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Science Diet Vs. Eukanuba Cat Foods

Eukanuba, Ideal Weight, Science Diet

Who knows what to feed their cat nowadays? Canned food, dry food, food in pouches…there’s so much to pick from. Packages with plain writing on them, cute smiling kitties, and advertisements displaying “more protein” and “low fat” make it difficult to know what the best for your cat is.

Ultimately, the veterinarian should always be consulted when it comes to feline nutrition. Taking the word of pet store clerks and department managers over the advice of a licensed veterinarian is, well… inadvisable. Sure people have their own opinions about what to feed cats, which brands are best or how organics are better or worse than others.

When it comes to statistics, the two most commonly recommended diets for cats are Science Diet and Eukanuba. You won’t typically find these in grocery stores or super markets but will have to visit the vet’s office or many pet stores.

I’ve fed both of these foods to several cats for a period of time and saw some changes with each.

Science Diet was fed to three cats for a period of six months. Two of the cats were considered to be obese and needed to be on a premium diet for weight loss. The third cat was of an ideal weight but didn’t need to gain any pounds in the future. The three were put on Feline Light Maintenance.

All cats were gradually switched over to the diet, as any diet change should be done to avoid stomach upset. One cat instantly reacted to the food and was unable to tolerate it. Even the slightest bit of the food and he would begin vomiting. The other two cats tolerated the food fine.

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Over the period of time, the two cats that continued to eat the food stayed at their current body weight; the one cat at an ideal weight, the other still obese. At the end of the six month trial, as no body weight changes were noted, and the first cat was unable to tolerate it at all, another change was made to Eukanuba Feline Light.

All cats tolerated the food well. The cat of ideal weight remained at his current size. The other two amazingly lost a couple of pounds within the first few months, however they ended up gaining it back later on.

One key note here is that all cats had been fed a measured amount of food appropriate for their ideal body weights and were given no extras such as treats and table foods.

At the end of the time period, the larger cats were still determined to be obese and it was time to refer to prescription diets. Science Diet has a line of prescription diets for fat cats. They have both R/d and M/d. R/d was tried in the distant past on one cat but it was not tolerated well. So, M/d was the choice for these guys. They loved the food but at the end of the time frame, they’d not lost any weight. The cat who couldn’t tolerate the Science Diet Maintenance was also unable to tolerate M/d.

Eukanuba has a line of prescription diets as well for fat cats. Eukanuba Restricted Calorie was the choice. The cats continued to be fed measured amounts of food twice a day with no extra treats or table food. After just the first month, the cats started to loose weight. After more time, more weight has been lost. One cat has lost 4 pounds on this food. The other has lost 2. The numbers sound small, but it’s a lot when compared to a 12 or 18 pound body.

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So what does this conclude for me? It is my experience that Eukanuba is better tolerated by my particular cats overall. They seem to like both Science Diet and Eukanuba but I have a feeling that since being on a diet, they’d probably eat anything if it was presented to them.

I saw results with Eukanuba that I didn’t see with Science Diet. That’s what ultimately made my decision. When it comes to cat food, Eukanuba is the tops with my felines!

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