Hill's Prescription Diet food for cats: reviews and composition analysis

More about food

Hill's cat food is a product that belongs to the “super premium” class, produced in the USA and Holland. Available in the form of dry food and canned food. Used as basic nutrition or medicinal formulas.

Despite the “super premium” class, you should make sure that this particular food is suitable for your pet.

If the food is suitable for the kitten, then first of all this can be seen in the fur: it should be beautiful and shiny. Also, the kitten should be active, playful and cheerful. But if you notice a strong odor from your pet’s mouth or from its tray, then refuse this food and try to find a more suitable one.

Owner reviews of Hills food

All reviews on the Internet about Hills food can be divided into two groups: opinions of pet store customers and thoughts on cat lovers’ forums. Of course, the first group of reviews may not be very objective, because the store that sells the food is, from the very beginning, not interested in the excessively straightforward opinions posted on its pages, as well as in too strict criticism. But forum visitors, especially their regulars, are not constrained in their judgment, so they can be trusted more.

What do forum users write?

To begin with, before you start judging this or that product for animals, experienced owners of mustachioed and tailed animals make a small note that each pet is unique, and if a certain food is suitable for one of them, then it may not be completely suitable for another, so The point here is not only in the excellent composition of canned food, but also in individual intolerance. In the end, there are animals that even an elite holistic specialist by their standards refuses to eat. What can we say about the premium class?

In general, Hills has a reputation among forum users as a very good food for kittens, but of questionable nutrition for adult cats. There are many stories from women who fed their kitten Hills for a long time, and when he grew up, were forced to switch to another brand due to sudden problems with fur color, blood in the stool, bad breath and shedding... However, this criticism does not apply to Hills medicinal products. That is, Hills is good for sick cats, but not all healthy ones tolerate it well.

What to feed a kitten?

Verdict: this food can be tolerated, since it is, after all, not economy class. However, not everyone does this with their regular diet.

Hills is great for cases when your own regular food has suddenly disappeared from sale, and you haven’t had time to find a new one yet (shouldn’t you be buying Whiskas all this time, or other products recognized as poisons from?).

Well, or even in traditional Slavic cases called “the week before payday,” when the whole family is forced to subsist on pasture, say, pasta, and the cat is forced to subsist on food a grade lower. Still, it’s better than eating Whiskas or Kitiket laden with “chemicals.”

Types of Hills cat food

For the appearance of Hills and medicinal food in general, we should thank Dr. Morris. It was Mark Morris who was the first to understand that a cat’s well-being depends on the quality of food for a cat and was the first to develop such food. And in 1948, Mark Morris founded the world's first clinical nutrition company for animals.

Today, the Hills brand has already built a strong reputation for itself without lowering the bar of its standards. The company's headquarters remain in Topeka, Kansas.

And Hills cat products include both canned and dry food.

It is important to know that Hill's, producing the right products for your pet, has divided them into two lines:

Science Plan - healthy nutrition, which is aimed at healthy and active animals
Prescription Diet - therapeutic nutrition, in demand when your pet is feeling unwell

Interesting:

what to feed the cat;
cat food rating;
Is dry food harmful for cats?

Pros of food:

affordable prices;
a wide selection of feeds (including medicinal ones);
suitable for most cats;
the composition of the feed is detailed on the packaging;
balanced content of phosphorus, calcium and magnesium.

Minuses:

contains a lot of vegetable protein and carbohydrates;
your pet may be allergic to food;
Wet food is inferior in quality to dry food.

Hill's dry food:

better quality than canned food;
excellent for storage in dry areas, but may deteriorate in damp areas;
very nutritious, but requires the kitten to drink a lot of liquid.

Wet food:

can cause appetite in a pet;
has a long shelf life in packaging;
high in calories, as it is enriched with fats.

