Tuesday, March 19, 2024

Where Can I Buy Hill’s Science Diet Dog Food

Hills Science Diet History

A Lesson in Science-Based Pet Food | Petco & Hill’s Science Diet

This pet food brands history is intertwined with the career of the first Seeing Eye dog, Buddy.

Buddy, guide dog to Morris Frank, a young blind man, developed kidney failure in the 1930s. Frank suspected that the dogs health condition was the result of poor nutrition. So, he corresponded with lauded veterinarian .

Dr. Morris and his wife set to work on a kidney diet recipe for dogs. They worked up the formula in their own kitchen.

The first consignment of renal dog food was shipped to Frank in glass jars. However, glass tends to break during transit, so Frank sent the Morrises a canning machine as well as a commission for thousands of orders. After a while, Buddys health improved.

And thats how the worlds first veterinary diet for dogs was born.

It was called Raritan Ration B, and it was the dog food that would become the basis for Hills Prescription Diet k/d Canine.

The Hill Name Is Added

With demand for his dog food growing, Dr. Morris was finding this to be a much bigger operation than a single canning machine and a husband-and-wife team could handle.

So in 1948, Dr. Morris took his Raritan Ration B dog food to the Hill Packing Company in Kansas for a dog food canning collaboration.

Founded in 1907 by a man named Burton Hill, Hill Packing Company had begun manufacturing dog food, as well as horse meat for human consumption, in 1930. Before that, the packing company was known as Hill Rendering Works.

Corporate Changes And the Launch of Science Diet

Does Hills Science Diet Require A Prescription

Science Diet ® brand pet foods are formulated to meet the needs of healthy pets during various life stages. Prescription Diet ® foods are available through your pets veterinarian, while Science Diet ® foods are available through your veterinarian and at pet specialty stores, feed stores and some pet grooming facilities.

What Does The Intermittent Feeding Statement On The Hill’s Prescription Diet Pet Food Package Mean

The statement “This food is intended for intermittent feeding only or as directed by your veterinarian,” is a reflection of AAFCO regulation. The Association of American Feed Control Officials requires that a feeding statement be included on all pet food labels. The key phrase in the statement is “as directed by your veterinarian.” Most of our Hill’s®;Prescription Diet®;pet foods have been shown to be adequate for long-term feeding in animal feeding trials, but this does not mean that all animals should be eating therapeutic foods long term. We wish to make it clear to each pet owner that the advice of a veterinarian is essential for proper utilization of Prescription Diet®;brand products.

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What Our Vets Say About Prescription Diet Dog Food

I spoke;about prescription diets with pet food guru Marion Smart PhD recently and she said something that I thought would be fun to follow through with.

Dr Smart said, How do you think vets would evaluate prescription diets if we just showed them the ingredients? Would they be able to tell if they were prescription diets?

So I called up some of our veterinary friends and gave them four pet food ingredient labels, one of which was a veterinary diet. They were only shown the ingredients and did not know what brand or manufacturer made the food.

I then asked the vets to list which food or foods they thought was a grocery store food and which food or foods they thought was a premium food.

Here are the four ingredient labels I asked;the vets to rank. Can you guess which one is the prescription diet?

American Journey Wet Cat Foods

Hills Science Diet Youthful Vitality Senior Dog Food 1.58kg

American Journey offers comparable wet cat food recipes at an average cost of $4.50 per pound. On average, American Journey wet cat food is 17.25% cheaper than Hill’s Science Diet.

Considering all wet cat foods manufactured by American Journey, we haven’t found any harmful or controversial ingredients. On the other hand, Hill’s Science Diet wet cat food recipes contain an average of 0.29 harmful ingredients and 2.79 harmful ingredients.

If you’d like to read a detailed comparison and see an overview of all harmful and controversial ingredients, .

Wet Cat Food

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Can I Give My Pet A Nutritional Supplement

Before giving any supplement to your pet, discuss it with your veterinarian, especially for pets diagnosed with a disease or illness. Prescription Diet®;brand pet food is designed to nutritionally manage pets’ conditions via specific key product characteristics, so supplements could seriously jeopardize your veterinarian’s nutrition recommendations.

