Topic: Presciption diets (Read 3672 times)

swampmaxmum · « **Reply #22 on:** April 23, 2007, 14:51:42 PM »

The worst prescription diet is the new l/d which is exactly like they melted down a wellie and shoved it in a tin. Like I've said elsewhere (repeatedly!!) the old L/d made a huge diff to the Swampcat. Max has the beginnings of kidney problems but he is on i/d which he really likes.

What he should be on is the minced chicken k/d. I think Hills are getting rid of the old, cake like k/d which looked so horrible and made both of mine sick. The minced chicken one they enjoy. I can't give it to Max though as then Swampy won't touch his l/d cos he wants the chookfood which is much nicer....but which is richer and makes him sick. I'm in a flat and fed Max in the shower room right at the end of the passage and Swamp, despite his constant cold, left his l/d nosh and waddled down the passage to find the better stuff....so back to i/df for Max with occasional quarters of l/d or k/d to help his kidneys.

There are 2 versions (for the mo': until they change it, ho hum) of i/d. One is in a 80g can, the other in a more usual 156g can. They are not quite the same.

I'm stressing about just how safe all this nosh is, with the chinese supplying the ingredients.

My vet won't give a/d for everyday use unless a cat absolutely won't eat anything else. And mixing with water never helps if the food's sticky. It makes it smoother but even stickier. Better I've found to break it up into tiny mouthful sized pieces that can be licked up.

Millys Mum · « **Reply #21 on:** April 23, 2007, 12:49:07 PM »

I think the worst wet prescription diet iv smelt is x/d

its like a blancmange and mixing it with water doesnt help.

A/d is the only one i like, a whiff of that heated up and most cats are interested

CurlyCatz · « **Reply #20 on:** April 23, 2007, 10:08:28 AM »

i think there prob is scientific proof. I personally have seen MANY cases of disease be managed and stabalised through prescrip diets alone. They definately have a big place in medicine, its not that fact they contain ingredients to help conditions but more often those ingredients have less of things or different proteins etc etc to reduce work load on target organs etc.

I cant tell you the amount of cases esp in crf i have seen helped by prescrip diets altho i am one for saying if the cat (or dog) is happy to eat it then great but at end of day if the animal was going to be miserable or have a big fuss to make them eat it i'd go for feeding what they want and i'd accept they quite possibly would have a shorter life but be happier that they were enjoying life.

Mark · « **Reply #19 on:** April 23, 2007, 07:48:29 AM »

My vet can order 1 tin as a trial. I have tried every CRF food going and clapton refuses to eat any of them The vet has now recommended a diet of senior + chicken and fish. He is now refusing to eat senior so I a giving him whatever food he wants - My vet has dismissed binders so I am going to get a second opinion. I don't want him to have to eat food he doesn't enjoy just because he is starving. I have to go with quality of life before quantity. I think he is a bit crafty though as he refuses to eat any dry food, yet on saturday, I looked out the window and he was on the window ledge with his face in a bag of "thomas" treats

Desley (booktigger) · « **Reply #18 on:** April 22, 2007, 19:03:32 PM »

Lottie - I think the RRP is £1.10, but I can sometimes get it cheaper - if it is being bought purely for a foster cat, I will have it put through my rescue account, which has a discount. The insurance company paid for the last lot Pebbles had too, thought that was good of them!!
Lynn - dont know if there is any proof, but they do have set ingredients to fulfill a certain requirement for a condition - but there is often an alternative. As I have said, I have opted not to feed it when they haven't enjoyed it, I think quality of life is more important than quantity personally. The ones I have tried to use have been very bland - the healthy cats have always enjoyed it though!!

Susanne (urbantigers) · « **Reply #17 on:** April 22, 2007, 19:02:46 PM »

I think prescription diets do have to undergo studies to prove they do work. They may not work for every cat but in general I think they are proven to work in treating a specific problem. Whether they are good for a cats overall health is debatable. I see them as being like medicine - may treat the disease but may not be a great food otherwise.

