Last updated Jul 27, 2025
Overall, we give Wysong cat food a B- grade. It’s a solid and respectable brand in the cat food industry, but it’s not the best.
Read on to learn more about our evaluation methods and how we reached this conclusion.
The Cats.com Standard—Rating Wysong on What Matters
We’ve analyzed Wysong and graded it according to the Cats.com standard, evaluating the brand on species-appropriateness, ingredient quality, product variety, price, customer experience, and recall history. Here’s how it rates in each of these six key areas.
After evaluating Wysong in each of these areas, we give the brand a total score of 40 out of 60 points or a B- grade, meaning that it’s an acceptable, but not excellent, cat food brand. Here’s how it scores in each of our key areas:
Ratings
- Species-Appropriateness – 6/10
- Ingredient Quality – 7/10
- Product Variety – 8/10
- Price – 7/10
- Customer Experience – 7/10
- Recall History – 5/10
Overall Score: 6.7/10
Wysong offers a wide variety of dry, canned, and raw diets. They’re made from high-quality ingredients and are sold at a good price. Species-appropriateness, however, isn’t Wysong’s strong point, as the company has a tendency to let a love of nutraceuticals and supplementation override the value of fresh, meaty carnivore nutrition.
About Wysong
Wysong was established in 1979 by Dr. Randy Wysong and is billed “The Thinking Person’s Pet Food™”. They describe their animal diets as “scientifically formulated and painstakingly manufactured and packaged for health optimization.”
According to Wysong, this involves foods enriched with nutraceuticals like yogurt, whey, kelp, coconut oil, and other ingredients. Across their diverse product range, you’ll find a consistent emphasis on nutritional enhancement through plant and dairy ingredients.
Sourcing and Manufacturing
Wysong is a US company based in Midland, Michigan. Their foods are developed by an in-house team of pet health doctorate professionals.
Though the Wysong website says that they manufacture their own foods, this is only partially true. When asked about the company’s manufacturing, a Wysong representative explained that their dry foods are manufactured in Wisconsin, supplements made at their Midland, Michigan location, and their canned foods are manufactured in the United States by Evanger’s.
All Wysong diets are made fresh to order and never warehoused. The foods are promptly packed in exclusively designed Nutri-Paks™, which help to prevent oxygen and light degradation.
Their ingredients are sourced from the US, Europe, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Mexico, and Japan, with synthetic amino acids sourced from China.
Recall History
Over the course of almost 40 years in the industry, Wysong has an exceptional safety record.
Their only known recall took place in 2009, when several lots of dry food were recalled due to unusually high moisture levels. Because these moisture levels could contribute to premature spoilage and might facilitate mold growth, the affected lots were recalled in an abundance of caution.
There were a couple of reports of dogs with diarrhea, but the connection wasn’t confirmed. According to our research, there were no other reports of illness surrounding this recall.
What Kinds of Cat Food Does Wysong Offer?
Wysong makes and sells a diverse variety of cat foods, including dry, canned, and raw formulations. In addition to a range of product types, Wysong encourages rotational feeding and offers a variety of animal protein sources.
Wysong Optimize Dry Cat Food
These products are primarily made from real chunks of meat and don’t contain the corn, wheat, soy, and other plant ingredients you’d expect to find in a dry food.
- Optimize Beef Heart & Liver
- Optimize Chicken
- Optimize Wild Caught Salmon
Wysong Original Dry Cat Food
Wysong’s Original line includes a wide variety of foods, several of which target special dietary needs. These special diets target issues including urinary tract health, the effects of aging, and allergies.
- Vitality
- Uretic
- Nurture with Quail
- Fundamentals
- Nurture
- Geriatrx
- Anergen
- Vegan
Wysong Optimal Dry Cat Food
According to Wysong, their Optimal Diets™ are the product of “new advanced technology that moves companion animal nutrition closer than ever to archetypal genetic expectation.”
- Optimal Vitality
Wysong Epigen Starch-Free Dry Cat Food
Foods in Wysong’s Epigen line are starch-free and are some of the most species-appropriate kibble foods on the market.
