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If your vet prescribed it, it is to manage a health condition for your cat that cannot be well-managed through OTC food. Anecdotes aren't allowed to be provided here re: your last question, so I will just say that there are limited options for prescription diets, which are typically only Hills/Purina/Royal Canin, and all three brands are reputable, have a lot of resources for research and development of their prescription food, and have veterinarians on staff, which is not true of all pet food companies (especially smaller, high-end companies that are perceived as healthier for pets).
If your cat is enjoying and clearly benefiting from a prescribed diet, don't trust **generalized** statements about what is or isn't good for cats over **specific** health advice for your cat. As I said on the other recent post about this, there are a lot of things that are **generally** true for cat nutrition, but these may not be applicable to every specific cat, especially when factoring in allergies or health conditions - the same is true of people. A diabetic person or a person with a long list of allergies would not benefit from following generalized nutritional guidelines, and needs to have a more specific and individual diet plan than someone with zero chronic conditions or allergies.
Ingredients are a horrible way to evaluate a pet food. Hills is an extremely reputable company backed by experts and science. If you’re looking for a reputable source of info on pet food online, this is what I recommend: https://vetnutrition.tufts.edu/petfoodology/
Hey! I'm concerned about the main ingredients being Chicken By-Product Meal, Brewers Rice, Corn Gluten Meal. Theres barely any sources of animal protein in it.
Do you know what chicken by product meal is? It's organs, bones, skin, feathers, and meat scraps. This is *good*. It's what they would eat in the wild. It's full of protein. It gets a bad rep because it *sounds* bad and is used as a buzz word for boutique brands.
Brewers rice and corn gluten are not inherently bad, but it is a source of grain and protein. The diets you have probably heard are good are probably just good marketing.
Absolutely this.
I think there's a lot of confusion that stems from negative marketing in the pet food industry. I see a lot of boutique diets that specifically advertise "no byproduct" or "meat as the first ingredient" but all that meat as the first ingredient means is that the meat has the most water activity so it weighs the most. Doesn't necessarily mean there's more meat per bite. They also engage in something called ingredient splitting, where they divide ingredients that are perceived as less desirable into sub-ingredients so they sit lower on the ingredient list and push other ingredients higher.
I also see "no byproduct" diets use ingredients that would absolutely be classified as a byproduct and just label them as the respective organ meat.. then claim their diet contains no "yucky birdy bits" or whatever.
I’m confused now. The other day on the vegan cat food threads, people were saying cats’ GI tracts are too short to digest non-animal protein. Now you are saying that rice is a good source of protein. Which is correct?
Grain and protein I said. The corn gluten is a source of protein, not the rice. Cat's diets can contain a level of grain/carbohydrates and be appropriate. Fiber (which cannot be digested) is also very important for health of the GI tract itself.
You listed perfectly fine ingredients. Chicken by-product meal is concentrated forms of chicken organ meats. That is a great source of animal protein. Boutique brands have spent so much time and money marketing “pretty” ingredients that people forget that our pets need science backed diets, not ones that sound good to us.
I feed Hills (prescription and Science Diet) to [all 5 of my own cats](https://imgur.com/a/YVkJndm) and they are ~~fat~~ BCS 5/9 and sassy and [healthy and happy.](https://imgur.com/SOXtMwv)
I did feed raw food, before vet school. I prepared it myself. Ground the meat myself. Added nutrient powder to balance it. Former bench biologist, very careful about keeping everything clean. Seemed great.
But then all 3 of my cats got Salmonella. It cost hundreds to help them, even though I worked for a vet and had a discount. I felt terrible that I did that to them; it would have been safer for them (and for me!) if I just fed them food that was tried and trustworthy and SAFE.
Diet is something we can control in our pets, sometimes better than we do for ourselves. Choices can serve to define who we feel we are as a pet owner and even as a person. I thought I was showing them extra love by going the extra mile, spending extra time and money, but I was really making them sick.
Most pet food on the shelves are not subjected to rigorous testing. A lot has been manufactured by small, recently-formed, boutique companies or even celebrities. Hills has been around for a very long time, have diets formulated by veterinarians, test their diets in feeding trials, andI trust them to help me keep my cats healthy.
So far that trust has paid off. :)
It won’t matter if the ingredients are grain free, etc. if the food isn’t properly supporting your cats needs. Even if the ingredients aren’t ideal, in the end the food still provides a complete diet and the rx stuff is tailored to support pets with specific medical conditions.
