Wellness Dog Food
Wellness Pet Food was founded in 1997 with the goal of offering recipes that contribute to pets’ overall health and wellness (hence the name). Now, serving both the cat and dog food industry, Wellness provides human-grade ingredients for toy, small, and large breeds through the Complete Health, Core, Simple, and Trufood brands.
Wellness is owned by Wellpet LLC, which also owns the companies Holistic Select Natural Pet Food, Eagle Pack Natural Pet Food, and Old Mother Hubbard Natural Dog Snacks. Some sources say that some of the canned food for Wellness is co-packed by American Nutrition. You won’t see most of these listed on the website because companies don’t usually like to advertise the fact that they have a third party doing work for them (however, many dog food companies don’t own their own pet food plants).
Disclosure: Please note that this post contains affiliate links, which will direct you to our partner sites. If you purchase the pet foods we recommend through those links, we may earn a small commission – at no extra cost to you.
Wellness Recalls 2018
Below you will find a history of recalls. If you would like to know as soon as we find out about a recalls visit: https://dogfood.guru/dog-food-recalls/ and fill out our Recall Alert form. We will only email this list in the event of an actual recall.
We also encourage everyone to bookmark the site for future reference.
Latest Recalls
Wellness had a recall for large breed puppy food in May 2012. They had another recall in October 2012 for Wellness Super 5 Mix Small Breed Adult Dog Food.
Learn how we monitor for recalls: https://dogfood.guru/dog-food-recalls/
Consumer Ratings
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Wellness Dog Food Coupons 2018
Looking for some ways to save on Wellness Dog Food? Check out the deals:
Wellness Dog Food Review
With the motto “Make every mealtime count,” Wellness prioritizes not only the taste of the dog food but the holistic nutrition it provides each pet. Utilizing human-grade ingredients, Wellness is considered a premium dog food with no traces of artificial colors, flavors, corn, wheat, soy, or by-products. Instead, the company uses real meat, antioxidants, probiotics, and omega fatty acids in the foods.
And while Wellness uses high-quality ingredients for the most part, in some recipes, they use peas as a carb/protein substitute for grains, which we are not a fan of. We also do not recommend another ingredient Wellness uses – flaxseed. It has many of the same properties as soybeans and can interfere with a dogs’ hormones.
But aside from a few items, Wellness provides some of the highest quality, healthiest ingredients on the market. Keep in mind, the recipes have different protein and fat levels, so you will need to look through the foods to find a kibble that fits your dog’s energy needs, especially if you have a very active dog.
Out of the four Wellness pet food lines, we recommend Simple and Core, first. Complete Health and TruFood brands have decent recipes as well, but be sure to read the labels carefully for each food. Some are better than others.
Wellness Dog Food Product Lines
Complete Health
The company offers six kibbles in the Complete Health line. This line of foods features deboned chicken, lamb, turkey, salmon, and whitefish, as well as oatmeal, barley, brown rice, sweet potatoes, and peas. Crude protein and fat percentages are typically 22 and 12 for the adult dog formulas, though they are higher for the toy, small breed, and large breed adult formulas.
CORE
The CORE line of foods is grain free, high in protein, and low carb. This line of foods includes seven recipes including a reduced fat formula for dogs that need to lose weight or who can’t tolerate a lot of fat. It also has a fish variety called Ocean.
Simple
Simple includes six dry recipes, and two of them are grain free. Animal protein includes duck, salmon, turkey, and lamb, while carb sources include oatmeal, potatoes, and peas. The foods have no GMOs, meat by-products, wheat, gluten, corn, soy, dairy, eggs, artificial flavors, or preservatives.
This line of food is supposed to be good for dogs with food sensitivities or allergies. The crude protein and fat in these foods are lower than in many dog foods (21 to 26 percent crude protein and 11 to 12 percent crude fat), but this is true of many of the Wellness dog foods. According to Wellness, these foods have only five main ingredients chosen for their quality and nutritional value.
TruFood
Wellness TruFoods are baked or dehydrated and made in smaller batches than its other lines. Each recipe is created with loads of nutritional value and can be fed to your dog as a meal, or you can use it as an ingredient in your own homemade dog food. TruFood offers Baked Nuggets, Make it Fresh meals, Meal Complements, and Tasty Pairings.
In-Depth Look at Wellness Simple Lamb & Oatmeal Formula
While this formula is advertised as a limited ingredient diet, this is not technically the case. As previously mentioned, the Simple line of foods is supposed to only have five main ingredients, chosen for their quality and nutrition. However, there are more than 20 ingredients in total. When your vet tells you to feed your dog a limited ingredient diet, that means one protein, one fat, and one carbohydrate. So, if your dog does have food allergies or food sensitivities, a commercial limited ingredient diet may not solve the problem.
