Prescription Cat Food

Just like people, cats can fall victim to various illnesses that leave them feeling less than ideal. When that happens, your cat's veterinarian will likely prescribe a medication intended to treat the problems at hand. Although the prescription medications are designed to help relieve symptoms and make your pet recover faster, the truth of the matter is that prescribed remedies for pet illnesses are not natural.

Since they are man-made in a laboratory, the medications have a propensity for backfiring and making the circumstances even worse. As a result, there is a lot of conversation surrounding the actual efficacy of prescription medicines for pet illnesses Prescription medications come with a lot of strings attached, particularly because there is a seemingly endless list of side effects associated with prescription medicine for dogs and cats.

With all of the negative possibilities associated with prescribed medications, the question of whether or not this avenue of medicinal remedies is actually worth traveling down. It's important to do research and look into the details of the prescriptions your pet is receiving from the veterinarian. You will often find that medications of this kind are made up of a variety of grains and meat substances, but along with these natural ingredients are many preservatives and unnatural additives.

It is important to pay attention to the ingredients of your pet's prescription medicine because there are certain things that your pet should only have so much of in one day. If you administer more than the recommended dosage of ingredients of this nature, then your pet can get sick as a result of consuming more than the healthy limit. Just under half of all the pets that are seen by veterinarians end up being prescribed medication to treat their illness.

You can certainly trust your vet to use their knowledge and prescribe the right medication for your pet's situation, but as always, it is important to double check any and every piece of advice that your vet gives you. Your pet's health is the most important thing and you should do everything in your power to help them live a comfortable life, including giving them a nutritional diet that fuels them and makes them feel good.

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The Differences Between Prescription Cat Food and Generic Cat Food

You may be wondering why prescription medication is necessary, especially when generic cat food is far more easily accessible. That's a good point, and it's true that it makes little to no sense to go through the process of getting a prescription for your pet's food when you can casually pick up other foods without a prescription. But there is a reason for prescription cat foods, so let's focus on the difference between the two in order to explain why prescription cat foods exist in the first place.

It is very likely that you are familiar with something called the Food and Drug Administration. Just to summarize, the Food and Drug Administration, or the FDA, creates standards that all companies must abide by in order to distribute their food products for companies to sell. Similarly to the FDA, an organization known as the Center for Veterinary Medicine performs a similar duty when it comes to pet foods.

The CVM looks at the ingredients being added to pet foods. In fact, the CVM is actually a branch of the Food and Drug Administration and the main purpose of the CVM is to keep a close eye on everything that goes into pet food. This applies to both generic pet food and prescription pet foods. The Center for Veterinary Medicine pulls apart every ingredient list and looks closely into the discrepancies between one brand and the next.

The employees who work at the Center for Veterinary Medicine have to inspect the ingredient list of prescription pet foods in order to see how the foods stand up against the dietary requirements for pets. Just like everyone has a certain daily percentage of carbohydrates, fats, and protein that they must intake, there are suggested intakes of different pet breeds, too.

The Center for Veterinary Medicine looks at these suggested daily requirements and analyzes how the prescription food brands line up with these suggestions. The generic foods are often more loosely regulated and controlled than prescription foods, primarily because prescription pet food is typically reserved for sick or unhealthy pets.

The food that ill pets eat is going to affect their bodies a bit more intensely than food influences the bodies of healthy and well-off pets. Prescription pet foods are very helpful when you are trying to relieve the symptoms of sick pets, but it is not a cure-all for every illness under the sun. There are some sicknesses that prescription pet food cannot assist with, but many diseases do become relieved with the help of prescription pet foods. Let’s take a look at those!

Does Your Cat Have to Be Sick to Have Prescription Cat Food?

Your cat does not have to be diagnosed with a health condition in order to eat prescription cat food. That being said, some cats have dietary issues that do not necessarily mean they are sick, but rather, they identify some intolerances your pet has for certain foods. Prescription cat food is far more expensive than generic foods that you can buy without the proof of your vet’s approval.