- Epigen
- Epigen 90
Epigen
Epigen is available in six varieties, each with a different single protein source. Like its dry equivalent, Epigen canned food is rich in protein with minimal carbohydrate content.
- Beef
- Chicken
- Duck
- Rabbit
- Salmon
- Turkey
Uretic
This is the canned counterpart to the company’s Uretic dry food. This food is only available in a chicken-based formula.
- Uretic with Chicken
Wysong is adamant about the benefits of minimally-processed foods and offers a selection of raw products for cats. Their raw diets are freeze-dried and never heated above 118 degrees F at any stage of production.
- Archetype
- Dream Treats
- Archetype Burgers
- UnCanny
What Do Customers Think of Wysong Cat Food?
Wysong cat food is divisive.
The brand receives more positive reviews than negative, but according to accounts on Amazon and Consumer Reports, a significant number of cats experience diarrhea, vomiting, and show other symptoms of digestive distress after eating Wysong foods. Wysong maintains that this is a normal reaction to a new food, particularly one that’s rich in comparison to the old diet.
The popular Epigen dry food formula has 343 reviews on Chewy and an overall 4.3 out of 5 star rating. 67% of customers say they’d recommend it. Things aren’t quite so upbeat on Amazon, where the product listing has a 4 out of 5 star rating based on 441 customer reviews.
Let’s take a look at a few of those reviews.
Positive Reviews
“If it wasn’t for this cat food I’d be expected to shell out $50+ for prescribed food for her. She has diabetes and getting her sugar and giving her insulin was awful for the both of us. She hated every aspect of it and my heart hurt with every fight we had. After starting her on this food, it took a few weeks, but finally her sugar is well controlled that she doesn’t need insulin and I only have to check her sugar every so often. Before, I was genuinely considering if putting her down was better than fighting with her since her quality of life was so affected, but now? She’s alive and well.” – by Mariah, reviewing Wysong Epigen 90 Starch-Free Formula Grain-Free Dry Dog & Cat Food on Jun 12, 2025
“I bought this to bc my cat was recently diagnosed diabetic and I’m very glad I did. He likes to graze, and I hate denying him. Because this is so protein heavy and void of starch, it takes far less for him to fill up. I have two other cats as well, one of which refuses wet food. I mix a bag of this with another 10lb bag of grain free food on the more affordable side, and give small grazing portions throughout the day. At night they get grain free wet food.
Where my diabetic cat is concerned, it is a game changer. He doesn’t beg for food all day, or get as anxious as he previously was. The small amount of insulin he gets with this diet change as made all the difference.
Note, it will change their poo in the beginning. Expect some stinkies as they adjust.” – by Lauren Livingston reviewing Wysong Epigen Canine/Feline Dry Diet , on July 8, 2025
Negative Reviews
“All three cats hate it. Two of them won’t eat it, and the third eats it and then is sick to his stomach all over the house. Awful experience for everyone.” -by Kat reviewing Wysong Epigen 90 Starch-Free Formula Grain-Free Dry Dog & Cat Food on May 15, 2025
“I bought this for my pre-diabetic cat. He’s not a finicky cat but he won’t touch this stuff. It’s been sitting in his bowl for a week and he hasn’t even tried to taste it. He eats the wet food that’s in the bowl right next to it but doesn’t even notice that this dry food exists.” -by TL, reviewing Wysong Epigen Canine/Feline Dry Diet
Wysong Cat Food – Top 3 Recipes Reviewed
According to our research, Wysong’s most popular cat food recipes are Epigen dry cat food, Vitality dry, and Uretic dry. Although the dry recipe is apparently more popular, we’ll be reviewing the canned Uretic food to give you a better understanding of the full range of the Wysong cat food selection.
| Product Name | Food Type | Price | Our Grade |
| Wysong Epigen 90 Starch-Free Formula Grain-Free Dry Dog & Cat Food | Dry | $3.56 per lb | B- |
| Wysong Vitality Cat Food | Dry | $3.43 per lb | C |
| Wysong Uretic Canned Cat Food | Wet | $0.40 per oz | B- |
All nutritional percentages in this table and hereafter are taken from the manufacturer’s guaranteed analysis. Exact nutritional percentages are not available.
