Hills Prescription Diet for cats

~Chameleon~

What your vet says is correct, given that he/she knows the exact weight of your dogs as well as their full medical history

I gave you a rough estimation based on feeding 10g/kg which is an average calculation for large/giant breed dogs, assuming no major health problems and average basal metabolic rate.

I think Hill's own feeding guide states something like 9-11g/kg so obviously this can make quite a difference when calculating the quantity required by extremely large breeds ...

i.e. I calculated 70kg x 10g = 700g ... whereas your dog is nearer 74kg and is also underweight thus requires more food, therefore your vet's figure of 850g is more realistic and equates to 11.5g/kg ... which again is very close to Hill's own recommendation and the sort of adjustment I would make for your particular dog.


PS I never really take much notice of the feeding guidelines on packets and tins as they are often grossly over-estimated. The figures stated above are from nutritional information provided to vets/nurses/nutritionists etc. If I was to do what the pack says then I would be feeding my cats 4 x 100g pouches of meat per day :eek: which would inevitably lead to obesity and associated health problems!!!

the_devil_made_me_do_it

~Chameleon~ wrote: »

But the food you were feeding before has caused your cat to become OBESE resulting in DIABETES!!!! :rolleyes:

I really don't think it's a good idea to go against your vet's advice, but it's your cat so do as you please as I'm sure you will.

Hill's R/D is also available as a wet food so you don't have to force her to eat dry food if you think she really won't eat it, although I've no doubt she would if there was no alternative. It's only humans that are fussy over food, not the animals

I bought both the wet and dried variety and she's not fussed on either.

As for why she is "obese" & suffers with diabetes, comes from my own ignorance. I used to feed her wet food with a sprinkling of dried, and rather than give her water, she got cat milk.
Since becoming diabetic, I have done my own research and listened to others who own a diabetic cat, thus, the removal of dried food and cat milk.

She was being injected with insulin for no more than 6 weeks, then she went into remission and has been off insulin for over a year.

I'm hoping she will eat the diet and get used to it until the weight comes off, but so far it's not looking likely. She has hardly eaten since Thursday.

~Chameleon~

the_devil_made_me_do_it wrote: »

I bought both the wet and dried variety and she's not fussed on either.

As for why she is "obese" & suffers with diabetes, comes from my own ignorance. I used to feed her wet food with a sprinkling of dried, and rather than give her water, she got cat milk.
Since becoming diabetic, I have done my own research and listened to others who own a diabetic cat, thus, the removal of dried food and cat milk.

She was being injected with insulin for no more than 6 weeks, then she went into remission and has been off insulin for over a year.

I'm hoping she will eat the diet and get used to it until the weight comes off, but so far it's not looking likely. She has hardly eaten since Thursday.

Yes, I do recall you being quite vocal and telling everyone "how bad it is to feed dry food to cats" some time ago

Having read your posts in this thread I think, and obviously your vet and nurse are of the same opinion, that you need to completely re-think what and/or how you are currently feeding your cat.

One thing that immediately springs out at me is the fact you cat is still obese despite you saying you stopped the snack biscuits and cat milk over a year ago. She is obviously still being overfed, or possibly fed the wrong type of food otherwise she should have lost the excess weight she carried a year ago.

And secondly, you appear to be of the opinion that this `prescription diet' business is a short-term fix to help her lose weight and you will then go back to feeding her as before ... ermmm ever heard of yo-yo dieting???

We are told ourselves that dieting is bad for us and we need to make permanent lifestyle/diet changes to lose weight and maintain a healthy lifestyle, well it's no different for animals. You need to start as you mean to go on and get her onto a completely different feeding regime ... FOR LIFE!!!!!

I suggest you go back to your practice and make an appt to speak with one of the nurses or even the nutritionist if there is one available, and ask him/her to help you formulate a proper weight loss and maintenance programme. You owe it to your cat

MaximumImpact

Thanks for that!! I thought I had grossly miscalculated!! I think Hills works if you have an animal with a serious dietary problem but as a regular food I'm not sure if many people can afford it! I know that we can't!!!

the_devil_made_me_do_it

The nurse has started to build up a diet programme. Obviously, this will depend on what type of food the cat will eat (dried or wet).

My cat is still "obese" due to her age and the fact that she enjoys lazing about. There is nothing I can do about her age, as for encouraging her to move about more, I have bought a range of toys over the past year, none of which she is particularly interested in.

Also, just because she is an animal, dosen't mean I have to push her into eating or doing anything she dosen't want to do. After all, she is a pet, not a wild animal scavaging for food outside; I guess it's the nature of turning animals into pets. All I can do is offer an alternative and hope she chooses it. What I am not prepared to do, given her age, is make her life miserable, it's not worth it. She is too old now to tolerate it.

Hopefully she will get used to the diet and when she looses weight, I will re-evaluate the situation with the vet/nurse.

*I still do not advocate the feeding of dried foods. If I had my time over with my cat, she would be fed on a more natural diet using recipes devised by those who feed their cats on food more suitable for a cats digestive system and sustain optimum health.

rita-rabbit

the_devil_made_me_do_it wrote: »

Just wondering if anyone has had experience of using this particular brand and the effects, if any, on the cat?

My cat has just been put on this diet by the nurse at my local vets. It is the r/d one.

Is Hills a good brand of cat food? And are there better brands?

Burns do good quality/low calorie dry food & recently they have started producing wet.

shirleymarye

To anyone interested, I buy my cat biscuits from either Zooplus or Petplanet online,they deliver for free if you spend £30. They sell Hills and Purina.

PawsPup

My cat is also a little overweight.

My vets (like alot of yours) suggested using Hills. The must gain commision on that product....I think that because the product has the word prescription in makes people purchase it.

Anyway....we have purchased our food from Pet-supermarket.co.uk for quite some time now. Each time using the code "save5". We stick to the Royal Canin obesity management.

Paws.

~Chameleon~

PawsPup wrote: »

My cat is also a little overweight.

My vets (like alot of yours) suggested using Hills. The must gain commision on that product....I think that because the product has the word prescription in makes people purchase it.

Anyway....we have purchased our food from Pet-supermarket.co.uk for quite some time now. Each time using the code "save5". We stick to the Royal Canin obesity management.

Paws.

I think you may be confusing Hill's Prescription and Hill's Science diets, the latter one being a freely available premium quality food just like any other on the market. Vets certainly don't gain any commission from selling it!

Obviously it makes sense for vets to stock Hill's Prescription diets, along with Royal Canin Veterinary diets and Waltham Pedigree Veterinary diets, as these would initially be prescribed by your vet if your pet has a specific health condition or illness that needs, or would benefit from, a specific diet.

However, and contrary to popular belief, you do not require a prescription to purchase this food so once you have been prescribed a specific diet you are completely at liberty to buy it wherever you like and, most importantly, wherever is cheapest!

PawsPup

I wasnt confusing the two types of food, however my apologies as I meant to type veterianry instead of prescription. This is in their logo, if people see this word they are more likely to think they need this product because its veterinary. Next they beleive they can only purchase this product from the vet which gives the vet the reason to charge over the odds.

We cant even purchase R/canin from our vet.