However, this formula avoids many of the major ingredients that cause problems for dogs, so it should not be overlooked. The Simple line of foods has no wheat, gluten, eggs, dairy, corn, or soy. It is also void of artificial flavors, colors, or preservatives.
Note: The first ingredient in this recipe, lamb, is one of the most frequent causes of food allergies in dogs. At one time it was a novel protein but it has been used in dog food so much in the last 20 years that many dogs have developed an allergy to it.
Key Benefits
- Contains omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids for healthy skin and coat
- High-quality meat protein in the first five ingredients (lamb and lamb meal)
- Low-glycemic ingredients to help stabilize blood sugar
- Avoids common allergens
- Contains probiotics and prebiotics to help with digestion
Guaranteed Analysis
Wellness Simple Lamb & Oatmeal Formula has 23.6 percent protein, 13.5 percent fat, 5.3 percent fiber, and about 48.7 percent carbohydrates. As with many other Wellness foods, we think the protein and fat percentages are a little low, while the carb percentage is rather high. The food has 406 calories per cup and is AAFCO approved for maintenance.
The first five ingredients in the food are lamb, lamb meal, oatmeal, peas, and ground rice. Let’s take a look at these ingredients and their health benefits.
- Lamb and lamb meal are healthy sources of protein, but lamb is a common allergen among dogs. However, these ingredients are loaded with health benefits and are a good source of omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids.
- Oatmeal is a low to moderate glycemic food that is digested slowly. It’s a great dietary fiber and is a good source of phosphorus and selenium and a very good source of manganese. It’s also a good source of omega-6 fatty acid.
- Dog food companies use peas more and more often today as a substitute for grains because of their protein and carbs. Not all dogs digest peas very well, and they should not be digested in excess. However, they can be a good source of vitamin A, riboflavin, niacin, vitamin B6, folate, magnesium, phosphorus, copper, dietary fiber, vitamin C, vitamin K, thiamin and manganese.
- Most dogs can digest ground rice well. In general, rice is a good source of folate and manganese.
We note that the food uses proteinated or chelated minerals, which are easier for dogs to digest. These are usually seen in better dog foods since they cost more for the manufacturer to purchase. The food also has several fermentation products to help dogs digest the food. This is becoming more common today, especially in foods with peas and other unusual grain substitutes because dogs can have trouble digesting these ingredients. However, we like the natural prebiotic chicory root extract.
This food might be helpful for some dogs who have food sensitivities or allergies. You should read the ingredient label carefully and make sure that your dog doesn’t have a problem with any of the ingredients found here.
Where can you buy Wellness?
Wellness is an established brand, and you can find it just about anywhere premium dog foods are sold, as well as from online dog food retailers like Chewy.
Below is a list of Products reviewed in this article
One of our dogs has is severely allergic to chicken. We have had a very hard time finding a food that does not contain some sort of chicken, chicken fat…ect…. We however found that Wellness Whitefish and Sweet Potatoe contains NO chicken of any kind. He’s only been on it for a few days now, but seems to be doing a lot better. Besides the fact that he absolutely loves it!! Let’s keep our fingers crossed!
I had my Boston Terrier on Wellness Whitefish and Sweet Potatoe for 12 years. He had horrible allergeric reactions to any food with chicken. I love Wellness food. Starting our new Boston on Wellness Core this week. I hope this helps
Hi, my yorkie cross has been on the small breed wellness and I wanted to know if the adult lamb barley wellness would have any negative reactions with her as the products were close together on the shelf and i didn.t realise that it was not for small breeds.
OH DEAR,
I purchased another large bag of senior dry food and for the FIRST TIME EVER, i opened up the air tight container and a bunch of moths flew out……..I went to the large bag which was closed fully and opened it for a second to peek inside and OMG the bag was crawling with moths……….I love this product for my Shih Tzu and will continue to buy more and exchange the problematic bag. Has anyone else reported this problem?
Oh Dear again,
I can relate to Marlene’s experience. I just purchased a 6 pound bag of Wellness Healthy Weight – De-boned Chicken and Pea Recipe, dry dog food from Petco. The bag was completely sealed. When I opened it, moths flew out of the bag and were crawling in the food. Seriously? This is $19.99 per bag dog food! Since this is Sunday, I will be contacting Wellness during business hours tomorrow. I really want an explanation.
Has anyone ever contacted you ??
I would question the sanitation practices at the store you purchased the food from more than the food itself.
I work at Petco and can tell you the problem comes from purina foods. Mainy proplan. Gets shipped to us with moths. The moths love grain foods and when they’re introduced they’re near impossible to get rid of because of all the grain (and even grain free) filled things they can get in and breed and infest. Definitely unsettling. I want to tell everyone who buys purina foods but i’d like to keep my job so i stay quiet.