All calculated values are determined using these minimum and maximum published values and may differ from actual values. Remember that Wysong is the ultimate authority on their products, so please contact the company for more nutritional information.
#1 Wysong Epigen 90 Starch-Free Dry Cat and Dog Food
In a world where most dry foods require starchy binders, it’s exciting to see kibble that doesn’t contain starch. Epigen 90 is a low-carbohydrate, species-appropriate food made primarily from animal-derived ingredients. You’ll see chicken meal and organic chicken as the first ingredients, followed by meat protein isolate. This is a concentrated source of animal protein but comes from unspecified sources, calling the quality of the ingredient into question.
While the food is almost entirely made from meat, the ingredient list includes small amounts of additives like coconut oil, chia seeds, and probiotics. It’s a high-protein food made primarily from animal ingredients with minimal plant and high-carbohydrate inclusions.
Ingredients
Chicken Meal, Organic Chicken, Meat Protein Isolate, Chicken Fat (preserved with Mixed Tocopherols), Gelatin, Natural Flavor, Coconut Oil, Chia Seeds, Taurine, Calcium Carbonate, Calcium Propionate (a preservative), Choline Chloride, Apple Pectin, Fish Oil, Yeast Extract, Citric Acid (a preservative), Mixed Tocopherols (a preservative), Rosemary Extract, Inulin, Yeast Culture, Minerals (Potassium Chloride, Zinc Proteinate, Zinc Sulfate, Ferrous Sulfate, Iron Proteinate, Copper Sulfate, Copper Proteinate, Manganese Sulfate, Manganese Proteinate, Sodium Selenite, Calcium Iodate), Vitamins (Ascorbic Acid [source of Vitamin C], Vitamin E Supplement, Niacin Supplement, Calcium Pantothenate, Vitamin A Supplement, Thiamine Mononitrate, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Riboflavin Supplement, Vitamin D3 Supplement, Biotin, Vitamin B12 Supplement, Folic Acid), Dried Aspergillus Oryzae Fermentation Product, Dried Enterococcus Faecium Fermentation Product, Dried Lactobacillus Casei Fermentation Product, Dried Lactobacillus acidophilus Fermentation Product, Dried Bacillus Subtilis Fermentation Product, Dried Lactobacillus Plantarum Fermentation Product, Dried Lactobacillus Lactis Fermentation Product.
Ingredients We Liked- Organic Chicken, Chicken Fat, Probiotics
Ingredients We Didn’t Like- None
Guaranteed Analysis
Dry Matter Basis
Caloric Weight Basis
Pros
- Starch-free food
- Cats like the flavor
- Made with an abundance of species-appropriate meat ingredients
- Low carbohydrate content
Cons
- Dry food can never provide adequate hydration
#2 Wysong Vitality Cat Food
Wysong explains that Vitality is made with fresh, frozen, and dried meats and organs, along with a variety of prebiotics, probiotics, enzymes, omega-3’s, and antioxidants. They justify the food’s plant content by explaining that “small quantities of fruits and vegetables mimic what may be consumed in the viscera of prey, and contribute important vitamins, minerals, antioxidants and other nutrients.”
This food contains brown rice and potato protein near the top of the ingredient list. That’s not exactly the equivalent of a teaspoon of partially-digested grass in the stomach of a mouse.
In fact, when we take a closer look at the nutrient analysis, we see that this food is over 40% carbohydrate, including fiber, on a dry matter basis. At 40% protein, the food is relatively high in the protein cats require, but a good chunk of it comes from plant sources. Its 18% fat content is on the lower end of the spectrum.
Overall, this food is high in protein, relatively low in fat, and is high in carbohydrates.
