Worked great to help my cat lose weight (Hill's Science Plan for Cats)

Member Name: Sarah555

Product:	Hill's Science Plan for Cats
Date:	15/03/04 (1419 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: dry food doesn't spoil, diet worked well

Disadvantages: pretty expensive

I adopted my cat Maggie at ~9 months of age from the shelter. She was pretty skinny at that point. I fed her Science Plan regular adult food in the amount recommended on the package. My roommate had a cat, too, who unfortunately got sick. Maggie started eating the other cat's food, who had lost all appetite. Anyway, five months later, my cat had gone from 7.5 pounds (American, i.e. 3.4kg) to 12.5 pounds (5.7kg). My vet said she needed to lose weight and we put Maggie on a diet, starting with the 'light' food, then switching to w/d and later r/d food (prescription diet). It took Maggie a year to lose the weight on 1/2 cup of r/d food a day. But then, cats are supposed to lose weight very slowly, otherwise they lose muscle mass instead of fat. Now she's down to 10.4 pounds (4.7kg) and looks just fine.
I don't know why, but Maggie seems to have a very efficient metabolism. She is now getting just over half a cup of the r/d food to maintain her weight. Does she nag me for more? Sure! But believe me, the way she inhales the food, she wouldn't stop eating on her own. In fact, the couple of times she got into the food container, she gorged herself so much that she had to throw up later on. I think she is just not a cat who can be free fed. I tried giving her some canned food a couple of times, as a treat. But guess what? She preferred the dry food.
For me, Science Plan has worked amazingly well. Even though Maggie gets very little food, she seems to get all the nutritional supplements she needs (had bloodwork done).
My second cat, Shelby, that I adopted just six months ago is eating the 'light' food. My vet said the 'light' food is not really a diet food, but a reduced calorie food suitable for indoor cats, or inactive cats. This time around I am much more careful and pay close attention to Shelby's weight. It is much easier to prevent your cat from becoming overweight than to get it to lose weight. I found that Scien
ce Plan has pretty much a food type for any situation you might be in.
It is true that the Science Plan cat food is pretty expensive compared to no-name dry cat food. But compared to canned food, I think it is still pretty cheap, especially when you feed as little as 1/2 a cup a day.

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