Is Hill's Science Diet Good?its The Best Premium In My Country!

sahara · Aug 2, 2006

HI!!! I live in Istanbul, Turkey. Ive got a 5 month old tabby queen and ım hoping to see her 15 th birthday (at least!).
One of my main concerns is about her diet. Ive made a comparision between the cat foods listed here and the ones we get here in Turkey but im afraid we dont have ANY of the ones listed here in this site. In fact it kind of ticked me off since I got the impression that the premium cat foods we have here are just common market products over there in the U.S.
So im in utter confusement here ; I know ı cant get hold of the products you have over there (USA)..with the cost of shipping and all that, but at least could anyone give me a recommendation out of the cat food brands which ım gonna list here? I could at least choose out of the "best of the worst" !!! These products (starting from the best one) are considered pemium and are only sold in veterinary clinics and pet shops :

1)HILLS SCIENCE DIET
2)EUKANUBA
3)ROYAL CANIN
4)PRO PLAN
5)IAMS
6)BONA CIBO

These are the top 6... As for these guys ; whiskas, bonnie, champion,kitkat, purina friskies,a kat,etc etc are the market lunches!

I plan to give my kitten Hills science diet kitten (both dry and wet). Its considered the best along with royal canin and eukanuba, and they're amaaazingly expensive too!!! Im willing to take in the cost but ı really need some good helpful advice!

naturestee · Aug 2, 2006

Hill's Science Diet has a lot of grains and really isn't all that good. Royal Canin is often recommended here. I'm feeding Eukanuba dry to my kittens (and other brands of wet). They were getting Science Diet at the shelter and they thought Eukanuba was a treat!

I don't know much about Pro Plan or Bona Cibo, but I'd probably feed Iams before I fed Science Diet. I know a lot of people who really like it.

sharky · Aug 2, 2006

Royal canin or Pro Plan ... do you have websites with ingrediants as they will vary country to country

solaritybengals · Aug 2, 2006

You don't get Nutro? I would have thought it just as common as those others you mention...

jcat · Aug 2, 2006

I believe both Eukanuba and Royal Canin are preferable to Hill's because of all the grain. You could always feed Hill's canned, supplemented with either Eukanuba or RC dry.

moggiegirl · Aug 2, 2006

Of all the foods listed I like Eukanuba because it has the most animal based protein of all of them and cats are obligate carnivores. I like that all the protein in the food is coming from meat, not soy, not corn gluten. If I had to choose from the ones listed, Eukanuba would be my choice. At least the best cuts of the meat are at the top of the list. And you'll get a shiny glossy coat on your cat from the vitamin rich fish oils they use.

sharky · Aug 2, 2006

Originally Posted by moggiegirl

Of all the foods listed I like Eukanuba because it has the most animal based protein of all of them and cats are obligate carnivores. I like that all the protein in the food is coming from meat, not soy, not corn gluten. If I had to choose from the ones listed, Eukanuba would be my choice. At least the best cuts of the meat are at the top of the list. And you'll get a shiny glossy coat on your cat from the vitamin rich fish oils they use.

ALL the protein doesnt come from meat... I would have you study up a bit more..

... Best cuts if its what I have seen I wouldnt touch it ...lol.. cat chow is better at least it is naturally preserved ... Corn gluten is better than corn study digestabilty youll see it plainly...

moggiegirl · Aug 2, 2006

Sharky, you don't have to agree with me on this one but I've studied and analyzed the ingredients plenty, and I have a legal right to my opinion. If I had to choose among the limited supply of foods listed this is what I would choose based on what I personally prefer.
Eukanuba does list specific muscle meats at the top of the list. A muscle meat if I am not mistaken is a good cut of meat. In Eukanuba they do not use plant sources as protein. I personally do not like to see corn gluten or soy used as a source of protein as they are less biologically available to a cat than meat and internal organs. The grains used in Eukanuba are specifically used as carbohydrate sources and not as a protein source. One thing that is different about the Iams company, although they do use by-products and there are better brands in our country, at least in Eukanuba brands the by-products are not at the top of the list, all the protein they use in their foods comes from animal based sources. Personally, I think if the poster can get Eukanuba, that's the best he can do. Eukanuba is still widely used by top breeders in the United States. Breeders also use Royal Canin so that's another good brand. But it's just my personal preference to prefer Eukanuba because I see more animal based protein in the food itself, so please allow me to have my personal opinion without "You need to study up a bit more." I already have. Do we always have to tell people they didn't do enough studying up just because of a difference of opinion? That's just not right. And Eukanuba products are naturally preserved. The prescription diets have ethoxyquin but if the poster is just feeding a regular food. Purina Pro-Plan, I don't like. It has soy in it. That's a common allergen and a very cheap source of protein.

sharky · Aug 2, 2006

moggiegirl said:
Sharky, you don't have to agree with me on this one but I've studied and analyzed the ingredients plenty, and I have a legal right to my opinion. If I had to choose among the limited supply of foods listed this is what I would choose based on what I personally prefer.
QUOTE]
.... I know we differ but I have done volumes/ years of research and dont come anywhere near you opnion ..I dont like any of the food listed but she asked and we answered ... Obviously you are reading and interpreting differently which is okay but I see the first two ingrediants as by product and rice or corn ... the listed two are mainly water and cook down to a fifth or sixth ingrediant... Cats are carnivores and we both agree dont need much in carbs..
I do Thank you for the Soy reminder in Pro plan , though If memory serves they have a few without by products and corn which is why I place it higher than Eukanuba which it is great they stopped putting in chemical preservatives...

