What Do You Think About This Food?

I usually feed two kinds of dry food--Blue Basics Duck (for my sensitive kitty) and Solid Gold Winged Tiger (contains duck and quail, and some fish, which I'm not excited about). Well, it seems that the Solid Gold is being phased out. My local Petsmart does not sell it at all, and my Petco seems to always be out of it--at least the Winged Tiger variety. There used to be a large display of Solid Gold, but now it has been relegated to one small corner on one of the aisles with maybe a bag or two of each variety--when they have it.

So, I went in there on Friday, and of course, they were out of it. They did have a big display of Wholehearted cat food, which I guess is fairly new. One bag caught my eye-the Limited Ingredient duck food. Both of my cats tend to like and do well with duck, so I thought I would give it a try. I bought a small, 2 pound bag. The employee that checked me out seemed a little too excited that I was buying it and went on and on about how great it is. Then she said, "It's our own product and we're proud of it." Hmm...that explains it. It's manufactured by Petco apparently. That makes me a little suspicious.

Both my cats love the food and have been gobbling it up. My sensitive kitty has had zero problems. I'm still a little leery about feeding it though because I don't know exactly where all of the ingredients come from, and I don't see any phone number or e-mail address on the Wholehearted website where I can contact them to ask. I like to do my research before trying a new food. On the bag, it says that the food is made in the USA with "globally sourced" ingredients. I am hoping China is not one of their sources. I know that the duck used in cat food usually comes from France, but who knows with this company.

Has anyone else used Wholehearted cat food, specifically one of the dry formulas? What has your experience been like?

I think it's a decent food in that some undesirable additives aren't listed.

I tried a couple cans but my big guy didn't care for it.

As far as additives though, I'm not quite sure what sodium bisulfate is. It is fairly high on the ingredient list.

I found this;
What Does Sodium Bisulfate Do in Cat Food?

Furballsmom said:

I found this;
What Does Sodium Bisulfate Do in Cat Food?

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I guess it's good that it can help reduce urine PH and prevent crystals, but I don't like that it can also be used for bleaching leather and wool! As far as increasing the palatability of the food, I definitely see that. The cats love the taste.

I don't like this dry food since it has both chickpeas and lentils so high on the list, both of which are protein rich materials. I wonder how much of the listed protein is actually coming from meat, and then of course the carbs.

mizzely said:

I don't like this dry food since it has both chickpeas and lentils so high on the list, both of which are protein rich materials. I wonder how much of the listed protein is actually coming from meat, and then of course the carbs.

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Yes, unfortunately though, it seems that most dry foods use foods like chickpeas, green peas, lentils, etc. to boost the protein content. It's pretty much unavoidable, even with the so-called "high end" foods. I'm just hoping that the food is mostly duck, since it is listed first and second. Since this particular variety of Wholehearted is a "limited ingredient" food, it also doesn't have a lot of extra fruits and veggies that cats apparently don't need. My biggest concern right now is finding out for sure where the duck is sourced from. I know I should feed more wet, but my cats are seriously addicted to the "crunchies," and the vet told me to cut back on the wet for my big boy. She thinks it adds more unnecessary calories to his diet.

Seems like that ought to be the other way around, --dry adds more carbs and is more calorie dense, canned adds more moisture.

Anyway, another food you could consider is Open Farm, maybe.

No judgement, but just in case this helps;

How To Choose The Best Dry Cat Food?

Transitioning Your Cat From Kibble To A New Type Of Food (canned, Raw, Or Homemade)

How To Compare Cat Foods & Calculate Carbs: Dry Matter Basis

Transitioning Free-fed Kibble Kitties To Timed Meals

tabbysia said:

Yes, unfortunately though, it seems that most dry foods use foods like chickpeas, green peas, lentils, etc. to boost the protein content. It's pretty much unavoidable, even with the so-called "high end" foods. I'm just hoping that the food is mostly duck, since it is listed first and second. Since this particular variety of Wholehearted is a "limited ingredient" food, it also doesn't have a lot of extra fruits and veggies that cats apparently don't need. My biggest concern right now is finding out for sure where the duck is sourced from. I know I should feed more wet, but my cats are seriously addicted to the "crunchies," and the vet told me to cut back on the wet for my big boy. She thinks it adds more unnecessary calories to his diet.

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Yes, many do. Do you need a limited ingredient diet? I ask because one food in the same price range that I prefer is https://www.chewy.com/american-journey-duck-recipe-grain/dp/158633

There are foods that do not have the chickpeas, peas,etc. Here's a good starting place with carbs and dry food Dry Food Comparison Chart | Zero Carb and Grain Free Cat Food

My vet had the opposite advice. Less dry and more wet for weight loss.

The thing is, protein and fat digest slower, so they leave the body feeling fuller longer. Carbs are digested and burned up quickly. Dry foods high in carbs will naturally lead to weight gain over a similar food higher in protein and fat.

Per cup, dry food has more calories, too, so the added bulk of the moisture helps with keeping them feel less hungry.

I don't necessarily need a limited ingredient food, but I have been trying to stick mostly with duck, since that is what my IBD girl kitty (not the overweight one) seems to do well on, for some reason. Usually, limited ingredient foods have only a single protein, so it is easier to get only duck. American Journey is actually a food that I had looked into a while back, but I wasn't sure about the fish meal.

Well, I went ahead and bought the bigger 5 pound bag a few days ago since they gobbled up all of the two pound bag. I checked to see if they had the Solid Gold first, just in case, and of course, they were still out of it. I guess I will stick with the Wholehearted for now, even though I am not 100% sure about it.

They must really train the Petco employees to push the food, since it is made by their company. When I was checking out, the kid that was helping me said "Great choice in cat food, by the way!" I had to keep from rolling my eyes.

Yeah since it's their food, their margins for profit are likely a lot higher than the ones they buy from distributors. So even though it might be similarly priced to other foods, they make more money from it

Yeah since it's their food, their margins for profit are likely a lot higher than the ones they buy from distributors. So even though it might be similarly priced to other foods, they make more money from it

Yes, that's probably true. It's actually priced a few dollars cheaper than some of the other so-called "premium" foods, which I'm not entirely sure if this one is supposed to be. It's $17.99 for a 5 pound bag, which is roughly five dollars cheaper (give or take) than the other foods I buy.

It's been a while since I started this discussion, so I thought I would revisit it. The kitties are still doing okay on the Wholehearted. If anyone else has tried the food lately, I would like to hear (or read) your opinions--good or bad.

Mine does not like any of the pates but does like the chicken and pumpkin in the pouch. Everything else she vetoed we didn't try the dry

My Zoe loves the pouches!! I've tried about 3 flavors and she devours it. Normally they just like the juice but she actually ate it. I cant get Lily to like it though. and I've been searching for a healthier wet food since they only like purina pro plan in gravy varieties