There isn’t much information about Wag pet food brand out there. But I know how curious you might be about this cat food option, so I did my best and conducted thorough research to give you as much meaningful information as possible.
We are all concerned about the quality of food we are giving to our felines, so I hope this review will help you make up your mind and decide whether Wag is a good pet food brand for your fur baby.
Back in May 2018, Amazon launched its brand of pet food under the name Wag. The company entered the market with dry dog food and then had gradually expanded the product line-up. Today, Wag offers dry and wet dog food, dog treats, as well as canned cat food in several flavors.
Just like any private label brand on Amazon, Wag goods are available for Prime members only. So, once you pay a monthly or annual fee, all your orders, including the Wag cat food delivery, are eligible for free and fast shipping and some other perks, like free music and video streaming. You can also arrange auto-shipping so that you never run out of meals for your furry friend.
But Amazon didn’t stop here, and now it also has two more brands of dog food, available exclusively through this platform: Solimo (dry dog food) and Simply Perfection (wet dog food).
It seems that cat food is not Amazon’s priority judging by the assortment of products (one with several flavors) and the variety of dog food options. But, anyway, Wag positions itself as an affordable alternative to Wellness. But is it really so? Let’s dig deeper and find it out.
What Is Manufacturing Facility Location?
So, the hottest questions all pet owners have are - who manufactures Wag food and where. This uncertainty comes from the fact that Amazon is not quite transparent in these terms and leaves room for questions and hesitations.
While most pet food manufacturing companies say where exactly they produce their food and where they source their ingredients, Wag is stingy with any announcements.
But that’s not the strangest thing. According to the Amazon listing (Wag Wet Cat Food with Beef Flavor), Wag produces all its cat food formulas in California, USA. But the Customer questions & answers section reads that the recent recipe was made in Canada. Another listing says that all the recipes are manufactured either in the USA or Canada. So, Wag has either forgotten to update all the listings so that it provides information in a consistent manner or has been still uncertain about where every batch is made. Anyway, that looks strange for an attentive and caring cat lover.
The same goes for the ingredient origin. Amazon assures that it sources turkey from the USA and Canada. Other ingredients come from different countries all over the world. “All over the world” is a huge spot, I must say, so Wag is vague about its supply chains again.
So, as we do not know the quality of the Wag cat food ingredients, their country of origin, who and where makes all the cat foods, all we have left is just to trust Amazon and hope that it will never bring its customers down.
What Is Wag Recall History?
None of the Wag cat food recalls have been registered in the company’s history.
What Kind of Cat Food Does Wag Offer?
Let’s put all those uncertainties aside and take a closer look at what Wag offers us. In this section, I am going to make detailed Wag cat food reviews so we could judge about the quality of food the brand offers.
In fact, there’s not much to talk about. If you were looking for Wag dry cat food reviews, let me disappoint you. The brand doesn’t have kibble for cats. In fact, the Wag cat food line is limited by one canned cat recipe with four different tastes:
Beef & chicken
Beef
Chicken & Giblets
Turkey & Giblets
There were pâté and chunks in gravy options in the assortment once, but now all the cat food meals come in the consistency of a pâté. Wag also used to have tuna and salmon recipes, but none of them can be found in the product line-up as of now. It just seems to me that they decided to stick only to those formulas that are loved by cats and their pet parents. That is why the number of cat food products has been reduced to 4 options.
You are not offered a variety of textures and flavors when you go for Amazon’s Wag cat food. However, it portrays itself as the cat food provider that values quality over quantity. Keep on reading this Wag wet cat food review to find out if that’s really the case.
Wag promises to produce cat food using the finest ingredients. Their recipes do not include grains, soy, corn, wheat, or other poorly digestible ingredients. However, according to Wag canned cat food reviews, the major concern about these products is that they contain carrageenan. Amazon assures that this ingredient is approved by the Association of American Feed Control Official Publication and is used as a water holder and thickener. But we all know that this ingredient, regardless of its excellent binding properties, is toxic to cats. Scientists have proved that carrageenan causes inflammations in the digestive system and leads to serious diseases like IBS, colitis, and even cancer.
Amazon Wag cat food review
At the moment of writing this review, only one cat food flavor was available. As for a pet parent who got used to the diversity, this fact was quite disturbing. Anyway, let’s see what’s in Wag Wet Cat Food with Beef Taste.
So, their Amazon listing assures us that this recipe would work great for those felines that love Wellness canned cat food at a more reasonable price. Wag’s beef recipe for cats is made of quality ingredients without adding soy, corn, wheat, and other grains. The brand uses quality protein sources and enhances the formula with vegetables, berries, minerals, and vitamins. There are no by-products or fillers in this recipe, which gives this product a significant competitive advantage over other cat food options in the same price segment.
This Wag cat beef formula has a gentle pâté consistency. All the ingredients have been diligently blended and then mixed up with the nourishing and delicious beef broth that enhances the taste of this pâté.
