Hills C/D vs. Royal Canin SO special urinary food? Any input appreciated!

[charrrlottte]

Hello all,

I just wanted to get your guys' two cents on which Rx brand is best as far as ingredients and actual results go when treating urinary crystals and cystitis. I am currently feeding the canned chicken and veg. stew Hills C/D, but my boy has been very very picky with any wet food placed in front of him (was on an all dry diet before), and is now starting to turn his nose up at this as well. He's not eating enough at this rate to maintain his weight (has already lost 2 pounds in a month), and I need to find a solution, so I was wanting to try the dry Royal Canin or the dry Hills urinary diet. Really can't afford to be throwing away as much food as I have been lately. 

Any input on experiences with dry in either brand is greatly appreciated. I know feeding him a wet diet would ultimately be best, but he is just so darn picky and needs to start eating more asap. 

Also any help with tempting my picky boy to eat the wet Rx. food is welcome. He seems to eat it for 2 days at the most, and then starts smacking his tongue and lips at it when he smells it, like he has a bad taste in his mouth, or peanut butter stuck to his tongue. 

Thanks everyone!!

 

[jcat]

Our last cat got wet and dry of both brands - Hills and Royal Canin - and another (German) brand of Rx wet, because it was the only way to get him to eat an Rx diet. He refused to eat the same brand two days in a row and refused to eat more than one wet meal a day. The vet was perfectly okay with our not sticking to one brand, and Jamie never had a recurrence.

It sounds like your boy is the same way.

 

[rlavach]

I have only used wet & dry hill's C/D. He lived on the dry C/D for about 4 years. He seemed to enjoy it. He never turned his nose up to it, but he had constant issues. While he never blocked again, he had about 3 more bouts of cystitis. Every single time it was a couple weeks after we were away on a short vacation. So likely the stress pushed him over the edge. 

I finally dedicated to switching him to wet only. I tried the wet C/D pate & he wouldn't even look at it. Now he has the wet C/D stew (both chicken & fish). While they're not his favorite, he was willing to give it a try. But, only after i mixed in some tuna!! So basically, I had to bribe him by mixing in cat tuna or topping it with bonito fish flakes to get him to eat it. He also lost about 2.5 pounds. Turns out he was about 2lb overweight anyway. Once I finally got him to eat the wet food consistently, I decreased the amount of tuna each time until now he eats the food straight up. 

I never used the Royal Canin SO. Mainly because I don't like that part of their premise is adding salt to the food to increase the cat's thirst & therefore water consumption. Not all cats fall for that & most don't drink enough to hydrate themselves when they eat dry. So I only use Hills C/D wet & I add extra water. I also give him Fancy Feast Broths in chicken flavor (with extra water) for a treat. So the key is trying to mix in different things to see if he'll eat it

 

[Columbine]

Shadow's been on the royal canin s/o for 10 years. He refused point blank to eat any urinary wet food by day three out of hospital. He's had a mix of normal wet food (it wasn't even grain free until a few months ago...Asha's arrival has had some unexpected but very positive consequences) and the royal canin dry ever since...and has never had another issue (touch wood :cross: ). He loves the royal canin, and what's more Asha (determined dry food hater) loves it too..I can't put it out when Asha's around because she makes a beeline for it, but I don't want her getting any! (Simply because she has a sensitive tummy and it doesn't agree with her...I also prefer not to feed dry if I can avoid it).

Anyway...its definitely worked for Shadow, and he - the pickiest cat I've ever known - has liked it consistently the whole time.

 

[Guy With C@t]

Not all cats fall for that & most don't drink enough to hydrate themselves when they eat dry. So I only use Hills C/D wet & I add extra water.

My vet recommended a fountain, so I put the cat in the dry bathtub and turned on the faucet a tiny bit to see if he would drink from it and to my surprise he sat there and drank water for 2 solid minutes. So I went and got him a fountain, which he likes if I keep it really clean, and put ice in it lol, but he still prefers the bathtub. So I let him drink from the tub 2 or 3 times a day and otherwise he has access to the fountain, but yeah before I knew he liked running water, he never drank enough

 

[Guy With C@t]

I’ve been using royal canin, but sometimes they’re out of stock on it so in those situations I get the Hills one. The cat FRIGGEN LOVES the royal canin dry food. My mom’s cat loves it too. But they both seem fine, idk he hasn’t gotten re-blocked in 4 years since his stay in critical care

 

[R@ch]

My guys love the Royal Canin SO Calm dry food. My other kitty tries his best to eat it too!! They used to eat the Hills CD stress but the stress part didn’t seem to help. They eat the RC just as well and I think their “calm” is more effective.