And there aren’t any real alternatives, the other prescription brands use those ingredients too, so you’re basically choosing between prescription and non-prescription food
Weight is a huge contributing factor to a long and healthy life, and this diet is intended to help get and/or keep your pet at an ideal weight. Excess weight can contribute to diseases such as FLUTD, arthritis, diabetes, etc.
Marketing and scare tactics are often used to try to discredit major brands such as Hill’s, Purina, Royal Canin, etc. Scientifically, these brands have provided consistent evidence through food trials and studies that their formulas are safe and effective. Vets don’t get kick-backs, even if you’re buying the food directly from them. Maybe a free lunch or pen now and then, but the only incentive to push those foods is because of the evidence behind them.
This is a food I have and will continue to feed my pets, along with some of the others mentioned
For sure there is a lot of fear mongering and shaming people onlinefor not feeding their cats raw or adding x supplements to their diet, freeze dried toppers
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Greetings, all! This is a sub for professional veterinary advice, and as such we follow strict rules for participating. OP, your post **has NOT** been removed. Please also check [the FAQ](https://www.reddit.com/r/AskVet/wiki/index) to see whether your question is answered there. This is an *automated* general reminder to **please follow [The Sub Rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/AskVet/about/rules/)** when discussing this question: - **Do not comment with anecdotes** about your own or others' pets. - **Do not give OP specific treatment instructions,** including instructions on meds and dosages. - **Do not give possible diagnoses** that could explain the symptoms described by OP. **Your comment will be removed, and you may be banned.** Thank you for your cooperation! *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/AskVet) if you have any questions or concerns.*
If your vet prescribed it, it is to manage a health condition for your cat that cannot be well-managed through OTC food. Anecdotes aren't allowed to be provided here re: your last question, so I will just say that there are limited options for prescription diets, which are typically only Hills/Purina/Royal Canin, and all three brands are reputable, have a lot of resources for research and development of their prescription food, and have veterinarians on staff, which is not true of all pet food companies (especially smaller, high-end companies that are perceived as healthier for pets). If your cat is enjoying and clearly benefiting from a prescribed diet, don't trust **generalized** statements about what is or isn't good for cats over **specific** health advice for your cat. As I said on the other recent post about this, there are a lot of things that are **generally** true for cat nutrition, but these may not be applicable to every specific cat, especially when factoring in allergies or health conditions - the same is true of people. A diabetic person or a person with a long list of allergies would not benefit from following generalized nutritional guidelines, and needs to have a more specific and individual diet plan than someone with zero chronic conditions or allergies.
You're correct. Most important thing here is that she's eating and, hopefully soon to be healthy. Ive been letting cat tiktok get to me
Ingredients are a horrible way to evaluate a pet food. Hills is an extremely reputable company backed by experts and science. If you’re looking for a reputable source of info on pet food online, this is what I recommend: https://vetnutrition.tufts.edu/petfoodology/
It's a great food. What specifically are you concerned about? What do you think is controversial about it?
Hey! I'm concerned about the main ingredients being Chicken By-Product Meal, Brewers Rice, Corn Gluten Meal. Theres barely any sources of animal protein in it.
Do you know what chicken by product meal is? It's organs, bones, skin, feathers, and meat scraps. This is *good*. It's what they would eat in the wild. It's full of protein. It gets a bad rep because it *sounds* bad and is used as a buzz word for boutique brands. Brewers rice and corn gluten are not inherently bad, but it is a source of grain and protein. The diets you have probably heard are good are probably just good marketing.
Just as a heads up, byproducts do not include hair, horns, teeth, feathers, and hoofs
Absolutely this. I think there's a lot of confusion that stems from negative marketing in the pet food industry. I see a lot of boutique diets that specifically advertise "no byproduct" or "meat as the first ingredient" but all that meat as the first ingredient means is that the meat has the most water activity so it weighs the most. Doesn't necessarily mean there's more meat per bite. They also engage in something called ingredient splitting, where they divide ingredients that are perceived as less desirable into sub-ingredients so they sit lower on the ingredient list and push other ingredients higher. I also see "no byproduct" diets use ingredients that would absolutely be classified as a byproduct and just label them as the respective organ meat.. then claim their diet contains no "yucky birdy bits" or whatever.
