Rating: 




Wellness 95 Percent line of canned dog food gets the Advisor’s top rating of five stars.
This product should not be confused with the company’s two other canned lines… Wellness Core and Wellness Canned Dog Food.
Currently, the Wellness 95 Percent product line lists five canned dog foods intended for intermittent or supplemental feeding only.
- Wellness 95 Percent Beef
- Wellness 95 Percent Lamb
- Wellness 95 Percent Turkey
- Wellness 95 Percent Salmon
- Wellness 95 Percent Chicken
Wellness 95 Percent Chicken Dog Food was selected to represent the others in the line for this review.
Wellness 95% Chicken Formula
Canned Dog Food
Estimated Dry Matter Nutrient Content
Ingredients: Chicken, Water Sufficient for Processing, Natural Flavors, Cassia Gum, Carrageenan
Fiber (estimated dry matter content) = 4.5%
Red items when present indicate controversial ingredients
The first ingredient in this dog food includes chicken. Chicken is considered “the clean combination of flesh and skin… derived from the parts or whole carcasses of chicken”.1
Chicken is naturally rich in the ten essential amino acids required by a dog to sustain life. This is a quality ingredient.
The second ingredient is water… which (of course) adds nothing but moisture to this food. Water is a routine finding in most canned dog foods.
After the natural flavor, we find cassia gum. Cassia gum is a plant extract used here as a gelling agent providing no nutritional value to this food.
The fifth ingredient is carrageenan… a thickening agent extracted from seaweed. Carrageenan has been safely used as a food additive for hundreds of years.
We find no added vitamins or minerals on the ingredients list.
Wellness 95 Percent… the Bottom Line
Judging by its ingredients alone, Wellness 95 Percent looks like an exceptional canned dog food.
But being 100% meat, the product was never intended to be fed as a complete and balanced canine diet.
Wellness 95 Percent is a supplement… and a supplement only.
Because they probably lack some essential nutrients, supplements must not be fed continuously as the sole item in a dog’s diet.
We prefer to use a dog food like this as a special treat. Or as an appetizing topper… to be mixed with a dry kibble.
The dashboard displays a dry matter protein reading of 36%, a fat level of 27% and an estimated carbohydrate content of 28%.
As a group, the brand features an average protein content of 35% and an average fat level of 32%. Together, these figures suggest an overall carbohydrate content of 25% for the full product line.
We note the Guaranteed Analysis figures reported by the label of this 95 percent meat product are notably conservative. And this causes the numbers reported by our dashboard to understate the brand’s true protein content.
With no sign of any plant-based protein concentrates, this is the profile of a canned dog food containing an abundance of meat.
Bottom line?
Wellness 95 Percent is essentially a meat-based canned dog food using a plentiful amount of poultry, beef, lamb or salmon as its main sources of animal protein… thus earning the brand five stars.
Enthusiastically recommended… for supplemental feeding only.
Those looking for a top-quality complete and balanced canned food from the same company may wish to check out our review of Wellness Core Canned Dog Food.
A Final Word
This review is designed to help you make a more informed decision when buying dog food. However, our rating system is not intended to suggest feeding a particular product will result in specific health benefits for your pet.
For a better understanding of how we analyzed this product, please be sure to read our article, “The Problem with Dog Food Reviews”
Remember, no dog food can possibly be appropriate for every life stage, lifestyle or health condition. So, choose wisely. And when in doubt consult a veterinarian for help.
Have an opinion about this dog food brand… or maybe the review itself? Please know… we welcome your comments.
Notes and Updates
11/20/2009 Original review
- Association of American Feed Control Officials ↩
