Question on Prescription Diets and Why they are Restricted to Certain Brands

The other week, a couple brought in their sick kitty and were told to put her on a prescription diet - we carry Science Diet based only on cost- the Dr. gets a good deal. We would carry Iams if the Iams people had given him a better deal a few months ago.

As many of you know, foods like Science Diet, Iams, Royal Canin, Purina, etc. are not high quality and the reason people buy them is because they are #1 easy to find #2 cheaper and #3 a) thought to be good for your pet or b)they don't care. And it's all due to sponsorships and programs, advertising, and well...money. Commercials, flyers, billboards, ads, carried in grocery stores, drug stores, even gas stations. Big event sponsorships of Animal Panet events, dog shows, and so on. The big brands are *thought to be better than the worst- the lower Purina brands, the Friskies, Whiskas, Meow Mix and other foods with the artificial colors and flavors that look like Fruity Pebbles for kids because they slap on a vet recommended sticker and talk about fitting feeding guidelines and including nutrients. ALL foods on the shelf fit the flimsy feeding regulations. The cheap brands advertise shapes and colors! Which includes the usage of more chemicals.  Cats don't care if they have pink and orange fishes and cheese wedge shapes! But honestly, both have by-products and grains and fillers. Things cats wouldn't eat naturally. 

Now one of my cats will eat bread, cheese, some veggies, but she is an odd duck. An odd thieving duck. She much prefers chicken and fish as do the rest.

 Anyways...But the big brands are only carried in vet clinics and only "vet recommended" because they are the brands that have the prescription diets for kidneys and so on.

And that's when the couple asked me something that led to me mentioning that they were not grain free.

"What??" They said. "Really? They are prescription, made for sick cats, and they have GRAINS and by-products? And I said "Yes, well I hear some of them are feeling pressure to make grain free and by-product free options, but as of right now...And the better brands don't make prescription foods...."

And then they looked at me and said "But why not?"

And I had no idea. I know Wysong and Fussie Cat canned make a urinary formula...but nothing for diabetic cats, kidney cats, and so on...

Why isn't there a company that makes high quality food that has invested in making a prescription diet, or joining up with a team in making one?

Anyone else wondered this?

I worry for a time when my guys get sick and I am faced with making my own prescription diet with no info on how to do so aside from seeking holistic advice.

(I should note that I feed my guys a rotation of 3 or 4 grain-free, by-product free foods with added cans in for the few that like can food. The rest wouldn't touch can food if they were starving on the street again. I try to get freeze-dried for those that will eat it every few months and canned once a week. And I buy something raw every few months again for those that are willing.)

Just off the top of my head, I haven't read anything as to why, but maybe it's because the high quality brands already satisfy the needs that many of the prescription brands are supposed to address.   A high protein, low carb wet diet is both an appropriate diet for a healthy cat and an appropriate diet for many chronic health conditions.

I imagine some of it also has to do with politics.  I know Hills plays the political game well, they are even in the vet schools.

I don't know for sure why the prescription manufacturers don't make something more nutritious, but it might have something to do with pricing. The prescription diets go through clinical testing in order to have valid claims that they address the health issues they claim to. They're already expensive, so a high quality diet that goes through clinical trials would be very expensive.

On the flip side, it is a very expensive proposition to start prescription diet food, so there's a select few manufacturers who decide to go into the business. So less competition and less reason for all the current manufacturers to delve into something new like high protein, quality food.

I would also add that most perscription diets DO have canned varieties and they DO work for a majority of cats who have IBS/IBD, Kidney problems, etc. The problem is that like a majority of pet owners, convenience is a big factor when they decide what feed their pets. If a owner has been feeding their now middle aged cat dry food its entire life then Hills, Royal Cannin, would want to provide a dry version of the required perscription diet. The cat has to eat something so trying to transision a dry only to cat, who's already under physical stress, to perscription canned may be a disaster.

The problem is pet owners not necessarily petfood companies. Take me for example. For years I wanted to feed my then two cats the grain free canned foods but my wife simply can not stand the smell of canned cat food. It makes her gag and she will even throw up over the really stinky stuff. Plus cost was a factor. As a result we fed above abverage quality dry until the older of the two cats was diagnosed with IBS at which point both cats were put on the dry version perscription diet for this problem (Interestingly enough the sole remaing cat from this group still developed IBD while on the perscription diet).