Help! My vet has said that Blue, Wellness and the “higher” priced foods are not good to feed your dog, and said Purina is what she recommends. My dog is a very picky eater, and I have bought numerous brands trying go get her to eat something. What recommendations do you have? I heard Orijen is good, but unfortunately we don’t have a store that sells it anywhere close.. Most dogs are semi excited to eat.. But not mine. I really want to feed her what is best for her, and the wishy washy is driving me crazy!
Try Fromm’s! go to chewy.com if you cannot find it at a store near you. I’ve dealt with a lot of rescue pups/dogs, who have had either psychological issues or health issues that didn’t induce a proper appetite. Using a premium kibble such as Fromm’s has changed all of that. The food smells like what it is! Salmon a la Veg smells like salmon, Duck and Sweet potato like duck, etc. I always add a topper (hard boiled eggs, cooked meat-my dogs cannot handle the raw-, and even yogurt. Adding a tblsp or so of hot water will also make a “gravy”, softening the kibble, making it smelly and more palatable. Hope this helps!
Fromm’s also has really great canned food that i will purchase when it’s on sale. I will add a few tbsps of that to their kibble with meat, and they love it! I have three dogs, all different ages and breeds all over 50 lbs. Fromm’s is also easy on the pocketbook, when it comes to premium foods.
We had ours on Wellness, but she developed a rash, bad breath, loss of fur, terrible gas & finally vomiting!!! Thinking they either are using inferior products now or another company is making this food with inferior products. So we’re searching for a good food as well!!! Companies are being bought out right & left, not to mention others that are “just manufactured” in the same factories as other not so great pet foods!!! Here are some that have been bought out lately by Mars (hope this helps!): https://www.mars.com/global/brands/petcare.aspx
Whatever you do, DO NOT feed your fur baby any Purina products. They THE WORST! Check out: http://www.dogfoodscoop.com and you’ll see why.
I know it’s been almost a year since you posted but felt I should reply.
1. change vets (she knows nothing about nutrition)
.2 you can purchase from chewy.com online – very good pricing and fast shipping – also free shipping over $49.
3. We have 2 Great Pyrenees and feed Fromm – family owned company, never outsource and are very responsive to customer questions – call and talk to them before you buy
4. I spent probably 500 hours researching dog foods for large breed puppies when we got our first rescue GP because I realized I knew nothing about the specific needs of large breed dogs – there are many veterinary sites you can access.
Hope you and your dog are well.
I have been having similar problems finding bags of the Simple, Had to return because it was full of worms. I’m only able to buy the small bags now because every big bag I find in the stores has worms on the outside of the bags. Just horrifying and extremely disappointed in the company. Its been a great food for my dogs who are sensitive to many foods and has left me scrambling to figure out my next step.
The same thing happened to me with 4 Senoir Dog Food Formula large bags where there were moths and larvae when we opened up the sealed tight bsgs. Some of the moths were coming out from the side holes that are now featured with newly designed bags for the food to breathe. I immediately called my pet food store who Ofcourse exchanged all of the bags, opened new ones to check if they were moth free and they re-closed them tight with tape. I even kept them in containers so the moths that were flying in my apartment due to this infestation in the food, couldn’t get it. This happened in August 2014. I have been feeding my 14 1/2 year old Beagle all different versions of Wellness since he was 10 weeks old. I have never experiences this moth issue until I put him on the senior food and since they changed the bag design. I have a 2 year old Aussie on Wellness Low Fat Core formula and checked his bags and his have never had any infestation problems. I called Wellness this past August to report the issue and they explained this type of moth tends to infest bags during stays in facilities or when the food is transported from facility to stores. In all of the years I’ve shopped at my local store they have never experienced this with any of the brands they sell but we’re super accommodating and gave me free large bags since I’m a loyal client. I would expect places like Petco, Petsmart or chain stores to have this problem because of how they store their food. I don’t blame the store, I think there is something up with this particular formula and bag because my husband went to feed my dog who eats the senior food, we just opened up a sealed tight bag earlier last week and poured it into his food storage container and we saw larvae again!! This is Jan 11, 2015! I will have to call Wellness on Monday since they are closed on Sunday’s. I called the store just to warn them I think there is something wrong with the Senior Formula since we were just there last week to buy the Low Fat Core grain free bag for my other dog and again, that was larvae free and always has been. I’m very disappointed because I’ve only fed my dogs Wellness since I’ve been loyal and it has always been a great brand that they enjoy and it’s supposedly super healthy!
Has anyone ever replied to you ??
I had the same problem. I noticed it halfway thru a bag, took it back, was given another bag & this one was worse. It had a lot of holes and worms. Its interesting that while my dogs were eating the wellness dog food all 3 of my them would have intermittent diarrhea. Once I switched I have not had a problem.
I am concerned how long this has been going on? Why aren’t they recalling the food?
