of both my cats, followed by Turkey/Salmon blend as second favorite. I buy a variety to mix it up nutritionally and to make sure they don't get too fussy. Since they never overeat this, I simply feed them as much as they want...if they ask for more, I give it. One can is enough to feed one cat per day. This size must be opened with a can opener and stored in between uses. For this reason not as convenient as the 5.5 ounce sizes which you just pull open, but the cost difference over a year is substantial. It's not too much of a pain as on days that aren't too hot I leave this on the counter at room temperature between feedings. If for any reason it's not done by bedtime I put it in the fridge. Cat's digestion is much faster and a bit of bacteria in food is less likely to cause problems. Cost-wise, these are about $2 a day, and Amazon's price is competitive with big-box pet food stores. When I first started using this, the price seemed prohibitive so I took out the calculator and did a serious analysis. Compared with the Fancy Feast I was buying at a big-box store, per ounce this is a LOT more expensive. But then I realized that since Fancy Feast is packed with grains and junk cats don't need, comparing price by weight isn't fair. I redid the analysis based on daily servings of protein, calories etc. and the two foods turned out identical in cost. It would still be cheaper to feed dried food but if I'm going to go 100% wet the price of this is actually comparable to supermarket foods. Wellness also sells a Core brand which is even higher quality, but it doesn't come in the larger more economical cans, making it prohibitively expensive. Note: I read the one star reviews from here. Looks like there have been some quality-control issues with a new plant. I have not experienced this issue...the quality appears the same in the 4+ years I've been buying this. However, I will post if I experience a problem and update my review immediately.

The cat food is A1 but the cans were delivered severely bent. I will have to go to the pet store to replace them and it is expensive. I have eight cats and don't want to spend an additional $54 to get them replacement cans

Good product but a few cans were too dented to use.

Good if at sale price otherwise to expensive, have to many kitties

They all like it but it stinks lol. I did research and herring is better than salmon for the cats due to possible mercury.

Before my cat got sick, she was an extremely finicky eater, to the point where you'd have to present a few cans of food or different scoops of dry food to see which one she would eat. During that time, I had never heard of the Wellness brand, so none of the foods we tried were of the Wellness brand(most of them were Fancy Feast, Purina, etc.). Around late December of 2020, she fell ill with liver problems and stopped eating all together. At that time, she was about 4 pounds. The vet put her on different medications, one being an appetite enhancer. With that, she went back to just being her finicky self. She liked the Fancy Feast Savory Centers for a while, but stopped eating them. So, in an attempt to find something she would eat, at least for awhile, I tried some brands that I had never heard before, with the Wellness brand being one of them. When she tried the Wellness brand food(the Chicken and Herring) she ate it all and wanted more. I tried another brand and she just looked at me like I was stupid. So, I gave her the Wellness Chicken and Lobster pate and, shortly there after, she ate it all, as well. Since then, though she is still sick, she has gained about 3 to 3.5 pounds. The only time she gets finicky is when she wants a different flavor of the Wellness pate wet cat food. She doesn't care for any other style besides the pate. Also, she doesn't care for the Chicken and Beef and will not eat the Turkey and Salmon. But, she'll eat any other flavor, including the Beef and Salmon. Also, she loves the dry food. I just wish I had known about this brand before, not that I think it would have prevented her from getting sick, but it would have made life much better for her...and myself.

Only the best! This is what my friend told me about Wellness, (before I even owned a cat! ) I started rescuing a group of cats, and when they came into my home, I wanted to give them a healthy quality food, and wellness does not disappoint- You pay for what you get- and the cats eat all varieties of Wellness, but seem to prefer this flavor option the best. I you cant afford to give this to them daily, try to use it at least twice a week if your budget permits, because its worth the overall health benefits for your cats.

Too expensive