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I have 2 cats who eat prescription Hills Science diet c/d, they split a can a day and get a bowl of dry food in the evening. Only one cat needs the Rx food but feeding them separately is not an option. Anyway, it is expensive and most days they barely eat the wet food. On a rare occasion they do but I throw out more than they eat. Curious to know if feeding just the dry would be okay? I have always done both wet/dry. The vet says they are designed to work together? Any insights would be appreciated.
I'd call the vet and specifically ask what would happen if you fed only dry? Tell him that you know they are designed to work together but want to feed only dry or ask if there is another dry food that is formulated for the same condition.
Because some may be hesitant to go away from the "prescription" Hills c/d because of vet recommendation, etc, I would like to share my personal experience with this issue.
Back last December we adopted two sibling female cats from a local shelter, about 5 years old. Poor things had come back to the shelter for a THIRD time. (As kittens they came in from a hoarding situation, then first adopters returned them, then second adopters returned them!) At the shelter they had been eating the Hills c/d because of urinary tract issues. Apparently one of the return reasons was litter box issues, and testing at various times had shown some kind of crystals (not sure which kind, but I know there are two types).
So at first when we brought them home, I kept feeding canned Hills c/d. Although not so much at very first. At first we were trying different things because they didn't have that great an appetite. But that turned out to be really because of the transition to a new home more than anything else. So I did feed the c/d for a while but knew I didn't want to have them on that long term if they didn't have to be.
So I carefully chose some canned foods to try and gradually went away from the c/d. Fast forward to several months later, and these two are doing great. NO urinary issues, NO litter box issues and NO crappy Hills c/d. Right now they eat one meal of canned turkey/chicken food from Cats in the Kitchen and one meal of freeze dried chicken from Stella & Chewy's. The latter is rehydrated with water for serving so they are eating an all grain-free wet food diet.
Obviously for me it's a sample of two cats, but their med histories from the shelter show the crystal findings and so forth. And I've read enough from others that seems to bear this out. My conclusion would be that for most (perhaps nearly all) cats with supposed urinary trouble, they will not have trouble if they are just fed a quality non-dry diet.
So that is what I would try instead, feeding quality all wet diet. It won't have to be any more expensive than the c/d already is. It can be tricky switching some cats off dry, but it would be worth the effort to try. If the vet truly balks after you've done this then honestly I would try to find a different one. (I wouldn't ask the vet beforehand, I would just do it, and I would only go back to the c/d if the cat actually had trouble, which seems unlikely IMO.)
im 100% with catsmom and greg...
read the bag, is it something you realy want to be eeding an obligate carnivore.
also cats especially those with urinary issues should be fed WET food, even a horrible wet food is better for them than a good dry...
cats like dry food or the same reason kids like mcdonalds...the food is specially treated with a humber of highly scented high flavor products to make it both appealing and addictive, when in reality its doing a lot more harm than good and theres no REAL nutrition in it...
So that is what I would try instead, feeding quality all wet diet. It won't have to be any more expensive than the c/d already is. It can be tricky switching some cats off dry, but it would be worth the effort to try. If the vet truly balks after you've done this then honestly I would try to find a different one. (I wouldn't ask the vet beforehand, I would just do it, and I would only go back to the c/d if the cat actually had trouble, which seems unlikely IMO.)
^^^ This.
When I fed dry food, I had a cat who had off and on urinary/bladder issues, starting when he was only 3. Eventually I switched him over to canned only, and he never had a problem again. In fact, we have four cats who get all wet food, and none of them have had any urinary issues since we switched.
Again, my own experience.
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