Ingredients
Chicken Meal, Chicken, Turkey Meal, Brown Rice, Peas, Potato Protein, Chicken Fat (preserved with Mixed Tocopherols), Flaxseeds, Dried Plain Beet Pulp, Natural Flavor, Sesame Seeds, Montmorillonite Clay, Crab Meal, Dried Whey, Salt, Taurine, Calcium Carbonate, Dried Tomato Pomace, Calcium Propionate (a preservative), Choline Chloride, Coconut Oil, Organic Barley Grass Powder, Dried Blueberry Powder, Dried Kelp, Dried Yogurt, Yeast Extract, Citric Acid (a preservative), Dried Kale, Dried Spinach, Dried Carrots, Apple Pectin, Fish Oil, Mixed Tocopherols (a preservative), Rosemary Extract, Inulin, Yeast Culture, Minerals (Potassium Chloride, Zinc Proteinate, Zinc Sulfate, Ferrous Sulfate, Iron Proteinate, Copper Sulfate, Copper Proteinate, Manganese Sulfate, Manganese Proteinate, Sodium Selenite, Calcium Iodate), Vitamins (Ascorbic Acid [source of Vitamin C], Vitamin E Supplement, Niacin Supplement, Calcium Pantothenate, Vitamin A Supplement, Thiamine Mononitrate, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Riboflavin Supplement, Vitamin D3 Supplement, Biotin, Vitamin B12 Supplement, Folic Acid), Dried Aspergillus Oryzae Fermentation Product, Dried Enterococcus Faecium Fermentation Product, Dried Lactobacillus Casei Fermentation Product, Dried Lactobacillus acidophilus Fermentation Product, Dried Bacillus Subtilis Fermentation Product, Dried Lactobacillus Plantarum Fermentation Product, Dried Lactobacillus Lactis Fermentation Product, Pepper.
Ingredients We Liked– Chicken, Chicken Fat, Fish Oil
Ingredients We Didn’t Like-Brown Rice, Peas, Potato Protein, Flaxseeds
Guaranteed Analysis
Dry Matter Basis
Caloric Weight Basis
Pros
- Cats seem to enjoy the flavor
- Primarily made from nourishing animal ingredients
- Made with species-appropriate fat sources
Cons
- High plant content
- No dry food can provide the hydration your cat needs
#3 Wysong Uretic Canned Cat Food
Wysong Uretic is the canned counterpart to the company’s popular Uretic dry cat food. It’s specially formulated for cats prone to lower urinary tract disease and contains a blend of nutraceuticals to promote urinary health. These include DL-methionine, which is an acidifier and may help prevent struvite crystals, and cranberry extract, which may be able to keep bacterial infections from taking hold.
The food has generally good customer reviews, though palatability is a common concern. A significant number of reviewers say that their cat didn’t want to eat the food.
Note that this food has a firm texture and may not be soft enough for some cats. You might need to add warm water to soften it up.
The food has moderate-to-high protein content at 40% on a dry matter basis, moderate fat at 28% on a dry matter basis, and high carbohydrate content at 32% on a dry matter basis.
Ingredients
Organic Chicken, Brown Rice, Blueberry, Dl-Methionine, Cranberry Extract, Taurine, Organic Barley Grass Powder, Dried Kelp, Yeast Extract, Mixed Tocopherols, Rosemary Extract, Chicory Root, Hemicellulose Extract, Natural Flavor, Minerals (Potassium Chloride, Zinc Proteinate, Zinc Sulfate, Ferrous Sulfate, Iron Proteinate, Copper Sulfate, Copper Proteinate, Manganese Sulfate, Manganese Proteinate, Sodium Selenite, Calcium Iodate), Calcium Carbonate, Vitamins (Ascorbic Acid [Source of Vitamin C], Vitamin E Supplement, Niacin Supplement, Calcium Pantothenate, Vitamin A Supplement, Thiamine Mononitrate, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Riboflavin Supplement, Vitamin D3 Supplement, Biotin, Vitamin B12 Supplement, Folic Acid), Pepper.