I am currently having the same issue. We have moths and larvae and I didn’t notice until half way through the bag, but I really noticed when I walked in my apartment and saw a few moths flying around. My Scottish terrier now has diarrhea. I contacted Wellness so we will see if they have any answers.
Wow. I was thinking about starting my pug on the same thing . I’m Not going to now , Im glad I seen this post.
Wow! I was just about to buy this for the new puppy I am bringing home next week. In fact I have a bag in my “cart” at Amazon.com right now. Looks like I need to change direction.
Had the same issue. Bought two bags of large puppy breed food supposed to be good till dec 2015. Opened and used one bag and it was fine, opened second bag and it was infested with moths. Returned it to store and filed complaint with FDA. It was disgusting. Won’t buy again.
Yes!! I have had that issue and thought it was the petshops moths, never crossed my mind that it could have happens to others as well. My moths came in the vegetarian treats. Purchased in Miami fl.
Yes, Marlene,
I’ve had 3 bags of Wellness INFESTED with moths, as well. Happened with 2 different types of Wellness and over the course of 6-8 months from two different stores, Petco and PetSmart. So I don’t believe the infestation occured at the store warehouses. Plus, there were no holes in the bag, indicating the moths entered. It appears that the infestation occured at the point of manufacturing. I will no longer purchase Wellness until they resolve the infestation.
Were any of these from the CORE grain-free line? I just bought the grain-free “Ocean” for my dog. I usually feed him Orijen but no one sells it locally and I wanted to have a reliable local brand as a back-up. The Core line looked good and we just started the bag — he loves it. I have no idea if I would recognize moth larvae or not, however, and I wonder now if the risk is worth it.
The moth issue isn’t a brand issue, its a pet food issue in general. The moths are meal moths and can infest ANY animal food. I worked at a Petsmart DC and meal moths are a serious issue they fight. If you see small brown moths or what look like maggots in or around any food let the distributor know or the whole store can be infested
I have been buying Wellness dog food for 17 years and never have had moths in the bag. I suspect the store has a problem. Meal worms can get into what seem to be a sealed bag.
Rescued dog in feb that had severe digestive and nerve problems..after much vet work and diagnosing changed to wellness grain free salmon based..cleared up all and his coat looks great. Am concerned though where does the salmon come from as many salmon farms spray their fish with a preservative that is considered carcinogenic…anyone have thoughts on this?
I have been buying small breed for a long time and opened a bag full of ants. If you look at the bottom of all of your small breed bags there are 2 small holes that occur in manufacturing. This is VERY dangerous. Not only can it allow pests into your bags it can also allow chemicals of any kind into your bags that can be harmful to your pet. Wellness has not answered my calls, but I found this to be true of ALL dog foods I found at 4 different stores
We have been feeding our small dogs the Wellness Grain Free Small Bites Original Food along with the Wellness Grain Free Chicken Canned Food for the last 4 months now . We switched from Science Diet which we used for my now 17 year old Doxxie ..
This last batch I picked up seemed different, as it had no odor .. Usually this canned food drives both dogs crazy and smalls just like Chicken ! Not this batch .. It just had no odor but we fed the dogs anyway ..
After a few cans we noticed that my Doxxie was gassy and eventually his stool became loose .. As did the Malti/Silkie mix, though it took a week longer .. So we discontinued using the canned food ..
We are concerned that perhaps this batch is bad ! Please advise as I dread having to do any further investigation on this food .. Thanks
Adriann ~
Did you receive any replies to your concern about the canned Wellness food? We buy the turkey/sweet potato and chicken/sweet potato and noticed the same thing – there is a strong odor, the texture of the food is not as firm and our two small dogs don’t want to eat it. I threw away several cans thinking the batch was bad but have purchased others with the same result. Concerned, don’t want to sicken our dogs but have feed them this food for years – normally safe and they usally love it.
What are the calories per cup in the Wellness adult small dog food????? Can not find listed anywhere on bag or on line.
What are the calories in Wellness adult small dog. Not listed on bag or on line. Please somebody reply.
The list is on the bottom of the bag..hope this helps you.
I have been feeding my 3 small dogs both the Wellness grain free small bites and mixing it with the grain free canned food for about 1 year. I was about halfway thru a bag of kibbles and noticed some small holes in the kibbles. I immediately returned the bag where I had purchased and they informed me they had not had a problem but gave me another bag. (I thought maybe it was something contacted in my pantry at home). I opened the new bag and the kibbles were full of small holes. I further examined and found that some of the kibbles had small worms. All 3 of my dogs have had on & off diarrhea while eating this dog food over the past year. I have no idea how many bags that I purchased might have been infected with worms. The holes in the kibbles are not that easy to see.
By the other posts it looks like this is an ongoing problem with the dog food. Why isn’t the dog food being recalled? Why is the manufacturer not returning calls?
