Hill’s Pet Nutrition Inc. has launched two-in-one recipes for overweight dogs and cats. The Topeka, Kan., food manufacturer reported Monday the release of Prescription Diet Metabolic + Mobility Canine and Prescription Diet Metabolic + Urinary Feline. While both are formulated to help pets shed pounds, the canine recipe also is intended to support joint health and the feline version to enhance urinary health. Hill’s is marketing the two diets, which come in kibble and canned varieties, as the first foods designed for the treatment of common concurrent health conditions. “Concurrent conditions are difficult to manage successfully, often requiring multiple treatment options,” said Ellen Lowery, DVM, Ph.D., MBA, Hill’s director of U.S. professional and veterinary affairs. “Sometimes it creates the challenge of deciding which condition to focus on first, when really the only way to effectively treat both is to work together.” Both veterinary-exclusive recipes build upon the 2-year-old Metabolic Prescription Diet, which is formulated for weight loss and weight maintenance. The new canine diet adds attributes of the j/d Mobility formula and the food for cats utilizes c/d Multicare, which works to dissolve struvite stones. Both new recipes were tested in feeding trials. Metabolic + Mobility for dogs was clinically proven to simultaneously reduce body weight by 13 percent in 60 days and improve mobility in as little as 21 days, Hill’s reported. Metabolic + Urinary for cats simultaneously reduced body weight by 11 percent in 60 days and slashed the recurrence of feline idiopathic cystitis signs by 89 percent, the company added. Combining Metabolic and c/d, “We were pretty confident these pets were going to lose weight and control the urinary signs at the same time,” said Jennifer Fletcher, DVM, a Harrisburg, Pa., veterinarian who participated in the feline feeding trial. The dry foods are chicken flavored, while the canned recipes are available in Vegetable and Tuna Stew for either cats or dogs and Vegetable and Chicken Stew for cats.
