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WholeHearted Cat Food Review

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WholeHearted describes itself in three words—wholesome, thoughtful, and affordable. But is it any of those things? Find out in our WholeHearted cat food review.

The Cats.com Standard—Rating WholeHearted on What Matters

We’ve analyzed WholeHearted and graded it according to the Cats.com standard, evaluating the brand on species-appropriateness, ingredient quality, product variety, price, customer experience, and recall history. Here’s how it rates in each of these six key areas.

Ratings

  • Species-Appropriateness – 7/10
  • Ingredient Quality – 7/10
  • Product Variety – 8/10
  • Price – 8/10
  • Customer Experience – 6/10
  • Recall History – 9/10

Overall Score: 7.5/10

We give WholeHearted cat food a 45 out of 60 rating or a B+ grade.

About WholeHearted

Petco introduced WholeHearted in 2016 as a dog food brand. It introduced a line of cat food the following year.

In an article on MyPBrand.com, Petco executive vice president Rebecca Frechette says that “every pet deserves nutrient-packed, wholesome and thoughtfully made meals and we believe these recipes (WholeHearted’s cat food recipes) offer all of that for an affordable price.”

Let’s learn more.

Sourcing and Manufacturing

WholeHearted uses protein sources from the United States, New Zealand, and South America. Other ingredients may be sourced internationally.

Who Makes Wholehearted?

WholeHearted foods are—presumably—manufactured for Petco by a third-party manufacturer. But we don’t know the name of that company. Like most brands working with a manufacturer, WholeHearted doesn’t disclose the name of their manufacturing partner. What we do know is that WholeHearted foods are made in the United States and Thailand.

Has Wholehearted Cat Food Been Recalled?

It doesn’t appear that WholeHearted has ever been recalled.

What Kinds of Cat Food Does Wholehearted Offer?

WholeHearted has a moderately-sized, diverse selection of dry and wet foods. Some of their foods target health issues, including recipes for overweight cats, seniors, and cats with digestive issues.

Whether wet or dry, WholeHearted food is made without animal by-products or artificial colors. All WholeHearted foods are grain-free, with the kibble using potatoes, peas, and other legumes as binders.

WholeHearted Cat Food – Top 3 Recipes Reviewed

#1 WholeHearted Grain Free Chicken Formula Dry Cat Food

Chicken and chicken meal appear to be the primary protein sources in this dry cat food.

This dry food is WholeHearted’s essential kibble. It doesn’t make any special promises—it’s a chicken-based dry food for all life stages.

So what do you get inside of the bag?

This food centers around three ingredients—chicken, peas, and chickpeas. It’s hard to criticize the first two—chicken is a nourishing source of animal protein and other nutrients. Chicken meal is similarly nutritious.

Legumes help the kibble to maintain its shape while contributing protein, carbohydrates, and other nutrients. A mix of chicken fat and salmon oil serve as primary fat sources.

In addition to the primary ingredients, the food contains a long list of supplemental ingredients. These include flaxseed, dried chicory root, kale, chia seed, pumpkin, blueberries, oranges, dried kelp, coconut, and spinach. They serve as sources of trace nutrients and prebiotic fiber. Two strains of probiotic bacteria are added to help support digestion and overall health.

The food is guaranteed to contain at least 1,000,000 CFU total microorganisms per pound.

Overall, this dry food has moderate protein content with low fat and high carbohydrate content. It contains 328 calories per cup.

Ingredients

Chicken, Chicken Meal, Peas, Chickpeas, Pea Flour, Chicken Fat (Preserved With Mixed Tocopherols), Natural Flavor, Flaxseed, Sodium Bisulfate, Salmon Oil, Choline Chloride, Dl-methionine, Taurine, Dried Chicory Root, Kale, Chia Seed, Pumpkin, Blueberries, Oranges, Dried Kelp, Coconut, Spinach, Carrots, Papaya, Dried Lactobacillus Acidophilus Fermentation Product, Dried Bifidobacterium Animalis Fermentation Product, Zinc Proteinate, Vitamin E Supplement, Niacin, Manganese Proteinate, Copper Proteinate, Zinc Sulfate, Manganese Sulfate, Copper Sulfate, Thiamine Mononitrate (Source Of Vitamin B1), Vitamin A Supplement, Biotin, Potassium Iodide, Calcium Pantothenate, Riboflavin (Vitamin B2), Pyridoxine Hydrochloride (Source Of Vitamin B6), Vitamin B12 Supplement, Manganous Oxide, Sodium Selenite, Vitamin D3 Supplement, Folic Acid.