Bought the Core Ocean formula and my dog won’t eat it. I basically have to hand feed him and he still won’t eat. Today, after being on for 3 weeks on this product, he had diarrhea 3 times! 🙁
Not quite sure how a lot of people seem to be getting faulty bags, I live in New Zealand and we haven’t had anyone complain about moths or any other bugs!
Every bag i buy is super fresh!
Been feeding my dog the small breed and he loves it! His stools have also gotten a lot firmer! Love this food brand!
I just started my dogs on it and have not had any trouble yet either. I sure will watch now but will not stop feeding them the food
Been using wellness small breed for years.
Have never gotten a bad bag. This is really alarming. Can anyone be trusted? We buy the large bags, keep them in the house sealed in a drawer in a bedroom (not garage). They stay fresh for months.
We keep bags sealed completely. Hope all your pets are ok and no longer sick.
I feed mine Wellness small breed also. Never have had a problem, I order mine through Amazon !!
Response from Wellness on Moth problem: They do not accept responsibility
Thank you for taking the time to write WellPet regarding our Wellness® products. At WellPet we are committed to providing the highest quality pet foods and treats available. Our expert staff of engineers is continuously improving our products to ensure that they are tasty and nutritious for your pet.
If pet food and snacks are not stored properly at the distributor or retailer, insects can be a problem. They can travel inside the packaging and can be seen in multiple stages including eggs, larvae, webbing, etc. Insect infestation can come from many places along the distribution channel and occurs prior to the consumer purchasing the product. The pet food industry does its best to store its food properly but insect problems may still occur.
Called Wellness about the same problem and about my Cocker Spaniels having Diarrea. They told me, several of the PetsMart & Petco’s have this problem,due to storing issues from their storage company facilities. And that they were not responsible. Really! If this has been a long term problem for years…why not help to fix this problem! Very disappointed!
Wow. I recently started my two year old mini schnauzer on Wellness CORE. He seemed to do well and I just purchased our second bag. From the first meal from it he has had diarrhea. After a couple days on chicken and rice and meds from the vet he has been OK. Today I started introducing his regular food again, just a little added to the rice, and his stools are loose again. Seems a little too coincidental, and after reading the posts here I am tossing the Wellness.
I recently purchased the wellness core grain fee chicken at pet smart and halfway through the bag noticed small bugs at the bottom of the bag. I have been feeding my four doxies wellness core for over four years. Within the past 6 months I have taken them to the vet for extreme diarrhea and vomiting. I thought it may have been a bad batch so after a week or so I decided to try a small bag which I was totally horrified to find moths. I took it back to pet smart and when I was trying to find an alternative food, I decided to inspect some of the other wellness core bags on the shelf. I saw moth remnants on other bags! I was so disgusted, I asked the manager about it and asked if they reported incidents to wellness core. They gave me some lame excuse that this happens periodically. so disappointed and have transitioned my dogs to another dog food!!!!!!
I’ve been feeding my Japanese Chin Wellness small breed kibble for the past 6+ years. He recently has had off and on diarrhea. I took him off Wellness and he has not had diarrhea since. I don’t think this is a coincidence. So long Wellness.
Transition to Life’s Abundance. Always Fresh. Never been recalled. Not available in stores. Truly the best in pet nutrition.
I bought two bags of large breed puppy food on sale. First bag was fine, opened second bag and its I tested with moths. I won’t buy another bag again. Seems like a common problem here.
We’ve been using the Wellness Core Original Grain Free for over 2 years now without a problem.
However, I typically purchase from https://www.petflow.com
I have found that in the stores Wellness is typically priced about 65.00 per 26# bag. Even on sale, it’s usually around 59.99 and then with a 5.00 off coupon dropping it to around 55.00 a bag.
At PetFlow they charge 57.51 when you purchase 2 bags with free shipping and you can use code 12OFF to receive an additional 12% off the order dropping it to 101.23 before taxes. That’s 50.61 per bag, so a 15.00 dollar savings per bag without having to leave your home.
You can also use code SAVE4LIFE and receive additional savings for the life of a auto ship program.
Been using Wellness products for my Labs for over 10 years now. I rotate the whitefish and sweet potato with the Wellness Core and my dogs look great plus lower stool volume and the seem to love it. Tried Natural Balance and Blue Buffalo couple of times to add into the rotation but had some issues with both. Natural Balance has had 17 recalls in the last 9 years?? No thank you. My Labs would hardly touch the Blue Buffalo and that was a first. From now on just sticking to Wellness products.
We have a lab puppy that is on Wellness Large Breed Puppy. He is scratching all the time and has licked a bare spot on his hind leg. Shedding like crazy. 5 months old. I am worried that it is the food??? Any ideas? Vet said not to worry??? Groomer suggested benadryl for allergies.
