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How can I get my cat to eat the Hill's Prescription Diet that our vet prescribed when our cat was diagnosed with FLUTD?

My cat was recently diagnosed with crystals in his urine and the vet prescribed Hill's Prescription Diet s/d formula for the next 8 weeks, followed by the c/d formula permanently. The vet said to feed him only the wet food, and my cat is a much bigger fan of his dry food. Is there something I can add to make the food taste better for my cat? Or is there another brand that he might like better that also has the dry formula?


Asked by Member 922518 on Nov 25th 2009 Tagged food, flutd, crystalsinurine, hillsprescriptiondiet in Pet Food
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Izadore (Izzie)

There are a few things you can try. Try putting the food in the microwave for a few seconds to warm it up. Many cats will react positively to the extra scent the warmed up food has. Try putting some on a fork and holding it under his nose, then leading him with the fork to the bowl. Ask your vet if it would be OK to food process a few chunks of his old dry food and sprinkle it on the wet food. Remember, he will eat when he gets hungry enough. Good luck!


Izadore (Izzie) answered on 11/25/09. Helpful? Yes/Helpful: No 0 Report this answer


Mr. Fez (Angel Dreamboat #25)

I agree with Izzie. Also, other companies do make prescription cat foods. Purina, Royal Canin, and Iams/Eukanuba I think all make prescription cat foods and you can google them. You might ask you vet if they can get a different brand for him to try - maybe he'd like that better. Good luck!


Mr. Fez (Angel Dreamboat #25) answered on 11/25/09. Helpful? Yes/Helpful: No 0 Report this answer


Spike

If c/d is as expensive where you are as it is in Japan ($4.00 a can), and I feed it to my breeding queens and kittens, which means that many months out of the year I'm using two cans per day...ouch. We don't have easy access to "premium" foods here. Talk to your vet, do some online research, and try one of the health or food related columns on Catster for more information.


Spike answered on 11/26/09. Helpful? Yes/Helpful: No 0 Report this answer


Shadow

Your cat does not need to be on prescription food permanently. If your cat had the oxalate crystals then being on the wet form is fine for a while, but after just switch to a grain free high protein diet (wet) Some brands include Wellness, Wellness Core, Evo 95%, Evo cat and kitten. Now if your cat had struvite crystals you can stop with the prescription food and feed some of these brands I listed.
If you look at the ingredients of the prescription food you will see that they are full of carbs, and grains, which an obligate carnivore should not be eating. It is also contains salt, this is to make the cat drink more, this however is very unnatural for a cat. Cats need to get the water from the food they eat. Also stay away from Tuna, or alot of fish flavours. Keep stress to a minimum, and make sure your cat is the appropriate weight. You must feed wet food though, this is a must. Here is a site to read about dry food. www.blakkatz.com
Also catinfo.org


Shadow answered on 11/27/09. Helpful? Yes/Helpful: No 1 Report this answer


Guest

My favorite vet EVER had a great answer for this problem, a supplement that contained dehydrated cranberry and acidified my cats urine, dissolving the crystals and discouraging their formation. I found that capsules of dehydrated cranberry also work well, if incorporated into wet food so the cat doesnt get a big clump of cranberry all at once. If mixed in well they dont notice it. It's inexpensive and IT WORKS, as long as you stick to wet food, no dry food. This is very important also, no dry food no matter what the brand. Science Diet is very poor quality food, get a good quality WET food and some cranberry caps.


Member 905355 answered on 12/8/09. Helpful? Yes/Helpful: No 0 Report this answer


Guest

Why did the vet recommend the wet food over dry food? We have been buying Hills c/d dry for years and never had a problem with it. It's not cheap, but it is less costly than the pain and suffering the cat goes (as well as the vet/emergency vet bills) through when the crystals block the urethra.


Member 929259 answered on 12/11/09. Helpful? Yes/Helpful: No 0 Report this answer


Gordie

Hi. My cat was placed on the T/D diet over a year ago. I am not sure if you have tried this or not, but what I did when my cat needed have his food changed was to mix the two gradually until your cat's food is completely changed over to the C/D. For instance, Gordie gets 1/4 cup twice a day. For one week, he got 1/8 of his old food and 1/8 cup of T/D. The next week he got mostly the T/D with a small amount of his old food. I would think that mixing wet and dry food would work as well. I found that mixing his prescription food and cutting back on his old food worked well. My vet recommended a two week transition, but see what your vet suggests, too. Good luck!


Gordie answered on 1/1/10. Helpful? Yes/Helpful: No 0 Report this answer


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