Science Diet (Adult Original)
Rating: 
| Price: $$$$ | Website
Science Diet
Note: The formula for this food has changed (see comments). The rating of the review still stands.
Science Diet is a pet food tragedy to me, because they’ve done such a good job at advertising their brand and making their package seem as if their food is top quality for your loved pet. They’ve also bought off many vets to recommend their products because money talks. You’d think that for the exorbitant price that it’d be a pretty good product. After all, since it can exceed 3 dollars a pound, they’ve got to be accounting for that price somewhere.
Well, I’m still looking. The main meat source are cheap by-products that you wouldn’t feed directly to your cat and certainly wouldn’t even go near yourself. There are two instances of corn, the worst filler of all, within the first 5 ingredients. Brewers rice, which is the worthless leftover of the alcohol brewing process is the 3rd biggest ingredient.
They have “chicken liver flavor” listed as well. Why the “flavor”? Why not just put the damn liver in there for the nutritional value? Ugh.
It’s such a waste too. I’ve given it a second star just because they didn’t put any artificial colors or animal digest in it, and they loaded it with a lot of minerals and vitamins. Of course, putting supplements in the food is less necessary if the ingredients themselves are good.
For the money, this is the biggest rip-off in cat food today.
Where to buy?
What’s good about this food….
Nothing really.
….and what’s not so good.
By-products are main protein source, corn is a top ingredient, brewers rice.
Ingredients:
Chicken By-Product Meal, Ground Whole Grain Corn, Brewers Rice, Animal Fat (preserved with mixed tocopherols and citric acid), Corn Gluten Meal, Chicken Liver Flavor, Potassium Chloride, Calcium Sulfate, Choline Chloride, vitamins (L-Ascorbyl-2-Polyphosphate (source of vitamin C), Vitamin E Supplement, Niacin, Thiamine Mononitrate, Vitamin A Supplement, Calcium Pantothenate, Riboflavin, Biotin, Vitamin B12 Supplement, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Folic Acid, Vitamin D3 Supplement), Iodized Salt, Vitamin E Supplement, Taurine, minerals (Ferrous Sulfate, Zinc Oxide, Copper Sulfate, Manganous Oxide, Calcium Iodate, Sodium Selenite), preserved with Mixed Tocopherols and Citric Acid, Beta-Carotene, Rosemary Extract.
Comment
What’s the difference between Science Diet and Ideal Balance? Ingredients seem better for the latter.
Hi Arefeen, I find Ideal Balance to be Hill’s answer to the growing awareness of pet food nutrition. The recipes are an improvement on Science Diet.
I have a real dilemma. As a cat adoption processor with a rescue group, I’m always lecturing people about nutritionally sound foods, and it breaks my heart that my own cats are eating Science Diet. One of them has Feline Interstitial Cystitis and is on Science Diet c/d/ Formula (he was originally on Wellness Core Grain Free Indoor canned food), and since the other cat consistently steals his food and rejects her own, I started giving her the regular Science Diet canned food. What can I do for them? Does any other company make a decent cystitis diet food? Help, please!
Hi Deborah, sadly the better (smaller) companies don’t have the ability to offer diets specific to conditions, which leaves the likes of Hill’s (Science Diet) and Royal Canin as your only real options. That said, wet is definitely the way to go in this instance, and their wet foods do seem to be of a better quality.
I have been down the whole list , reading all the different foods – pros and cons. I feel so overwhelmed. I adopted a kitten in July he was so underweight and sick , my vet told me to feed him Science Diet. I just adopted another little guy 1 month ago and want him to put on some weight as well. Ive been researching food for wks. I got Blue Buffalo Grain free poor guy gets gas and diarrhea. I’m so lost… I want to feed them food that is good for them. But I can’t keep switching their food, I don’t think its good for them either.
I have been using Fromms for 2 new adopted adult cats. They were fed science diet at the rescue. I did this because I saw the health benefits of my parents dog when he was fed grain free food. I only feed my cats grain free. Even the vet said that was a great idea as she is surrounded by Science Diet advertising in her office.
Hi Shannon.
Check out chewy dot com. Go for the highest rated canned foods that you can find that won’t break the bank. I have 5 house cats that are all fed top quality foods from chewy. For 5 cats I feed 2 13 ounce cans/day and they are all extremely healthy. Since feeding like this I have no more vomit all over the place and no litterbox issues.
Hi Shannon, switching his food shouldn’t cause any harm (other than costing you money trying different foods) and the gas might be a temporary thing while he adjusts to food he isn’t used to. Stick with a food, such as the Blue Buffalo, for a couple of weeks.
But if the vet said he’s ill then there could be a good reason he prescribed Science Diet, such as kidney problems require a low phosphorous diet.
I’ve been educating myself on my pet’s food today and I’m extremely disappointed to see Hills Science Diet rated so low. My cat has a sensitive stomach and we’ve been getting her the prescription science diet Z/D from the vet. I see that brewers rice is the #1 ingredient in that food! It’s a shame they “buy out” the vets and charge an outrageous price for what I thought was quality food.
The cats know what’s up. All 4 of our cats tried to bury it like it was their poop when we put the plate down in front of them. Tried mixing in with their other food but they just ate around it. Your cat probably lost weight because it tasted like, well, poop.
They have reformulated their cat foods. This particular one has this as their new ingredient list – NO CHICKEN BY-PRODUCT
Chicken, Whole Grain Wheat, Corn Gluten Meal, Pork Fat, Powdered Cellulose, Wheat Gluten, Brewers Rice, Chicken Liver Flavor, Dried Beet Pulp, Lactic Acid, Calcium Sulfate, Potassium Chloride, Fish Oil, Choline Chloride, Calcium Carbonate, Taurine, vitamins (Vitamin E Supplement, L-Ascorbyl-2-Polyphosphate (source of vitamin C), Niacin Supplement, Thiamine Mononitrate, Vitamin A Supplement, Calcium Pantothenate, Riboflavin Supplement, Biotin, Vitamin B12 Supplement, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Folic Acid, Vitamin D3 Supplement), Iodized Salt, L-Lysine, minerals (Ferrous Sulfate, Zinc Oxide, Copper Sulfate, Manganous Oxide, Calcium Iodate, Sodium Selenite), L-Carnitine, Oat Fiber, Mixed Tocopherols for freshness, Phosphoric Acid, Beta-Carotene, Natural Flavors, Dried Apples, Dried Broccoli, Dried Carrots, Dried Cranberries, Dried Peas.
Sadly it still isn’t a good product. The quantity of chicken is deceiving as the weight is measured prior to cooking, so only 30% remains afterwards. That means it’s predominantly wheat, one of the most common causes of allergies in cats!. Corn gluten meal isn’t good, neither is wheat gluten. Brewers rice is a waste product. Yep, it’s still only 2 stars I’m afraid. You don’t get what you pay for with this food.
Well, maybe I’m a bit biased, but we have 6 (yes 6) cats. All rescues, 2 of which we trapped, neutered and gave a home. We have feed them nothing but Science Diet for the last 3 years. One big guy lost 5 lbs on the fat kitty food after we switch to Science Diet. Our vet often comments on hoe healthy our cats are.
Not sure where you get your info from, but in our experience, Science Diet has been great.
BTW – I do not work for SD or have any affiliation with SD. It’s just good stuff and, sadly, people should know it.
Your experience doesn’t change the fact that the ingredients in the food are NOT healthy for an animal. You can also subsist off of fast food for quite a while before it eventually catches up to you in your sixties…