Ingredients We Liked-Organic Chicken, DL-Methionine, Cranberry Extract
Ingredients We Didn’t Like– Brown Rice
Guaranteed Analysis
Dry Matter Basis
Caloric Weight Basis
Pros
- Canned products are appropriate for cats prone to FLUTD
- Contains ingredients that may reduce the incidence of urinary health problems
- Slightly more affordable than prescription diets for urinary health
- Primarily made with nourishing animal ingredients
Cons
- Contains brown rice, an unnecessary ingredient
- Mixed palatability reports
How Much Does Wysong Cat Food Cost?
Wysong is moderately priced.
Wysong’s canned recipes are more expensive than the dry formulas. The recipes with more meat are more expensive than the plant-heavy formulas.
Wysong’s Epigen 90 formula, which is 63% protein and completely starch-free, costs about $0.30 per ounce, while Uretic dry food costs about $0.16 per ounce. Uretic’s canned counterpart costs almost twice as much at $0.33 per ounce.
Wysong Archetype freeze-dried raw food costs about $2 per ounce, but recognize that freeze-dried food is very light, so you’ll feed your cat fewer ounces per day.
Overall, Is Wysong a Good Choice?
Maybe. You can easily find foods that offer more animal-sourced protein, fewer carbohydrates, and which have better palatability ratings than most Wysong products. That said, their innovative Epigen line and most Wysong canned or raw foods could be a great choice.
Where Can You Buy Wysong Cat Food?
Wysong is available across the United States and Canada. According to a company representative, their products are also distributed in Hong Kong and Singapore. You’ll find it in health food stores, pet specialty retailers, and some hardware stores.
Online, you can find it on Amazon, Chewy, and other retailers. If you’d prefer to buy from Wysong directly, you can also browse their online store.
I agree with Timoor and others. Something has to be wrong with your standards to give a B- to Wysong generally and to Epigen-90 specifically. Even your own description of the Epigen-90 seems glowing. The one con, that it’s a dry food, is a con shared by every dry food. I t think feeding your cat mostly wet food is extremely important, but in the context of dry foods, being dry is not a con. I think this food belongs above several of the foods on your Best dry foods list–period–but especially when you take price into account. You’ve got to be loaded to buy Open Farm RawMix, but even if you are, why would you pick a food with DMB Protein, fat, and carbs of 42%, 16%, and 39% respectively over a food with 70%, 18%, and 9% respectively. The only dry food I know of with more protein is another Wysong product, Restore. Almost no dry foods (except Restore again) have less than 10% carbs DBE, and Open Farm’s carb percentage is extremely high. In your review of Wysong’s Vitality, which you gave a C (and shouldn’t be confused with Wysong’s Optimal Vitality), you write, “[W]e see that this food is over 40% carbohydrate, including fiber, on a dry matter basis.“ First of all, according to your own data, this is false: 28.33% + 6.11% = 34.44%. Second, why would you include include fiber in your carbohydrate figure when no one else does and fiber has a completely different effect? Third, your #1 choice Open Farm has a significantly higher percentage of carbs than Vitality–even if you include fiber for Vitality but not for OpenFarm! Oh, and Vitality has more protein and arguably a better amount fat! And I’m not quite done yet. For Open Farm, you list three ingredients you don’t like: Peas, Chickpeas, Lentils. For Vitality you also list three ingredients you don’t like: Brown Rice, Peas, Potato Protein, Flaxseeds. Pretty equal on that front. And if we go back to 6 Epigen-90 (with a B- rating), you list ZERO ingredients you don’t like! In light of all these facts, I don’t see how you can justify considering Open Farm the best while giving the Wysong products (one exceptional and the other quite good) a B- and C.
Yup that’s correct! I saw that too. It’s listed that way in the Wysong website
Thank you for all the information! Quick question, what is it about the Wysong Epigen that is not nutritionally complete? A quick glance has me thinking Taurine. I’m trying to find the best, most reasonably priced wet cat food and want to make sure I fully understand feline nutritional needs.
Hi Zac, thanks for the question. I don’t see anything in the article where we say that the food is not nutritionally complete. It is formulated to be nutritionally complete and balanced for adult cats and dogs in accordance with AAFCO’s nutritional profiles.