I’ve been using Wellness Core for my two GSDs for more than a year with great results. They loved the food and their coats were good. However, I opened a new 26b bag 2 and 1/2 weeks ago and both dogs immediately had diarrhea after the 2nd day. I put the dogs on a bland diet of rice and chicken for a few days and added back in smaller amounts of kibble. Diarrhea returned along with lots of stooping and butt scootching. I called Wellness and they said there haven’t been any change in ingredients or food sourcing. They will be sending me out a mailer where I can send them a sample of the food and I was also told they’d be refunding me what I paid. They encouraged me to buy a new bag from a different source, but I’m trying Pinnacle for now.
I’ve been using Wellness food and products for around 12 years for my dogs and have never had any problems. I have comments all the time on how nice their coats look, and how healthy they look.
I recently had to take all three of my Pointers off Wellness. I started using it about a year ago and everything was fine. In the winter 2014/15 my older Pointer experienced diarrhea. I had her stool tested. Nothing there. Soon my puppy was in the same state. When my cast iron stomach 5 year old begain having trouble that was the end for me. After doing everything I knew I changed foods. The entire problme cleared up within a week. I will never use this food again no matter how good the ratings.
I just opened a bag of Wellness healthy weight last week, that i had bought earlier this year. My dog stopped eating it sunday. I just had to take my dog to the vet. Come to find out its food poisoning. anyone else have this diagnoses?
Our dog was eating Wellness brand since he was a puppy until 5-6 months ago he became so ill he was bleeding internally
We took him off Wellness and he has had no problems
Our cousins dogs had the same problem. They too took their dogs off wellness and they’re health problems were resolved
I have to believe that when the Wellness brand was sold to a new owner something changed in the quality of their food
We will never feed our dog the brand again
Kristy,
Which Wellness were you feeding your pets?
Thanks
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I have been using Wellness for several months now thanks to the recommendation from my daughter. We own toy poodles , some smaller than others and are getting up in years. I have been buying the Core but decided to try the Senior for small breed.. only problem is it only comes in small bags at the Pet Smart that we use. I had about a third of a bag, and living quite a few miles from the Pet Smart, decided to pick up another bag while I was in town. My daughter also picked up a bag for her little poodle. After getting home, I opened mine, poured it in the container with the prior food only to my dismay to see white worms in the food.. I looked in the bag and it had webs in it. Now , all of my food is contaminated with the new food.. At $16.99 for a 4 lb bag, they should at least make sure it doesn’t have worms in it if it is “grain free” , what caused the web worms. I intend to take it back tomorrow and ask for compensation on the one third of bag that got messed up also , Do not know if Pet Smart will do that but then I do not have to buy Wellness any longer either. I live 45 miles from Pet smart. by the way, it expires on Oct 26, 2015 , I am assuming they knew it was almost out of date is why they moved it away from the other bags by placing it on the end of the isle.. Hopefully they did not know it had worms in it and still sold it..
I just bought a bag of Wellness large breed puppy since PetSmart does not have a good variety of food & I was doing an in store exchange for the food I bought that was expired. I highly recommend a different store for your dog food purchases. PetValu has good kibble varieties or find another store in your district that carriers higher quality kibble. Stay away from PetSmart & maybe Wellness as well. I have no opinion yet but from what I read here I am a little worried. I intend to go with Merrick or Orijen or fresh food diet depending on the price.
I have a diabetic dog that refuses to eat prescription dog food. I would like to know the carb content of Wellness Core Reduced Fat dog food, please. I understand it is low carb, but how low…….as diabetic dogs do require a certain amount of carbs.
I have been feeding my goldens Natural Balance LID food, but I’m going to look for something else since all the changes I read about and my dogs also were drinking the great lakes dry while on it. One of my dogs also developed an allergy we think is related to the NB food. After reading about other peoples dogs drinking water excessively, it rang some bells about how much my dogs have been drinking. I never thought it might be food related. We have 3 goldens and they were all drinking crazy amounts of water. So we’re now looking for a quality food for our dogs that really is “balanced”. After reading all these reviews on the Wellness brand that is rated second best kind of scares me. Worms, moths, diarrhea and food poisoning has got me convinced that this brand is not where it should be on the list. I’ll pass on the bugs. Orijen is too pricey for me, and from what I read about the Fromm brand, it looks like a winner to me having never had a recall and all the good reviews from consumers. I think you guys need to reevaluate this Wellness brand and move it on down the list and bump Fromm up one spot.
Has anyone else noticed that Wellness has changed their canned Core Grain Free Whitefish/Salmon/Herring formula to include CHICKEN as a main protein??? No wonder my dogs have diarrhea!
