Hill’s Prescription Diet Wet Cat Food Review

Hill’s Prescription Diet wet cat food range receives the Cat Food Advisor rating: 4.5-stars.

The company offers a range of wet cat food options formulated to support various medical needs including diabetes, obesity, urinary tract health and kidney disease.

Each recipe includes its AAFCO nutrient profile: Growth (kitten), Maintenance (adult), All Life Stages, Supplemental or Unspecified.

The Hill’s Prescription Diet wet product line contains 29 dry cat foods.

Recipe and Label Analysis

Hill’s Prescription Diet Gastrointestinal Biome Wet Cat Food Chicken & Vegetable Stew was selected to represent the other products in the line for a detailed recipe and nutrient analysis.

Label and nutrient data below are calculated using dry matter basis.

Ingredients Analysis

The first ingredient is chicken broth. Broths are of only modest nutritional value. Yet because they add both flavor and moisture to a cat food, they are a common component in many wet products.

The second ingredient is chicken. Chicken is considered “the clean combination of flesh and skin… derived from the parts or whole carcasses of chicken”. ¹

Chicken is naturally rich in the 11 essential amino acids required by a cat to sustain life.

The third ingredient is pork liver. This is an organ meat sourced from a named animal and thus considered a beneficial component. 

The fourth ingredient is carrots. Carrots are rich in beta-carotene, minerals and dietary fiber.

The fifth ingredient is rice starch, a starchy powder extracted from rice and most likely used here as a thickening agent. 

The sixth ingredient is wheat gluten. Gluten is the rubbery residue remaining once wheat has had most of its starchy carbohydrate washed out of it. Compared to meat, glutens are inferior plant-based proteins low in some of the essential amino acids dogs need for life.

This inexpensive plant-based ingredient can significantly boost the total protein reported on the label — a factor that must be considered when judging the actual meat content of this cat food.

The seventh ingredient is spinach. Due to its exceptional vitamin and mineral content, spinach exhibits a remarkably high nutrient Completeness Score² of 91. For cats who are predisposed to oxalate stones, spinach should be avoided, due to its high oxalate content. 

The eighth ingredient is ground pecan shells, a low-cost, low-quality source of insoluble fiber. Fiber can help support healthy digestion and improve stools.

From here the list goes on to include a number of other items. But to be realistic, ingredients located this far down the list (other than nutritional supplements) are not likely to affect the overall rating of the product.

However, this recipe includes beet pulp. Beet pulp is a controversial ingredient, a high fiber by-product of sugar beet processing. Some denounce beet pulp as an inexpensive filler while others cite its outstanding intestinal health and blood sugar benefits.

We only call your attention here to the controversy and believe the inclusion of beet pulp in reasonable amounts in most cat foods is entirely acceptable.

Nutrient Analysis

Based on its ingredients alone, ​​Hill’s Prescription Diet Gastrointestinal Biome Wet Cat Food Chicken & Vegetable Stew looks like an above-average wet product.

The dashboard displays a dry matter protein reading of 37.4%, a fat level of 19.1% and an estimated carbohydrate level of 32.5%.

As a group, the brand features an average protein content of 40.1% and a mean fat level of 19.4%. Together these figures suggest a carbohydrate content of 28.8% for the overall product line, alongside a fat-to-protein ratio of 48%.

This means the Hill’s Prescription Diet wet product line contains near-average protein, near-average carbs and above-average fat when compared to typical wet cat food.

Has Hill's cat food been recalled in the past?

Yes, there have been several recalls. Details can be found on the Dog Food Advisor, but in summary:

In 2007, there was an industry-wide recall which impacted Hill’s Science, due to food being contaminated with melamine. The contamination resulted in severe sickness and death among cats and dogs. 

In 2014, there was another recall of Hill’s Science Diet dog food, due to potential salmonella contamination.

A year later, Hill’s initiated a market withdrawal which affected several dog food varieties. The recall was a result of labeling issues. 

In late 2019, Hill’s was also forced to recall canned dog food from their Prescription and Science Diet lines. This was a result of unusually high vitamin D content. High vitamin D levels cause blood calcium to rise, resulting in organ failure and possibly death. 

However, this did not just affect Hill’s Science Diet. About two months later, other pet food brands were recalled over vitamin D-related issues.

You can view a complete list of all cat food recalls since 2021 here.

To stay on top of any cat food product recalls, sign up for our free email alerts, here.

About

Hill’s Pet Nutrition is an international pet food brand that’s known for selling scientifically developed foods.

The company was founded in 1907 by Burton Hill as a rendering service with a contract to dispose of dead and lame animals in Topeka, Kansas.

It has come a long way since, now employing a team of more than 220 veterinarians, nutritionists, technicians, and food scientists to develop pet foods in the Hill research facility still located in Topeka.