Hills Rx - dry foods for cats

[Chris]

Does anyone have info on Hills Rx diet for cats.  I am trying to find out where and who actually supplies the dry food to Hills.

I am interested in all their products but K/D, T/D and W/D would be of most interest.

Any leads will be much appreciated.

Thanks

Chris

[Calico]

No leads on their suppliers, sorry.

I just read this in Itchmo: http://www.itchmo.com/read/lab-find-toxin-in-unopened-unrecalled-pet-food_20070612#more-1022

My cats were on Hill's c/d and t/d, but when the recalls first hit I wasn't comfortable with them anymore. Now I'm glad I followed my instincts.

[KimS]

The Hills K/D wet and dry literally saved my cats life  (CRF) and helped get her through a very tough time. I did it for about 6 months then put her on Wellness canned and dry. I did that and her coat is getting shiny again. She's gaining weight. She gets excited to eat again.

My consensus is that Hills K/D helped her not tax her remaining kidney function, but didn't supply her with enough nutrition to keep her healthy (quality of life)
The Wellness helped nourish her again, with a bit more vitamins and protein, and she is thriving again.

Maybe if she gets on deaths door again I'll give her some Hills but the Wellness is actually better for long term health.

[karatemom2]

My Amber was in chronic renal failure for probably 7 years.  They wanted her to be eating the Hills KD prescription diet.  But she pretty much took control of what she ate and her bowels would not tolerate anything that was low protein for the most part.  So no KD for her.  She survived to age 19 on the worst diet you could give a CRF cat.  Kitten food (in the latter years Wellness brand) both canned and dry with supplemental feedings of KMR kitten replacement formula (for added nutrition and calories) and daily supplements of Cosequin for Cats.  Her fur stayed pretty good even for being so old and I had to take over the grooming, and she maintained a reasonable weight.  In her prime she was a fat 16 pounds (and she was fat).  In her senior years she maintained at 11 pounds which was thin for her, but not that sickly thin.  Over the final 5-7 years her bloodwork kept coming back with very reasonable values given her diagnosis despite her diet.  Slowly changing or remaining stable.  She went blind in her last 6 weeks of life, though still active and mobile.  It was only when she was too weak and couldn't get up and walk was it time to let her go.  So I didn't think much of KD prescription diet and neither did she.  And come to think of it, the cats I've had in the past never really liked it much either!

[Geff]

I've shared this elsewhere on this forum, but by process of elimination we came to the conclusion that Hills dry was giving my boy kitty UTI's. If he ate Hills, he got one & fairly quickly at that (he almost died, his surgeries cost $11,000 back in 2000.) He has NEVER had a UTI on any other brand but Hills & we've tried several over the years, all dry. My female before him who also ate Hills exclusively died a bit young (I'd had her 11 years; not sure of her age when I got her, probably 2 or 3); but the assumption has always been that cause of death was obesity from me not being able to regulate how much she ate (died of a heart attack).

I definately & strongly suggest NEVER feeding Hills dry to a Male cat.

[mel_t]

Geff,

Have you tried wet food for your cats?  I used to feed dry, too.  No more urinary problems since mine have been on 98% wet food.  It's much better to feed wet, particularly for male cats who can block up so quickly.  Been there, done that.  One male blocked with struvite and a female with oxalate.  No UTIs since they have all been on wet food.

Yup, I agree - no dry food for any cat.   Read www.catinfo.org for reasons why, and the connection to common feline diseases

 For cats with CRF, there's info out there now that suggest that the best diet is a wet diet, because it helps keep them properly hydrated which is very important in CRF.  There's some links to articles at this site: http://felineoutreach.org/EducationDetail.asp?cat=KidneyDisease

[Geff]

I may consider wet after this entire recall issue is settled. I haven't thought about it the last couple weeks, but during this year's poison situation both myself & my vet felt that at this time no cat should be on any wet food other then home made.

I am aware that wet food is considered much better for uti's, but again we've only experienced a uti on Hills.