Cat Hill's™ Science Diet™ Adult Urinary Hairball Control

One of my four cats was near death because he had a significant liver issue with much jaundice and almost non-functioning kidneys. I have another cat in the household that had urinary surgery seven years ago and must eat a urinary diet; they had prescribed CD but kidney cat was vomiting every time he ate and refused to eat kidney diet. I was at my wits end with trying to keep the two cats healthy and had bought just about every brand at the store but kidney cat refused to eat or drink. I did two things....I found some green treats online that he would eat and gave them to him like food as if he didn't start eating he would need a feeding tube. He would not drink water from a bowl but only from bathtub running water so I bought a fountain and low and behold he drank from it. He still was so weak that he couldn't jump and had problems walking; after three vets had suggested he might need to call it quits I was pretty discouraged and considering the possibility that it was time for him to be out of misery but I just wasn't ready to give up on him until I had exhausted all the options. Then I came upon this food (which is not recommended for "kidney" cats) and he ate a few bites! I was thrilled and vet determined that urinary cat could eat this so I started feeding all of my cats this food and so far so good. Kidney cat is still not up to his perfect weight but he has lost his jaundice and he plays and jumps like he did before he was sick. Not sure about quantity of life with his problem but quality is definitely back and we're hoping that this keeps him around and feeling good for as long as possible. I am not saying that any food will cure a problem like his but I am encouraging anyone who is in a dire situation with an animal to consider some possibilities that are beyond the usual if the usual is not working.

Definitely have noticed a reduction in hairballs. Switched our cats to this formula because one was on C/D and another had developed a urinary tract infection. The list of ingredients is very similar to C/D but this is much less expensive. No repeat of the urinary infections since they've been on this (6+ months). Also have noticed that the weekly hacking up of fur balls has pretty much ended. Had been giving them the malt hairball formula in the tubes, but there were still frequent fur balls. After switching to this, the number of occurrences has ben greatly reduced (maybe once every other month)

My 4 year old cat has been enjoying this food for about 2 months now. Before I started her on this food she had been not peeing normally. She would pee in very small amounts and usually not in the litter box. It was so frustrating and I could tell she didn't feel well. There was also a small amount of blood in her urine (and she didn't have a UTI) I spent about $500 on multiple vet visits with absolutely no luck before trying to research it on my own. Turns out she had a fiber shortage and it was creating a blockage. Some beautiful soul on the internet recommended this food and within 2 weeks of her eating it she hasn't had a single problem. This food has the highest amount of fiber that I could find as well, measuring about 9.5% while others have around 3%. Fiber is so important!!I can't recommend this food enough, without it I would be one stressed out cat owner.

We have a boy cat with struvite crystal problems. He won't eat wet food and he has been on c/d dry food for several years. It works and I don't mind spending the money. The problem is we have another cat with a sensitive stomach. She was on a different dry food. It stopped working for her so we tried Science Diet Sensitive Stomach. It worked well for her, but crystal boy stopped liking his c/d and we can't keep him away from puke girls's new food. So we tried this food for the boy. He loves it. Checked his ph every day for a couple weeks and its good at 6.25. His #2's are nicer and more regular too. Life is good, right? Not so fast. Puke girl now prefers this urinary food to her sensitive stomach variety, ugh. So I decide to let her try this with hopes that both cats might eat the same food. It works for her too. Still no pukes and her #2's are quite nice as well. So I'm liking this food. Way less hairball puking on both cats. No more unexplained puking with the girl and so far no relapses of crystals for the boy.

Once a cat has developed urinary crystals the safest thing to do is to feed a diet specially formulated to reduce magnesium. Your options are pretty much limited to the biggest companies who offer these specialized formulas either as exorbitantly expensive "presecription" diets or "over the counter" versions like this one that are more more less the same thing. Of course the more wet food you can get into any cat the better and that's especially true if the urinary tract, bladder or kidneys are at all compromised. But many cats are addicted to dry food and let's face it, it's cheaper and more convenient than feeding exclusively canned.A lot of people look down on products from big companies like Hill's, Purina and Royal Canin because they believe the ingredients are inferior. Be that as it may, one thing the big companies watch very closely are sensible mineral profiles. Some of the brands that purport to include the most meat also provide an excess of certain minerals that will do more harm than good for a cat that has chronic issues. So as long as you can overcome your biases about gluten and grain, a food like this is the safest choice.Now I happen to be a fan of Purina but I feed this to my two cats who have had episodes of urinary crystals. Why? Because for some reason the Purina OTC urinary formulas (dry) are *very* high in calories, over 450 a cup. My indoor cats would gain way too much weight eating them regularly. This SD formula comes in at only 320 calories/cup so I can feed them more without them getting fat. So this is the only dry food they get and for many months now they've been healthy with no recurrence of the urinary problems. I have noticed that they usually drink water immediately after eating it. I suppose SD is deliberately making them thirsty so they get the extra water they need to flush out their system.Frankly, I wish I could go back to feeding a less expensive product but this is a lot cheaper than a visit to the vet and.