Science Diet food?

ashleynicole

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When I first got Marlee about a week and a half ago I had the Purina Nurturing Kitten formula dry food to feed her. The first couple days I had her she didn't eat/drink much of anything, so I made her a vet appointment (also to check her stitches). After that appointment I was sent home with Science Diet food from the vet, and some Rebound milk to supplement her so she will gain weight. I've had to take her back again since then, and b/c she is dehydrated and wont drink much water herself, I'm doing water by syringe as well. Yesterday she finally started eating the Science Diet, not as much as she needs, but a little. Today she started having diarrhea. Not a lot, maybe twice today with a little bit of soft poop in between. I called the vet and he said just watch her and bring her in tomorrow if it looks like she needs it. But back to the point of the post, I haven't seen anyone mention Science Diet on here. I figure since the vet recommends it, its pretty good, but wanted some other opinions.

Ashley
 

emb_78

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Originally Posted by AshleyNicole

When I first got Marlee about a week and a half ago I had the Purina Nurturing Kitten formula dry food to feed her. The first couple days I had her she didn't eat/drink much of anything, so I made her a vet appointment (also to check her stitches). After that appointment I was sent home with Science Diet food from the vet, and some Rebound milk to supplement her so she will gain weight. I've had to take her back again since then, and b/c she is dehydrated and wont drink much water herself, I'm doing water by syringe as well. Yesterday she finally started eating the Science Diet, not as much as she needs, but a little. Today she started having diarrhea. Not a lot, maybe twice today with a little bit of soft poop in between. I called the vet and he said just watch her and bring her in tomorrow if it looks like she needs it. But back to the point of the post, I haven't seen anyone mention Science Diet on here. I figure since the vet recommends it, its pretty good, but wanted some other opinions.

Ashley
I have been doing some research and talked to a lot of people here and they recommend Nutro, Royal Cannon, Evo etc. Something with less fillers and by products!
 

amitya

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science diet ( or science death as its known on some pet nutrition communities) is not a good food. The dry formulas are made of mostly corn. not something that cats need or desire. Science diet also only recently stopped using BHA and BHT and Ethoxyquin ( known cancer causing agents) in their products as preservatives.

Vet schools dont teach much about nutrition to the students-- I would suggest doing some research on foods and finding one that has a meat source as the first ingredients and staying away from by products and artificial preservatives and such.

This website will tell you what pet food ingredients mean-- basically how to read the label: (its a dog food site but the same goes for reading labels for cat foods)

http://www.mordanna.com/dogfood/index.php?page=li101

good luck!
 
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ashleynicole

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Thanks for the advice. Poor Marlee is just having problems! She is just now starting to eat some of the dry food, so I'm a little nervous about changing it so soon! Especially since she's already having a little diarrhea, and I know changing foods can make that worse. How long should I wait before switching to a better food?
 

sharky

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about 2 weeks that she is solidly on it is my thought...
 

menagerie mama

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Originally Posted by amitya

science diet ( or science death as its known on some pet nutrition communities) is not a good food. The dry formulas are made of mostly corn. not something that cats need or desire. Science diet also only recently stopped using BHA and BHT and Ethoxyquin ( known cancer causing agents) in their products as preservatives.

Vet schools dont teach much about nutrition to the students-- I would suggest doing some research on foods and finding one that has a meat source as the first ingredients and staying away from by products and artificial preservatives and such.

This website will tell you what pet food ingredients mean-- basically how to read the label: (its a dog food site but the same goes for reading labels for cat foods)

http://www.mordanna.com/dogfood/index.php?page=li101

good luck!
I agree, vets don't know a lot about nutrition. I know, I work for one! We used to carry Science Diet too, but got rid of it. I don't like it either. It has a lot of fillers like corn, and just goes right through them. They poop a lot!!!
 

elizwithcat

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Vets around here also all recommend Science Diet. But it's not a good food.
Look at the ingredients-it has by-products and corn.
I wouldn't use it.
 
