Wysong Cat Food Review

Established in 1979, Wysong makes food and supplements for dogs, cats, ferrets, horses, other animals, and even products for humans. The company is often considered one of the pioneers in the healthy, holistic pet food niche. Their cat foods include dry, raw, and canned foods, along with supplements and grooming products. Wysong is a family-owned company located in Midland, Michigan.

Who Manufactures Wysong?

As far as we know, Wysong makes their own foods. This is what they say on their web site. Foods are developed “in-house by pet health doctorate professionals and produced in our own manufacturing facilities.” The company makes dry foods, canned, and raw food, in addition to supplements and other products, so we’re not certain that all of these products are made on site. Most companies with this kind of product range require several different facilities, with different kinds of machinery, to make everything. However, we haven’t found any references to co-packers that make products for Wysong when we checked our usual sources.

Wysong Cat Food Recalls 2023

• Wysong had a recall in the summer of 2009 and then expanded it in October 2009 due to potential high moisture levels in some food which could have resulted in mold.  There are a few complaints on ConsumerAffairs.com. We mention this with the caveat that you can find complaints about most pet foods online if you look for them. Pets often vomit and get diarrhea and it might have nothing to do with their pet food. In this case, there were some complaints about possible mold in 2009-2010 during the time of the recall. There are also some regular complaints about rust on cans. It sounds like there have been a few customer service problems, too. You can read for yourself and make up your own mind.

Not recall-related, but customer service-related, Wysong did not respond very well to this customer. Whatever you think about pet food pledges and the like, Wysong did not handle this situation very well.

Wysong Cat Food Coupons 2023

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Overall Wysong Cat Food Reviews and Analysis

Wysong makes a wide range of cat foods and other products for cats including raw foods, dry foods, canned foods, supplements and treats, and grooming products. Here’s a short overview of their cat foods.

Wysong’s raw cat foods are made with a proprietary true non-thermal technology. Their raw products are never heated above 118 degrees F at any stage of production. According to Wysong their raw foods are shelf-stable, safe, and superior to raw frozen diets. Their raw foods include Archetype (available in four varieties) for cats and dogs; Dream Treats – a real meat treat with added probiotics, enzymes, vitamins, and minerals; Archetype Burgers – chicken and beef raw diet in a convenient, breakable burger form; and UnCanny – a nutritious blend of ingredients designed to augment Archetype or homemade raw meals.

Wysong Epigen is suitable for both dogs and cats. It’s a unique food that is starch-free. Not just grain free or free of common carbohydrates, but starch free. It is an extruded dry diet/kibble but, according to Wysong, it is closer to what your pet is designed to eat. It includes some organic meat content, probiotics, prebiotics, enzymes to help digestion, antioxidants, vitamins, and minerals. Epigen comes in chicken, fish, venison, and an Epigen 90 (slightly higher in protein and fat) formula. Epigen probably has the highest crude protein percentage for any kibble we have seen for cats or dogs. Crude protein for the formulas is 60-63 percent; crude fat is 10-16 percent; crude fiber is 3-4 percent; and moisture is 10 percent. If you want to feed a dry food but you like a food that is very high in protein, then Epigen is a food that you might consider. These foods are maintenance foods and not meant for kittens.

Feline Optimal features three formulas for different life stages: Nurture kitten formula, Vitality adult formula, and Geriatrix senior formula. Crude protein for all three formulas is from 48 to 52 percent; crude fat 14-15 percent; crude fiber 5.5 percent; moisture 10 percent. The first five ingredients of Vitality and Geriatrix are: Chicken, chicken meal, fish meal, turkey meal, pea protein. The first five ingredients of Nurture for kittens are: Chicken, chicken meal, fish meal, turkey meal, and potato protein. The foods feature added taurine and omega 3 and 6 fatty acids. They also contain probiotics to aid digestion and added vitamins and chelated minerals. Chelated minerals allow your cat to better absorb the minerals.

Nurture with Quail is also available as an adult maintenance food for dogs and cats. It has 41 percent crude protein; 16 percent crude fat; 5 percent crude fiber; and 10 percent moisture. The first five ingredients are: Quail, chicken, chicken meal, fish meal, and turkey meal. Please note that with most pet foods you would not use cat and dog food interchangeably – in fact, it would be harmful to do so, especially for cats since they need some things in their diet that dogs don’t. However, Wysong formulates some of their foods so they can be fed to both cats and dogs. They have the nutrients that both species need.

Wysong also makes a number of canned foods that include all-meat varieties and foods to use as a top dressing for dry foods and for supplemental feeding. They have six Epigen canned foods that are grain free and about 95 percent meat. The canned varieties come in beef, chicken, duck, rabbit, salmon, and turkey. These foods are Starch Free™, and contain no starches, grains, fillers, or artificial preservatives.

Wysong also makes a product line called Uretic for cats. The canned food is Uretic with Organic Chicken and it is high meat, low carb with micronutrients and nutraceuticals that target the immune and urinary systems. The canned food has 10 percent crude protein, 7 percent crude fat, 2 percent crude fiber, and 75 percent moisture. The first five ingredients are: Organic Chicken, Brown Rice, Blueberry, DL-Methionine, and Cranberry Extract. There is also a dry Uretic cat food which, according to Wysong, has been one of their most popular cat foods for years. The formula has been improved, according to the web site, and Uretic dry now contains higher levels of fresh/frozen and dried meats and organs, protein, and fat, and a comprehensive spectrum and higher levels of micronutrients/nutraceuticals including prebiotics, probiotics, enzymes, omega-3 fatty acids, and antioxidants. The changes should help the food more closely mimic the natural diet of the cat. The dry formulas have 42 percent crude protein, 15 percent crude fat, 5 percent crude fiber, and 10 percent moisture. The first five ingredients are: Chicken, chicken meal, meat protein isolate, potato protein, and brown rice. The Uretic formulas are maintenance foods for adult cats and should not be fed to kittens.

