Here are the ingredients in the science diet kitten formula (copied straight from their website):
Ingredients
Chicken by-product meal, corn meal, animal fat (preserved with mixed tocopherols and citric acid), corn gluten meal, brewers rice, chicken liver flavor, dried egg product, L-lysine, soybean mill run, DL-methionine, taurine, L-tryptophan, L-arginine, preserved with mixed tocopherols and citric acid, minerals (potassium chloride, salt, magnesium oxide, ferrous sulfate, zinc oxide, copper sulfate, manganous oxide, calcium iodate, sodium selenite), rosemary extract, beta carotene, vitamins (choline chloride, vitamin A supplement, vitamin D3 supplement, vitamin E supplement, niacin, L-ascorbyl-2-polyphosphate (a source of vitamin C), thiamine mononitrate, calcium pantothenate, riboflavin, pyridoxine hydrochloride, folic acid, biotin, vitamin B12 supplement).
Here are the ingredients for Wellness (which I happen to use, but am using as an example here because you mentioned it in your post):
Made with 100% Human Grade Ingredients, Wellness is the first cat diet featuring two Human Grade Meats as the first ingredients: Human Grade Deboned Chicken and Human Grade Chicken Liver.
Product Ingredients
Deboned Chicken, Chicken Meal, Chicken Liver, Ground Brown Rice, Ground Whole Oats, Canola Oil (Preserved With Mixed Tocopherols & Rosemary), Cranberries, Blueberries, Flax Seed, Eggs, Peas, Taurine, Garlic, Alfalfa Leaf, Spirulina, Norwegian Kelp, Whole Apples, Zucchini, Sweet Potatoes, Yucca Schidigera, Chondroitin Sulfate, Glucosamine, Pro-Biotics (Lactobacillus Plantarum, Enterococcus Faecium, Lactobacillus Casei, Lactobacillus Acidophilus), Pre-Biotics (Mannanoligosaccharides), Beta-Carotene, Choline Chloride, Calcium Carbonate, Zinc Proteinate (A Chelated Source Of Zinc), Vitamin E Supplement, Zinc Oxide, Ferrous Sulfate, Iron Proteinate (A Chelated Source Of Iron), Manganese Proteinate (A Chelated Source Of Manganese), Calcium Pantothenate, Niacin Supplement, Sodium Selenite, Vitamin A Acetate, Folic Acid, Cobalt Proteinate (A Chelated Source Of Cobalt), Copper Sulfate, Cobalt Carbonate, Riboflavin Supplement (Vitamin B-2), Copper Proteinate (A Chelated Source Of Copper), Thiamine Mononitrate (Vitamin B-1), Vitamin D-3 Supplement, Calcium Iodate, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Menadione Sodium Bisulfite Complex (Source Of Vitamin K Activity).
As you can see the ingredients are VERY different. The first ingredient in the science diet is by-products...beaks, feet, gross stuff that's left over...
You can buy products like Wellness, Chicken Soup for the Cat lovers Soul, Innova, California Natural, Felidae and many others you see on this forum at many online stores and also at the smaller privately owned pet stores. i have yet to find it at a chain.
In my opinion none of the science diet foods are any different then the other junky grocery store brands.
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It looks and smells good, lists organic chicken, no byproducts, no fillers and minimal preservatives. I'm sold more on the canned food than dry, though. They don't seem to like the dry as much, but they LOVE Chik Soup dry. It smells SO good too.