Advantages and disadvantages

Among the advantages of feed:

balanced vitamin and mineral composition;
low calorie content (348-359 kcal/100 g), which is especially important for overweight animals;
adding L-carnitine to support fat burning processes;
use of natural antioxidants (mixtures of tocopherols);
wide representation in stores.

Despite the advantages, Hill's Metabolic food has a number of significant disadvantages:

Indication only of the general names of the components and no data on their percentage content.
Lack of fresh/raw meat.
Use of potentially allergenic components (cereals).
High content of plant proteins and carbohydrate components, which is not beneficial to the cat’s body.

Which food should you choose for your pet?

The range of healthy foods from Hill's is very diverse. It is designed for kittens, adult cats, and those animals that have reached old age.

Hills food for kittens (1-12 months):

Science Plan™ Kitten Healthy Development™ "Chicken"

The manufacturer promises that the precise balance of sodium and phosphorus levels in Hill's™ Science Plan™ Kitten Healthy Development™ food, the presence of antioxidants, and the correct level of DHA from fish oil will ideally support the kitten's immunity and vitality.

Available flavors:

- chicken;

– tuna.

Science Plan™ Feline Young Adult Sterilized Cat “Chicken”

This menu is for kittens that have already been spayed or neutered. To prevent the animal from gaining excess weight and subsequently contracting urolithiasis, the developers of the food have saturated it with minerals that control the functions of the urinary tract; the ingredients of the food are easily digested and this ensures optimal supply of nutrients to the cat’s body.

It will be interesting:

Royal Canin food reviews;
Acana cat food reviews;

Hill's food for adult cats (1-6 years):

Science Plan™ Feline Adult Hairball Control “Chicken”

This menu contains several important items:

– a formula to prevent the formation of hairballs in the cat’s gastrointestinal tract;

– saturation with substances that reduce shedding;

– minerals to maintain a healthy urinary system.

Hills food for senior cats (over 7 years):

Science Plan™ Feline Mature Adult 7+ Active Longevity™

Hill's™ Science Plan™ Feline Mature Adult 7+ Active Longevity™ menu protects the kidneys of older cats and gentlemen. The food is rich in antioxidants (vitamins E, C), it is low in phosphorus, but high in Omen-3 fatty acids.

Available flavors:

- chicken;

– tuna.

Science Plan™ Feline Mature Adult 7+ Hairball Control “Chicken”

The natural fibers in Hill's™ Science Plan™ Feline Mature Adult 7+ Hairball Control help prevent hairballs from forming in your cat's gastrointestinal tract, while vitamins E and C protect your cat's liver.

Science Plan™ Feline Mature Adult 7+ Sterilized Cat Chicken

Older pets who have been spayed or neutered will benefit from this position with its unique weight control formula. Read more about food for sterilized cats and neutered cats.

Description and composition of Hills food

The class of this food is defined as both premium and super premium. It's simple: the “diversity” of the class is explained by the large line of cat food. Yes, Hills includes two types of food for healthy cats (dry and wet), and medicinal formulas for sick animals. That is, you can come to it both “from a good life” and “from a bad life,” when your pet’s health is compromised by poor quality nutrition and it urgently needs to be corrected.

Hill's products are distinguished by the use of only high-quality protein, as well as precisely calculated amounts of taurine, phosphorus, calcium and antioxidants necessary to maintain the normal functioning of a pet. In addition, this brand of food contains vitamins C and E, which slow down the aging of the body. The company's specialists take into account the different needs of cats depending on age and other characteristics. Agree, it would be wrong to use the same food composition for a kitten and an adult animal. In order for cat owners to choose the most suitable food for their pet, Hills has developed several lines of food.

Hills cat food
Hill's cat food

Hills' main line of products for kittens and cats is called Science Plan. This is a perfectly balanced food containing all the necessary nutrients for an adult animal. Foods called “Natural's Best” consist exclusively of natural ingredients. The main purpose of these products is to maintain immunity and improve health. For long-haired cats that often need to remove hair from their stomach, it is recommended to regularly feed the Adult Hairball Control line of food. Separate series also exist for kittens (“Healthy Development Kitten”) and spayed/neutered animals. In addition, there is a medicinal series of food to improve the quality of wool and a line for kittens and cats with sensitive digestion.