Hill’s Science Diet Dog Food Reviews

The biggest selling points of Science Diet are #1 – the variety , #2 – it caters to different life stages and dog breeds, and #3 – theres a dog food that provides the healthy diet your pet needs.

The last point the healthy diet is what youre probably most interested in. And thats why it was called the Science Diet. Talented veterinarians and nutritionists have worked hard to perfect Dr. Morris Jrs recipes and have developed new ones.

Today, many Hill’s Science Diet dog food reviews mention that theres no alternative for their dogs. That has to do with how Science Diet is marketed and sold. They have foods for the three major lifestages , plus adult 11+ foods.

Before we look at the dog foods, we should mention why Hills uses the Adult 1-6, Adult 7+, and Adult 11+ designations. Adult 1-6 is your regular, run-of-the-mill adult dog. Beginning at six years of age, and depending on the breed, dogs enter senior status. But Hills took it a step further and included a fourth lifestage Adult 11+.

But thats not all. They have puppy food for both small and large breeds. Their adult foods include recipes for sensitive stomachs, weight management, and other health concerns. So not only does the brand follow your dog throughout their lives, but it can also be a lifesaver for dogs with specific issues like problems with digestion or weight gain.

Here are our handpicked Top-7 dog foods. Well look at each one in more detail later.

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What Brands Have Been Recalled

On January 31, 2019, Hills Pet Nutrition notified the FDA about a report of vitamin D toxicity in a dog that ate a canned Hills dog food and initiated a recall of 25 products. On March 20, 2019, Hills expanded the recall to include 19 additional products of canned dog food. The recall is only for canned dog food and does not affect canned cat food, dry food , or treats.

The list of recalled dry dog food products provided to the FDA on includes:

  • Hills Prescription Diet c/d Multicare Canine Chicken & Vegetable Stew 12.5 oz, SKU 3384
  • Lot Code/Date Code: 102020T10
  • Hills Prescription Diet i/d Canine Chicken & Vegetable Stew 12.5 oz, SKU 3389
  • Lot Code/Date Code: 102020T04
  • Hills Prescription Diet z/d Canine 13 oz, SKU 7018
  • Lot Code/Date Code: 102020T04
  • Hills Prescription Diet Metabolic + Mobility Canine Vegetable & Tuna Stew 12.5 oz, SKU 10086
  • Lot Code/Date Code: 102020T05
  • Hills Prescription Diet Derm Defense Canine Chicken & Vegetable Stew 12.5 oz, SKU 10509
  • Lot Code/Date Code: 102020T05
  • Hills Science Diet Adult 7+ Small & Toy Breed Chicken & Vegetable Stew 12.5 oz, SKU 4969
  • Lot Code/Date Code: 102020T18
  • Hills Science Diet Puppy Chicken & Barley Entrée 13 oz, SKU 7036
  • Lot Code/Date Code: 102020T12
  • Hills Science Diet Adult Chicken & Barley Entrée Dog Food 13 oz, SKU 7037
  • Lot Code/Date Code: 102020T13
  • Hills Science Diet Adult 7+ Turkey & Barley Entrée 13 oz, SKU 7057
  • Lot Code/Date Code: 112020T19
  • Lot Code/Date Code: 102020T14
  • Lot Code/Date Code: 102020T21
  • The Apple Doesnt Fall Far From The Tree

    Hill’s Science Diet Special Needs Dog Food | Chewy

    The major players in the prescription diet category are the major players in the regular pet food category:

    • Hills Science Diet
    • Iams

    These companies are hardly renowned for quality ingredients.

    In fact, most veterinary diets are manufactured by companies that predominantly manufacture lower quality grocery store foods. The same company that makes lower quality foods like Alpo and Beneful is also making prescription diets.

    How much better do you think the veterinary food would be?

