Hills CD Stress Wet Active Ingredient???

I've been feeding Hills CD stress to my cats for a while, but I'm switching to Nutro because I don't like all the ingredients in the Hills. I have been adding DL-Methionine to the cat with urinary issues, but just noticed on one of his old Hills cans that there is no DL-Methionine in it!

Here are the ingredients - Anyone know what the "active ingredient" is?

Water, Pork Liver, Chicken, Carrots, Wheat Gluten, Rice, Corn Starch, Spinach, Chicken Liver Flavor, Potassium Alginate, Chicken Fat, Fish Oil, Soybean Oil, Calcium Chloride, Dicalcium Phosphate, Guar Gum, Calcium Sulfate, vitamins (Vitamin E Supplement, Thiamine Mononitrate, Niacin Supplement, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Calcium Pantothenate, Vitamin B12 Supplement, Riboflavin Supplement, Biotin, Vitamin D3 Supplement, Folic Acid), Taurine, Potassium Citrate, Iodized Salt, Choline Chloride, Sodium Tripolyphosphate, Dried Hydrolyzed Casein, minerals (Zinc Oxide, Ferrous Sulfate, Manganese Sulfate, Copper Sulfate, Calcium Iodate), L-Tryptophan, Beta-Carotene, Calcium Carbonate

IMO, water is the only "active ingredient". None of the other ingredients helps with urinary issues.

Water is needed to help keep the urinary system functioning properly and to keep the urine diluted to prevent crystals and other stuff from forming.

Your cat would likely do much better on a better quality commerical canned food. Add extra water to the food if you like. Many people do to keep the cat well hydrated.

Ugh what a rip-off then! I've been paying $30/case for this junk - Nutro is the same price and wayyy better ingredients!

I don't see what any of this stuff would do for stress either... I thought there would be some herbs or pheromones or something!

Tryptophan is the "active" ingredient in the stress/calming formulas. Vets prescribe this formula under the assumption that stress is the primary factor causing the urinary issue. Really not sure the amount in the food is enough to have an effect on a cat's stress.

Aside from the tryptophan, there isn't anything else to address any issues.

I'm sure the pheromone plug-ins and collar I have for him is doing more than the tryptophan in the food. Now I feel much better about taking him off his "prescription" food!

Thanks for the help!!!

I think c/d was more acidic (or the opposite, I forget which) and you shouldn't give it to kidney cats because of that. That went for any "urinary health" food actually. So there is something special in it to make it that way.

As far as being used as a mood stabilizer - never heard of that! My kitty's on Prozac and it did wonders.

The dry food version had DL-methionine which is what makes the urine acidic... That's why I was so surprised there wasn't any of that in the wet food!

Maybe I'll ask the vet about Prozac! He doesn't seem all that stressed now that I banned my mom from bringing her dogs over!!

alibali said:

I've been feeding Hills CD stress to my cats for a while, but I'm switching to Nutro because I don't like all the ingredients in the Hills. I have been adding DL-Methionine to the cat with urinary issues, but just noticed on one of his old Hills cans that there is no DL-Methionine in it!

Here are the ingredients - Anyone know what the "active ingredient" is?

Water, Pork Liver, Chicken, Carrots, Wheat Gluten, Rice, Corn Starch, Spinach, Chicken Liver Flavor, Potassium Alginate, Chicken Fat, Fish Oil, Soybean Oil, Calcium Chloride, Dicalcium Phosphate, Guar Gum, Calcium Sulfate, vitamins (Vitamin E Supplement, Thiamine Mononitrate, Niacin Supplement, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Calcium Pantothenate, Vitamin B12 Supplement, Riboflavin Supplement, Biotin, Vitamin D3 Supplement, Folic Acid), Taurine, Potassium Citrate, Iodized Salt, Choline Chloride, Sodium Tripolyphosphate, Dried Hydrolyzed Casein, minerals (Zinc Oxide, Ferrous Sulfate, Manganese Sulfate, Copper Sulfate, Calcium Iodate), L-Tryptophan, Beta-Carotene, Calcium Carbonate

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There are other factors that make c/d a good diet for urinary issues. It contains potassium citrate which helps prevent the formation of calcium oxalate stones which are more difficult to deal with than struvite. It also limits some nutrients like protein, magnesium, calcium etc to help prevent crystals and stones. It also has a lower salt level to prevent damage to the kidneys (unlike Urinary SO) so it is better as a long term diet. There are other factors which I cannot recall at the moment but if your cat has a history of urinary problems I would not suggest switching. For some cats, water alone is not enough to prevent these issues. If you would like to try a better veterinary diet specifically for urinary diseases, there is a new brand called Rayne Clinical Nutrition. They originally started developing dermatological diets which were homemade and delivered to clients. Thy have expanded into shelf-stable diets. Their main premise is minimal processing and using whole foods. That means, if it says sweet potato it is the sweet potato not part of it. Their Adult RSS diet is great for urinary health. Also their diets are all high in protein. They don't yet have a huge variety of diets but will soon be coming out with a feline kidney diet. I feeding my cats the Adult RSS wet Andy cats love it. I sound like a salesperson but I assure you, I am not. I am excited That there is finally a veterinary diet line that focuses on whole food.

Thanks at makes more sense! Glad to know it wasn't just a waste of money!!

Although the vet actually told us that the CD has more salt in it, to make them thirsty so they will drink more water... Maybe she was wrong?

I have been feeding him canned Nutro with a urinary supplement that has the DL-methionine and some other things in it, but that won't do anything for the Oxalate crystals (which he has - he had both types which is apparently very uncommon!) but I've still been leaving out the dry Hills as a sort of compromise! His vet gave us the go-ahead but did warn us that the crystals could come back

I will definitely look into the Rayne Clinical Nutrition, that sounds wonderful!! Thanks for the recommendation!!

SweetPea24 said:

They don't yet have a huge variety of diets but will soon be coming out with a feline kidney diet. I feeding my cats the Adult RSS wet Andy cats love it. I sound like a salesperson but I assure you, I am not. I am excited That there is finally a veterinary diet line that focuses on whole food.

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I'm super-excited for this! I hope they come out with it soon. I'd love to have a kidney-specific variety for my girl. She likes k/d but gets bored of it from time to time. and Royal Canin is more expensive. For now, feeding her k/d once a day and then regular food the other two times.