Wellness CORE Simply Shreds Food Toppers made my cats go NUTS. And they did it with only four ingredients…
For the August Chewy Influencer review (I’m late, I know), we decided to give Wellness CORE Simply Shreds Food Toppers a go. Needless to say, it went pretty well.
Three Cats + Mealtime = A Circus
First of all, feeding multiple cats at a time should be an Olympic sport, especially when one of them is a kitten. I jump more hurdles in the kitchen than I ever did in PhyEd class.
As soon as I opened the packet of Wellness CORE Simply Shreds, I had cats trying to climb my legs to get to it faster. I had expected an enthusiastic response. I had not expected to be mauled.
Loki Tries Wellness CORE Simply Shreds Food Toppers
Loki will eat anything – that needs to be said. Nevertheless, I could tell he was gaga over the meal topper. As the name states, it comes in little shreds that are easy for tiny teeth and big fangs alike to consume. They’re tender, and “moist” would be an understatement. More on that in a moment.
After many kitten hops, pirouettes and what I can only refer to as skipping, Loki spun himself silly before wolfing down the food. His royal highness was very pleased and demanded more.
Misha And Tippy’s Turn
I was nervous about Misha and Tippy trying the shreds because they have such sensitive stomachs. Even though there’s only four ingredients in Wellness CORE Simply Shreds, one of them was fish!
They gobbled it down, of course. Their tummy was happy and full for now, but what about later? Well, it turned out that they did just fine with this Wellness product. I attribute much of this to the lack of carrageenan, xanthan gum and grains.
What We Loved About Wellness CORE Simply Shreds Food Toppers
The ingredients list on this item is pretty simple. For those of you who have read my reviews on Primal and Vital Essentials, you know that I’m a big fan of single source protein. Wellness’ meal toppers, on the other hand, have great combinations that will get even the most finicky of cats to chow down at dinner.
Simply Shreds come in four different flavors: Chicken, Salmon & Tuna, Tuna & Shrimp, and Chicken & Mackarel (we tried the last one). You get 12 packets in a box, and each packet was easily divided between the three cats. There’s actually quite a bit of meat and broth in each packet.
The look of it is also appealing, and not just to cats. Most quality cat foods that are devoid of additives look very brown, brick-ish and unappetizing. Wellness CORE meal toppers, however, look like shredded chicken that came out of a slow cooker. Yum!
What We Weren’t So Crazy About
Oy… the price. It’s almost $15 for one carton (with 12 packs in each). That’s more than a $1 a pop, and it’s just a meal additive; it doesn’t have any significant nutritional value, just yummy taste. Sure, that may be okay for one cat where you can stretch it out a bit more, but cat parents on a budget won’t be pleased that they have to add $15 more onto their monthly pet expenses.
Another issue I had with these meal toppers was the mess. The packet is FULL TO THE TOP with broth, and it’s nearly impossible to open it without spilling it on your hands and whatever’s underneath them. For $15, I would have expected less broth and more actual meat.
Speaking of meat, I gave up on trying to find where Wellness’ meat is sourced from. Pro tip: if a pet food company can’t tell you the answer over email or point you to the information on their website, they’re hiding something. Primal and Orijen (two food companies I trust and feed my own cats) list that stuff out in the open. Wellness insists that you call a representative on a consumer hotline. They know full well most people won’t bother to call.
The Final Verdict: 3.5 Out Of 5 Meows
When it comes to what I feed my cats, I need a company that’s open and honest about what they’re selling me. With public concern about pet food growing after the release of the documentary PetFooled (which I have watched), Wellness’ reputation might start to suffer… and possibly for good reason.
That being said, I am glad to see a simplified formula from them that doesn’t upset my kitties’ stomachs. Appearance, taste and texture are all 5 out of 5 stars. If I didn’t know it was cat food, I would probably make a sandwich with it.
Even Misha and Tippy ate it without question. Misha, in particular, will turn her nose up at anything different added to her food. She didn’t have any qualms about Wellness CORE Simply Shreds Food Toppers whatsoever. What bumped the food’s rating down 1.5 stars was the lack of transparency and possibility of low-grade meat in the ingredients list.
My message to Wellness would be this:
Honesty goes a long way.
The blog owner was given a free 12-pack of Wellness CORE Simply Shreds Food Toppers as compensation for a fair and honest review. No other compensation was received, and the opinions expressed here are entirely her own.
