What about Science Diet?

Question

Some people love it. Some people hate it. What are the pros and/or cons? The vet that I'm going to take my kitten to, gives out a box of free Science Diet samples. I'm just kind of interested as to what's so special about it and what makes it different from any other cat food like Friskies or 9 Lives.

Answer 1

Science Diet (non-prescription) is NOT a quality food. Take a look at the first 10 ingredients in Science Diet 'kitten' formula:

Chicken By-Product Meal, Ground Whole Grain Corn, Animal Fat (preserved with mixed tocopherols and citric acid), Corn Gluten Meal, Brewers Rice, Chicken Liver Flavor, Fish Oil, Flaxseed, Dried Egg Product

Chicken By-Products are chicken beaks, feet, and other things not considered 'edible' per human standards. Corn is a FILLER---it is nutritionally useless. What happens when you eat corn? The same thing happens when an animal eats it...it's hard to digest. Brewer's Rice is the rice hulls left over after the milling process. It is nutritionally inferior to any other kind of rice.

You'll find these SAME ingredients in foods like Friskies or 9 Lives. These are NOT quality foods.

The only food I would ever feed a cat is Blue Buffalo Spa Select for Cats. This is the first 10 ingredients in their 'Kitten' formula:

Deboned Chicken, Chicken Meal, Whole Ground Brown Rice, Whole Ground Barley, Oatmeal, Chicken Fat (preserved with Natural Mixed Tocopherols), Rice Protein Concentrate, Rye, Whole Cranberries, Whole Sweet Potatoes

Can you tell the difference in the quality of the ingredients and how nutritionally superior this type of food is?

Keep in mind that 'Meal' is a food which has had the moisture removed (ie: dehyrdated food). It is the BEST kind of ingredient, especially when it comes to meats, as it means the weight is composed of nothing but the meat and not the meat plus the moisture.

www.bluebuff.com

Become a label reader and decide for yourself what the best food is though. Look for natural, wholesome ingredients...no by-products...no corn...no brewer's rice and always look for Sunflower Oil (helps with hairballs---it's in Blue Buffalos' foods).

Hope that helps!

Answer 2

As with the first answer my cat had repeated urinary tract infections, and the Vet. prescribed a special Science Diet for that purpose. Whenever we stop feeding this to the cat, the infections come back. I"m retired and have had cats all my life, and this is the first one I have had to feed a special diet to. In fact it's the only food the cat eats. The last cat I had ( and this was the case with many of my cats as dried food was not around years ago) ate canned cat food all the time, and hardly touched dry food at all. This cat loved the outdoors, was a great hunter, and lived 21yrs. This is the only cat I had to put down because of old age problems. The cat I had before this one, ate mostly dried food, and, up to now, was the only cat that wouldn't eat canned food.I could go on about this, but, what I am trying to say is you don't need a special food as long as you feed your cat a varied diet if he or she will eat it.

Answer 3

Science Diet is made by Colgate Palmolive. Dr. Hill was a verteriniarian in the forties (I believe) who developed his "science diets" to help in the feeding of pets with health problems, such as the formation of urinary crystals in dogs and cats. He sold out to CP on his retirement and they continue to capitalize on his name and reputation. Science Diet is not a quality food.

There is nothing "scientific" about this food. The whole science of nutrition is still working on what people (and pets) should eat for optimum health. Human food "pyramids" and recommendations change weekly as you can tell from the TV news broadcasts. Cat nutrition is really quite simple - meat, preferable raw meat.

I worked in a veterinary office for a while and made up many "kitten" packets for them to give out to new clients. The contents of these packets come in large boxes and do not cost the verterinarian anything.

You've gotten excellent posts here on why you must read food labels and use the highest quality foods for your cat, just as I am sure you do for yourself or your family.

Answer 4

I don't know the process behind the other brands' factories, but part of my Animal Science course was touring a Hill's Science factory. They are extremely devoted to making sure that the customer's and their pets are going to get a consistent product that the animal will enjoy eating and will benefit from. All the science that goes into the making of their food is incredible and they monitor every single step, even going so far as to make sure that each kibble has the same shape and each bag has exactly the amount of food it says. They won't even sell stock to general markets like Wal-Mart, only markets that are run specifically for animals.

Answer 5

Hi,

You were interested in knowing about Science Diet. When I adopted my kitten last year the vets put her on Science Diet dry food and Iams wet food.

So I have been using it ever since! Its excellent! Highly recommended by vets as well!

All the best!

Answer 6

I give my cat Science Diet. I have to give her a special, medicated type because she has some type of a urinary tract infection. The food really seems to have helped her!

Answer 7

we feed it to our cats b/c its one of the top foods on the market. You need to watch the magnesium and ash content of food in male cats or they can become blocked in their urinary tract and need surgery to correct it and a special diet for the rest of their life. Another good brand is California Natural or Nutro, but my cats won't eat it.