Just purchased my first bag of Wellness Core original formula after using Hill Ideal Balanced for years. My lab began vomiting for no apparent reason after eating on the Hills diet. . My vet checked him out and could find nothing and started him on a cerenia (nausea meds) for four days. In the mean time, I decided to switch to Wellness Core. He is still on meds but no vomiting after eating. Hoping this change makes a difference. Anyone else experience a similar situation?
Thank You,
Melissa
I just opened a new bag of WellBites Lamb & Salmon chewy treats. I fed my dog about 5 of them before noticing the one in my hand had what looked like white plastic sticking out of it. I broke it open and, yes, it was a bit of white plastic, shredded (looked like garbage bag material). I quarantined the bag of treats and the foreign object, and contacted the manufacturer. I also filed a report with the FDA. I highly recommend that everyone here who has had a problem make a report with the FDA. There is little accountability for pet food manufacturers, but the more we complain, the better chance that the FDA will act. Here is their link: https://www.fda.gov/AnimalVeterinary/SafetyHealth/ReportaProblem/ucm182403.htm.
Have been giving my dogs Wellness TruFood. Got a bag and it had this weird strings/webbing in it (little did I know that was a sign of meal moth infestation). So returned it to Petco and got another bag that seemed fine. Then started seeing these little moths flying around the house. Read online that pet food can be the issue and checked and there were dead moths throughout the bag of Wellness. I know it came from the food because there were moths in the sealed bag as well as some we had poured into an airtight container. Makes me sick that I was giving this to my dogs without realizing it. Disgusting. And I had to dump everything in my pantry just in case.
I think Wellness is one of the best foods for my dogs. I have never had a problem with moths, ants or worms. If it was coming from manufacturing, why would it be only in certain bags? I think the problem is coming from the pet stores. I will continue buying Wellness as they have excellent ingredients.
Opened a can of Wellness Turkey Stew and it exploded open, The contents were bubbling. I tried the website on the can, and it doesn’t even have a domain. The can says http://www.wellnesspetfood.com. i will try the 800 number during business hours.
this is such a fantastic website it has given me so much worthy news infor on dog food thanks you for it!
We got our puppy from a private owner who had been feeding her Beneful. We changed her over, gradually, to Complete 5 Chicken. She developed a rash, so we switched her to the Lamb recipe. Her rash became worse & she started losing fur on her stomach, so we switched her to CORE Ocean Fish recipe. She did fine for a while, then developed TERRIBLE gas & HORRIBLE bad breath. We continued giving her this food, thinking that maybe the fish was causing the gas. Then she started to vomit. My husband asked the vet about this & they put her on another dog food. No more bad breath or gas!!! No more vomiting, either!!! Wondering if Wellness is now being made by Diamond?
What brand are you giving her now? My little terrier was on grain free Wellness Complete Health for the last couple of months and she got bumps on her back and legs. She was getting sick with stomach issues every few days too. And her breath got worse. I have just changed her over to Natural Balance LID Potato and Duck. I wanted to try this for her allergies and see if it will help with her paws licking. My dog is 8 years old and still having trouble settling on a brand!
My dog is in the hospital tonight because he was eating his kibble that was infested with magots, and the vet said mold was high too. It did feel a little diiferent a little more grainy. We found a worm in his water bowl this morning, replaced the bowl with clean fresh water, and we came home there was a worm in his bowl again. That’s when after inspecting his kibble up real close we could see it move !!! He has had diarrhea for a few weeks, listless, we took him to our vet because he developed a gagging cough.I will be taking the bag that’s out by my trash to Petsmart in the morning, and posting the label and bag code of every social media outlet I can !!
I recently placed an order with petco, actually my second one. Got the food on Friday my poor french bulldog has had severe diarrhea since he started eating from the new bag. Same food he has been on for 8 months and had no issues until now. He is on the salmon and potatoe blend dry food. I bought a 24lb bag that cost me right around $54.00, I don’t know what to do now bc my fiance unpacked the food and put it in a container that we keep Moe’s food in and threw the bag away. My dog is sick and they are saying bc I don’t have the bag there isn’t anything they can do until there manufacturer receives an email. So disappointed, is there a recall, is it expired, or is it that the wrong food was placed in the bag?? I need answers!
I know for a fact that wellness makes some of their food at their faculty and also uses co packers so when the dogs are doing good it is from their plant and when the dogs have issues its from a co packer. Believe me I had the same thing. My dog was doing good then got a new bag and diarrhea. did a lot of research to find this out.
I recently switched to Wellness after looking long and hard for a food that my extremely picky Pom would enjoy eating and didn’t upset his very sensitive little stomach, and this is the only brand so far that fit both criteria! He eats this without problems (most of the time!) and he hasn’t gotten sick with diarrhea since he was on it which was a huge relief for me, haha.