Ingredients We Liked: Chicken, Chicken Fat, Salmon Oil, Probiotics

Ingredients We Didn’t Like: Peas, Chickpeas, Pea Flour

Guaranteed Analysis

Crude Protein: 32%
Crude Fat: 12%
Crude Fiber: 4%
Moisture: 10%

Dry Matter Basis

Protein: 35.56%
Fat: 13.33%
Fiber: 4.44%
Carbs: 46.67%

Caloric Weight Basis

Protein: 31.02%
Fat: 28.25%
Carbs: 40.72%

Pros

  • Features animal-sourced ingredients before plants
  • A simple, single-protein food appropriate for sensitive cats
  • Contains probiotics to support digestion and overall health
  • Free of potentially-harmful artificial colors, flavors, and preservatives

Cons

  • Extraordinarily high in carbohydrates
  • Doesn’t contain enough moisture to keep your cat hydrated

#2 WholeHearted Healthy Digestion Chicken and Egg Product Recipe Dry Cat Food

Chicken and chicken meal appear to be the primary protein source in this dry cat food.

This food from WholeHearted’s Healthy Benefits line promises to go easy on sensitive digestion. It cites the use of high-quality, easily-digestible protein and multiple fiber sources as digestive aids. Once you turn over the bag and look at the ingredient list, you’ll see that the food is quite similar to the standard chicken-based WholeHearted recipe we reviewed earlier. It’s made with chicken and chicken meal as the first two ingredients, followed by peas and pea flour.

Later on the ingredient list, the food contains egg product as an additional source of protein. This term refers to any kind of eggs that have been removed from the shells and processed. In pet food, it’s unclear whether this egg product came from eggs fit for human consumption or egg waste products. In other words, we don’t know how digestible or biologically available this ingredient is.

The food contains chicken fat and menhaden fish oil, both species-appropriate and nourishing sources of animal fat.

In addition to its main ingredients, the food contains an array of supplements. Prebiotics and probiotic bacteria work together to support digestive health. The food is guaranteed to contain at least 2 million CFU per pound.

Overall, this dry food has moderate protein content with low fat and high carbohydrate content. It has roughly 354 calories per cup.

Though this food appears to have better ingredients than most budget kibble, its astronomical carbohydrate content and heavy use of legumes make it a species-inappropriate option.

Ingredients

Chicken, Chicken Meal, Peas, Pea Flour, Chicken Fat (Preserved With Mixed Tocopherols), Egg Product, Flaxseed, Dried Tomato Pomace, Natural Flavor, Menhaden Fish Oil, Psyllium Seed Husks, Ginger, Dl-methionine, Choline Chloride, Dried Chicory Root, Taurine, Yucca Schidigera Extract, Lactobacillus Acidophilus, Bifidobacterium Lactis, Vitamin E Supplement, Zinc Proteinate, Niacin, Manganese Proteinate, Copper Proteinate, Zinc Sulfate, Manganese Sulfate, Copper Sulfate, Thiamine Mononitrate (Source Of Vitamin B1), Vitamin A Supplement, Biotin, Potassium Iodide, Calcium Pantothenate, Riboflavin (Vitamin B2), Pyridoxine Hydrochloride (Source Of Vitamin B6), Vitamin B12 Supplement, Manganous Oxide, Sodium Selenite, Vitamin D3 Supplement, Folic Acid.

Ingredients We Liked: Chicken, Chicken Fat, Menhaden Fish Oil, Probiotics

Ingredients We Didn’t Like: Peas, Pea Flour

Guaranteed Analysis

Crude Protein: 32%
Crude Fat: 18%
Crude Fiber: 4%
Moisture: 10%

Dry Matter Basis

Protein: 35.56%
Fat: 20%
Fiber: 4.44%
Carbs: 40%

Caloric Weight Basis

Protein: 28.64%
Fat: 39.13%
Carbs: 32.23%

Pros

  • Contains nourishing chicken and chicken meal as primary ingredients
  • Contains anti-inflammatory omega-3 fatty acids
  • Guaranteed levels of probiotic bacteria support digestive health
  • Free of artificial colors

Cons

  • High carbohydrate content
  • High-moisture cat food is preferable to kibble

#3 WholeHearted Grain Free Chicken Recipe Flaked in Gravy

Chicken appears to be the primary protein source in this wet cat food.