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ashleynicole

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So theres a possibility that the Science Diet might be giving her the diarrhea? Poor baby worries me, even since I got her from the shelter we just havent been able to get her healthy! She was dehydrated, I think thats getting better, now the girl had diarrhea! I wish she could talk to me and tell me whats going on so I could help her. Shes also still be really sleepy, and not really playing.
She seems happy enough, she loves to sit up on my chest, stomach, lap, anywhere and just purr. But I know that as a kitten she should be doing at least a little playing! If she doesnt get worse before then, we already have a vet appointment for friday.
 

sharky

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what did she have before ?? how long was the switch period
 
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ashleynicole

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I have had her since 9/9. I do not know what she had at the shelter. The first few days I tried to use Purina Kitten Nurturing formula. Since her vet visit on 9/14 shes been on Science Diet. But she is going to the vet ASAP in the morning, I just noticed some tinges of blood in the last diarrhea. Hope all is well, I will post tomorrow as soon as I know
 

scamperfarms

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I wouldnt feed her science diet..IMO Purina even their basic formula is better than science diet. I dont know what your price range is. Or if its even an issue. but there are good foods in all ranges. alot of people here like Nutro, I like Purina one and Pro Plan, and Bil Jac
 
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ashleynicole

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Thanks so much for the replies. Its nice to know there are people here to come to with problems. I'm so worried about my baby right now, but I'm going to try to get some sleep and keep an eye on her the rest of the night, and get to the vet early in the morning. Thanks again, and i'm definately gonna see about switching to another food. Are these brands good for both dry and wet?
 

pat

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The quickest way for you to see what has been recommended, is to do a forum search using words such as "recommended food" or "best cat foods", it will bring up all the threads containing those words.

I do not like Science Diet (except if it is a prescription food I would never advise someone to just ditch it without finding a comparable food - that your vet will approve), it is expensive but the ingredients, imo, are not as good as other less expensive brands.

The blood may mean she's irritated from all the diarhea...good to hear she has another apt. I do agree with Sharky, give her a bit of time first to stabilize before changing her again...do some research over this next week, and then do a gradual change.
 

rinadaventry

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I haven't read the responses so perhaps its been mentioned, but I almost bought Science Diet having always heard it was vet reccommended. It contains a lot of by products though, so I passed.
 

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It was a disaster in our home... !

What kind of stitches removed? Spay stitches...?
I'd consult the vet... The signs of not eating, then getting diarrhea...
that sounds medical to me.
 

semiferal

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Vets recommend H*ll's Science Diet because the company spends all its advertising $ marketing itself to vets.

But a simple read of the ingredients label will tell you everything you need to know about the food. In short, it's garbage.

If you have to shop at PETsMART or Petco, Nutro is the best food available there. It is also considerably cheaper than Science Diet. But it is better to shop at a specialty pet store or human health food store and feed a brand such as Innova, Chicken Soup, Pet Guard, Felidae, California Natural, Wellness, or another super premium brand. These vary in price but all are comparable to or cheaper than Science Diet.
 
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ashleynicole

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Yes its spay stitches she'll be getting removied Friday. I got her to the vet this morning for the diarrhea. They said she'll be okay, just gave me some meds to help stop it. I'm just at a loss. Shes doing a LITTLE better at eating dry food, haven't tried wet food the last day or so b/c she wouldn't eat it before. I may try again tonight. How can I help her start drinking/eating on her own?
 
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ashleynicole

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Also, it was my boyfriend that took her b/c I had class. He said the vet told him it could be something called cochlea? (Or sounded that way). Anyone heard of it? Cause i'm thinking maybe he misunderstood the vet and its Coccidia that the vet meant?
 

pat

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Originally Posted by AshleyNicole

Also, it was my boyfriend that took her b/c I had class. He said the vet told him it could be something called cochlea? (Or sounded that way). Anyone heard of it? Cause i'm thinking maybe he misunderstood the vet and its Coccidia that the vet meant?
Coccidia would be more probable, since the cochlea is part of the inner ear.
 
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