Dick Van Patten's Natural Balance Ultra Premium Dry Cat Formula VS. Hill's Prescription Diet C/D Feline Dry Cat Food
I wanted to find the proper diet that both of the cats could eat. I went to a pet store and talked with an associate about my feline dietary concerns. After careful consideration and deliberation, I chose Dick Van Patten's Natural Balance Ultra Premium Dry Cat Formula.
When I think of a natural balance, I think of everything working together in harmony. This food did not leave my cats' digestive systems working harmoniously. It left their bowels working overtime. They were pooping like a Christmas goose and stinking to high heaven. Being awoken in the middle of the night due to this smell was not good for my night's sleep either. Cleaning the litter box several times a day to rid the house of the rancid waste coming from both cats became an unpleasant chore.
Arthur had never had a problem with bladder/urinary tract infections in his life. After eating Dick Van Patten's Natural Balance Ultra Premium Dry Cat Formula for only a short time, Arthur not only now had what I would imagine a sore rear end from his increased bowel movements, he now had a bladder/urinary tract infection. For anyone who does not know this, a male cat can die in a short time due to this because of the crystals in the urine causing a blockage in the penis. This inability to urinate will cause an untimely death. I took Arthur to the vet and after three bottles of combiotics, he got well.
To avoid any further problems with the cat's health, I obviously discontinued feeding them the Natural Balance cat food. At the suggestion of the vet, I switched to Hill's Prescription Diet c/d Feline. Not only does this food help maintain a healthy weight in both of the cats, it does not give them nasty potty habits or infections. Much to my relief, it was not included in the recent pet food recall either.
Although Arthur gets perturbed with Tanner's antics and often growls and hisses at him, they are the best of buddies much of the time. Tanner helps keep Arthur young. After many months of consuming the Hill's Prescription Diet c/d Feline, both cats are happy and healthy.
The only down-side to this food is that the cats love it so much that they become obsessed with their next scheduled feeding time. They are fed at 7:00 AM, 2:00 PM, and again at 9:00 PM. About an hour before it's time to eat they are underfoot, pacing maniacs. They want to be fed NOW! They even fight when it's almost time to eat and they feel I'm ignoring them. The intelligence of animals is amazing to me at times. Perhaps Hill's Prescription Diet c/d Feline boosts their brain power as well? At least the hungry part.
I strongly advise you to use caution if you feed your cat Dick Van Patten's Natural Balance Ultra Premium Dry Cat Formula. Pay attention to your feline's bathroom habits. Arthur's unfortunate illness caused him pain and suffering. My pain and suffering was in the form of having to shampoo my carpets twice because of his squatting and peeing in various locations throughout my house. He had given up on trying to get to the litter box at his every urge to urinate. Poor fella.
Published by Sophia Moon
Sophia Moon lives in N.E. Wisconsin and has two wonderful teenage children. View profile
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10 Comments
Post a CommentAlejandra,
Because you have not seen improvement, my advice is to call the vet with your concerns. I hope your cat gets better soon!
Hello, I see this post is a little old, but I'm just desperate about my cat's health. He's just been diagnosed with struvite stones, now he's taking antibiotics, anti-inflammatory and i switched his diet to Hill's c/d. His problems started 8 days ago and I see no improvement. As I've read, improvement takes its time, but i wanted to ask if it's normal to see difficulty when he tries to urinate, even if he's already in treatment... I'm very worried because I think his bladder's gonna explode if he can't urinate as much as he needs, and just drops a few drops lots of times on a day. Thanks for any responses!
Do not feed your cat DRY food. Cats do not need dry food. Find a good quality, all natural, canned food. Or try a raw food diet. Do some research on the ingredients in ALL dry cat foods. NONE of them are any good. Find a veternarian that specializes in cats and their nutrition. Your ignorance about what you are feeding your cat is what will kill him or her.
I had a similar problem starting in mid summer. Both of my cats were fed Natural Balance dry and canned. They both started reverse sneezing fits, vomiting, the runs, and my black cat's cat even starting turning red. I thought I would lose them both. After numerous vet visits, tests, and a switch to Hills Prescription Food, both my cats after a month seem back to normal.
I would have been really mad if our kitties would have died or something. :(
I thought I was buying a quality product as well with the Natural Balance product. I switched my 11 yr old male cat to the reduced calorie last summer when he was over weight. Yes, it helped him lose weight, but he also was just hospitalized with complete urinary blockage. Prior to using this product, he never had urinary problems. Stay away from Natural Balance!
Read the ingredients and you'll realize that Hill's is crap. First 3 ingredients are:
Brewers Rice, Corn Gluten Meal. I challenge you to find a cat in the wild that is a menace to the local rice paddy or corn field. Only problem with Natural Balance is that they use some imported ingredients and also I believe have outsourced manufacturing. There are other premium brands out there that a good local pet store will carry. One that I am familiar with is Blue Buffalo.
I'm in the same boat!! Exactly. My 4 year old cat has been on Natural Balance and she was just diagnosed with FLUTD. The vet switched her too Hill's c/d, and I hope it goes as well for her as it did for yours! Thanks for sharing.
good review! hills perscrpition diet are definately the way to go if your pet has a health problem. however i think that the quality of the main ingredients is not that good in most of the formulas. Your cats might be hungry all the time because of the low kcals per cup. I dont knw the amounts for their prescription diets but im sure its close to their regular formulas.
Thank you for bringing up this topic. I experienced the same exact problem. Used Dick Van Patten's NB, a month later one of my cats was diagnosed with FLUTS/D. I was so heart broken that this happened, because I switched to a "healthy natural" food to prevent such a thing from happening! Now Hill's c/d will be the main staple for my cats as well.