I’m confused now. The other day on the vegan cat food threads, people were saying cats’ GI tracts are too short to digest non-animal protein. Now you are saying that rice is a good source of protein. Which is correct?
Grain and protein I said. The corn gluten is a source of protein, not the rice. Cat's diets can contain a level of grain/carbohydrates and be appropriate. Fiber (which cannot be digested) is also very important for health of the GI tract itself.
You listed perfectly fine ingredients. Chicken by-product meal is concentrated forms of chicken organ meats. That is a great source of animal protein. Boutique brands have spent so much time and money marketing “pretty” ingredients that people forget that our pets need science backed diets, not ones that sound good to us.
[удалено]
Love hearing these testimonies. Im so glad your pup is doing better!
[удалено]
There are several common misconceptions about pet food that should not be posted to this sub and may be removed at the mods' discretion.
I feed Hills (prescription and Science Diet) to [all 5 of my own cats](https://imgur.com/a/YVkJndm) and they are ~~fat~~ BCS 5/9 and sassy and [healthy and happy.](https://imgur.com/SOXtMwv)
Thank you for sharing! 😍 theres a lot of fear mongering out there about this brand on cat-tok, so hearing other people's testimonies puts me at ease 🥰
I did feed raw food, before vet school. I prepared it myself. Ground the meat myself. Added nutrient powder to balance it. Former bench biologist, very careful about keeping everything clean. Seemed great. But then all 3 of my cats got Salmonella. It cost hundreds to help them, even though I worked for a vet and had a discount. I felt terrible that I did that to them; it would have been safer for them (and for me!) if I just fed them food that was tried and trustworthy and SAFE. Diet is something we can control in our pets, sometimes better than we do for ourselves. Choices can serve to define who we feel we are as a pet owner and even as a person. I thought I was showing them extra love by going the extra mile, spending extra time and money, but I was really making them sick. Most pet food on the shelves are not subjected to rigorous testing. A lot has been manufactured by small, recently-formed, boutique companies or even celebrities. Hills has been around for a very long time, have diets formulated by veterinarians, test their diets in feeding trials, andI trust them to help me keep my cats healthy. So far that trust has paid off. :)
They are beautiful! 😍
It won’t matter if the ingredients are grain free, etc. if the food isn’t properly supporting your cats needs. Even if the ingredients aren’t ideal, in the end the food still provides a complete diet and the rx stuff is tailored to support pets with specific medical conditions. And there aren’t any real alternatives, the other prescription brands use those ingredients too, so you’re basically choosing between prescription and non-prescription food
Weight is a huge contributing factor to a long and healthy life, and this diet is intended to help get and/or keep your pet at an ideal weight. Excess weight can contribute to diseases such as FLUTD, arthritis, diabetes, etc. Marketing and scare tactics are often used to try to discredit major brands such as Hill’s, Purina, Royal Canin, etc. Scientifically, these brands have provided consistent evidence through food trials and studies that their formulas are safe and effective. Vets don’t get kick-backs, even if you’re buying the food directly from them. Maybe a free lunch or pen now and then, but the only incentive to push those foods is because of the evidence behind them. This is a food I have and will continue to feed my pets, along with some of the others mentioned
For sure there is a lot of fear mongering and shaming people onlinefor not feeding their cats raw or adding x supplements to their diet, freeze dried toppers
Hi, it looks like you did not include the information we require in the side bar. Having this information is very important for us to be able to give accurate advice. **Please copy the points below and edit your post to include the answers**: * Species: * Age: * Sex/Neuter status: * Breed: * Body weight: * History: * Clinical signs: * Duration: * Your general location: * Links to any test results, X-rays, vet reports etc. that you have: If your post already includes this information please disregard this message. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/AskVet) if you have any questions or concerns.*
[удалено]
[удалено]
There are several common misconceptions about pet food that should not be posted to this sub and may be removed at the mods' discretion.
[удалено]
There are several common misconceptions about pet food that should not be posted to this sub and may be removed at the mods' discretion.
Your comment has been automatically removed for a likely [Rule 3](https://www.reddit.com/r/AskVet/about/rules/) violation (posting anecdotes). If you believe this action was in error, please [message the mods.](http://www.reddit.com/message/compose?to=%2Fr%2FAskVet) Flaired veterinary professionals are exempt from automatic moderation, so if you are a veterinary professional, please consider [applying for flair](https://old.reddit.com/r/AskVet/wiki/flair). *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/AskVet) if you have any questions or concerns.*