Hill's cat food - reviews, composition and advice from veterinarians

What will you learn from the article?

More about food
Types of Hills cat food Advantages of food:
Minuses:
Hill's dry food:
Wet food:

Which food should you choose for your pet?

Hills food for kittens (1-12 months):

Hill's food for adult cats (1-6 years):

Hills food for senior cats (over 7 years):

Video review of Hills food

Hill's® Prescription Diet® - a line of therapeutic nutrition products

Reviews of Hill's cat food

Prices

With the arrival of a kitten in your family, the first question arises: what to feed your little pet? There are two options: homemade food or ready-made Hills cat food, by the way, read reviews about it in this article.

More about food

Hill's cat food is a product that belongs to the “super premium” class, produced in the USA and Holland. Available in the form of dry food and canned food. Used as basic nutrition or medicinal formulas.

Despite the “super premium” class, you should make sure that this particular food is suitable for your pet.

If the food is suitable for the kitten, then first of all this can be seen in the fur: it should be beautiful and shiny. Also, the kitten should be active, playful and cheerful. But if you notice a strong odor from your pet’s mouth or from its tray, then refuse this food and try to find a more suitable one.

Compound

In the process of producing ready-made food for cats, the manufacturer uses a large number of ingredients, namely:

turkey or chicken fillet;
vegetable protein like corn gluten;
rice and corn;
fats of animal origin;
fish oil;
vegetable fats;
cultivated soybeans;
tuna flour;
products of the dairy industry.

Also among the ingredients are dried beet pulp, β-carotene, a small amount of cellulose, amino acids, vitamins and minerals.

Note! Ready-made food for four-legged friends contains natural preservatives, in particular rosemary.

Types of Hills cat food

For the appearance of Hills and medicinal food in general, we should thank Dr. Morris. It was Mark Morris who was the first to understand that a cat’s well-being depends on the quality of food for a cat and was the first to develop such food. And in 1948, Mark Morris founded the world's first clinical nutrition company for animals.

Today, the Hills brand has already built a strong reputation for itself without lowering the bar of its standards. The company's headquarters remain in Topeka, Kansas.

And Hills cat products include both canned and dry food.

It is important to know that Hill's, producing the right products for your pet, has divided them into two lines:

Science Plan - healthy nutrition, which is aimed at healthy and active animals
Prescription Diet - therapeutic nutrition, in demand when your pet is feeling unwell

Interesting:

what to feed the cat;
cat food rating;
Is dry food harmful for cats?

Pros of food:

affordable prices;
a wide selection of feeds (including medicinal ones);
suitable for most cats;
the composition of the feed is detailed on the packaging;
balanced content of phosphorus, calcium and magnesium.

Minuses:

contains a lot of vegetable protein and carbohydrates;
your pet may be allergic to food;
Wet food is inferior in quality to dry food.

Hill's dry food:

better quality than canned food;
excellent for storage in dry areas, but may deteriorate in damp areas;
very nutritious, but requires the kitten to drink a lot of liquid.

Wet food:

can cause appetite in a pet;
has a long shelf life in packaging;
high in calories, as it is enriched with fats.

Price and where to buy

Hill's formulas come in different packaging, so the price depends on the type of cat food. Wet canned food in the form of pieces in a small package (85 g) can be bought for 62-65 rubles. when ordering in online stores, but in retail outlets the cost may be slightly higher depending on the region. A jar of mousse (85 g) will cost 76 rubles.

Hills dry products (food in the form of small oval granules) come in packaging from 300 g to 8 kg. The minimum price for a 300 g package is about 230-250 rubles; packages weighing 1.5 kg (911 rubles), 3.5 kg (1,945 rubles) and 8 kg (3,945 rubles) are available. In pet stores, goods are 10-15% more expensive.

Which food should you choose for your pet?

The range of healthy foods from Hill's is very diverse. It is designed for kittens, adult cats, and those animals that have reached old age.

Hills food for kittens (1-12 months):

Science Plan™ Kitten Healthy Development™ "Chicken"

The manufacturer promises that the precise balance of sodium and phosphorus levels in Hill's™ Science Plan™ Kitten Healthy Development™ food, the presence of antioxidants, and the correct level of DHA from fish oil will ideally support the kitten's immunity and vitality.

