science diet alternative?

just moved to a new area and my new vet is harassing me to use science diet for my cat who has a liver shunt.

he does really well on preformatrin ultra Chicken/turkey since those meats produce less ammonia

but i really want to avoid the SD foods and my vets basically saying he doesnt want to give my cat his medication unless i switch over to a L/D food which is kinda fair, but my cats blood test said his livers doing fine on this food and antibiotic.

so uh i guess im asking what kinda liver diet food isn't made out of pure garbage?

because my vet said himself for such a sick cat he's doing amazing!
yet he still sits there telling me I need to swich to a lower quality food.

I mean I am switching at least for a few months just to see (and to shoosh my vet) but im not expecting my cat to do well on it since he's basically a normal cat now. aside from needing a pill twice a day but he's gonna need that regardless of the food I feed him so i've been told.

If your cat is doing good I see no reason to switch anything (other than the vet). My vet has admitted that research into cat diets isn't what it should be. The research I've seen into Science Diet is usually a few years (and formulas) behind.

I say trust your gut and stick to your guns. If the vet is denying treatment find a new vet. You don't need one who is strong arming you to buy prescription food from them to increase their profit margins.

As far as I am concerned most specialized cat diet foods are marketing gimmicks. You can achieve the same results with a good quality low/no grain diet, access to water fountain and (maybe) supplements if your cat needs something extra due to their condition. I don't know everything of course and could be wrong. But I go back to everything is good with your cat now so why mess with a good thing?

Someone else might have a different opinion or a food suggestion for a similar situation. Good luck

IMO, you do not need to isten to the vet about diet. It's perfectly fine to refuse to feed X diet because the vet keeps pushing it. Just keep telling the vet no thank you and be firm about it. If your cat is doing fne on the current food, there is no reason to switch it. If the vet really harasses you about food and won't prescribe your cat's needed medicine becuse of what you feed, find a new vet who will respect your decisions.

If the cat needs a prescription diet, there are other choices---Purina, Iams, Royal Canin---and some of them are better than Hill's (depending on formula). But if he's doing well on what he's eating now I wouldn't switch his food. Don't mess with a good thing!

I should mention I've had some disagreements with vets over treatment before and usually when I fight them for what I want I am right.

Most notably when my cat had cancer and the first vet said it was an abscess and wanted to give me antibiotics. I refused to leave without a second opinion and biopsy because it felt wrong to me. I was right and by forcing the issue he got surgery sooner buying him more time. I've had other times I push for treatment or testing and 9 times out of 10 my guy is right as to what my cats needed.

My experiences have taught me that vets aren't perfect or equal. And if I want the best care for my cats I have to stand up for them.

yeah you guys are right i'll keep my normal food and switch vets if he gets too pushy its not like there isn't a million different one's here

the cats and I really like this food cause its grain free

when I said that they only reason to use the Science diet was for low ammonia in the gut he got so mad and said theres other 'stuff' in it that was good but didnt say anything else
(i know there's supposed to be probiotics as well but like he didnt even know)

@scylla, based on your last post, it sounds like that vet isn't, hmm, especially easy to talk with! Just a thought: if you're unhappy with him and there's a cat specialist in your area, you might want to consider that option. We had a similar sort of not-so-good experience with our previous cat's vet practice (it was also over food: they were absolutely clueless about diet and feline nutrition) and so decided to take our new cats to a cat-only vet. It's a totally different world: she's great on diet and really keeps up with developments in cat health. (It's also obvious how much she just plain loves cats. She even kisses our "needy" cat--I think she can tell!)

Anyway, good luck. I'm glad you're not going to change the food: if it's working for your cat, it's working for your cat!

lisahe
OH! thats a great idea ill look around right away! thank you so much!

scylla said:

@LisaHE
OH! thats a great idea ill look around right away! thank you so much!

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I hope you're able to find one! There are several cat-only vets in my area and I've heard great things about almost all of them. There's a "cat friendly practitioners" site here that might be helpful: http://www.catvets.com/cfp/cfp

Not all the vets listed are cat-only but at least you can tell by some of the practice names (like our vet's: Cats on Call!) and the "additional details" if they only see cats. And even if you don't have a cat-only practice near you, maybe you can at least find a cat-friendly one!

Again, I hope you're able to find someone you and your cat like!

LisaHE said:

I hope you're able to find one! There are several cat-only vets in my area and I've heard great things about almost all of them. There's a "cat friendly practitioners" site here that might be helpful: http://www.catvets.com/cfp/cfp

Not all the vets listed are cat-only but at least you can tell by some of the practice names (like our vet's: Cats on Call!) and the "additional details" if they only see cats. And even if you don't have a cat-only practice near you, maybe you can at least find a cat-friendly one!

Again, I hope you're able to find someone you and your cat like!

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thank you! i did just find one for cats through the site theres a city nearby i can try but this is wonders better than dealing with the other vet haha

LisaHE said:

I hope you're able to find one! There are several cat-only vets in my area and I've heard great things about almost all of them. There's a "cat friendly practitioners" site here that might be helpful: http://www.catvets.com/cfp/cfp

Not all the vets listed are cat-only but at least you can tell by some of the practice names (like our vet's: Cats on Call!) and the "additional details" if they only see cats. And even if you don't have a cat-only practice near you, maybe you can at least find a cat-friendly one!

Again, I hope you're able to find someone you and your cat like!

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My vet is a cat only practice. So much less stress than a mixed animal practice. And you know the people there know and love cats. Link is so comfortable at his vet now. Our last visit he tried to follow the vet out of the exam room, lol.

scylla said:

thank you! i did just find one for cats through the site

theres a city nearby i can try but this is wonders better than dealing with the other vet haha

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Yes, that other vet doesn't sound like much fun! Good luck.

Kieka said:

My vet is a cat only practice. So much less stress than a mixed animal practice. And you know the people there know and love cats. Link is so comfortable at his vet now. Our last visit he tried to follow the vet out of the exam room, lol.

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There's the thing: they know and love cats. That's what I like about our vet's practice, too. The clinic where we took our previous cat had separate entrances and waiting areas for dogs and cats and they were far enough away that the cat didn't get nervous. The biggest problem there was that the vets were just more dog-oriented and their lack of knowledge about feline nutrition and foods was not helpful!