This is a soupy shredded food that features chicken set in gravy. Sunflower oil and tuna oil serve as sources of fat, while tapioca starch and xanthan gum thicken and stabilize the soup.

Like other WholeHearted foods, the recipe contains two strains of probiotic bacteria, along with prebiotic fiber to feed it. The food is guaranteed to contain 2 million CFUs per pound.

Overall, this food has high protein content, moderate fat, and moderate carbohydrate content. It has about 26 calories per ounce.

This food’s positive qualities include the absence of carrageenan, a meat-first ingredient list, and the use of probiotics. Unfortunately, its carbohydrate content sits at around 17% on a dry matter basis, which is higher than we’d like to see in wet food.

If you’re on a budget and looking for a relatively species-appropriate food without animal by-products or artificial colors, this WholeHearted formula might be a good option for you, but those seeking low-carb food may have to look elsewhere.

Ingredients

Chicken, Chicken Broth, Water Sufficient For Processing, Tapioca Starch, Sunflower Oil, Tricalcium Phosphate, Salt, Sodium Acid Pyrophosphate, Calcium Sulfate, Xanthan Gum, Tuna Oil, Magnesium Sulfate, Potassium Chloride, Choline Chloride, Fructooligosaccharide, Taurine, Zinc Oxide, Reduced Iron, Vitamin E Supplement, Sodium Selenite, Manganese Sulfate, Niacin Supplement, Thiamine Mononitrate, Vitamin A Supplement, Copper Glycine Complex, Vitamin B12 Supplement, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Calcium Pantothenate, Riboflavin Supplement, Biotin, Potassium Iodide, Vitamin D3 Supplement, Folic Acid, Menadione Sodium Bisulfite Complex (Source Of Vitamin K Activity).

Ingredients We Liked: Chicken, Tuna Oil

Ingredients We Didn’t Like: Tapioca Starch, Sunflower Oil

Guaranteed Analysis

Crude Protein: 10%
Crude Fat: 2%
Crude Fiber: 1%
Moisture: 84%

Dry Matter Basis

Protein: 62.5%
Fat: 12.5%
Fiber: 6.25%
Carbs: 18.75%

Caloric Weight Basis

Protein: 56%
Fat: 27.2%
Carbs: 16.8%

Pros

  • Rich in animal-sourced protein from chicken
  • Contains tuna oil as a nourishing source of omega-3 fatty acids
  • Doesn’t contain carrageenan, artificial colors, or artificial flavors

Cons

  • Contains xanthan gum, a thickening agent that may irritate some cats
  • Contains high-carbohydrate tapioca starch

What Do Customers Think of Wholehearted Cat Food?

WholeHearted food gets mostly positive reviews, but those are interspersed with a few recurring complaints.

Happy customers like WholeHearted’s combination of quality and price. Disappointed buyers say that WholeHearted’s canned foods are hard to open, that the wet foods are watery, and some say that WholeHearted food made their cat sick.

Let’s hear it from both sides.

Positive Reviews

“My two rescued kitties seem to really like this food. They eat it readily and never throw up, and now their coats are super shiny and soft. They’re small cats now, only one year old, and the small kibble seems to really agree with them. I’ll keep buying it as long as they keep liking it! (They like the canned variety also.)” – Debra, reviewing WholeHearted Grain-Free Chicken Formula Dry Cat Food

“My cat loves this dry food and it doesn’t smell horrible like cheaper dry cat food does. Ever since feeding him this food consistently, his poo has almost no unpleasant odor. It seems like a wholesome food for my cat, so I’ll keep buying it as long as he eats it.” – dram, reviewing Wholehearted Healthy Digestion Chicken & Egg Product Recipe Dry Cat Food

Negative Reviews

“Called Petco, the 800 # on package and requested phosphorus content. They responded with the phosphorus dry matter being 4.4% and 11.6 g/ 1000 kcl. I will not feed Whole Hearted Healthy Digestion Chicken and Egg Product Recipe Dry Cat Food to my cats because I worry it will hurt their kidneys.” – cats, reviewing WholeHearted Healthy Digestion Chicken & Egg Product Recipe Dry Cat Food

