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WellPet LLC is a cat and dog food company formed by the combination of Eagle Pack Pet Foods and Old Mother Hubbard, after both had been purchased by the investment firm Berwind Corporation. In October 2007, Eagle Pack was sold to Berwind Corporation for an undisclosed amount. Between 2008 and 2009, Eagle and OMH were merged into a single entity called Wellpet LLC.
Wellness has a fairly good reputation and the only recent recall was in October of 2012. That recall was not serious and no illnesses or deaths were reported. They focus on high meat-based products and offer a number of grain-free products. Since grain free pet foods are becoming more popular, so is this brand.
In the article below, you will see a full list of ingredients for this product and a full breakdown of the top 10 ingredients in this food. Please let us know what you think by rating this cat food and also posting your thoughts about this product below in the commenting section.
List Of Ingredients In This Cat Food
Tuna, Tuna Broth, Water Sufficient for Processing, Ocean Whitefish, Shrimp, Sunflower Oil, Tapioca Starch, Natural Flavor, Guar Gum, Tricalcium Phosphate, Potassium Chloride, Minerals (Ferrous Glycine Complex, Zinc Glycine Complex, Manganese Glycine Complex, Copper Glycine Complex, Sodium Selenite, Potassium Iodide), Vitamins (Vitamin E Supplement, Thiamine Hydrochloride, Niacin, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, d-Calcium Pantothenate, Riboflavin Supplement, Folic Acid, Vitamin D3 Supplement, Biotin, Vitamin B12 Supplement), Choline Chloride, Vitamin A Supplement, Taurine, Thiamine Mononitrate, Vitamin K3 Supplement.
Top 5 Ingredients Analysis
Tuna
This ingredient is a well known saltwater fish. There is some debate about whether fish products should be included in cat food at all, because cats by nature do not eat much sea food. A lot of cat owners would rather see meat from other animals such as beef, chicken, turkey, or other meat sources. However, tuna does supply a good amount of protein and also contains an excellent amount of omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids.
Tuna Broth
Like other types of broth in cat food, tuna broth is used as a flavor enhancer and source of moisture. It is considered to be a better ingredient to use than plain water. While not especially nutritious, your cat will probably appreciate the enhanced flavor and there are no known health risks associated with this ingredient.
Water Sufficient for Processing
For canned foods, water being at the top of the ingredients list is normal. As you could probably guess, water doesn’t do anything in the way of providing nutritional value, but it does help to keep the food moist. Sometimes a broth will be used instead of water, but all canned foods will require a high amount of moisture content.
Ocean Whitefish
Ocean whitefish is a species of tilefish native to the eastern Pacific Ocean. This ingredient is likely included for its protein content as well as very healthy omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids. While this ingredient probably isn’t something most cats would eat in a natural or wild environment, the ingredient does contain some very essential nutrient sources. Some cat owners worry about the mercury content in fish since all fish contains some level of mercury, but the health risk is considered to be pretty low.
Shrimp
This ingredient is becoming more popular in cat food as more and more cat owners are including sea food ingredients into their cats meals. This is generally considered a quality ingredient, but it does contain quite a bit of fat. This usually isn’t a problem unless the ingredient is included in high amounts. It also isn’t considered to be a part of a cats natural diet since they rarely, if ever, eat shrimp in the wild. Nonetheless, it is an ingredient with some great nutritional value (in proper portions) and there is little evidence to suggest it could cause much harm to your cat.
Additional Ingredients Of Interest
Sunflower Oil
Tomato pomace is an inexpensive by-product of tomato manufacturing. Effectively, it is what is left over after processing tomatoes for juice, ketchup, soup, etc. In all likelihood, this is the leftovers of what is cleaned off of the floors and other areas of plants that process tomatoes for other purposes. As such, this is probably used more as a flavor enhancer than for nutritional purposes.
Tapioca Starch
Tapioca flour, also known as tapioca starch, is a starchy white flour that has a slight sweet flavor to it. Tapioca flour is an alternative to traditional wheat flours and has a variety of uses in baking. Tapioca is a source of carbohydrate obtained from the roots of the cassava plant (Manihot esculenta), which is indigenous to Latin America. It is not a cereal grain like corn or wheat which have links to food allergies in cats. The benefit to using tapioca in a pet food as the primary carbohydrate source instead of typical grains is tapioca’s biochemical simplicity. Grains are complex in the sense that they contain proteins and other phytonutrients in addition to carbohydrates. Tapioca is just starch – a combination of amylase and amlylopectin. There are no known canine or feline allergies to tapioca, so this is becoming a more common ingredient in many pet foods.
Natural Flavor
The term “natural flavor” is extremely vague and can mean just about anything. In human foods, natural flavor is usually MSG or some similar flavor enhancer. When pet food companies are asked what is in their “natural flavor ingredients, they usually refuse to answer. There are a lot of things in the world considered “natural” and they almost all have a flavor. Such generic terms can be indicative of poor quality ingredients. While that’s not always the case, the fact is, we don’t really know what this ingredient consists of and that is worrying.
Guar Gum
This ingredient is also sometimes called guaran. It is primarily the ground endosperm of guar beans. The guar seeds are dehusked, milled and screened to obtain the guar gum. It is typically produced as a free-flowing, off-white powder. This ingredient is mostly used to thicken the food and give it more texture. It is an FDA-approved, all natural GRAS (Generally Recognized as Safe) ingredient used by the food and cosmetic industries. It also is used to improve the shelf life of the food and helps lower the glycemic index of food. Many cat food companies claim this ingredient also aids in digestion and weight loss. There is some minor debate about the benefits of this ingredient with some claiming negative impacts, but in general, this is thought to be a relatively non-nutritious yet safe ingredient.
Tricalcium Phosphate
Dicalcium phosphate is a compound that is present in bone. It is a calcium salt. Usually, when people break their bones, the need to enrich themselves with this compound in order to help bone regeneration. For cat food, it is mostly used as a part of the processing of the food. While this ingredient sounds scary and doesn’t provide any nutrition for cats, it is considered safe and is usually included in very low levels.