Reviews of Hill's cat food

Karina : “I have British cats that feed on Hills from their young claws. The most appetizing one for them is the one with tuna flavor. Let me note that the transition from baby food to adult food went unnoticed. And I especially focus on the absence of allergies to fish-flavored food. It’s a pity, of course, that the price of the food is expensive, but the good composition and palatability pay for the costs. I now order online in large packages, it’s more profitable.”

Andrey : “I have a cat that falls into the elderly category - she is already 11 years old. For 10 years she ate other foods, but her health was no longer the same, so she took Hills based on the recommendations. The most popular food for my purr is lamb-flavored food. I praise sincerely - in just a month of feeding, the cat’s age-related bald spots began to heal and the peeling of the skin went away. I’ve been feeding it alternately lamb and rabbit for a year now.”

Katerina : “Somehow Hill’s didn’t suit our cat. Moreover, I will not criticize the composition and quality of the food, it’s just that my cat is picky and capricious. He eats just a little Hills, and the rest lies in a bowl until I remove it and add a new portion. So I don’t buy it anymore, which is a pity, because I noticed that feces really don’t stink that much.”

Slava : “I always buy expensive food in the hope that it is automatically good, so Hills comes to us often. What can I say, the cat likes it (of course, for such and such a price). But the tastes quickly become boring, so there is no way to save on large volumes.”

Reviews of Hill's products

When a little kitten, a white fluffy miracle, appeared in my house, I had no idea how or what to feed him, so I stocked up on kitite and whiskey in soft packs. My cat Ciri grew up thin, with faded fur, but I didn’t think it was because of her diet. Then it happened that she got sick and I took her to the veterinarian, where, in addition to the prescribed treatment, we were advised to completely change the diet: either premium dry food or completely balanced homemade food. Having calculated in my mind the required amount of beef, egg yolks and other crap, plus the costs of all this, I realized that they don’t always have the opportunity to prepare food even for themselves, and no, not because of financial difficulties, but for the banal reason of lack of time to cook . Therefore, I decided to switch to ready-made high-quality food. At first, the cat did not want to switch from cheap kitickets to premium food. There was Proplan, then I tried Royal Canin, then yams, and then I decided to try Hill's SP Sensitive Stomach & Skin food for cats with sensitive digestion and skin. When I bought it, I gave it a little at once, and the cat began to eat it right away, without a gradual transition, did not turn away, did not snort, in general, she just ate it and that’s it. So, the advantages: Different volumes of packages - I buy a 1.5 kg package, which lasts about three to four weeks. Maybe if I fed it according to the norm, it would last longer, but the food is always in the cat’s bowl, and she eats as much as she wants. The appearance of the food is quite pleasant. Small, fatty granules with the specific smell of all dry food. Not very pronounced. I especially like this. Ciri just has one habit - when she eats, she always goes to thank me with a small poke of her nose into my nose (I always regard this as a kiss). And if before she smelled of this kittykit, now she smelled of nothing. My girl is now always active and mobile. There are no problems with the tummy. The stool is regular and not as foul-smelling as kitticettes. Her appetite is good. Ciri has recovered, and now, by cat standards, she has an attractive, appetizing figure (chubby butt)). The cat weighs 4,300. This is normal for her age. The fur now does not stick out in clumps, it is smooth, shiny, and pleasant to stroke. The food is quite economical. I do not give the cat the portion stated on the package; I pour a full bowl over the eye. She has enough for a day. The cost of food has become less than when I fed economy. Overall, I'm happy with this food. Kitty is happy, healthy, active and playful. So far, of all the foods we have tried, this is clearly the best.

Product rating:

All reviews about this product