Petco Brand Whole Hearted

[cuppa]

Hi All! I recently adopted a new cat, and am trying to get her adjusted to a new diet (combating loose stools sucks). I got a reply back from the foster for what food she was on before adoption. It's Petco's brand of cat food: Whole Hearted. I'm not an expert on cat food by any means, but looking at the ingredients, it seems to be a decent food? Anyone got any insight/opinions on it? Anyone currently feeding your cat this food?

If it's something that's actually good, Petco offers a 'Whole Hearted Membership' subscription for $29 a year. It gets you 25% off all Whole Hearted food (requires a Petco Pals account (free)).

https://www.petco.com/shop/en/petcostore/brand/wholehearted/cat

 

[kittyluv387]

Not sure why they added sodium bisulfate in there when there's no fish in it. It's only a requirement if a food is more than 25% fish. That being said it's a decent dry food option since first ingredient is real meat and 2nd ingredient is a meat meal. There are a lot of dry foods out there that is much worse.

 

[Furballsmom]

Hi! Are you looking into feeding wet food as well?
I think it's decent--maybe a little heavy on peas, but as a matter of fact I brought home a couple of cans. However, the feline in question wasn't as interested LOL

 

[cuppa]

Hi! Are you looking into feeding wet food as well?
I think it's decent--maybe a little heavy on peas, but as a matter of fact I brought home a couple of cans. However, the feline in question wasn't as interested LOL

Hi! Both my cats get wet food at night. They've been losing interest in the Merrick Purrfect Bistro Chicken Pate, so I've been giving them Weruva (protein varies). Dante really only likes pate or gravy, so we're experimenting. Gotta love how picky they can be haha!

I'm mostly looking into switching them onto a different dry food right now. They eat Merrick Purrfect Bistro Chicken dry, but I'm looking for something that doesn't have potato. I just picked up a bag of Tiki Cat Born Carnivore Chicken and Fish Luau, so we'll see how that goes.

 

[kittyluv387]

Hi! Both my cats get wet food at night. They've been losing interest in the Merrick Purrfect Bistro Chicken Pate, so I've been giving them Weruva (protein varies). Dante really only likes pate or gravy, so we're experimenting. Gotta love how picky they can be haha!

I'm mostly looking into switching them onto a different dry food right now. They eat Merrick Purrfect Bistro Chicken dry, but I'm looking for something that doesn't have potato. I just picked up a bag of Tiki Cat Born Carnivore Chicken and Fish Luau, so we'll see how that goes.

2 of my cats eat canned in the mornings. They're on a rotation of 8 different cans with no room to get bored lol. So yes cats need variety! Less variety for dinner but they get either homemade raw chicken, turkey or rabbit.

 

[mizzely]

I'll be in a town with a Petco this weekend so I plan on picking up some of the wet foods to try out.

As for the dry food I'm personally not impressed with peas and chickpeas being so high up. They are likely a good portion of the protein, which isn't usable by cats. The meat protein % is likely much lower than 32%.

As for pricing, it is only worth it if you get that $29 back. In one year you'd have to buy the following to break even:

12 bags of 2.5 lb dry (30 lbs total) OR
8 bags of 5 lb dry (40 lbs total) OR
5 bags of 12 lb dry (60 lbs total) OR
9 cases of 12 (5.5oz) cans (108) OR
15 cases of 12 (2.8 oz) pouches (180)

Or some combination of that. For me, with one cat and feeding a rotation of canned foods I would never make that $29 back!

A similar priced product ($25 for 12lbs) that I like more is Chewy's American Journey https://www.chewy.com/american-journey-turkey-chicken/dp/158630

 

[kittyluv387]

I'll be in a town with a Petco this weekend so I plan on picking up some of the wet foods to try out.

As for the dry food I'm personally not impressed with peas and chickpeas being so high up. They are likely a good portion of the protein, which isn't usable by cats. The meat protein % is likely much lower than 32%.

As for pricing, it is only worth it if you get that $29 back. In one year you'd have to buy the following to break even:

12 bags of 2.5 lb dry (30 lbs total) OR
8 bags of 5 lb dry (40 lbs total) OR
5 bags of 12 lb dry (60 lbs total) OR
9 cases of 12 (5.5oz) cans (108) OR
15 cases of 12 (2.8 oz) pouches (180)

Or some combination of that. For me, with one cat and feeding a rotation of canned foods I would never make that $29 back!