It is unlikely for anyone to willingly buy prescription cat food when it is not suggested by a medical professional or recommended by their pet’s veterinarian. The reason for this is often the fact that prescription foods are higher in price, but it is also just not something many pet owners think of unless it becomes a necessity. There is no need to give your cat food that requires a prescription without an actual health-related reason, such as a disease.

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Diseases That Warrant Prescription Cat Food

Prescription foods for cats can help with a wide array of illnesses. From the most severe to less serious diseases, your cat's current health condition could be incredibly improved by incorporating prescription cat food into your furry feline's daily diet.

Here is a list of diseases that prescription pet food can help to heal or at least alleviate…

Cancer
Dental hygiene problems
Diabetes
Dry skin issues
Eczema
Gastrointestinal problems
Heart disease
Itching that cannot be relieved
Kidney disease
Liver failure>
Low bone density
Old age
Post-surgery complications
Weight fluctuations that are unhealthy

The Six Diseases That Get Better with the Help of Prescription Cat Food

There are so many diseases that can be relieved, or at least become manageable, with the help of prescription cat food. But for now, let's zero in on six of the diseases that actually require prescription cat food in order to go away.

These six diseases are...

Allergies
Heart-related problems
Inflammatory bowel disease
Kidney disease
Oral health issues
Urinary tract infections

Allergies

When you think of allergies, your first thought is probably not something along the lines of changing the food that your cat is eating. If nutrition is not on your radar when looking for ways to alleviate your cat's allergies and allergy-related symptoms, don't worry. You are not alone at all. Not many people turn their attention to the nutritional aspect of chronic allergies. But the food your cat eats actually plays a role in relieving allergies.

The main reason for giving prescription pet food to cats with allergies is that it eliminates any and all stressors that are coming from your kitty cat's nutritional intake. Over time, your cat's internal systems and body will come to find what feels good, as well as what does not feel good. When your cat is eating foods that do not provide the nutritional value that your cat needs, then your cat's immune system will slowly but surely become more and more compromised.

When you introduce prescription cat food into your feline friend's diet, your pet will definitely notice a difference in terms of their overall health, starting with a lower level of congestion and discomfort caused by allergies. Prescription cat foods are amazing because they are specifically designed to only contain the essential nutrients that your cat's body needs.

Aside from the necessities, prescription cat food rarely, if ever, contains ingredients beyond what your cat absolutely needs. As a result, you can be sure that your cat is only eating nutritionally valuable ingredients, as opposed to preservatives and unnecessary additives. This is not to say that generic cat foods are not regulated, or that they do not provide any value to your pet, because neither of those statements are completely true.

However, prescription cat foods are specific, whereas cat food you can buy without a prescription are generic. They are made for all cats, but prescription cat foods are made with certain cat foods in mind. A great example of an allergic reaction that prescription cat food is a great cure for is an allergy-related skin rash.

When your cat's diet changes from the current food to a prescription food, the new diet is typically hypoallergenic. This means that it is incapable of introducing any new, or current, allergens into your cat's body. With a hypoallergenic nutritional diet, your pet's current skin condition will improve over time. The ingredients in prescription cat foods that are intended to treat skin-related allergic reactions are especially designed so that the ingredients that might cause inflammation are incapable of doing so.

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Heart-Related Problems

Prescription cat foods make for a heart healthy diet. This is not to say that generic cat foods are detrimental to your pet's health, but prescription cat foods are definitely more beneficial to your cat's heart health than non-prescription cat foods. The correlation between heart health and cat food comes down to the sodium levels in your pet's diet. Prescription cat foods intentionally contain far less sodium than your average generic brand of cat food.

Lower sodium in the food your cat eats will drastically improve your feline friend's heart health, especially if your cat has been consuming high levels of sodium up to this point in time. Unlike most generic pet foods, prescription cat foods also contain many fatty acids that are incredibly beneficial to your cat's heart health as well. Along with the various antioxidants in prescription cat foods, these fatty acids elevate your cat's heart health to an even better level.