“My cats don’t like this brand anymore (both the wet AND dry kinds), and they puke up every meal. I also keep finding diarrhea in the litter box occasionally. This all started happening when I switched to this brand over a month and a half ago. I’m going to find a different, more reliable brand. I know the differences between this brand and Purina & Iams, and I prefer the latter two waayyyy over this brand. It seems like Petco created this new brand to make money, and stopped selling many other brands not because of the byproducts, but just to make more money.” – Kinepela, reviewing WholeHearted Grain Free Chicken Favorites Flaked Wet Cat Food Variety Pack

How Much Does Wholehearted Cat Food Cost?

WholeHearted is in the same price bracket as American Journey, Simply Nourish, and some Fancy Feast recipes. Their dry food costs roughly $0.28 to $0.36 per day for a 10-lb cat, while WholeHearted wet food would cost about $1.52 per day for the same cat.

If you fall in love with WholeHearted food and want to save on your online shopping, consider Petco’s WholeHearted food membership. The membership costs $29 per year and earns you 25% off all online purchases of WholeHearted food.

Overall, Is Wholehearted a Good Choice?

If you’re on a tight budget but don’t want to sacrifice good nutrition, WholeHearted might be a good option to consider. Their wet recipes stand out as some of the only low-priced foods that combine decent ingredient quality with low carbohydrate content.

Where To Buy Wholehearted Cat Food?

You’ll find WholeHearted in most Petco stores and on Petco’s website. You’ll also find it sold on Amazon.

Note: The values in our nutrient charts are automatically calculated based on the guaranteed analysis and may not represent typical nutrient values. This may lead to discrepancies between the charts and the values mentioned in the body of the review.
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About Mallory Crusta

Mallory is an NAVC-certified Pet Nutrition Coach. Having produced and managed multimedia content across several pet-related domains, Mallory is dedicated to ensuring that the information on Cats.com is accurate, clear, and engaging. When she’s not reviewing pet products or editing content, Mallory enjoys skiing, hiking, and trying out new recipes in the kitchen. She has two cats, Wessie and Forest.

40 thoughts on “WholeHearted Cat Food Review”

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  1. Katherine Levin

    I never feed my cats fish, red meat or pork as in the wild cats don’t hunt, kill and eat these animals. My cats don’t like turkey so that leaves chicken. Due to recent financial change, for the worse, i had to stop buying Dave’s Chicken pate food which my cats had eaten for years. I researched the best quality wet pate chicken food which i could afford and only Wholehearted qualified on all counts. I won’t feed them Friskies as it contains meat by-products. I almost threw up when i researched and learned what that meant. So Wholehearted Liver & Chicken Pate is very good. No gravy at all. The 5.5 oz cans are packed solid, full, food only, no gravy. You should really adjust your report on this website. No gravy at all, only a solid full can of decent, reasonably priced Cat food and you can get it from Petco.

    Reply
    1. Mallory Crusta Post author

      Hi Katherine,

      Thanks for your comment! I’m glad you found WholeHearted as a cheaper alternative to your cat’s old food. It definitely appears to be one of the best budget brands you can buy.

      We choose the top 3 foods to review based on their popularity rather than quality, so the two dry recipes and the “flaked in gravy” canned food made it onto the list but their paté-style foods didn’t. While the Wholehearted Chicken & Liver paté wasn’t directly reviewed in the article, it’s a solid option for cats.

      Thanks again for sharing your experience!

      Best,

      Mallory

    2. Linda Esquivel

      Fact: Cats are not wild. Cats are domesticated. They have been for hundreds of thousands of years, thanks to us humans interfering. Cats dont hunt for their food. They dont need to. They rely on us for their food and water. They cant fend for themselves on the streets or in the wild. They would die if it wasint for ppl feeding them. Most commonly, dry , commercialized, domesticated cat food. Are you an expert in feline nutrition? Ae you a vet? Are you a specialist? Have you ever consulted with any? I dont think you have. Get the facts first before you go about posting blaent bs. Just saying.

