I went to pet smart today and was going to buy a bag of Hills science prescription md was going to only use it for an over night when we are gone for xmas eve. Plus I thought that if my non diebetic cat liked it I would switch him over he likes dry better then can. The girl told me that I needed a prescription for it and wouldn't sell it to me. I find it odd that I can buy syringes and insulin with out one but I need a presciption for food?
do you need a presciption for hills prescription md
- Thread starter debby le
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Hope + (((Baby)))GA
Very Active Member
There are certain foods that Hill's puts out that can only be bought at a vets. There are even some vets that won't sell any diabetic cat food unless it is proven you have a diabetic cat.
Lisa and Witn (GA)
Very Active Member
You can ask your vet for a script. You then turn it in at the vet in Petsmart and they will give you a card you show the cashier when you checkout.
squeem3
Very Active Member
Years ago when the vet put my now GA cat on C/D for urinary crystals I bought the food from a grooming place with no prescription. The groomer's was next door to a vet hospital (not the one I went to at the time) so I guess the vet hospital just used some shelf space at the groomer's to sell the prescription food. The vet told me to buy the C/D there.
Could you feed a commerical grain-free dry such as Innova EVO or Wellness CORE instead? The ignredients are a whole lot better than the M/D.
Even better is to use a timed feeder for the canned food. If you will be gone just overnight, a timed feeder wll work just fine. You can get one with multiple compartments, such as the PetSafe 5 compartment feeder. With two cats you may want to get two feeders so that one cat doesn't eat all the food.
debby le said:
Could you feed a commerical grain-free dry such as Innova EVO or Wellness CORE instead? The ignredients are a whole lot better than the M/D.
Even better is to use a timed feeder for the canned food. If you will be gone just overnight, a timed feeder wll work just fine. You can get one with multiple compartments, such as the PetSafe 5 compartment feeder. With two cats you may want to get two feeders so that one cat doesn't eat all the food.
Lisa dvm
Active Member
debby le said:
Hi Debby,
Please understand that this is a costly...low quality...unhealthy diet for any..and all cats. You are paying far too much money for a "prescription diet" that is not only UNnecessary but is also unhealthy.
You note that you will feed it to your male cat "if he likes it better". Please take a look at the links below - especially the Urinary Tract Health page and take a really good look at Opie's pictures to see the type of suffering and pain that dry food (read: water-depleted) very commonly causes for cats. I do not advocate the feeding of dry food (any type) to any cat....and I will go one step further and say that someone would have to hold a gun to my head to et me to give Hill's a dime of my money.
And..no...they do not make up the water deficit at the water bowl no matter how much the human wants to believe the cat drinks.
Lisa dvm
Active Member
From my website:
Vacations and jobs that demand long working hours are often used as reasons for feeding dry food to cats. However, these situations have a very simple remedy.
With regard to vacations and pet-sitters, cats need to be checked on at least once each day to clean their litter box and to make sure that all is well.
Let’s say that you are going to be gone for 1 week. Freeze 7 meals and have your once-a-day pet-sitter put out two meals at each visit – one meal that is at ‘mouse body’ temperature and one that is frozen. The freshness of the frozen meal will be prolonged and your cat will be fine until your pet-sitter returns.
The same trick can be used if you are working long hours or if you live in a particularly hot climate and want to leave food out for many hours.
Vacations and jobs that demand long working hours are often used as reasons for feeding dry food to cats. However, these situations have a very simple remedy.
With regard to vacations and pet-sitters, cats need to be checked on at least once each day to clean their litter box and to make sure that all is well.
Let’s say that you are going to be gone for 1 week. Freeze 7 meals and have your once-a-day pet-sitter put out two meals at each visit – one meal that is at ‘mouse body’ temperature and one that is frozen. The freshness of the frozen meal will be prolonged and your cat will be fine until your pet-sitter returns.
The same trick can be used if you are working long hours or if you live in a particularly hot climate and want to leave food out for many hours.
Vicky & Gandalf (GA) & Murrlin
Very Active Member
I want to add to Dr. Lisa's excellent posts that a timed feeder is a godsend to anyone who works long hours or will be gone over a weekend. There are feeders with compartments under the food tray where you can put ice packs or you can use frozen food like Dr. Lisa suggests. Some have a long enough timer they can be set up to go off several times over the course of a day or 2.
I was able to make sure my diabetic cat had food available while I was gone 10-11 hours a day - good quality canned food. He would often go to it right before the timer went off and try to "encourage" it to open by rubbing on the lid. He knew it was his feeder.
I was able to make sure my diabetic cat had food available while I was gone 10-11 hours a day - good quality canned food. He would often go to it right before the timer went off and try to "encourage" it to open by rubbing on the lid. He knew it was his feeder.
I do have my neighbor coming over twice a day. Your right on the dry food I've dropped that idea already have some cans frozen until I can afford a time feeder. We will only be gone for about 24 hours so he should be fine my neighbor said that she will come over mulitable times. Thanks for everyones out put on this.
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