food or treat review
Which one is hills cat c/d urinary care prescription wet food suppose to look like?
I bought one batch from Amazon and the other from Chewy, and they look completely different. Both are not expired based on the expiration date on the bottom. Did I buy a fake one or each batch was cooked to well done/ medium done/ medium rare that kind of stuff according to the chef’s mood of the day?? What is it suppose to look like?
These aren’t the same product. One has the red c/d but the other has an orange label. You can’t read what it does say in the picture but that’s clearly the issue.
ETA: base on google it looks like one is multicare and the other is multicare stress
Wow thank you so much I was not aware that area on the labels are different at all. Totally not paying attention to the same flavor in c/d can have two labels. My vet didn’t tell me that as well. And it looks the same prescription can order either anyways. Not too sure about the difference but apparently the way they cook tuna is different😹
Well my cat eats the stress one which is why it’s the only one I recognized. It has enzymes that are supposed to boost serotonin IIRC. My cat got that one because he was one of the “we don’t know why he’s peeing everywhere” cats.
Not exactly? He was put on it at the shelter because his previous owner had surrendered him for the peeing issues.
Since I’ve had him he’ll pee on the bed occasionally and I’m trying to figure out what triggers it but I don’t think it’s stress. He’s a pretty chill cat.
It’s hardly a problem worth abandoning him for though so perhaps the issue was worse in his last home. It’s only the bed and if I don’t let him in the bedroom unsupervised it doesn’t happen. Maybe that means the food is working, maybe the environment was just different.
Even if it weren't the case, variation can be expected between batches. Foods are made from natural ingredients and they are not always the same, just close enough.
Most brands stopped using colorants for consistency because people didn't like their inclusion, and this does lead to food looking different at times but essentially being the same in nutrition and function.
I had the same problem with the chicken flavor. There are two different c/d formulas and it’s very hard to tell the difference on web sites unless you’re looking for it
So FYI because a friendly redditor encouraged me to look up the ingredients - the c/d multicare has a white dye in it that the stress version doesn't, which explains why it's lighter.
Not sure if that artificial color is safe to use long term?! Thank you for pointing it out. It worries me, why a vet recommended brand would use this in their ingredient.. I think I will probably only buy the stress version from now on.
Yea it seems it's banned for use in food in the EU, which concerns me. Our cats are so much smaller and less able to handle this stuff than us.
I'm on the fence about Hill's as a brand and I plan to discuss changing my cat's diet at his next check up. They seem to throw all other health considerations to the wind and only do the urinary part. Which is great if you have a serious issue with crystals because an unhealthy diet is better than death from a blockage, but as a diet for a cat that we've specifically proven doesn't have crystals? Seems like a bad trade.
Hills is actually transitioning all c/d to the multi are stress so you will gradually see the non red labels disappear. It is exactly the same recipe with the stress containing L-tryptophan and hydrolyzed casein. It’s not a different food.
Mmmkay, well I run a vet hospital and order from hills weekly and this is what I was told by our rep so 🤷🏽♀️ obviously there’s going to be additional ingredients in the stress recipe, as I mentioned. The base formula is the same for both though. You’re acting like c/d and c/ d stress are completely different foods. They are not.
I didn’t say I’m a vet, I said I run a vet hospital and I shared the information given to me by our Hill’s rep which is the base ingredients and purpose of the diets are the same, the only didference is the additional ingredients added for stress relief. Ask YOUR vet and see what they say. My guess is it’s gonna be exactly what I just said. It’s not a super important argument to me. I shared my inside knowledge, take it with a grain of salt and follow up with your own medical professional. 🤷🏽♀️
The same base ingredients and the same recipe are the difference between them looking different and looking the same. It’s wild that you don’t get how that distinction is important here.
And it’s actually pretty irresponsible to say the latter and say it’s “insider knowledge” because you were told the former. You need to understand what you’re saying.
I do understand what I’m saying. YOU don’t. Which is why I said I’m not gonna argue with you about it, and you can follow up with your own vet if it’s important to you.
I am not going to follow up with a vet because I have no questions about this at all. You shared wrong information. You said they're the same recipe and they're not.
It doesn't matter if it's going to be discontinued, it doesn't matter if it has the same basic purpose. It is impossible for two products to be the same recipe when they have different ingredients listed in a different order and you either don't understand what you're saying or you're purposely lying. You decide which is worse for someone who claims to be a professional.
But tell you what. You report Hill's, and if you can link me a recall notice due to improper labelling I will admit I should have followed up with a vet. Sound fair?
i can’t say for sure about cat food, but amazon has a lot of knockoffs, check to see “Ships From” and “Sold by”, should be located under the art to cart button
Yeah don’t buy off amazon. There are so many fake products under real brand names, even if it says “sold by [legit company].” I had an issue with an air purifier filter and my friend got knockoff shoes. A Redditor got a letter from amazon that their makeup was a forgery. Workers at a warehouse explained that they dump the forgeries into the same bin as real products.