A similar priced product ($25 for 12lbs) that I like more is Chewy's American Journey https://www.chewy.com/american-journey-turkey-chicken/dp/158630

Oh that's right their dry food seems to be good! I sent my stepmom a couple of bags of American Journey for all the strays they're feeding. Which reminds me these looked decent too.
https://www.chewy.com/chicken-soup-soul-adult-dry-cat-food/dp/102176

https://www.chewy.com/chicken-soup-soul-kitten-dry-cat-food/dp/102174

 

[Tobermory]

According to the info on dry matter analysis on catfooddb.com, it’s very high in carbs: 47%.
WholeHearted Grain Free Chicken Recipe Cat Food Review

 

[Shadokat]

I have what I think is a unique experience with PetCo Whole Hearted. When we got my two boys they were about six months old. My sister works for PetCo and got a great discount on Whole Hearted, so we tried it. The boys liked the food. They ate it without any problems. But then one of them started having problems. It started out that we noticed he was very gassy. And what he was expelling was beyond foul! He would let out this awful clear-the-room type gas. We decided to keep an eye on him but not do a vet visit unless something else happened. And it did. He started vomiting every day. Sometimes more than once a day. We hadn't made any changes to their diet. So we made an appointment with the vet.

I took a picture of the ingredients of the Whole Hearted along to show him. He examined Bandit and didn't see any visible problems. Then he asked about diet and I showed him the ingredient list.

He said it was great - for a human. Not so great for a cat. The high vegetable content he saw in the ingredient list was upsetting Bandit's stomach, causing gas and vomiting. He recommended a few different foods and we decided to try Science Diet sensitive stomach. Both cats like the food and Bandit's stomach issues have disappeared. They are now 16 months old and neither has any stomach problems.

Take away what you will from my experience. But my vet said the veggie content in the Whole Hearted was too high for my cat's sensitive stomach. You may or may not have a cat who can eat it without problems, but cats are obligate carnivores and need lots of protein. I'm sure the Whole Hearted meets the minimum for protein, but you should ask an expert who does not work for PetCo what they think of the food. Good luck whatever you do.

 

[mizzely]

I have what I think is a unique experience with PetCo Whole Hearted. When we got my two boys they were about six months old. My sister works for PetCo and got a great discount on Whole Hearted, so we tried it. The boys liked the food. They ate it without any problems. But then one of them started having problems. It started out that we noticed he was very gassy. And what he was expelling was beyond foul! He would let out this awful clear-the-room type gas. We decided to keep an eye on him but not do a vet visit unless something else happened. And it did. He started vomiting every day. Sometimes more than once a day. We hadn't made any changes to their diet. So we made an appointment with the vet.

I took a picture of the ingredients of the Whole Hearted along to show him. He examined Bandit and didn't see any visible problems. Then he asked about diet and I showed him the ingredient list.

He said it was great - for a human. Not so great for a cat. The high vegetable content he saw in the ingredient list was upsetting Bandit's stomach, causing gas and vomiting. He recommended a few different foods and we decided to try Science Diet sensitive stomach. Both cats like the food and Bandit's stomach issues have disappeared. They are now 16 months old and neither has any stomach problems.

Take away what you will from my experience. But my vet said the veggie content in the Whole Hearted was too high for my cat's sensitive stomach. You may or may not have a cat who can eat it without problems, but cats are obligate carnivores and need lots of protein. I'm sure the Whole Hearted meets the minimum for protein, but you should ask an expert who does not work for PetCo what they think of the food. Good luck whatever you do.

The science Diet is mostly corn and rice sadly!

Though you do have to use what works for your pet. I had to give Jasmine Purina Pro Plan Sensitive Stomach at the end since the cancer made her throw up so much. It did help calm her stomach.

 

[Shadokat]

Chiming in on the whole wet food conversation... You guys are lucky that your cats will eat a variety of wet food. My cats will only eat gravy type wet food. And of the ones I've tried, they only actually eat one of those. ProPlan adult seafood stew. They actually eat the food. The other wet foods, all they do is lick away the gravy and leave the meat. I've tried over a dozen brands including fancy feast, which isn't that nutritious but is supposed to be like crack to cats. Not my cats! So they are doing well on science diet dry and pro plan wet.

 

[Shadokat]

The science Diet is mostly corn and rice sadly!

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Though you do have to use what works for your pet. I had to give Jasmine Purina Pro Plan Sensitive Stomach at the end since the cancer made her throw up so much. It did help calm her stomach.

Thank you for your comment! Science Diet was one of the foods recommended by the vet so we didn't question it. I already like pro plan brand so maybe we'll try it after the current bag of science diet is gone. I'm sorry to hear about your cat's cancer. I don't know what I would do if confronted with that. At least Bandit's issue was relatively minor. Thank you again!