Hills dry food

[Michael Romanos]

Well, Taylor has been on Hills Science Diet for adults as the major part of his evening meal, for two weeks now and I am happy to report that he has not keeled over and died.

Hills dog food products are rated by numerous canine nutritionists and vets as the best food there is for dogs but there are some Go Corgi people who find fault/s with Hills products.

This is not the best reason for promoting Hills, but of all the dry food products Taylor has sampled, he obviously relishes Hills among the best of them all. His coat is fine, his energy levels are fine yet he seems (could be a coincidence) more settled when arriving at places and in reacting to unfamiliar situations. His stools lean towards being moderately soft - which is far better than being hard, but this could be influenced by the other food he gets for his main meal. His breath is excellent. There have been many times in the past with some other dry foods, where his breath has not been wonderful. He is not any more thirsty from Hills as for any other of the kibbles he was receiving. His weight is stationery - neither gain nor loss. His dental situation has improved - but this is also influenced from the fresh beef bone he now gets weekly (Hills are noted for the oral care value of some of their products).

[Dillydoodle]

Michael,

As you know, I am not a hills fan, i used to be, i thought it was the best thing since sliced bread, then i started educating myself on pet foods ( after my kitty became a diabetic - incidently while eating nothing BUT hills science diet foods and when i switched her off that food she went from super high blood sugar numbers on a lot of insulin down to barely needing any insulin at all with nearly normal numbers) Yes Hills has TD formula , i used to religiously feed it to Misty, my cat,and yes it did keep her teeth clean however, she ended up becoming diabetic... so that was a big trade off, i can keep my cats and dogs teeth clean by brushing rather than feeding a food that is high in carbohydrates and sugars . Just my opinion..

Glad that Taylor is doing ok on it...if you want a non biased experiment, why not feed him hills for 3 months and then switch him to a high quality food without corn, wheat or soy for three months and see what, if any, changes might occur... you are very willing to believe one vet's opinion about HIlls... why not put it to the test and read the labels yourself and then do a little experiment to see for yourself.

just a thought..

[Michael Romanos]

Emilie - Taylor is four years old and has had dry food as part of his diet ever since he was two months old. So there is no need to turn to other products - he has had a considerable number of them in the past. He has 18kg of Hills to consume ( I've air sealed about 10 kg of it) and unless something is spooky and detrimental, Hills is in for the long haul. Carbos are fine and if the sugar is natural in Hills that is fine also. Don't forget, I always mix other food with the dry stuff I give Taylor. I don't believe in straight (ie all) dry food feeding (and incidently, neither does nutritionist, Dr Nick Cave).

[corgimom]

Originally Posted by Michael Romanos

Well, Taylor has been on Hills Science Diet for adults as the major part of his evening meal, for two weeks now and I am happy to report that he has not keeled over and died.

I am glad he is doing well; everyone wants their dog to thrive. I am not a fan of Science Hill and would personally not want to feed it as my dogs only dry kibble.

Originally Posted by Michael Romanos

Hills dog food products are rated by numerous canine nutritionists and vets as the best food there is for dogs but there are some Go Corgi people who find fault/s with Hills products.

I still think Dr. Cave got a chunk of change from Science Hill when they created their ZD food based on his research; which would make me think that is why he boasts about their food as being the best.

And it was mentioned on here before, most vets get their nutritional education from those associated with Science Hill, which is why they stock their food to sell it and obviously, get a profit from doing that. I personally, like to read labels myself and research the ingredients rather than feeding my dog something based on one mans opinion.

Michael, I was wondering if you read the post by llanfey and "rated" the Science Hill food you are feeding Taylor; its easy to figure out and a couple of Science Hill foods were already graded.

http://www.gocorgi.com/forums/diet-n...ur-kibble.html

Originally Posted by Michael Romanos

This is not the best reason for promoting Hills, but of all the dry food products Taylor has sampled, he obviously relishes Hills among the best of them all.

I am a bit surprised that you don't feed him a food with New Zealand Lamb, as we have several good food brands here that boast New Zealand Lamb in their ingredients.

We have other good quality foods here that you may not be able to even get in New Zealand, so you have to realize, that we probably have a much greater variety of good foods to choose from other than Science Hill.

[bajoiner]

Sassy is on Hill's Science Diet small bite for adults and has been since we switched her from Hill's puppy food so she has been on Hill's ever since we got her. She seem's to like the food; although now and then I will get a bag from the vet and she refuses to eat it, and I have found that it is old so I return it to my vet and they give me another bag. I am actually looking for another good food because I did the dog food rating on it and I came up with 73 points which to me is horrible. But I have gotten on the net to research several foods and so far every one has at least 1 bad reveiw so I have not decided yet. Perhaps some of you could let me know what you feed your Corgis.

Barbara

[corgimom]

Barbara,

Have you ever used this comparison wizard that was posted before? You can compare up to 4 brands and just check out the ingredients. Not all dog foods are on here, but there are plenty to choose from.

http://www.naturapet.com/display.php...wiz&animal=Dog

And you may want to consider the calorie content in the foods per cup since you are watching Sassy's weight, because they can vary greatly.Some brands have that info on the bag, others, you have to call the company to find out or email them.