Umm, under the Epigen section it says, and I quote: “Epigen is not a nutritionally complete diet, so your cat shouldn’t rely on it as their sole nutrition source.”
I noticed this also: “Epigen is not a nutritionally complete diet, so your cat shouldn’t rely on it as their sole nutrition source.”
Not that particular formula . If you go to the Wysong website, it will clearly state, not a nutritionally complete diet.
I’m confused, this has an insane low amount of carbs and good high protein, like Dr. Elsey’s…yet this is rated below Open Farm that has higher carbs, ingredients you don’t like, but yet it scored higher.
This grading system is just odd. And I sense some paid advertising for the high grad due to comparing the ingredients.
Hi Timoor, good point. I agree that there is some wobbliness in the current version of the Cats.com Standard, with different writers interpreting it in various ways. We are currently re-evaluating ratings sitewide and will take this into consideration.
Young Again: 654/calories ;ccccccccccmmcup, nDrElsey’s 545/cup,andWyson Epigen 90 445/c.
Where do I find the calorie count for Epigen 90? I moved my 3 boys to a mix 1:1:1 of
all low carb: Epigen 90, Dr Elsey’s, and Young Again when one became diabetic a year ago. They also
eat pate low carb wet food. They are
10,15, 16, 16 yrs of age. The vet thought only the diabetic was too thin. But, I weight them
monthly, and I am concerned. I think they are losing too much weight. But Spring is here, and
they are going outside more, also.I just opened a new bag of Young Again, and am going to
put just that in a bowl, while still allowing them the mix in another. They free feed.
It’s 445 calories per cup and 3,560 calories per kilogram—pretty calorie-dense.
About Epigen 90 Starch Free…
Your review mentioned ingredients that I wasn’t able to locate on the list of ingredients.
“It also contains potato protein, which is far from an ideal protein source for a carnivore like your cat.”
“Ingredients We Didn’t Like- Potato Protein, Dried Plain Beet Pulp, Tomato Pomace”
I believe these ingredients are found in Epigen.
So, is Epigen or Epigen 90 the dry food that is being reviewed?
Hi Rebecca, thanks for pointing that out! This was originally a review of Epigen, not Epigen 90, and it looks like someone replaced some of the headings and links so that they would direct users to Epigen 90 (without also changing the review content). I’ve edited the review content so that it describes Epigen 90. I’m sorry about the misleading content and am really glad you made me aware of this.
Does the rating/score for Epigen reflect the Epigen or Epigen 90 formula? I was really interested in feeding my cat Epigen 90 since it is slightly cheaper and seems comparable to Dr Elsey cleanprotein and Young Again dry food, but wanted to double check before buying a bag.
Sorry about the late reply! It’s for the Epigen 90 formula.
My wife and some friends used to work for Wysong directly.
Wysong lies about the ingredients.
I wouldn’t feed it to ANY animal.
Hi Jacob, can you tell us more about that? Please feel free to email me at [email protected]. Thank you for sharing.
I have had my cats on Wysong Uretic over 30 years.It has been a good food until now because recently one of my cats died due to digestive problems.She was detoxing too much and getting skinny..Our vets did a complete blood count on her and found nothing wrong
She died at only 8 1/2 years old of undone causes possibly due to the wysong food.My other 6 year old who is eatting the wysong food is having digestive problems as well.I will be changing brands.
This might be due to the peas that are used in the food as a binding agent. Blue Buffalo does the same. Peas are irritants to cats stomachs because it tends to stick to their lining which causes stomach upset. I have never heard of a cat dying from it, but all cats are different and some can be more sensitive to certain things than others and if it was something that was over a long period of time then maybe it could be the cause.
If Wysong is not the best- what is??
Patrick, we have an article on our picks for the best cat food on the market here: https://cats.com/best-cat-food
I,m not sure because this food has so many good ingredients and it has always kept my cats from getting urinary tract issues.There are really no other foods like it.So maybe might stick with this food but just not sure what caused my 8 year old cats death.