    3. Heywood

      No Linda, cats are not entirely domesticated. In fact, they have been domesticated 20,000 years less than dogs, which have been domesticated by humans for around 30,000 years. So cats have not been domesticated for hundreds of thousands of years, that’s just flat-out wrong, they’ve only been domesticated since around 7500 b.c. from the time of the Egyptian empire.
      So the one posting blatant BS here isn’t Katherine. Stop mistaking your opinions for facts.

    4. Mallory Crusta Post author

      To be clear, Heywood is correct about the estimated timeline for feline domestication, and it is true that feline dietary needs have not evolved since they came into human societies. However, we do recommend that you refer to your veterinarian or a veterinary nutritionist to get expert guidance on your cat’s nutritional requirements.

    5. LindaIsWrong

      Wow such confidence for being incredibly wrong. Funny you tell others to check facts and then spout nothing but incorrect information. Hundred of thousands of years. lol Come on Linda, do better.

  2. Shelah

    I agree 100% with the above post about cats throwing up the Whole Hearted canned food. Mine did the same and ultimately would not eat it. WHO COULD BLAME THEM! Worst food EVER! the flaked in gravy made ME puke when I opened the cans! It is HORRID and I’m so done with Petco (their lousy customer service) and all their food! It’s been nothing short of a nightmare and even called the coroporate office only to be told by him that he couldn’t hear me and would call me right back. NEVER DID!

    Reply
    1. K

      What are you talking about? There is no review saying their cats threw up. Maybe you misread.

  3. JAnne

    Sheilah

    Some cats are just finicky and some foods are just not acceptable to dog or cats but there is no need to slam a company as a whole. I found Wholehearted a very good food (Duck and Turkey flavor.) After running out of options for several of my cats who ate and puked and no medical reason found Wholehearted resolved the issue. Dry and canned both are good.
    Sure the customer service has it’s challenges but a lot of places do.

    Reply
  4. Carol

    Hi Katherine
    Have you read the ingredients label in the back of the Wholehearted Liver & Chicken Pate?? ~ hmmm doesn’t seem so natural, tons of preservatives, is that what all those ingredients are? ~ doesn’t seem right nutrition-wise! I’m feeling skeptical about this brand’s Wet food cans, I like the ingredients in the dry food – ie Salmon Recipe ~ but cats need wet food ~ a balance between the two, ~ so I am still shopping for wet food and can’t seem to find one that is decent!

    Reply
  5. Mercy

    This food is making my cat throw up. She has never puked like that before. It’s horrible. Never buying it again. I was giving her cheap food from the supermarket and honestly that supermarket one is better. She never throws up with the cheap one.

    Reply
  6. Eugene Terry

    I bought some of your wet cat food at the petco in Attleboro Massachusetts on Washington st.rte.1. The next day I gave my cat Taterz some of your chicken recipe I looked down and noticed something it was a piece of bone there was pieces of bone going all through the food I have the other half can in the fridge I’m taking the other cans I have back for a refund I think it’s disgusting to ground bones up and put them in any pet food you shouldn’t be able to get away with this it was all through the food its awful.

    Reply
    1. Mallory Crusta Post author

      Hello Eugene, thank you for sharing your experience with us and other readers. I’d recommend contacting the number on the back of your cans and telling WholeHearted about your experience. Wishing you and Taterz all the best.

  7. Taia

    My 7 month old kitty loves this. We usually feed him the chicken hard food for kittens and the pate cans or the veggie ones. He hates the gravy cans, as do I. His coat is extremely soft since we made the switch. I decided to do some research to make sure it’s a good, healthy brand. I’m satisfied with it as it’s seems to be alright and it’s not too pricey. Thanks for your research!

    Reply
  8. JKaz

    I just got a new cat Saturday and we bought Whole Hearted Turkey flavor kibble for him cause we’re on a budget. He ate it well, but he had diarrhea since then and I was very concerned it was about the food or if he was still adjusting. It’s been four days and he threw up all the kibble Tuesday Night and has been throwing all today, Wednesday. I changed the kibble to Purina Cat Chow which the shelter fed him, though I was also skeptical from reading the review of it and he hasn’t eaten anything. I didn’t give him any kibble this morning cause I wasn’t risking him getting more sick and now that I was able to buy the cat chow he hasn’t eaten or drank all day, or he’s only had little licks of water. He sits over the water bowl and but doesn’t drink. I can’t tell if it’s the food but I feel like it is cause he was given to us as a healthy cat. He’s thrown up 5-6 times, the first time it was all of the kibble and the rest is all just fluids. I’m taking him to the vet tomorrow to get him checked. I think it’s more than just stress and adjusting to his new home that’s causing this.

