Hill's I/D or Medi-Cal Gastro... we have to switch...

Calliesmom said:
just hope that something helps Miko out :yes:
it's sad when the pups are sick and it's so hard to figure out how to help them. hope one of these foods will do the trick :smile2:
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Yeah... it's even worse when you find something that kind of works, and then have to move on to something else. Oh well... with any luck, one of these other foods will work. Thanks again for the help!!!
 
Mikos_Mom said:
As some of you may have read, our vet gave us a couple of cans of IAMS Vet Formula Low-Residue to try on Miko. It's discontinued, but he thought he had a case or so left. Well, it turns out he only had 5 cans left. So I've got those 5 cans, but now I need to start thinking about another food to switch to. I should start "blending" relatively soon. (a real bummer, seeing we only just determined that the IAMS was working for Miko) That means I need to switch to Medi-Cal Gastro or Hill Prescription i/d. I know that overall both foods are not known for being the greatest quality... but until his tummy issues are completely resolved, I think it's important that we stick with easily digestible and nutrient rich food.

Neither of the foods are very similar to the IAMS though. Here are the basic breakdowns and the first 6 ingredients of each one... Based on this, which food do you think I would have the best luck switching Miko to?

IAMS - protein 7%, fat 2.8%, fiber 1% ... chicken broth, chicken, whitefish, brewers rice, corn grits, chicken liver

HILL'S - protein 25%, fat 14.9%, fiber 1.0%... water, egg product, turkey, rice, ground wholegrain corn, pork liver

MEDI-CAL - protein 28.8%, fat 37.7%, fiber 1.4%... water, chicken liver, chicken, rice flour, cornmeal, cottage cheese

So the IAMS barely has anything in it! It's very low protein & fat... the other ones are MUCH higher! The MEDI-CAL ingredients sound more attractive, but the protein and fat are soooo much higher than what seems to be working at the moment.

What do you think? The choice is really up to me and I don't want to make it based on price. (the receptionist at the vet's office thought that was a good way to choose... siiiigh)
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Are the Hill's and the Medi-Cal dry foods and the Iams canned. The amount of protein and fat for the Iams appear to be for a canned food. The others seem to high for canned.

Canned food is 70% water, kibble 10% but the label on kibble is on a dry matter basis meaning with the water taken out. If the Iams is a canned then 7% protein is abotut 21% dry matter basis.

Never been a big Hills fan. I used RC low fat or HE when I was in private practice.
 
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Justicemom said:
Are the Hill's and the Medi-Cal dry foods and the Iams canned. The amount of protein and fat for the Iams appear to be for a canned food. The others seem to high for canned.

Canned food is 70% water, kibble 10% but the label on kibble is on a dry matter basis meaning with the water taken out. If the Iams is a canned then 7% protein is abotut 21% dry matter basis.

Never been a big Hills fan. I used RC low fat or HE when I was in private practice.
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Well, I got those breakdowns from the internet when I clicked on the photos of the canned food... but maybe I wasn't looking carefully enough. Now you've got me curious. :confused2:
 
I had Hamish on Medi-cal for a while after his pancreatitis bout and then the vet wanted me to put Noah on a dental formula Medi-cal. I didn't like the formula as it was corn first, not meat.

I have found that there is a limited choice of food at a vet's and you need to research and find the best food you can get that is not necessarily available there. I found the prices at the vet's to be high.
 
Whatever isn't Hill's is the one I would go with. The Medi-Cal seems to have at least made an attempt at real ingredients, as opposed to Hill's that threw corn in there for lack of anything better.
 
Purina also makes a veterinary food similar to low residue. It might be their EN, not sure. You'd have to order it through your vet, but you can check the Purina website.
 
Sadie was on a Medical/Royal Canin food hypoallergenic food for her digestive issues and it cleared everything up. I'd definitely use Medical/Royal Canin again if I had to, even though the ingredients aren't impressive at first glance.

A friend of mine has a pug who's prone to pancreatitis and she's been feeding him Medical Gastro for a few years. He's done very well on it and really likes it.
 
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