Cody has been eating the Dick Van Pattens Natural Balance which rated very well, but I am also thinking of switching him to Fromms which is what his breeder had him on and I can now get it in my town. It is made in Wisconsin here, but their food is quite expensive

Fromm Family Foods - Gourmet Pet Food, Naturally Holistic

[Dillydoodle]

I rotate foods - I read that it helps them from having any nutritional deficiencies when you rotate brands - So I acutally have three different dry foods mixed together and then when the mix runs low i get two of the same and rotate out one...hope i didnt confuse anyone from that description. I also add at each meal some canned food...so here goes:

Currently my food mix is 20% prarie natural ( natures varitey) Raw Instinct , 20% timberwolf ocean blue and 60% Timberwolf Wild and natural. The canned food i am currently feeding is Blue buffalo lamb and brown rice or Evangers 100% meat ( pheasant, buffalo, or Duck)

Here is what i have rotated in for dry foods: Innova ( have not tried the evo yet though...might give that a try next), Wellness Lamb, Natures Balance fish and potato, Timberwolf Elk and salmon, Eaglepack Holistic duck, Eaglepack holistic Lamb, solid gold hundnflocken ( good ingredients but not good shape for Dillon, he choked on the flat disk shapes regularly). We have not tried Fromm yet but it looks like good ingredients but it is so very expensive around here.

For canned I have done Wellness Lamb, Wellness turkey and sweetpotato, Canadae Lamb and rice, Evangers 100% meat , Evangers lamb and rice, Blue buffalo, and merrick. I will try wysong 100% meat sometime too, just haven't yet.

There are a lot of very good foods out there- best way is by trial and error, try something see if your pup responds well to it if not, you slowly switch to something else and see how that goes... I have discovered a few foods that are great foods but don't agree with Dillon's tummy so it just takes trying to see what works best for the individual dog..good luck in your search...

Emilie

[corgimom]

Emilie,

I have been rotating 3 of the Natural Balance for Cody and adding canned food also. But I see you mentioned it is best to rotate between 3 different "brands".

I am thinking of switching to the Fromm and thought I would rotate between what they offer, Whitefish, Salmon, Duck and possibly the chicken - I thought of keeping in one Natural Balance as one in the rotation, but I can't see anything in their food that would supply something that the Fromms would not.

Do you think it is okay to rotate within the same Brand Family of foods, or to look for 3 different brands from different companies?

[Dillydoodle]

I read an article and i really wish i remembered where i saw it but it did say something about using different brands so that you are getting different formulations... each company has their own mix of vitamins and nutrients and such so eventhough you might be looking at two foods of the same protein sources they may have a different nutritional make up. I think if you are switching brands along with protein sources here and there you will still be fine. I only mix multiples becuase then i dont have to switch out one food to a completely different food, Dillon tends towards the runs if i am not careful so i dont like changing more than 20% of his diet slowly at any one time... that is the only reason i mixed three different foods together -that way i can switch a new one in with very little tummy upset. Let me know what you think of the Fromm when you do try it out, if you think it is good, i might give it a try too...

Emilie

[Clogs]

Originally Posted by corgimom

I am a bit surprised that you don't feed him a food with New Zealand Lamb, as we have several good food brands here that boast New Zealand Lamb in their ingredients.

I've looked into this, and most of the foods with NZ lamb in them are manufactured o/s and not available in NZ.

We have other good quality foods here that you may not be able to even get in New Zealand, so you have to realize, that we probably have a much greater variety of good foods to choose from other than Science Hill.

You are right there, Linda. There is a limit on what is available, especially at the better quality end of the market. We are just too small a country population wise. I've recently joined an NZ corgi-specific mailing list, mostly breeders and showers, specifically to make inquiries about this problem.

[milosmom]

Originally Posted by Dillydoodle

I read an article and i really wish i remembered where i saw it but it did say something about using different brands so that you are getting different formulations... each company has their own mix of vitamins and nutrients and such so eventhough you might be looking at two foods of the same protein sources they may have a different nutritional make up. I think if you are switching brands along with protein sources here and there you will still be fine. I only mix multiples becuase then i dont have to switch out one food to a completely different food, Dillon tends towards the runs if i am not careful so i dont like changing more than 20% of his diet slowly at any one time... that is the only reason i mixed three different foods together -that way i can switch a new one in with very little tummy upset. Let me know what you think of the Fromm when you do try it out, if you think it is good, i might give it a try too...

Emilie

Emilie,

I really like the idea of rotating brands, what a great idea! I switched Milo to Natural Balance and he had no problems at all with it. Fortunately I have several good pet stores in town that carry a lot of the holistic and organic brands so I can do more research and select another brand or two. Eagle Pack has a $2.00 off coupon you can print off their website. I was thinking of getting that and Wellness. I'm glad that there are more varieties of organic and holistic foods out nowadays. It does pay to read the ingredients and do a little research.
I stopped giving Milo canned food altogether, I make my own wet food: boiled rice, lowfat/low sodium chicken stock, boiled chicken and some vegies (carrots, green beans, peas). I mix it in with his dry food, maybe a couple of times a month. (I make a batch and use my Food saver to vaccuum pack it in small batches,and freeze it). He loves it and thinks it is a big deal.

[Dillydoodle]

Milo's mom, I do love the idea of making your own fresh "canned food" to add to the dry... I really should do that too... I am currently cooking beef liver (PU i hate hate hate that smell! I totall end up gagging when i cook it)for Gus who is slightly anemic - per my vet... He loves it, but oh lord, i cook it up in a big batch ,and cut it up in pieces and put them in small snack baggies measured out in perfect portions and in the freezer it goes...

Emilie