That's true, Desley - but if he won't eat it now I'll know it's highly unlikely he will ever eat it should he be diagnosed with CRF. If he will eat it now then I'll know that if his numbers go up and a renal diet is recommended there's a chance he might eat it.

Lindyloo · « **Reply #16 on:** April 22, 2007, 18:59:39 PM »

Just wondered is there any proof that feeding a Prescription Diet extends a cats life? Even if it does I do think quality of life is as important as quantity. Surely there must be better options sometimes I feel really sorry for some of the cats that stay with us in the cattery they really do only eat the food because they have no other choice. Some of it looks so bland and boring.
Lynn

Team Svartalfheims · « **Reply #15 on:** April 22, 2007, 18:58:43 PM »

How much does your vet charge per tin?

Desley (booktigger) · « **Reply #14 on:** April 22, 2007, 18:55:19 PM »

That is more expensive than I pay for my a/d - I am lucky that my vet has no issues with selling me a couple of tins every now and then, and that was even before they knew I did rescue work.
The other prob you have with the renal food Susanne is that even if he eats it now, if it does develop into CRF, he might then not eat it.

Team Svartalfheims · « **Reply #13 on:** April 22, 2007, 18:47:13 PM »

No you don't need a prescription for it from VetUK

Susanne (urbantigers) · « **Reply #12 on:** April 22, 2007, 18:46:30 PM »

Yeh - I was going to get it from vetuk. I don't think you need a prescription for it - at least you didn't need a prescription for the royal canin renal pouches last time I looked. Next time I put in an order there I may just order a box.

I have looked on felinecrf, Desley, and make an effort to feed him regular foods with a low phosphorus content which I think is fine for now but I'd really like to see if he will eat the renal food just so that I know whether it's an option for the future. If he will eat it I might give him one now and then alongside his regular food. I will check with the vet next time he goes but I can't see that it will do any harm given the fact that he is a senior cat with highish urea and creatinine levels. There aren't a lot of regular foods over here with a phosphorus level less than 1% (dry matter) although there are lot more in the USA.

Team Svartalfheims · « **Reply #11 on:** April 22, 2007, 18:44:51 PM »

A lot of vets won't sell A/D to you unless your cat is really ill or refusing to eat for days but it's good for getting a bit of condition back onto queens who are calling a lot, weaning kittens etc so I buy it from VetUK who will sell it to me. Thinks it's about £30 for 24 tins including postage so works out about £1.25 per tin.

Desley (booktigger) · « **Reply #10 on:** April 22, 2007, 18:36:41 PM »

Do you find it works out cheaper that way Lottie?? I keep wondering, cos they charge p & p on food, I know when I looked into it for dry food, it only worked out about £1 cheaper, so haven't bothered.

Team Svartalfheims · « **Reply #9 on:** April 22, 2007, 18:34:53 PM »

If vets refuse to sell prescription food to you Susanne then you can buy it online from VetUK (that's what I do anyway with A/D) although you do have to buy a whole tray of it (24tins) of it which might not be very useful if you are only wanting to see what he thinks of it.

Desley (booktigger) · « **Reply #8 on:** April 22, 2007, 18:31:32 PM »

You might find your vet isn't willing to sell it to you Susanne, as he doesn't technically need it yet. I personally would check the foods on www.felinecrf.org and see what he thinks of the 'normal' brands recommended on there.

Susanne (urbantigers) · « **Reply #7 on:** April 22, 2007, 18:29:22 PM »

This thread has just reminded me that I keep meaning to get some prescription kidney diet (wet) to try on Jaffa. He doesn't need it at the moment but because his values are high end of normal I want to see whether he will eat it in case he needs it in future (of course if he does get diagnosed with CRF in the future I might decide then that a prescription diet is not the way I want to treat it). If he won't eat it now when he's fit and well and eats absolutely anything I put in front of him then I'll know it's a non starter should it ever be recommended for him.