Inflammatory Bowel Disease or IBS

Often shortened to IBS, inflammatory bowel disease is something that can severely affect both pets and people.

Kidney Disease

When cats experience IBS, it does not always come down to the food that he or she is consuming. Sometimes, IBS results from cancer in either the pancreas or the stomach area, and other times, inflammatory bowel disease stems from backed-up bowels. When the pain is attributable to cancer or constipation, changing your pet's diet might not be the solution to the problem. You'll need to seek out further medical assistance with your cat's vet in order to resolve that dilemma. But when IBS is a result of the food your cat is eating, then switching your cat's diet over to prescription cat food might be the answer you have been looking for all this time.

Oral Health Issues

Your pet's oral health is not just about maintaining a healthy mouth and keeping your pet's teeth clean. When your cat is experiencing poor oral hygiene, it can start to affect other parts of your pet's life, too. Believe it or not, the food your cat eats could be a contributing factor to oral problems.

Generic cat food can sometimes contribute to the buildup of plaque and tartar in your pet's mouth, which leads to further complications down the road. Gum disease can quickly arise from poor enamel and cavities that stem from poor oral hygiene. Changing your cat's food increases the likelihood that their teeth will improve, and when you feed your cat prescription cat food that is designed to improve oral health, you will get to watch your pet's oral hygiene improve in no time at all.

Urinary Tract Infections

If you have ever had a UTI yourself, then you know that urinary tract infections are no fun at all. They are incredibly painful, especially when they are not taken care of as soon as possible. The less severe cases of urinary tract infections typically just involve bladder stones that cause discomfort in your pet's abdominal area.

But when UTIs become more severe over time, they can develop into full-blown infections. Most vets will diagnose urinary tract infections in cats by performing a urinalysis, but you can often tell that a cat is struggling with UTI symptoms much earlier. When your pet's vet takes a look at your cat's bladder stones, he or she will be able to tell you the components that make up the bladder stones.

Usually, these stones are comprised of calcium oxalate, and other times, they are primarily made up of struvite. Once you find out the makeup of these bladder stones, you'll know whether you need to find ways to reduce the build-up of calcium oxalate or the build-up of struvite in your cat. Prescription cat food can help you monitor both, and that is the beauty of changing your pet's diet from generic cat food to food prescribed by a veterinarian.

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Alternative Options Other Than Prescription Cat Food

Cannabidiol is an excellent resolve for any symptoms that your cat is experiencing, no matter the root cause of the side effects. As a naturally derived substance, cannabidiol comes from cannabis plants, as well as hemp plants. Although CBD is sourced from cannabis, it does not impart psychoactive changes in your cat’s body.CBD is a calming agent. It does a wonderful job of relaxing the mind and the body of pets, which is a very beneficial supplement for cats that need prescription pet food. Cats are usually placed on a diet of prescription pet food when their bodies do not react well to generic pet food. Above all, CBD is an incredible pain reliever when it comes to physical symptoms. Cannabidiol can help your pet live comfortably while you sort out the right remedies for their ailments.

CBD for Cats That Need Prescription Cat Food

If your cat is in pain, or simply experiencing some discomfort, then CBD is likely an absolute must for your kitty. When looking for CBD to help treat discomfort in cats, you want to seek out cannabidiol that is labeled as being full-spectrum. The CBD oil from Innovet is some of the highest quality cannabidiol for pets. As a full-spectrum CBD, the cannabidiol sold by Innovet is created with your pet in mind. From capsules your cat can swallow and treats your pet can chew, Innovet also offers CBD oil as well as cannabidiol creams. You know your pet better than everyone else, so the type of CBD you purchase for your cat is entirely up to you.

If you have any questions about the different forms of CBD. Reach out to us today! We are happy to help you in any way that we can.