    Lets compare;two Hills foods: a regular food and a prescription food .;

    The regular pet store brand:

    And the prescription food:

    Now, a 30lb bag of the regular food is $47.99 at Petsmart. The prescription diet dog food can also be purchased at Petsmart for $84.95 for a 27.5lb bag. Its twice as expensive!

    Now, you might be thinking this is because the prescription diet was formulated and tested with a specific condition in mind.

    This is completely false.

    While an over-the-counter food with a health claim is subject to FDA regulations and enforcement, the FDA practices enforcement discretion when it comes to veterinary diets.

    Put another way, this means the FDA has not reviewed or verified the health claims on any veterinary diet.

    Did you catch that?

    There are very few ingredients in veterinary diets that arent also;in other regular diets.

    Apart from fish oil, what food ingredients exactly would help dogs with joint pain? As Dr Dee Blanco stated, this food would actually cause inflammation.

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    How Do I Figure Out The Number Of Cups In A Bag

    There are a couple of ways to do this calculation. One method is to multiply;Cups per pound x pounds in the bag, where the;Cups per pound;can be found in;Hills Key to Clinical Nutrition.

    Another method is to multiply;Bag size in pounds x 16;to find the number of;Ounces in the bag. Then divide:;Ounces in the bag / Ounces per cup of product;to find Cups per bag, where the Ounces per cup of product is found in the;Hills Key to Clinical Nutrition.

    The Answer: Prescription Diets Revealed

    Now, if theres one thing I can say about my veterinary friends, its that they dont follow direction very well! Only one;of the vets actually ranked all of the foods as asked.

    But the rest had some very interesting things to say about the prescription diet.

    So to start, here are the rankings in order from best to worst from Dr Marty Goldstein, author of The Nature of Animal Healing:

    Food #2 ranked first because it contains all whole foods

    Food #4 ranked second because it contains meal but otherwise contains whole foods

    Food #1 ranked third, thanks to the by-product rice, by-product meal and overall low quality ingredients

    Food #3 ranked last, based on the use of corn for its first ingredient, followed by by-product meal.

    And if you havent guessed already, the prescription diet in that list is Food #3.

    Want to hear what some of the other vets had to say about the prescription diet?

    Dr Jodie Gruenstern:;This food was the lowest quality in the list. It contains GMO corn, soy , which is a common allergen, synthetic vitamins/minerals, shavings , natural flavors, which usually mean MSG.

    Dr Jean Dodds: Poor quality food: the first ingredients are corn, which is often GMO, and chicken by-product meal rather than whole chicken. Flax and soy are phytoestrogens.

    Dr Peter Dobias:;The worst recipe first ingredient is corn, then by-product, then flavors, wood chips. It may not be supermarket food but a veterinary diet right?!

    Ironically, they thought many of them would be harmful.

    Recommended Reading: Why Grain Free Dog Food

    What Do Pet Owners Need To Do

    If your pet is having symptoms of vitamin D toxicity, contact a veterinarian immediately. Provide a full diet history to your veterinarian. You may find it helpful to take a picture of the pet food label, including the lot number.

    Dont feed the recalled products to your pets or any other animal. Contact the company listed on the package for further instructions or throw the products away in a way that children, pets and wildlife cannot access them.

    You can report suspected illness to the FDA electronically through the Safety Reporting Portal or by calling your states FDA Consumer Complaint Coordinators. Its most helpful if you can work with your veterinarian to submit your pets medical records as part of your report. For an explanation of the information and level of detail that would be helpful to include in a complaint to the FDA, please see How to Report a Pet Food Complaint.

    Overall Is Hills Science Diet Dog Food A Good Choice

    Hill

    Science Diet has upgraded some of their ingredients in the last few years. A meat ingredient, such as chicken meal, is now the first ingredient in most or all of their kibbles.

    Hills Science Diet foods contain no artificial colors, flavors, or preservatives. We think there is less for critics to complain about now, especially with veterinarians and others advising a return to grains for some dogs.

    Many of the foods are high in carbohydrates but, looking at the calories and fat in the foods, your dog probably wont get fat.