I just bought a bag of some dry kibble for him today, though. Its the first time he’s had it and he he really liked it (which is rare because he is even more pickier with dry food than wet food). I really hope it sits well with him because everything else makes him sick. :/
So far, the Small Breed Complete Health dry food sits very well with my Pomeranian. It’s been a week and he’s had no problems. I feed him a 1/4 cup of dry food separately with a little over 1/4 cup of the canned food (because he is weird) and he loves it! He even sniffs around the bag to see if he can find any little bits I’ve accidentally dropped. 🙂
I hope it continues this way for the long run!
I just got my 2nd bag of Wellness large breed puppy food yesterday and the nutrition info changed quiet a bit. It no longer says a max for phosphorous or calcium, has higher protein and fat, etc. It also recommends feeding my dog a full cup more than the first bag because of the nutrition change. Anyone know what’s going on with this? Their website still shows the same nutrition/recommended feeding as the first bag. Did they change their food? The price is the same so if feeding 1 cup more a day the cost goes up considerably.
I have tried to ask Wellness multiple times if their fish MEAL contains preservatives. They always answer with this:
All of our co-manufacturing partners use raw ingredients based on WellPet specifications. Here at WellPet, we specify that all of the raw ingredients for our products are not preserved with Ethoxyquin. Although our fresh/frozen fish is not preserved with Ethoxyquin, it is preserved using a natural preservative.
So it looks like they say their fresh/frozen fish don’t contain ethoxyquin but as for their fish meal suppliers who knows. It’s also interesting how Acana and TOTW state plainly on on their website the trace amounts they test for and that they do not use ethoxyquin but Wellness has nothing on their webpage about this.
This food brand sucks. Beware. It has bugs and worms when opened.
GROSS. I feel like suing them.
I have used core for my dog for many yrs and decided to call the company recently to check their ingredients.I was so disappointed to know that pea protein adds a lot to the total protein in the food and I was told it was sourced f rom no less than CHINA!!!! I was highly disappointed and have stopped using it.
How many other companies spurce this way and no one knows. Diamond with their Orijen and Acana
use it as well. They are very difficult to contact as they never answer the phone, just leave a message.
This raises a question in my mind for a food considered top on the list.
Stay Away from Wellness, especially the senior care Everyone also needs to get their pets rayed for Bladder stones kidney stones from this food especially the older pets!,,,
I question every food this company makes after my Vet told me that switching my dog to this food was part of himself
I’ve ending. He had diarrhea, vomit, Bladder stones developed after he was switched to this food.
WELLNESS Also WILL NOT reply to questions on problems with their products they are owned by Berwind Corporation there are several sites out there complaint about this food! Even though your dog loves this food, you don’t know what it has effefectd in side their body
I have had my Golden Retriever on Wellness Senior Canned Chicken for several years. She is only able to have wet dog food so I buy over 6 cases per month. Over 1 year ago, I began experiencing a drastic inconsistency in the food from a firm chicken pate to batches that were orange in color, runny in consistency, lacking vegetables, and surrounded with a 1/4 inch of fatty film which was gel like. My dog began to have stomach issues and I contacted the Wellness Consumer representative. I was told that there were 2 plants that produced the product with 2 different methods of preparation; one batch was prepared in the can, the other was produced in large batches and then placed in the can. I sent pictures of the cans and the contents also showing the jelly like liquid throughout the food. This went on for 1 year with 2 more communications to the consumer representative. All of these cases were dated 2019 and purchased in Laguna Niguel California. I did not understand how 2 different methods of preparation could result in 2 very significantly different recipes which looked, smelled and tasted different and also caused gastric upset to my dog. I did not want to switch because my dog is a Senior and had been on the dog food for 2 years without this problem until one year ago. I was told that the rep would look into the problem. I never received a letter of acknowledgement and confirmation that the problem had been corrected, but was told he would look into it. Recently, I was able to secure 6 cases of dog food from the West Coast distributor dated 2020 which did look a little better like the chicken pate quality I had purchased prior to 2019. No orange, no mushy consistency, with vegetables and the fat that was previously inside of the dog food now surrounds the outside of the can. I remove the contents with a butter knife and scrape all of the fat off the dog food which results in less dog food per can. The price for Wellness is not cheap by any means, and I am very disappointed that the industry has changed so much that you can not be assured of the consistency due to lack of quality control and numerous plants producing the food. I assure you when I purchase my next pet, Wellness will not be considered as a candidate for her diet. There is no excuse for people having to scrape out bad contents and wonder each time they open a case if it will be the same. If this was baby food being given to a child having had the inconsistency of this food, I assure you there would be more than comments to Wellness to consider by me.
where can i find calorie content in one cup lo cal salmon and potato formula?
Disappointed on Wellness. Open a bag and have tons of moth inside. This happened before. Please Wellness do something about this. When to Petsmart and they gave me a new bag.