    Reply
    1. Sally

      You can’t just switch a cats food like that. It definitely will make them sick.sorry your cat is sick but you should of just fed it what they were feeding it to begin with at the shelter.

    2. ERL

      To add to Sally’s reply. She is correct that you can’t just switch a cat food HOWEVER that doesn’t mean you have to just keep feeding them the same food forever. What you need to do is start by mixing just a little new food with the old food. Gradually increase the percentage of new food over WEEKS until they have fully switched to the new food.

  9. Nina R.

    Do you know if this brand is discontinuing any of its lines? I’m asking because the employees I have talked to don’t see. To know. The limited ingredient diet duck line has been out of stock for months, and so I switched to another LID brand – the only 1 available by a brand I trust. Now my cat is having an allergy response to it so I really need to switch back. Or start another search, *sigh*

    Reply
    1. Mallory Crusta Post author

      Hi Nina, that’s a great question. Unfortunately, I don’t have a conclusive answer for you. It does seem that the LID recipe you’re referring to has been unavailable to many customers for several months and there are rumors about it being discontinued. It’s possible that the company is being affected by supply issues or that the recipe has been discontinued.

  10. Mary & Zach

    We adopted a ferrel to friendly kitten in September and according to the rescuers she only liked dry food. One day we ran out of the dry food and had a few cans of wet food for emergencies. The salmon & tuna wet food recipe from WholeHearted was a HIT. She enjoys the food so much. We do a mix of wet food and dry food. Her coat is soft and she does not throw up. She looks forward to feeding time and us as kitten parents enjoy the price. We also got her the salmon filet treats and I’ve never seen a kitten open their jaw so wide and bite down so ferociously. We also have two 90lb German Shepherd pups that eat dry food/ wet food mixes and they love WholeHearted’s chicken & salmon with peas wet food recipe, even the kitty tries to sneak a bite of their food in. Our kitty (and pups) loves WholeHearted foods & treats<3

    Reply
  11. Estefania

    First time cat owner and this brand seemed like the best on the shelf at my local retail store. My cat loves it and has experienced no problem whatsoever so far. Good to know what I’m feeding her is a bit better than the other options I could have chosen. Thank you for the detailed review and the information breakdowns!

    Reply
  12. Amanda De Moraes

    Hi Mallory. For the wet food, you stated it’s low carb at less than 10%, but in the charts you made it says 18.75% on a dry matter basis. Can you please let me know which is accurate? Is this a low carb wet food? Thanks!!

    Reply
    1. Mallory Crusta Post author

      Amanda, the charts and the percentages given in the article were calculated using different methods. In addition to removing moisture, I removed fiber and ash from the equation as well. This made my percentages slightly lower than those shown in the chart. However, both of these values were calculated based on the guaranteed analysis, which means that they’re prone to inaccuracy. According to the company, the food is 3% carbohydrates on an as-fed basis, which translates to about 17% carbohydrates on a dry matter basis. I’m about to update the article now that I’ve found this information. Apologies for the confusion.

  13. Samantha

    It amazes me that NO ONE KNOWS A THING ABOUT CATS. Cats are in fact CARNIVORES. They need meat in their diets, kibble is the absolute worst thing you can feed them. I have done my research, wet food is the best for cats. I for one am in the process of transitioning my cats to a wet food diet and then to a raw diet!!!! Do your research on Felines!!! Whole hearted is a decent brand, I do like the costs, although I have purchased higher brands such as Tiki cat but as of now I have two cats which is fine. I only want the best I can give my cats, their diet is important to me. Ideally cats are best on a raw diet but it’s a process to transition them fully onto that. I’m just blown away with little research people have done on cats. Wow!!!! Cats are hunters, they have some relations to the big cats but of course our minis are domesticated. I water down my wet cat food because cats are stubborn when it comes to their moisture intake unless you have a fountain. Kibble has 0 moisture and cats depend on their food to receive that water intake. Although every cat is different, do your research on what their diets Ideally should be. Wet is just the best to go!