Available flavors:

- chicken;

– tuna.

Science Plan™ Feline Young Adult Sterilized Cat “Chicken”

This menu is for kittens that have already been spayed or neutered. To prevent the animal from gaining excess weight and subsequently contracting urolithiasis, the developers of the food have saturated it with minerals that control the functions of the urinary tract; the ingredients of the food are easily digested and this ensures optimal supply of nutrients to the cat’s body.

It will be interesting:

Royal Canin food reviews;
Acana cat food reviews;

Hill's food for adult cats (1-6 years):

Science Plan™ Feline Adult Hairball Control “Chicken”

This menu contains several important items:

– a formula to prevent the formation of hairballs in the cat’s gastrointestinal tract;

– saturation with substances that reduce shedding;

– minerals to maintain a healthy urinary system.

Hills food for senior cats (over 7 years):

Science Plan™ Feline Mature Adult 7+ Active Longevity™

Hill's™ Science Plan™ Feline Mature Adult 7+ Active Longevity™ menu protects the kidneys of older cats and gentlemen. The food is rich in antioxidants (vitamins E, C), it is low in phosphorus, but high in Omen-3 fatty acids.

Available flavors:

- chicken;

– tuna.

Science Plan™ Feline Mature Adult 7+ Hairball Control “Chicken”

The natural fibers in Hill's™ Science Plan™ Feline Mature Adult 7+ Hairball Control help prevent hairballs from forming in your cat's gastrointestinal tract, while vitamins E and C protect your cat's liver.

Science Plan™ Feline Mature Adult 7+ Sterilized Cat Chicken

Older pets who have been spayed or neutered will benefit from this position with its unique weight control formula. Read more about food for sterilized cats and neutered cats.

Advantages and disadvantages

Compared to other types of food, Hills has the best price-quality ratio. These are affordable products, the quality of which allows felinologists to classify them as premium or super-premium. The food contains only high-quality ingredients: natural meat, vegetables and cereals.

The advantages include the following:

availability of information about the composition and purpose;
indication of the recommended dosage for animals of different weights;
the opportunity to purchase the desired mixture both in pet stores and online companies;
wide age range (the diet can not be changed until the pet is older).

But many cat owners sometimes note the disadvantages of Hills. Most often these are complaints about a change and increase in the smell of excrement, and indigestion of the pet. This occurs due to individual intolerance to food components.

Another sign that the food is not suitable can be allergic skin reactions.

For pets with sensitive digestion, you can choose other mixtures from this manufacturer. Hill's Science Plan Adult Sensitive Stomach line contains rice and egg, which help the predator's body more fully absorb plant components.

Despite the fact that Hill's, like other premium mixtures, is hypoallergenic and completely natural, the animal's immune system may react inappropriately. This is expressed by skin rashes when introducing new food into the diet. In this case, veterinarians may recommend special medicinal granules from Nature's Best.

Cats often prefer wet mixtures, but owner reviews note that Hills dry food is of higher quality. When introducing a new diet, you should carefully monitor your pet’s condition, and 7-10 days after the change, you need to take tests and check the quality of assimilation of the new food.

Reviews of Hill's cat food

Karina : “I have British cats that feed on Hills from their young claws. The most appetizing one for them is the one with tuna flavor. Let me note that the transition from baby food to adult food went unnoticed. And I especially focus on the absence of allergies to fish-flavored food. It’s a pity, of course, that the price of the food is expensive, but the good composition and palatability pay for the costs. I now order online in large packages, it’s more profitable.”

Andrey : “I have a cat that falls into the elderly category - she is already 11 years old. For 10 years she ate other foods, but her health was no longer the same, so she took Hills based on the recommendations. The most popular food for my purr is lamb-flavored food. I praise sincerely - in just a month of feeding, the cat’s age-related bald spots began to heal and the peeling of the skin went away. I’ve been feeding it alternately lamb and rabbit for a year now.”

Katerina : “Somehow Hill’s didn’t suit our cat. Moreover, I will not criticize the composition and quality of the food, it’s just that my cat is picky and capricious. He eats just a little Hills, and the rest lies in a bowl until I remove it and add a new portion. So I don’t buy it anymore, which is a pity, because I noticed that feces really don’t stink that much.”