Desley (booktigger) · « **Reply #6 on:** April 22, 2007, 18:10:09 PM »

i must be lucky here too - the rescue's vet prescribe them a lot, whereas my vet doesn't - when I had Tom, the rescue's vet wanted him on c/d, they gave us some samples of dry, and he still got cystitis, I had taken him to mine for a weigh in, and she told me she doesn't agree with prescription diets for urinary issues, her 'prescription' is mainly wet food, more water, less stress and possibly Cystaid - worked wonders with Tom, and it helped his weight loss, which the r/d and c/d given by the rescue's vet hadn't - plus a lot cheaper!!
The only prescription diet I personally have in is a/d, I do like that. I have been faced with cats with health issues where normally a prescription diet is given, but they hate it, so I would rather have them eat whatever, and less time with me, than be unhappy and hungry - most cats with health issues need to eat, and if they hate it to the extreme, it doesn't help, as not eating can cause health issues. And if you looked at/smelt some of them like k/d, i/d, you would know why cats dont like them!!

Susanne (urbantigers) · « **Reply #5 on:** April 22, 2007, 18:03:07 PM »

I'm not keen on prescription diets either as most of them seem to be quite poor quality nutrition wise, but they are designed to treat a specific problem and are probably the best bet in the short term for a cat with a medical problem. But longer term I'd want see if there was a better way and for me that would mean looking at what the prescription diet contained and whether I could come up with a non prescription way of achieving that. Vets don't receive much training in nutrition so they are just looking at what will treat the disease and a prescription diet that has been subjected to tests to see if it works is probably always going to be their first choice. If they suggest a non prescription diet and the cat's condition deteriorated rapidly then they could be blamed by the owners for not suggesting a diet specifically for that condition and one which is proven to work. The ideal of course if for owners and vets to work together and for the owner to ask questions. For something like CRF diet is crucial in extending life. A lot of it depends on whether the cat will eat the prescription diet. If not then there's no choice but to look at alternatives.

Millys Mum · « **Reply #4 on:** April 22, 2007, 16:53:07 PM »

A senior diet with a phosphorus binder does the same thing as k/d
A normal diet supplemented with ascorbic acid or methogel does the same as a urinary diet
A normal diet with Synflex is the same as j/d (dogs)

Lindys point is that she finds most owners are never told the alternative options!

Ela · « **Reply #3 on:** April 22, 2007, 16:17:29 PM »

Quote

your cat has a kidney problem feed him this"

If a cat has a problem if you can get you cat to eat the right diet for that problem you can prolong its life. The various diets have the right minerals, amounts of protein etc for the particular problem.

Millys Mum · « **Reply #2 on:** April 22, 2007, 16:11:38 PM »

I agree, they push them at every available chance.
I was told by a vet to put my bladder cat on an acidic diet because it would make him drink more water, his ph is ok so in a few years he would need an op to remove stones, whats the point! The diet has extra salt in it thats all

I think its better to have a CRF cat for 10 months eating a diet it enjoys than 18 months unhappy because its made to eat k/d. Food is afterall very important to our feline friends!

Theres a diet now for dogs to slow down brain aging! And one for joints, whats the problem with supplementing a normal tasty diet with glucosamine etc

Lindyloo · « **Reply #1 on:** April 22, 2007, 15:54:40 PM »

Following on from my comments about vets & bills another thing that I do not like is the ease with which Prescription Diets are advised. Sometimes half the cats in the cattery where I work are on a Prescrition Diet. Most cats do not enjoy them and I do wonder if they really are necessary.
Well if fact I don't think they always are the best course of action but from talking to owners it seems they do not usually get a choice it is a case of "your cat has a kidney problem feed him this"
Lynn

Author Topic: Presciption diets (Read 3672 times)