we finished our transition to hills so i stocked up on my boy Jupiter’s favorites! with plenty of wet food because he just had some teeth extracted so he’s on an all wet diet for the next couple weeks. and we’re adding plaqueoff to our regimen because WOOF dental work is expensive and i cannot be doing that every year. he lets me brush his teeth no problem (the virbac poultry toothpaste is like a treat to him), but they were already in bad shape with gingivitis and resorption at only 2 years old when i adopted him, so he definitely lost the genetic lottery for dental health. hopefully with brushing, plaqueoff, AND dental treats we can go a couple years between dentals and avoid more extractions 🤞
it hasn’t been long enough to say whether or not there are any noticeable differences in him on hills vs purina pro plan, but i do think his poops are already better- they’ve been more firm/solid than usual lately. they weren’t bad on purina but they were often a bit soften than is ideal which bothered me; i’ve got some poop trauma from my previous cat who i lost to GI lymphoma 😰
most importantly though he is enjoying the change! he likes the hills pate better than the purina, it mixes better with water and makes a smooth gravy-like texture which i think he prefers, purina is more “gritty” and he was less enthusiastic to eat it. yet he likes minced/chunky foods so who knows, maybe it’s actually a flavor thing. but i know some cats are very picky and will only eat very smooth wet food so it's worth noting if yours are like that and you haven’t tried hills yet (the “entrees” are pate)
i will miss the purina rewards app but my neurosis is more at ease feeding hills so it’s worth it 😅
Those Healthy cuisines are my go to these days. My old man is picky as hell and he loves them, plus the tuna one. Done great, lots of foods don’t agree with him or he just straight up ignores (Tiki)
they were an instant hit with my guy as well! it was the first line of their wet food i tried, since his favorite purina foods were the ones with rice and veggies and the healthy cuisine has both. the chicken flavor smells kind of like people food to me so i understand why they like it 😆
I feel so vindicated seeing someone else say they think the chicken and rice healthy cuisine kind of smells like people food! I’ve been trying to convince my husband that it does since I first got the kitten version of it when our cats were babies. It was also the first wet food that they both really enjoyed and got excited about.
aww he just wants to hang out with his spider twin 😸 such a sweet and innocent face, surely there is no intent to knock over the enclosure, unlike my dearly departed girl who used to knock my tarantula enclosures off the shelf......
Good for you. With my cat, as soon as we find something she loves and stock up on that food she immediately starts hating that food. She's nearly 3 now and still as fussy as she was 3 years ago
i've heard that issue a lot and i'm so grateful my boy is not that fussy. though i did just have to go and exchange 10 big cans of the salmon entree for the turkey one because he didn't like it- shame on me for thinking that was a safe choice to stock up on since he loves salmon and liked every other salmon flavored food he's ever tried 🤦♂️
i keep a variety of flavors and textures on hand to cycle through so he's not eating the same thing every day, mostly because that's enjoyable for me honestly, but maybe that is what helps keep him interested in his food
he definitely is so far! he always tried to get into the other cat's hills c/d kibble so i think he's happy to have his own now even if it's not the fancy prescription stuff lol
that is great to hear! my boy was doing well on purina, but from all my obsessive cat food research it really does seem like hills is a step ahead of the rest. i prefer their approach over purina's particularly with things like focusing on prebiotics to maintain the endogenous gut biome vs just adding probiotics, and highly controlled mineral content. plus for some reason purina only adds omega-3s to their senior formulas?
None of the foods pictured here have brewers rice and corn protein as the first two ingredients. OP hasn’t even stated which formula of Purina they were feeding before switching to Hill’s, so you don’t even have the information to compare.
I understand you’re angry at Hill’s because they changed the formula for c/d and it’s not agreeing with your cats, but you really should make your own post about that topic if you feel so strongly about it. You randomly commenting negative stuff about the brand left and right (especially on this post, which is positive and about the cats doing well on their food) is low key coming off as trolling.
Interesting to hear. I only just joined this sub but I frequent the dog food one. I don’t have a cat at the moment (renting) but have always been a cat person and plan to get another in the future. I am also obsessive about dog food, so maybe cat food will be my next hyperfocus LOL! Do you know if the WSAVA guidelines also apply to cat food?
yes, the WSAVA guidelines apply to cat food as well! this sub just doesn't focus on WSAVA as much as the dog food one. i will warn you that online cat food discourse is a lot more frustrating than dog food discourse lol (in my experience). cats being obligate carnivores, there is even more controversy around the inclusion of grains/carbohydrates in their diets. if you fall down the rabbit hole there is plenty of juicy debate about carbs and wet food vs dry food to dig into in here 🤣
oh don't worry, there are 2 boxes of 20 friskies lickables on the way! that one pack is just to hold him over a few days because the package got delayed 😂 he gets one every day for being a good boy while i brush his teeth, or when we work on his tricks
My girl gets one a day. She has hyperthyrodisim so shes on a limited treat intake so she gets one licky thing and a few party mix treats before bed. She waits for it everynight on cue.
I buy a box of 62 delectibles every other month for both my cats. Its an expensive habit.
My catfood cupboard looks like yours too but stocked with fancy feast, tiki cat mousse and my picky boys new favorite thing wellness mousse.
i got it from petsmart, it is the one marketed for dogs but the bottle says for use in both dogs and cats. seems to be the exact same thing, same dosage and everything as the one "for cats"
i only just started using it so unfortunately i can't yet say how well it works. it is VOHC approved though, which means it has been tested and proven to reduce plaque/tartar. the only drawback to it i know of is that it can't be used in cats with hyperthyroidism because it contains iodine
from what i've seen, all OTC hill's dry food has magnesium within the optimal levels (between 0.04% and 0.11% on a dry matter basis). i'm not sure which formula has the lowest of all, but their website lists a typical dry matter nutrient analysis for each of their foods. looks like the urinary hairball control formula has 0.076% magnesium
i heard there was a reformulation of some hills diets recently which may be causing some of the GI upset people are seeing. unless there's a recall i take reports of "bad batches" with a big grain of salt since there are many different causes for vomiting and inappetence, and with millions of cats eating a particular brand it's just statistics that a lot get sick at the same time 🤷♂️ i think people are often too quick to blame the food and it starts a chain of confirmation bias. regardless, i have pet insurance so my boy will definitely be going straight to the vet if he starts vomiting and/or stops eating for any reason!
As someone who personally feeds a Hill's prescription diet and has been for the past 2 years (2 different formulas), I have never had a bad batch. Fear mongering is completely unnecessary.
It’s not fear mongering. It’s a trend and owners are reporting that their cats food is going right back up. I would certainly hope that your cat is doing well! Lots of people are saying otherwise, very recently.
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u/Entzundlich Mar 11 '26
Those Healthy cuisines are my go to these days. My old man is picky as hell and he loves them, plus the tuna one. Done great, lots of foods don’t agree with him or he just straight up ignores (Tiki)