Slava : “I always buy expensive food in the hope that it is automatically good, so Hills comes to us often. What can I say, the cat likes it (of course, for such and such a price). But the tastes quickly become boring, so there is no way to save on large volumes.”

Daily feed requirements

On the packaging, the manufacturer indicated approximate serving sizes. The owner should take into account that all animals are different. The dosage of food is selected individually, based on the condition and needs of the pet.

Weight, kg	Portion, g
2	30-40
3	40-55
4	50-70
5	60-80
6	65-90
7 or more	90 and further for each kg of weight add 12 g of feed

Healthy Ingredients

Several amino acids, the building blocks of protein, are also added to this diet.

L-carnitine plays an important role in the process of fat metabolism; it delivers fatty acids to those elements of muscle cells, where they can be quickly converted into energy. This substance will be useful in the diet of overweight animals (and probably suitable for spayed and neutered animals).

L-lysine, a source of the amino acid lysine, is found in many animal proteins. Lysine, most often in the L-form, is added to feeds high in soy and grains to balance the amino acid composition.

DL-methionine, an essential amino acid for dogs and cats, protects the liver and breaks down fats. It is a source of sulfur, which makes up the protein keratin. The latter is necessary for the health of the animal's hair, skin and claws. Methionine is found only in animal proteins, so it is often added artificially to diets based on plant proteins.

Taurine is an amino acid, a building element of animal proteins. It is vital for cats, but adding it to the diet as a separate component is an indicator of the low quality of the protein components of the diet or their insufficient quantity. Since they cannot provide the animal’s body with the necessary amount of taurine, the manufacturer has to add it additionally. Judging by the set of amino acids stated in the list, the food contains very little animal protein.

The diet, among other things, includes a variety of vitamin and mineral supplements, which are necessary partly due to the lack of minerals and vitamins in the raw materials, partly due to the peculiarities of the technological process for the production of dry food (this is the industry norm, and therefore is not a direct indicator of high or poor diet quality).

Royal Canin Hypoallergenic

Photo: https://beru.ru

Royal Canin Hypoallergenic ingredients have excellent digestibility and are supplemented with healthy animal fats, vitamins, and microelements. The best hypoallergenic food for cats takes its position in the top thanks to the dehydrated proteins of plant origin in the composition (soy protein hydrolyzate, rice), high percentage of meat content, and the absence of harmful additives. This food is medicinal. It reduces inflammatory processes on the skin, reduces the severity of digestive disorders that arise due to impaired intestinal function. It has a positive effect on the functioning of the urinary system, preventing deposits and crystallization of struvite and oxalates. It also improves immunity and reduces susceptibility to external adverse factors. Prescribed for allergies of alimentary nature, problems with the gastrointestinal tract (inflammation of the intestines, stool disorders, intestinal infections, etc.), food intolerance.

Royal Canin Hypoallergenic cat food for gastrointestinal problems and allergies

Advantages:

no contraindications
Suitable for use throughout the pet's life
the transition to this food does not require preliminary smooth preparation even in case of serious allergic reactions or symptoms of food intolerance in the cat

Flaws:

price
only 2 types of packages by weight

Manufacturer

Hill's Prescription Diet range was developed by veterinarian Mark Morris. This man passionately loved animals and believed that they needed to be looked after in the same way as one’s own children - carefully and hourly, paying special attention to nutrition.

The turning point was a meeting with a blind guide dog: the dog had a serious kidney disease, from which the animal suffered greatly, and its owner turned to a veterinarian for help.

Morris, realizing that the animal feed available at that time was unbalanced (contained too much phosphorus), decided to independently develop food - not only tasty and nutritious, but also healthy.

Morris was joined by his wife Louise. The food was prepared in the basement of our own house and offered to all friends and acquaintances. The first batches were stored for a short time; a little later Morris began canning food.

In 1948, the first contract was concluded with the Hill Packing Company (Kansas), and in 1951 the doctor was able to open his own laboratory. In 1968, they began producing food for cats.

Today, Hill's food is available in 86 countries around the world, and owners involve both veterinarians and nutritionists in their work.