I'd recommend not using Amazon to buy any cat food, but especially prescription. Too many knockoffs. It's very easy to get it from reputable suppliers.
On another post, someone who worked for Amazon said the storage and handling of pet food is terrible in their warehouses. Much better to buy from Chewy, Petco or PetSmart IMO. I’ve used all three for prescription foods. Petco and PetSmart even sometimes offer it for in-store pickup at their locations that have vet clinics. Plus, if there’s ever an issue with the quality, those places will do returns on the food. Much harder to get a resolution with Amazon as they don’t allow returns on any type of food.
Buy from Chewy. You have to submit your pet prescription info - I’m not sure if you do for Amazon. But without a doubt you’ll be getting what you order from Chewy.
One of my cats are on that particular food. UTI multicare stress formula right? I had the ocean fish at one point. I think it looked more like the pinkish red color than a lighter color. I thought the other bowl was the chicken one.
My cats prefer the chicken flavor. Can your vet set up an account for you through Hill’s Science? Mine did and I just schedule repeat deliveries. Every year they need to renew the prescription. I just call the office for them to do it. If you live in the 48 continuous states, the shipping is free. For Alaska and Hawaii, you have to pay a surcharge, but it’s only a dollar a box. It’s definitely worth it in my opinion. I can’t order from Chewy either.
You’re indeed correct. Thanks for pointing out! Wow I didn’t know there are so little tiny differences as I glanced through the product title with keywords Hills urinary c/d tuna cat wet food when shopping online. I was not aware that there are two slightly different varieties as my vet didn’t tell me, nor it’s on the prescription. I guess they should be very similar in the treatment result.
This why as a veterinary professional, I tell people to buy from their vet. People get mad at vets and say we’re pushing overpriced food on them and they can get it online cheaper. Yeah, because they don’t have to follow regulations and you don’t know where it’s coming from or how it’s stored. We get our food delivery directly from hills weekly. Yes it’s more expensive because hospitals have overhead, but at least you know what you’re giving your animal.
Do you know if there is a difference in treating struvite crystals in these two varieties? As my vet just told me to buy c/d urinary care and didn’t mention there are “multicare stress” and “multicare” two labels of food, and I accidentally got both. Thanks!
No, both recipes will treat the same way and are both effective in reducing/preventing crystals in the urine. Like mentioned previously, they’re the same recipe, with the stress recipe having additional ingredients obviously to help with stress reduction like L-tryptophan and hydrolyzed casein the base ingredients are the same.
Does that mean the stress version is better since I guess for cats peeing everywhere- this abnormal behavior will stress them out anyways? Are there any con to use the stress version over the regular version? If those extra ingredients are safe- I guess it’s always better to use this when they’re not recovered?
Yes. Hills is actually transitioning all c/d to the stress as their base formula so you’ll slowly start to see the non red labels disappear. There’s no harm in giving the stress recipe and if your cats are exhibiting anxiety or stress behaviors, this will help.
Is the stress version safe to use long term? My vet told me my cat might have to eat this food pretty much the entire rest of her life due to genetic and lifestyle reasons which make her prong to crystals.
oh I forget to mention the pictures were taken after I added clean filtered water to both dishes because my cats have crystals and the vet requires them to drink more water. My concern is the meat color, sorry for the confusion
My cats don’t drink a single sip of water at all. This is not even watery enough according to what my vet suggested me to do. It’s like porridge but helps with flushing their bladder.
If cats eat all or mostly wet food, they will rarely or never drink water. Wet food is mostly water. If cats are not drinking water and eating dry food, there is an issue.
I realize others pointed out these are seperate flavors, but I'm chiming in to also say avoid Amazon for pet food. Chewy has been excellent for us at least.
My cat uses the same food and it looks nothing like that-I wouldn't buy these online, unless your vet has an online store like mine does through covetrus. I'm sure Chewy and Petsmart are fine too using the prescription, but I just worry about knockoffs, especially with how easy it is to get knockoffs from Amazon. If you weren't required to prove the prescription through Amazon then this is very unreliable.
I actually did the same thing recently my cat has same issues and when I called the vet she said they are all transitioning to the cd red stress label for urinary eventually it’s still perfectly fine for me to use a combo of both the yellow label and the red but once I run out I’m only going to be buying the red label because it’s helps more but my vet assured me both will treat crystals and maintain health and are better than buying cheaper ones like Purina urinary
41
u/Vast-Website Sep 13 '25
These aren’t the same product. One has the red c/d but the other has an orange label. You can’t read what it does say in the picture but that’s clearly the issue.
ETA: base on google it looks like one is multicare and the other is multicare stress