Hilary's Blend

[Wile]

My male bengal was recently diagnosed with both interstitial cystitis and a likely poultry intolerance. I have been feeding him Nature's Variety Instinct canned rabbit LID, which he loves and does really well on. Unfortunately the price of this new diet is getting out of hand - $8-9 a day for 2 cans in Canada, and it is special order so it never goes on sale. Needless to say I am looking for a cheaper option.

I've been looking at home cooked rabbit-based diets. My vet recently recommended Hilary's blend (HILARY'S BLEND (formerly THE BALANCER) supplement for home-made meals), which seems like it may be a good option. Does anyone have any experience with this product? What are your thoughts? Do your cats like the recipes?

 

[Azazel]

I’ve never heard of this before. Honestly I’m weary of these one size fits all supplements. I prefer to follow a specific recipe such as the one on catinfo.org. How do you ensure that the phosphorus:calcium ratio is right? Rabbit is high in phosphorus and it’s very hard to debone.

 

[Wile]

The recipe calls for rabbit meat, not bone. According to the nutritional info provided for one of the recipes there should be 210.75 mg of phosphorus, 227.9mg of calcium per 100g. I have no idea what the ratio of phosphorus:calcium should be, but quickly flicking through most of the recipes seem to maintain something like this balance

 

[LTS3]

TC Feline is another supplement for home diets. It's available in Canada. TCfeline products It's mainly for raw diets but there's a recipe on the web site for cooked diet: Cooked Meat

UStew is another supplement for cooked diets available in Canada: U-Stew for Cats

 

[Azazel]

The recipe calls for rabbit meat, not bone. According to the nutritional info provided for one of the recipes there should be 210.75 mg of phosphorus, 227.9mg of calcium per 100g. I have no idea what the ratio of phosphorus:calcium should be, but quickly flicking through most of the recipes seem to maintain something like this balance

Does it specially call for rabbit meat, or just meat? A lot of these supplements say “just add meat.” But different meats will have different nutrient compositions. So I’m just saying that I don’t understand how one powder can be used on any meat. But if this one is for a specific type of protein then I suppose it could work. Sorry, I’m not familiar with it.

 

[Wile]

The recipe whose nutritional information I quoted above specifically calls for rabbit meat. No worries if you don't have experience with the product. It may be that because the vet nutritionist who wrote this book is based in Guelph it is more known to vets in Ontario, Canada, many of whom train at the vet school at Guelph. I was just hoping that someone knows the product might be able to share some insights.

 

[Wile]

Thanks LTS3 for the info

 

[orange&white]

There isn't enough info on the website to form an opinion. Should be "ok", since the claim is that all the recipes in the cat cookbook + the cat supplement meet the AAFCO standards for "complete and balanced" food.

I notice that the cover of the recipe book for cats shows a drawing of a cat surrounded by mostly fruits and vegetables. If the recipes are full of carbs, then I wouldn't trust them to be any better than store-bought, processed can foods. May be less expensive though than the LID foods.

I do make my own mixes with only meat, bones, and organs with the supplements from catinfo.org and feline-nutrition.org. Doesn't get much more "limited ingredient" than that. It's also very affordable.

 

[Wile]

There are 100 different recipes in the book, many of which are formulated to target different medical conditions. Some of them are "single antigen" (meat from one animal type with other supplements mixed in), others are more complex and do include one or two additional fruits or vegetables (one recipe has blueberries and strawberries mixed in, another cabbage).

Thank you for the resources. Personally I am not interested in raw feeding. Having to figure out balanced recipes that can manage both his medical conditions, worrying about how to source fresh meat, and managing raw meat in my tiny kitchen and freezer is more than I want to take on. If there is another comparable product to this one I'd love to hear about it!

 

[orange&white]

Not sure if EZ-Complete or Alnutrin are available in Canada. Maybe other members here know.

 

[Azazel]

There are 100 different recipes in the book, many of which are formulated to target different medical conditions. Some of them are "single antigen" (meat from one animal type with other supplements mixed in), others are more complex and do include one or two additional fruits or vegetables (one recipe has blueberries and strawberries mixed in, another cabbage).

Thank you for the resources. Personally I am not interested in raw feeding. Having to figure out balanced recipes that can manage both his medical conditions, worrying about how to source fresh meat, and managing raw meat in my tiny kitchen and freezer is more than I want to take on. If there is another comparable product to this one I'd love to hear about it!

Cystitis is managed best with all wet food and high animal protein. The wet food will ensure high moisture and the animal protein will keep the urine acidic. I would recommend trying out Rad Cat. It’s very good food, easily digestible, and they have a variety of proteins. It’s also a complete meal so you don’t have to worry about supplements.

 

[Wile]

Thanks for the suggestion A Azazel . I'll look into rad Cat, although a brief search using their site for a retailer in my area didn't produce any results. It might not be an option. I did try another commercial raw food years ago with this cat when he was a kitten, but at the time he had no interest in it. If I can find a source it might be worth another shot.

Cystitis is complicated and manifests differently for many cats. In my cat's case the inflammation is mostly brought on by stress. According to his most recent urinalysis his Ph is balanced, and urine specific gravity is low, both of which I'm told by my vet are good. He has never had any crystals, so a change in his urine ph may actually make his situation worse.

Thanks to everyone for their thoughts on alternatives. I think I will give Hilary's a try for a bit to see how it goes. Worst case scenario I can switch back to the (super expensive) Instinct canned formula.

 

[Azazel]

Thanks for the suggestion A Azazel . I'll look into rad Cat, although a brief search using their site for a retailer in my area didn't produce any results. It might not be an option. I did try another commercial raw food years ago with this cat when he was a kitten, but at the time he had no interest in it. If I can find a source it might be worth another shot.

Cystitis is complicated and manifests differently for many cats. In my cat's case the inflammation is mostly brought on by stress. According to his most recent urinalysis his Ph is balanced, and urine specific gravity is low, both of which I'm told by my vet are good. He has never had any crystals, so a change in his urine ph may actually make his situation worse.

Thanks to everyone for their thoughts on alternatives. I think I will give Hilary's a try for a bit to see how it goes. Worst case scenario I can switch back to the (super expensive) Instinct canned formula.

I find that those websites aren’t usually updated. You can call your local independent pet shops to ask if they carry it.