Wysong has a few other dry cat foods that you can see on their main page for dry cat foods. They also make some prescription diets for cats that are only available with a prescription from your veterinarian. If you have questions about their prescription diets you should contact them directly and have your veterinarian talk to them. For more information on Wysong Rx Diets™ please contact the company at 1-800-748-0188. You may also email them: wysong@wysong.net.

Individual Recipe Review Wysong Vitality Dry Cat Food

Megans Place @ Amazon.com says…

My cat loves this food- which is becoming a problem. We had to start restricting his food intake because he’s getting chunky, apparently it’s so good he can’t self-govern his intake. He’s ridiculously soft and healthy though and I’m pretty sure it’s because of the food.

We did a little checking online and it appears that Wysong’s Epigen 90 dry food and Vitality dry cat food are two of their bestselling foods – both of which can be fed to cats. We’ll look more in depth at Vitality since it is specifically made for cats and Epigen 90 can be fed to either cats or dogs – Epigen 90 might be popular because dog lovers are purchasing it.

We’ve already mentioned a few things about Vitality (above). It’s part of Wysong’s Optimal product line, based on different cat life stages. Unlike some of their foods, it is specifically formulated for cats – in this case, adult cats. It’s a maintenance cat food. Vitality has high levels of fresh/frozen and dried meats and organs, protein, and fat. It also contains very low levels of carbohydrates, low glycemic index, multiple organic ingredients, enzymes and probiotics, natural omega-3 to omega-6 fatty acid ratios, a range of micronutrients, including life stage-specific nutraceuticals, and more.

The first five ingredients of this food are: Chicken, chicken meal, fish meal, turkey meal, and brown rice. Chicken and chicken meal are excellent ingredients. Chicken is about 60-80 percent protein and 20-40 percent fat. When it’s a meal, it’s had most of the moisture removed so it contains several times as much protein as whole chicken. It’s also a  good source of Vitamin B6 and Phosphorus, and a very good source of Niacin and Selenium. It even provides omega-6 fatty acid.

Fish meal generally comes from Menhaden fish from the Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico. Menhaden are not used much as a fish to eat anymore (though there were eaten at one time). Today they are mainly used as a source of fish oil and fish meal. Fish meal is about 62 percent protein and 10 percent fat. It’s highly digestible. This is what Wysong says about fish oil in their foods. Note that they do not mention fish meal. Here is their response about fish, in general. We think this answer intentionally avoids any mention of ethoxyquin, which is probably what the customer was asking about. We have seen mentions online that they use fish meal that is free of ethoxyquin but we cannot confirm this information and the info is several years old. Frankly, this kind of information changes all the time with companies as they use different suppliers. However, we have to say, again, that Wysong does not seem to be very interested in responding to customers. (See Recalls above.)

Turkey meal is another good ingredient in this food. Turkey is low in fat and high in protein, though the exact figures can vary depending on which part of the turkey is measured. It’s a good source of iron, zinc, phosphorus, potassium and B vitamins. As with other meals, when most of the moisture is removed, turkey meal is a concentrated form of protein.

Brown rice has a glycemic index rating of about 55, so it’s a moderate food on the glycemic scale. It’s a little more nutritious than white rice. It’s 85 percent carbs, 7 percent fat, and 8 percent protein. It also provides Selenium and Manganese to the diet, as well as omega-6 fatty acids.

Other ingredients of interest in the food include peas and pea protein which increase the protein percentage; chicken fat (preserved with Mixed Tocopherols) – a very good source of fat that’s loaded with omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids; added vitamins and chelated minerals (which improve their absorption); and fermentation products to help digest the food better.

As Wysong says, all of the ingredients listed (and the list is quite long) have a nutritional purpose and function. You could go through and identify why they are in the food. Wysong provides a brief explanation of each ingredient here.

Overall, this looks like a very good cat food and it’s easy to see why so many people – and their cats – like it.

Calorie Content:

Wysong doesn’t believe in providing calorie information.

Guaranteed Analysis

Crude protein                          36 percent

Crude fat                                 16 percent

Crude fiber                              5.5 percent

Moisture                                  10 percent

Nutritional Statement

Vitality is formulated to meet the nutritional levels established by the AAFCO Cat Food Nutrient Profiles for Maintenance.

 Dry Matter Basis: This food has an estimated 40 percent protein, 17.8 percent fat, 6.1 percent fiber, and 27.2 percent carbohydrates. (AAFCO recommendations for protein for adult cats are a minimum of 26 percent and 30 percent for growing kittens; and 9 percent fat for both adult cats and growing kittens.)

Final Thoughts

Wysong has a lot of foods for cats with very high levels of meat protein. Even their dry foods are high in protein. Many of their foods are made to mimic the natural diet of the cat. Some of these foods are quite popular. They have been successfully fed to cats (and dogs) for decades. We do need to point out that not everyone or every pet likes these foods. You can view comments on Chewy.com, for example, showing some cats don’t like some of the foods. So, we think a lot of these foods are good and interesting and you might try some of them with your cat. They could be just what your cat likes.