Prescription cat food

Lilith1980

Hi all

We took our new cat Charlie to be registered at the vets today and also for a check-up as we got him from a rescue centre and we wanted to make sure he was ok.

We didn't realise until the vet pointed it out that the poor thing has no front teeth! He has steadily being going off his dry food in favour of wet so I wonder if that is why

We also didn't put two and two together, as he'd had his saliva glands removed and he had been "breaking wind" a lot and when he used the litter tray the smell would sometimes fill the room (sorry if too much info!). The vet said this is due to him having no saliva glands and his digestion not being as good.

He recommended "Hills Prescription Diet I/D" food and said our cat could have wet or dry and that cats with hardly any teeth can still have biscuits so dry food shouldn't be a problem. He said if our cat keeps breaking wind and/or his toilets are smelling to go back and they will get us some on prescription. But when we got home I found the food online so am I better off getting it online as I assume it would be cheaper?

Thanks

walwin

Lilith1980 wrote: »

Hi all

We took our new cat Charlie to be registered at the vets today and also for a check-up as we got him from a rescue centre and we wanted to make sure he was ok.

We didn't realise until the vet pointed it out that the poor thing has no front teeth! He has steadily being going off his dry food in favour of wet so I wonder if that is why

We also didn't put two and two together, as he'd had his saliva glands removed and he had been "breaking wind" a lot and when he used the litter tray the smell would sometimes fill the room (sorry if too much info!). The vet said this is due to him having no saliva glands and his digestion not being as good.

He recommended "Hills Prescription Diet I/D" food and said our cat could have wet or dry and that cats with hardly any teeth can still have biscuits so dry food shouldn't be a problem. He said if our cat keeps breaking wind and/or his toilets are smelling to go back and they will get us some on prescription. But when we got home I found the food online so am I better off getting it online as I assume it would be cheaper?

Thanks

Hi, sorry poor Charlie has problems. But what a lucky boy he's now got a loving new home :T

The Hills food is definitely cheaper to buy online than from the vets, but I'm wondering if the vet meant that as it's a medical problem your insurance company may pay?
Some companies will pay for special diet food if it's for health reasons and precribed by a vet. I buy my (normal) Hills food from a few reliable selected suppliers but I always check who's selling it the cheapest at the time I'm buying. More often than not for what I buy vet.co.uk is the cheapest.

eta: after thinking more about your post, it's unlikely the insurance company would pay as he had already had his saliva glands removed when you got him, so I'd look for the cheapest online

Lilith1980

Hi Walwin, thanks for your reply

The vet did say that we would have to get it through them on prescription so I guess that might mean that our insurance would cover it?

We only signed up with Petplan last week and I think it takes 14 days to "kick in".

I'll see how Charlie gets on and if the problems continue I will ring the vet and see what they say

walwin

Hi lilith, I was editing my post as you were posting yours.

I don't think he'll be covered

But even the Hills 'Prescription Diets' can be bought online. You don't actually have to have a prescription

lowis

aw poor Charlie...but he will mange just fine. just wanted to let you know i had a cat whose teeth were all removed when she a youngster, all she had left were her canines and the teeny little teeth between those, and she ate dried food her whole life

if there are any problems due to the missing teeth, you could ask the rescue centre whether they would contribute to any expensive/ongoing costs that the insurance company won't pay for. they must have known he didn't have any teeth!

and well done for adopting a kitty
x

Fire_Fox

If you sign up to the Hills Science website you get a £5 voucher.

Catzpaws

My cat has prescription cat food too (to prevent against urinary tract problems) and I find it cheaper to buy online (also use a cash back site). Last time used Pet Planet. Also, saves having to make a special trip to the vets every time I need to stock up.

snowman2_2

Pet Plan will not pay for Hills I/d, however long you have had a policy for. they will pay for 1 month of Hill's S/d and that is about it. I/D is an easy to digest food, low in fat, alternatives are available. Teeth are an optional extra to cats, even gummy cats can eat biscuits, some cats with teeth don't chew anyway!!

nanokitten

I'd also email royal canin and ask about its easy to digest food and if you could try a sample to see if puss likes it. Royal canin is quite alot cheaper than Hills and still pretty good quality (and a great range). Not sure which would be right they had a couple of possibles so I'd email and ask (it took them a couple of days to reply to me but sent samples out quite quickly (my independant petshop has buckets of samples too).
http://www.royalcanin.co.uk/my_pet/cat_products/feline_health_nutrition/sensible.aspx
or http://www.royalcanin.co.uk/my_pet/cat_food/feline_care_nutrition/digestive_comfort.aspx
I had a rescue cat with no teeth (well she had one canine when I got her then that dropped out too) and she managed fine but did prefer wet food and I never gave her scraps after she nearly choked on a bit of bacon. I think she must have had some tiny back ones as she managed to chomp her way into a sample bag of royal canin biscuits the petshop gave me and gobbled them up!

Lilith1980

Thanks for all of your replies. I have seen the Hills food online on so I think if the food is still affecting him after a couple of weeks we will see - I have emailed Royal Canin thanks nanokitten

If we're not covered on our insurance I don't want to have to go through the vet every time we need some food - especially as it will be more expensive.

We were giving him Iams dry food and it said on the packet that you can add warm water to it for "an alternative eating experience" lol, and since doing this he is eating it no problems.

So, we'll see how he gets on

Thanks

charlysez

hills science plan is buy one get one free at pets at home at present.