    Hills recall problems are troubling but, overall, we do think that Hills Science Diet dog foods are good foods, especially if your dog has any specific health issues that require a special food.

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    Has Hills Science Diet Ever Been Recalled

    Yes. Hills Science Diet has been recalled a number of times in recent years.

    Most recently, in , Hills Pet Nutrition issued a massive, worldwide recall of 33 different varieties of its canned dog foods 22 million cans recalled in all because of toxic levels of Vitamin D, which Hills blamed on a supplier error.

    The recall included both the Hills Science Diet and Hills Prescription Diet brand lines. However, no dry foods, cat foods or pet treats were included in the recall.

    Reportedly hundreds of dogs died after eating the affected dog food. Families who spoke with Petful told us their dogs had been in good health, but then, within a matter of days, their pets well-being took a severe downturn, ending in kidney problems, kidney failure and, in some cases, death.

    We believe that hundreds, if not thousands, of pets have died or become seriously ill as a result of eating Hills foods with toxic levels of Vitamin D, attorney Nyran Rose Rasche told CBS News.

    Following an investigation into that recall, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration published a warning letter stating that Hills had failed to follow its own procedures. A systematic failure of your food safety plan occurred that resulted in the recall of canned dog food, the FDA said.

    The FDA ordered Hills to take corrective actions and put the company on notice of future inspections.

    Other Science Diet Recalls

    Taurine Troubles

    Below, we list the full details of every single Hills Science Diet recall.

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    Hills Science Diet Dog Food Top 5 Recipes Reviewed

    Product Name
    • Hills Science Diet makes a diverse range of foods for dogs of different ages, sizes, and health conditions
    • Hills Science Diet makes its own foods at its own manufacturing facilities
    • The company invests in nutritional research and has veterinary nutritionists on staff. Hills Science Diet foods have been recommended by veterinary cardiologists who are researching the dietary form of dilated cardiomyopathy in dogs
    • Hills Science Diet uses ingredients for nutritional purposes; many of them will not appeal to customers reading the label
    • The company does not discuss where they source their ingredients
    • The company has had some serious recall problems at times something you would not expect from a company that operates its own manufacturing facilities
    • Hills Science Diet makes a diverse range of foods for dogs of different ages, sizes, and health conditions
    • Hills Science Diet makes its own foods at its own manufacturing facilities
    • The company invests in nutritional research and has veterinary nutritionists on staff. Hills Science Diet foods have been recommended by veterinary cardiologists who are researching the dietary form of dilated cardiomyopathy in dogs

    Our reviews are based on extensive research and years of professional knowledge of dog food brands. In order to remain objective, we do not accept gifts of free products or write sponsored posts on this site.

    American Journey Dry Dog Foods

    Hills Science Diet Weight Management Dog Food | Chewy

    American Journey offers comparable dry dog food recipes at an average cost of $1.88 per pound. On average, American Journey dry dog food is 14% cheaper than Hill’s Science Diet.

    Considering all dry dog foods manufactured by American Journey, we’ve computed an average of 1.75 controversial ingredients and zero harmful ingredients. These averages are less than those computed for Hill’s Science Diet .

    If you’d like to read a detailed comparison and see an overview of all harmful and controversial ingredients, .

    Dry Dog Food

    What Are The Symptoms Of Vitamin D Toxicity

    Excess vitamin D in the diet can cause vomiting, loss of appetite, increased thirst, increased urination, excessive drooling and weight loss. Vitamin D at toxic levels can cause kidney failure and death. Pet owners whose dogs have been eating the recalled brands and are showing these symptoms should contact their veterinarians.

    For more information, please see Vitamin Toxicity in Dogs.

    What Do Customers Think Of Hills Science Diet Dog Food

    People seem to love or hate Hills Science Diet. Science Diet has many enthusiastic, positive reviews online from people who buy the food and feed it to their dogs.

    This is especially true of people who have dogs with any special health issues. Many of the critics of Science Diet are people who dont like the ingredients and may not have tried the food.

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