As you see from the ingredient list, Wag uses beef, chicken, and chicken liver to create a savory meal for your cat. These ingredients are quality protein sources and are great for the feline’s diet. The recipe also includes veggies like carrots, potatoes, and peas. As some felines do not like the taste of carrots, they might ignore a new meal. Potato is not harmful in general terms, but it contains a lot of starch. As the Wag canned beef formula has a pâté texture, the manufacturer adds guar gum and carrageenan as thickeners. While the first one is considered to be relatively safe, the second ingredient is proved to lead to serious health issues. In general, this meal has a good ingredient composition for this price, but carrageenan is the thing I would definitely be staying away from. Warning!
Make a smooth transition to this Wag wet beef cat food to avoid upsetting your feline’s tummy. Normally, the transition process may take around 7-10 days. But if you have a pet with a sensitive stomach, please allow 10-14 days before you switch to Wag cat food completely. Good Stuff about This Wag Wet Cat Food with Beef:
Good quality for the price
Beef and chicken are the first ingredients
Free of grains and by-products
Enhanced with vitamins and minerals
What You Might not Like about This Wag Wet Cat Food with Beef:
Contains carrageenan
Might not work for felines with sensitive stomachs due to multiple sources of proteins
Unknown ingredient suppliers
Is Wag Good For Your Cat?
So, you are wondering if Wag cat food by Amazon is a good choice for your feline. I will share my ideas below.
Honestly, I have mixed feelings about this brand. On the one hand, the ingredient breakdown of the Wag cat recipes looks good, and they use quality primary ingredients. They add real chicken, turkey, or beef, offering diverse protein sources in the feline’s diet. Apart from that, all meals contain minerals and vitamins for healthy digestive, urinary, and immune systems. This diet also promotes shiny coat and skin due to fatty acids.
On the other hand, the use of carrageenan and that uncertainty about who, where, and how produces their food and where they get all the ingredients concern me a lot. We were all concerned about those cases when cats and dogs died because Chinese pet food manufacturers had added some chemicals to the recipes that were supposed to increase protein levels but resulted in numerous pet deaths. No one is willing to pose their feline to danger here. So, unless I see the proof that none of the ingredients are sourced from China, I won’t be feeding this food to my felines.
All in all, Wag cat food might be a good choice for you if you are on a budget. But I believe that even though the ingredient list looks great for this price segment, there are companies within the same budget that offer clear information about their facilities and ingredients.
What Are Pet Owners Saying About Wag?
Let’s see what cat parents think about the Wag pet food brand and what their stories are. I ran through Wag cat food reviews Reddit, as well as Amazon comments, and I am ready to share the most impressive ones with you.
The overall rating of Wag cat food is 3.8 points out of 5. Half of the reviews give 5-stars to these recipes, while nearly 30% of pet parents think that this cat food is a waste of money.
I will start with good stuff about this cat food. There are many pet parents who are attracted by the price of these meals and the quality of the ingredients on the list. As the recipe doesn’t contain fillers, by-products, or grains, it looks like an attractive feeding option for cats. The felines loved both pâté and chunks in gravy (no longer available) formulas, so Kris is absolutely happy with this brand.
As Donna has a lot of pets in her household, this Wag cat food option is a lifesaver for her. She has five cats, and it had always been hard to find the recipe all her cats would love. Donna says she was lucky to find this brand as all her felines enjoy this meal.
Even though some customers are concerned about the source of all the ingredients in Wag cat food, they decided to give it a shot. Especially, when Amazon promises to give money back in case the cat doesn’t like the taste or the recipe doesn’t work for them.
There’s no doubt, Amazon is a customer-centered company, and it issues refunds if something goes wrong. That was the case for Antonio. He used to buy the Wag cat food, but the last batch he received was too watery. Many customers complain of the same thing and say that there’s more water than meat in the pâté.
Some other Wag cat food problems include bone fragments. As this might pose a threat to the feline’s health (the cat can get choked or have serious issues with digestion), many customers recommend checking these meals before serving them to the pet.
Cats seem to dislike Wag cat food and they don’t even touch it. One Kindle Customer assures that the feline cries when it sees this food in the bowl.
Is Wag Worth Trying?
Amazon launched Wag pet food brand to create an affordable alternative option for pet parents who would like to feed their furry friends with quality food without the need to cook all the meals on their own. The promise seems to be attractive, and the price looks even more fetching. But do they keep their word in terms of quality?
In general, Wag uses quality ingredients like turkey, beef, chicken. They are the first ingredients on the list and are not mixed with fillers or by-products (at least, in words). But there are so many questions about the company that still remain unanswered:
Who manufactures all these foods?
Where do they get all the ingredients?
What about bone pieces in the pâté?
Are those carrageenans really so harmless?
The cliched answers added to the Wag cat food listing give no answers to these questions that are critical for every caring pet owner.
Considering the above-mentioned, I should say that Amazon Wag cat food is not the healthiest option to feed your feline with.
Is Taste of the Wild that very cat food your feline craves? Check this article to learn their ingredient quality, and recall history, and more.
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