    Reply
    1. Jason

      Samantha, anyone who has read Mallory’s articles or watched her videos certainly “knows a thing about cats” [sic]. She’s adamant about species appropriate diet but is also sympathetic to whatever constraints are on consumers.

      Canned cat food (in the US) has become more difficult and expensive to come by… I guess it’s because a lot of it is manufactured in Thailand or other places overseas and there are supply chain issues. Who knows how long this is going to go on? It may get even worse.

      Not everyone could afford the higher priced, higher quality brands even before the shortages, job situations, etc.. I think many people are looking for the best given whatever variables people find themselves in.

      Sure… I’d love to raise my own small prey animals and turn them loose for my cat to hunt and eat on their own. Or even raise my own rabbits, chickens, or fish to make the best raw food for my cats. How feasible is this though? For me… not very.

      Wholehearted seems like a viable option atm under the current situation. They’re budget priced and appear well-stocked at Petco vs. Petsmart’s Authority brand (which has been out of stock at my location for a couple of months now). All other brands at the next jump in quality appear to have their prices significantly on the rise lately.

      To Mallory and the AllAboutCats team… thank you for the common sense approach to your reviews.

  14. Barb

    I fed both my cats 18 yrs old and 20 yrs old Wholehearted their entire lives. I think that says enough about the quality of Wholehearted cat food. Started my new kitten on the kitten food. Looking forward to many years with a healthy cat.

    Reply
    1. Michelle

      …don’t know how you have fed them Wholehearted for “their entire lives” when the brand was created in 2016, but okay.

    2. ERL

      Yeah, this is not true. I agree with Michelle, this brand has only been around for about 6-7 years. If your cats were 18 and 20 in 2022 they were not eating this food their entire lives. I’m not sure if you’re a company shill or just somehow mistaken about what you fed your cats for at least 12 years before 2016, but please be more careful about spreading false information.

  15. Sue

    I am looking for a urinary food for cats, and would love to read a review on Wholehearted urinary dry food. It does make sense that individual cats will respond better to different foods, (just as humans do; we have different preferences, and sometimes different food allergies from each other) .
    Barb, Wholehearted foods has only been produced since 2016, (6 years) so your 18 and 20 year old cats have not been eating it their whole lives.

    Reply
  16. sbg

    Thanks for this. My cats range in age from 6 to 11 1/2 and I’m finally going all wet – had been doing partial kibble and “souping it up” with lots of water, but when my local pet store couldn’t get the kibble in stock I took it as impetus to just give it up entirely. I’m still adjusting and so are the cats, and this brand is something I can afford to feed four cats. One of my cats does not digest chicken well, lots of vomiting, so I wish that I could find an appropriate food for senior cat with chicken issues – chicken is insidious! It’s everywhere. She seems to be doing okay with this as long as I don’t feed it exclusively, so I do a mix. Going to start ordering online, though, as I look like a bona fide cat lady buying in store. LOL.

    Reply
  17. nbg

    I was recently given a case of Whole hearted Ocean Fish Recipe wet food which I started adding to my 4 feral outdoor cats other food, Fancy Feast and Friskies wet food. They love it! Even the one that usually threw up stopped throwing up. I don’t know about other flavors but they definitely love the Ocean fish recipe food. And They now have thicker, softer fur.

    Reply
  18. Jill

    My cat loved first few cans. Bought three cases and he don’t touch..almost like he will starve instead. Replaced with blue buffalo tasteful which my vet loves

    Reply
  19. Anon

    I like the price. I thought it looked and smelled great compared to other brands. Almost like a sandwich spread, haha. But my cat has been consistently making regurgitation sounds on occasion. We’re on 24 pack number two, and so far no puke. Still, something about the sunflower oil being in there bugs me. Would prefer fish oils only. Other comments online have me worrying about the calcium/phosphorus ratio. I don’t know enough about these things. I’m interested in the dry food, but I don’t see how so many odd food combos belong in any one food product. Especially for cats. There’s a pea protein powder concern out there, and I don’t know if it has merit, but I hesitate to feed my cat legumes. Again, idk about these things.

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  20. Minhaj

    Is there a link or resource to a calculator that can calculate the caloric weight basis data based on the guaranteed analysis found on the can?

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