Matt&Chev
Member Since 2018
TL : DR - Is Hills prescription d/m REALLY necessary for diabetic cat with Addison's disease?
My little Lin Lin who is 10.5 years old was recently diagnosed as diabetic with Addison's disease. She gave us QUITE a scare as she was actually very close to not making it through, but she fought and fought hard and is now back at home with us with a pretty good outlook. Lin Lin will be on 1 unit of prozinc insulin twice a day, she'll receive a shot of (something i dont know the name of) every 25 days for the rest of her life that is basically to replace the hormones her adrenal glands aren't making due to Addison's disease and our vet wants her on Hills Prescription d/m (YUCK! ) and wouldn't even really talk about any other food. I had a chart printed out to have him look at that shows protein/fat/and carb content of food to see if he'd recommend one. He just said he can't attest to the quality of anything but the Hills, which is what he prescribes to all clients with special food needs pets.
My question is, is there ANYTHING special at all about Hills prescription d/m that makes it in particular necessary to a diabetic cat with Addison's disease instead of a High protein, med-low fat, and less than 10% carb food? Lin Lin will not eat the Hills d/m. Even after receiving an appetite stimulant. It is largely pork biproduct, smells like organ meat, and has almost as much fat as it does protein. I think its protein, fat, carb content is 46% protein, 40% fat, 14% carbs. There are some wet foods with much better ingredients, that I'm sure taste better that have as much as 65% protein, 30ish% fat and almost no carbs. I really want to give her a food she will eat because if there IS something that special about Hills, she's not getting it anyway because she won't eat it. Is there an inherent risk with trying to feed her a high protein, mid fat, as low as possible carb food? She really needs to build her strength back up after all she's been through and not eating due to gross food won't help.
Thank you in advance for any and all weigh-ins.
Edit: I'm leaning towards wanting to try a variant of Weruva food. Some of them have 50%-60% protein, 35ish% fat and under 10% carb while still being between 160-200 mg Phos/100kcals. That sound daaaaarn close to Hills Prescription d/m.
My little Lin Lin who is 10.5 years old was recently diagnosed as diabetic with Addison's disease. She gave us QUITE a scare as she was actually very close to not making it through, but she fought and fought hard and is now back at home with us with a pretty good outlook. Lin Lin will be on 1 unit of prozinc insulin twice a day, she'll receive a shot of (something i dont know the name of) every 25 days for the rest of her life that is basically to replace the hormones her adrenal glands aren't making due to Addison's disease and our vet wants her on Hills Prescription d/m (YUCK! ) and wouldn't even really talk about any other food. I had a chart printed out to have him look at that shows protein/fat/and carb content of food to see if he'd recommend one. He just said he can't attest to the quality of anything but the Hills, which is what he prescribes to all clients with special food needs pets.
My question is, is there ANYTHING special at all about Hills prescription d/m that makes it in particular necessary to a diabetic cat with Addison's disease instead of a High protein, med-low fat, and less than 10% carb food? Lin Lin will not eat the Hills d/m. Even after receiving an appetite stimulant. It is largely pork biproduct, smells like organ meat, and has almost as much fat as it does protein. I think its protein, fat, carb content is 46% protein, 40% fat, 14% carbs. There are some wet foods with much better ingredients, that I'm sure taste better that have as much as 65% protein, 30ish% fat and almost no carbs. I really want to give her a food she will eat because if there IS something that special about Hills, she's not getting it anyway because she won't eat it. Is there an inherent risk with trying to feed her a high protein, mid fat, as low as possible carb food? She really needs to build her strength back up after all she's been through and not eating due to gross food won't help.
Thank you in advance for any and all weigh-ins.
Edit: I'm leaning towards wanting to try a variant of Weruva food. Some of them have 50%-60% protein, 35ish% fat and under 10% carb while still being between 160-200 mg Phos/100kcals. That sound daaaaarn close to Hills Prescription d/m.
It's a lifesaver. I'm glad to hear others find this brand as an acceptable alternative. Vets push the prescription stuff like it's actual medicine, so wavering from their instructions feels scary. Especially since we just got her back from such a scary ordeal.