My wife liked the dry because it didn't smell, it was cheaper* and easy to serve. That's why people use it.

*Dry food is cheaper because: It is less expensive to ship and package vs. canned. Can use cheaper protein sources because it's in dry form.

I have the same issue with canned food that your wife does.  I actually have that issue with food smells in general.  My kitties used to eat all dry kibble, I've now got them on about half and half but I understand the issue that your wife has.  I try to hold my breath when I'm getting the particularly stinky stuff ready for them.  

I believe the reason more companies don't produce prescription type foods is that in order to make a specific health benefit claim, like saying a food is beneficial for kitties with failing kidneys, they have to be able to back up their claim with expensive research and trials. Most companies aren't willing to do that.

JClark said:

I would also add that most perscription diets DO have canned varieties and they DO work for a majority of cats who have IBS/IBD, Kidney problems, etc.

Click to expand...

I do agree that the majority of prescription diets are crap. However, there are some canned varieties that do work well and really aren't that bad. I don't have much experience with prescription diets in general, but from what I do know, the Royal Canin Selected Protein canned foods have really helped a lot of cats with allergies and/or food intolerances.

\

mschauer said:

 
I believe the reason more companies don't produce prescription type foods is that in order to make a specific health benefit claim, like saying a food is beneficial for kitties with failing kidneys, they have to be able to back up their claim with expensive research and trials. Most companies aren't willing to do that.

Click to expand...

Do they?  If you look on Hills website, I don't really see any evidence or proof that their diets work and generally food is so poorly regulated that FDA and AAFCO go off the info the company gives so I'm sure that there's really any unbiased research done into these foods or that it's actually required.  Makes me very curious. "Prescription diet" is a trademark name, there isn't any regulated medicine in such foods. 

GoingPostal said:

\

Do they?  If you look on Hills website, I don't really see any evidence or proof that their diets work and generally food is so poorly regulated that FDA and AAFCO go off the info the company gives so I'm sure that there's really any unbiased research done into these foods or that it's actually required.  Makes me very curious. "Prescription diet" is a trademark name, there isn't any regulated medicine in such foods. 

Click to expand...

That annoyed me years ago when we used to buy c/d. Going to the vet, buying their recommended food and reading the label "prescription diet" it's reasonable for one to assume that it has some kind of medication in it.
I'm glad I've learned so much about feline nutrition in the years since.

Why not contact the companies directly? In my clinic if someons comes in for a rx diet and they are not a client i have to call their regular vet to make sure that is what they feed their pet. Hills and Royal Canin (also Medi-cal) do research on their prescription diets. Medi-cal has a huge facility in France where they do their research. What the vets learn about food in school is based on the research by these companies and that is why, for the most part, only know about the rx diets. I am not saying they are great quality but for diets for CRD, for example, they have to use certain ingredients like corn to reduce the phosphorus. Corn, while not ideal, is low on the allergy list. Many of the mainstream diets are not tested because it costs too much. Many diets say they meet the AAFCO nutrient profiles but they have never done food trials. To qualify as a food trial, the food must be the animal's sole diet for 6 months and the animal is tested prior to and after the food trial. If everything stays the same, then they can put that the food has gone through AAFCO feeding trials. Many companies cannot or won't spend that money. Yes cats cannot derive energy from carbohydrates but they cannot digest fruits and veggies which are found in many premium foods. The pet food industry is full of B.S. but it is a huge market. How did you learn about feline nutrition? From google? Did you do research studies? Again, I am not saying the rx diets are the best; only that marketing has deluded pet owners into believing myths liketheir food is good because the first ingredient is meat. The one thing I can say about the rx diets is that they are backed by research. And they are guaranteed so they will take the food back even if the bag is half full. Granted, the research may be biased but it is more than what most companies do. And contrary to what many believe, vets do not get commission or kickbacks by selling rx diets. The prices that my clinic pays for the foods isn't much lower so it's not like we are making a ton of money. I get a discount and still don't buy the rx diets mostly because I can't afford it.