The Kibble Trials: Wellness CORE Ocean: Results

I was a bit disappointed with this food. It took Conker a short while to transition over and I had to use probiotics and chicory root to ensure it was digested (and excreted) well.

The 4 pound bag and 5 cans lasted about 17 days. Conker needed to eat more food to maintain a good weight so that shortened this food's trial period a bit, but the cans helped round it out.

Overall, Conker did okay on this food. He did not develop eye boogies like he sometimes does on other foods than his normal type, which was a plus.
He did, however, turn somewhat stinky. This was not a faint dog-smell, you could smell him from a short distance away. That is a huge negative due to him normally having no smell whatsoever.

 The poop was somewhat largish (2 poops a day compared to one) and unpredictable. The only way to keep it stable was to add probiotics and ground roasted chicory root. Sometimes it smelled quite nasty.
Conker got some nastyass tooth gunk which I was able to control with scrapings and hard chews.

Kibble topped with stew-type

The kibbles were medium-large sized, shaped like a funky triangle thing and not as dense as some other high-quality kibbles I have seen. They smelled heavily of fish, but not in a good way. I did not really like the way this food smelled. It was not bad or off, just not pleasant.
The CORE can wasn't too bad, but still smelled kinda gross. The stew-type can was by-far my favorite in the Wellness line.

95% fish-paste topped kibble

I did not like the 95% canned types at all. They were pasty and nasty-smelling. The fish one was the worst. It was just, icky. Conker of course loved it, but like the kibble, did not digest it well.


Overall I was not pleased with Wellness CORE kibble or the cans I tried. I really did like the packaging on the bag and CORE can, but that is really not a good way to pick a brand of food.
I didn't like the way Conker began to smell, how quickly his teeth got into a nasty state, nor how I had to continuously use probiotics and chicory root to keep his digestive system working right.
I will not he using Wellness again.

The Kibble Trials: Contestant #2 Wellness CORE: Ocean

The second kibble being tested in The Kibble Trials is Wellness CORE: Ocean. It is a fish-based food (which seem to be the majority of contestants) that has rather attractive packaging.

The Rundown.

Wellness has a pretty good selection of foods to choose from. Only one of them, the CORE line, fell within the criteria I had laid out for the kibbles that are included in the Trials. There are three choices; Original, which is a poultry-based food, Ocean, which is a fish-based food, and Reduced Fat, which I think is bougus.
I went with Ocean because it did not include chicken.

Ingredients:
Whitefish, Herring Meal, Salmon Meal, Menhaden Fish Meal, Peas, Potatoes, Dried Ground Potatoes, Canola Oil (preserved with Mixed Tocopherols), Pea Fiber, Tomato Pomace, Natural Fish Flavor, Ground Flaxseed, Carrots, Sweet Potatoes, Kale, Broccoli, Spinach, Parsley, Apples, Blueberries, Vitamins [Vitamin E Supplement, Beta-Carotene, Niacin, d-Calcium Pantothenate, Vitamin A Supplement, Riboflavin, Vitamin D-3 Supplement, Vitamin B-12 Supplement, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Thiamine Mononitrate, Ascorbic Acid (Vitamin C), Biotin, Folic Acid], Minerals [Zinc Proteinate, Zinc Sulfate, Iron Proteinate, Ferrous Sulfate, Copper Sulfate, Copper Proteinate, Manganese Proteinate, Manganese Sulfate, Sodium Selenite, Calcium Iodate], Choline Chloride, Mixed Tocopherols added to preserve freshness, Glucosamine Hydrochloride, Chondroitin Sulfate, Taurine, Chicory Root Extract, Yucca Schidigera Extract, Dried Lactobacillus plantarum Fermentation Product, Dried Enterococcus faecium Fermentation Product, Dried Lactobacillus casei Fermentation Product, Dried Lactobacillus acidophilus Fermentation Product, Rosemary Extract.


Guaranteed Analysis:

Guaranteed Analysis
Crude Protein     Not less than     34%
Crude Fat     Not less than     16%
Crude Fiber     Not more than     7%
Moisture     Not more than     10%
Calcium     Not more than     2.1%
Phosphorus     Not more than     1.45%
Vitamin E     Not less than     400 IU/kg
Omega 6 Fatty Acids*     Not less than     2.00%
Omega 3 Fatty Acids*     Not less than     0.80%
Glucosamine*     Not less than     250 mg/kg
Chondroitin Sulfate*     Not less than     200 mg/kg
Beta-Carotene*     Not less than     5 mg/kg
Total Lactic Acid Microorganisms*     Not less than     80,000,000 CFU/lb

The 4lb bag normally costs about $16 but I got it for $14. I also bought a can of the CORE, a can each of the 95% meat varieties: beef, lamb, and salmon as well as one can of lamb and beef stew.

This food (kibble) has about 32% protein, 37% fat, and 31% carbs (calorie weighted basis from Original formula on dog food advisor) which is a noticeable deviation from Conker's "normal" diet of something like 30-33% protein, 50-55% fat, and 15-18% carbs. The protein is good but the fat and carbs are off, so hopefully this won't affect him too much. (It has with certain foods in the past.)