Quote Originally Posted by Freedom
There are a few things folks do not like about it:
- the vets push it, I think they have a financial interest in Hill's for schooling bills
- for cats, there are rumors among cat owners that it increases the overactive thyroid disease risk. Not confirmed by any studies or by Hill's, naturally.

A good vet shouldn't 'push' any one type of food. At least where I work, we don't even sell any food that isn't a prescription diet, and at that we carry 3 name brands (Royal Canin, Purina, Science Diet). I tend to dislike vets that think they have to compete with the pet stores carrying and 'pushing' any of their products from foods to pet toys. They are supposed to be there to take care of your pets health not be a pet store also.

I believe most vets carry or prefer Science diet because Hills is more agressive with marketing and FREQUENTLY send unsolicited CASES of sample foods which we have to get rid of somehow or another. Also Science Diet, and a few other, are found at most any pet store so it makes more sense to recommend products that our clients can easily find without alot of hassle, otherwise they tend to go buy whatever cheap crap is on sale at the moment at the grocery store. We usually give a client a list of several brands of foods easily available in our area at most all the pet stores.

I never heard that particular myth about a food causing overactive thryroid problems. From my 6+ years experience working at the vet hospital it seems to be a very common problem in older cats regardless of what kind of diet they've been on from top of the line foods to cheap crap.

I think with any food it depends on the particular animal what works for them and what doesn't. I've seen clients come in with pets with horrible diarrhea and skin problems from Canidae and Dimond and I've seen pets thrive on a couple of non brand foods. I think it depends on the animal themselves. I have fed lots of different foods over the course of my cat owning life although I've prefered the last 3 I've used (Iams, Science Diet, and Royal Canin) the last one being the one I'm feeding now.