jcat · Aug 2, 2006

I don't see any "yelling" going on here, and arguing about that is non-productive This member has listed the foods she can find in Turkey, and rather than fighting about by-products, etc., we have to give her some in-put. I assume that Turkey is like the EU: Neither RC nor Eukanuba have wet/canned food on the market here. The same is true of Pro Plan. If she's looking for a canned and a dry food, she could probably feed Hill's/Iam's canned, with (a) different brand(s) of dry. I tend towards Eukanuba dry because of the brands listed, that has caused fewer allergy reactions in Jamie than the others.

sharky · Aug 2, 2006

Originally Posted by jcat

I don't see any "yelling" going on here, and arguing about that is non-productive This member has listed the foods she can find in Turkey, and rather than fighting about by-products, etc., we have to give her some in-put. I assume that Turkey is like the EU: Neither RC nor Eukanuba have wet/canned food on the market here. The same is true of Pro Plan. If she's looking for a canned and a dry food, she could probably feed Hill's/Iam's canned, with (a) different brand(s) of dry. I tend towards Eukanuba dry because of the brands listed, that has caused fewer allergy reactions in Jamie than the others.

I am sorry I just read it differently...

That is true Europe can have totally different in ingrediants than stateside ...

goldenkitty45 · Aug 2, 2006

I would pick 2, 3 or 4 - Iams/Eukaneba are the same company - Euk is a much higher protein - used for whole cats - not neutered ones as it is higher calories.

And Royal Cain is good. IMO forget the Science Diet and ProPlan. I know many people that won't touch SD and ProPlan (at least for rexes) ruins their coats - too dry for them.

My cats are Iams cats and the oldest are 15 and 17 yrs with no medical problems. They rarely got sick in their lives - still going strong.

jlphilli · Aug 2, 2006

Of all the foods listed I like Eukanuba because it has the most animal based protein of all of them and cats are obligate carnivores. I like that all the protein in the food is coming from meat, not soy, not corn gluten. If I had to choose from the ones listed, Eukanuba would be my choice. At least the best cuts of the meat are at the top of the list. And you'll get a shiny glossy coat on your cat from the vitamin rich fish oils they use.

I couldn't agree more!

moggiegirl · Aug 2, 2006

We're really spoiled in the US, I mean, to have such a large selections of brands that we actually can bicker on cat forums about it. I'll bet if we were living in Turkey or some place in Europe with a smaller selection of cat food brands we would just have to pick what we think is decent enough and not worry about it. Most cats live pretty long lives anyway.

I remember back in the old days when I was a child and in my early teens, and before Petco came to my neighborhood. My aunt bought her cats food in a grocery store and fed Friskies and Fancy Feast and sometimes fresh food like raw liver or cooked chicken. As a hardworking lady in her 60s it was not convenient for her to drive around looking for a pet supply store. Her cats lived to be about 16 and a half, an average age for cats to live. Now that Petco is around she buys her cat Nutro Max Cat.

We all have to make the best of our available resources.

ted n ellie · Aug 2, 2006

Golden Kitty,
Your opinion was very interesting to me. I have Devon Rexes and was feeding them Hills Sciecne Diet until recently as it had been recommended by the breeder and the vet. However, one of my guys got a digestion problem AND lost most of his coat (which was thick). I switched to Eaglepack holistic dry kibble and his digestion is fine now and his coat is growing back quickly.

Sahara,
Eaglepack may not be available in Istanbul, but IMO I would stay away from Science Diet, at least my kitties did not react well to it.

catsallover · Aug 2, 2006

Have you looked into ordering off the internet? I've heard that if you shop around on shipping and stuff like that, the prices aren't too bad. I don't know what companies ship to you, though. Might be something to look into, if you're interested. And my vote is for Royal Canin- I've heard good things about both their dog and cat food. Here I've fed pets Chicken Soup for the Kitten (or dog

) Lover's Soul, and Felidae (and Canidae -dog version)- I think one of them was available to be shipped to places like the UK and Austrailia, but I don't remember which one. Good luck with your food search!

BTW- my cats were on SD before I started looking up food for our new dog and discovered a whole new world of pet food

- Mine are just DSH and DLH, mixed up cats, but their coats are SO much softer and shinier since I switched them off of the SD- I'd skip it.

cata_mint · Aug 3, 2006

Wow, SD is bad? I am switching my kittens food!

sharky · Aug 3, 2006

Originally Posted by cata_mint

Wow, SD is bad? I am switching my kittens food!

Bad isnt the word more like for the price you can get far far better quality...

read the label and do a search on here

laureen227 · Aug 3, 2006

Originally Posted by catsallover

BTW- my cats were on SD before I started looking up food for our new dog and discovered a whole new world of pet food

- Mine are just DSH and DLH, mixed up cats, but their coats are SO much softer and shinier since I switched them off of the SD- I'd skip it.

Chip was on SD at his foster home & i switched him to chicken soup dry & wet when i got him. his coat is tons softer than it used to be & his stools are considerably less bulky & smelly.
that said - i've fed SD in the past, & the cats were healthy. i just think the higher quality foods lead to a better result. of those listed, i would agree with sharky as to quality, altho i'd be ok with the eukanuba if, like jcat, your cat has allergic issues with royal canin.

zak&rocky · Aug 4, 2006

From what I've read here I put science diet on about the same level, or lower than purina one, iams, etc. It's not worth the price you pay for it..
Anyway, If I were the poster I would probably pick pro plan, royal canin or eukanuba, assuming they are the same they have here... I never heard of the last food mentioned.

Is Hill's Science Diet Good?its The Best Premium In My Country!

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