WellnessCORE Pate Adult Wet Cat Food, Natural, Protein-Rich, Grain Free, 3 Ounce, 12 Pack (Chicken, Turkey & Chicken Liver)

Three Octobers ago (10/2010) my 14-year-old best friend was diagnosed with an aggressive cancerous tumor on the nape of his neck. The likely cause was a vaccine shot he got many years before in 1997. I remember the exact location: Slightly to the left, right above his shoulder where the technician injected the vaccine *into* his skin rather than under it, causing a severe and bloody abscess a few weeks later and left a permanent bald spot. In October 2010 we took an aggressive stance against the localized tumor and had it removed along with most of the ribs on his left side. During that surgery, he was diagnosed with intestinal cancer.For the weeks leading up to his first surgery he lost most of his weight, dropping from 17lbs to 10 lbs and was severly dehydrated. His diet at the time consisted primarily of IAMS Indoor Cat formula. By some miracle, he survived the surgery during which required three transfusions during his recovery. Ever since, he has been force-fed 12-16oz of Wellness Turkey formula in an attempt to bring him back to and maintain what I consider should be his normal weight of 14 lbs. He maintained 14 lbs for the 1st year, but he is now down to 10 lbs at 600 calories/day. I'd force feed him twice a day on week days, and let him eat on his own on weekends - trying out every single brand and line of cat food I could find (except for the raw recipes due to his compromised immune system). None of which he would consistently eat enough of on his own. I would not allow him to die from starvation. He would eat a little of the Wellness Sardine Shrimp and Crab recipe on his own - about 3 oz per day which is only about 80 calories and not nearly enough to sustain him. For three years, his appetite never increased beyond 3 oz / day for any brand of food. Until two weeks ago.Two weeks ago, I once again bought a handfull of all Wellness Core Canned recipes. He consumed every one of these at varying speeds - the slowest on the Salmon and on the Duck recipes, and the fastest on the Chicken Liver and the Kitten formulas which he consumed 2 and 1/2 5 oz cans on his own. So I bought more of these and since then, he has been eating a little over two cans each day of the Core Chicken-Turkey-Chicken-Liver! I am so thrilled and relieved for many reasons. Primarily for my little friend's life which he can now sustain by himself. And secondly for my back. This past year has been very difficult to force-feed after injuring my back and spending six months with physical therapists. Recovery was slower than normal because of the force-feeding - the only way to safely force-feed a cat who is missing many ribs is on the floor, in between my knees, wrapped in a towel like a burrito. A very bad position for the back in the first place.My little friend no longer vomits or has diahrea so dehydration is now less of a concern. Although 500 cal/day may seem high for a cat his age and current weight - he has lost over 40% of his healthy weight in a very short amount of time from his intestinal cancer which prevents his body from absorbing enough nutrients. His fluid intake is high and his cat box is frequently wet. My efforts these past three years has given him his lease on life so far and counting. The local oncologist and two advising vets expected him to expire within 6 months of the surgery either from the disease or from the chemotherapy which he is no longer on. It is now 3 1/2 years later and my little guy is happy and safe.This product will be the only one my best friend will have for the remainder of his life.

A few years ago our vet told us our cats had to lose weight. I did a little research and found that Wellness CORE seems to be a pretty decent wet food. After realizing how many calories are in dry food, and how little dry food they should actually be eating, we started with wet food. (We were free-feeding dry food.) My cats both love this flavor of food. One of my cats is very picky, so that is a big deal. It is a little higher in calories than the indoor cat flavor, but not by too much. When they get this flavor as a treat, they are always extra excited and I'm not sure they actually taste it, they eat it so fast. It is definitely not the cheapest cat food out there, but I like to think that the ingredients are worth it. My cats have lost weight (wet vs dry makes a difference), but now I have to brush their teeth. Even though all vets seem to believe that dry food is just as bad for teeth, we never had an issue until they started eating wet food. That would be the only negative I can think of, which is remedied with brushing (which is indeed a pain) or adding a little dry food as a treat back into the diet.

I've had my 2 1/2 year old boy tabby on this food (and its other various flavors) since he turned 1 year old. Before that, I fed him Iams kitten. He had a urine test at about that time and it was there I learned he was prone to developing urine crystals in his kidneys. I immediately decided to find a food that was formulated for urinary tract health, and stumbled across this brand. I've read in past reviews that the Wellness original formulas were actually pretty unsafe for urinary tract, but that the Wellness CORE formulas were perfect for maintaining this aspect. Since he's been on this food, his urine looks great! His coat is super shiny (not oily) and he's active and a real predator. I mix this wet formula with the dry to keep it a cost-effective option for me, and will rotate flavors based on cost and to keep it interesting. My boy is about 10lbs and I feed him a can a day with 2 tablespoons of dry kibble mixed in. I also add L-lysine powder to keep his immune system up.While my boy's health (and my kitten's health on the kitten formula) has been great on this food, I have decided to switch to another brand that does not have carrageenan in it. The main reason, though, is that he's lost his taste for the pate-style food. I've tried additives such as baby food, other cans of different food mixed in, going heavy-handed on the kibble, etc. It's been over a month and I can't get him to wolf down the food like he used to. He can be a finicky eater sometimes, but I figured I'd try the switch for now. I'm switching to Redbarn that has more of a stew-like consistency, is cheaper, and doesn't contain carrageenan. It also has an ingredient list that could rival Wellness CORE's.All in all, I really do think this is a fantastic food if you can get your cat to eat a pate-style. (If I fed him the dry kibble of this brand, he'd wolf it down!) I think the ingredients are great quality for the most part, and it's easily a MUCH safer food option than any grocery brand food out there. I'm minusing a star almost exclusively because the flavor wore off on him and the addition of that carrageenan. If you can afford the cost, I think this food will do your kitty welll. Like I said, my cat's health has been outstanding on this food.

5 stars for an excellent pet food manufacturer and their customer service. All my cats were fed many of the Wellness formulations. Cats can be finicky. They used to like pate, must have talked it over and decided no more pate. They no longer like shreds even though I cut them smaller. They seem to only like something with gravy, I don't have a problem with that as any hi-end food brand gravy will be acceptable to me. Actually there is one pate they will eat the Wellness beef and chicken, forgot about that. Now I'm buying that plus minced chicken with gravy, minced turkey with gravy. As expected, most of the time they take in the gravy and leave some of the food.