Hill's Science Puppy food , any good ?

dollparts

Fire_Fox wrote: »

The Pets at Home own brand foods are generally fairly well thought of around here! The 'premium' kibble didn't suit my cats digestion but the Purely wet (don't think they do this for dogs, shame) goes down well and is very MSE. :money: How do you know your puppy was constipated, was she just going less often or was she straining and in pain?

She was having trouble 'expelling' the poo from her behind to the point where it was getting stuck and she was speed skating across the floor trying to set it free! She was going out for her usual post meal poo, crouching and yet no sign until 5th/6th attempt and then the skating began.

~Chameleon~

Cassandra1983 wrote: »

Just an update.

As soon as I changed to Hills my puppy stopped getting the runs.

Glad to hear it! Eukanuba isn't a brand I particularly like, and wouldn't ever recommend, nor is Iams (same company)

~Chameleon~

dollparts wrote: »

She was having trouble 'expelling' the poo from her behind to the point where it was getting stuck and she was speed skating across the floor trying to set it free! She was going out for her usual post meal poo, crouching and yet no sign until 5th/6th attempt and then the skating began.

Some dogs do struggle with the smaller volume of faeces produced when fed on these concentrated premium diets. It can also cause problems with the anal sacs too which are automatically emptied each time the dog (and cat) passes faeces.

As a couple of others have already said, you need to find a diet that suits your particular dog (and pocket) and as long as he's thriving on it that's all that matters

Believe it or not, good old Chappie is probably one of the best foods around, especially for dogs with sensitive tummies and/or flaky/itchy skin, and is also one of the cheapest

dollparts

I keep hearing that about chappie, people have nothing but good things to say of it. It's a lot easier on the budget too.

I would definately consider trying it based on opinions of it alone from so many people.

My baby is too young for it atm, I wouldn't change for the sake of it-but good to know if I had to tighten the ol' purse strings:)

dollparts

no exact figures for you atm but the difference would be a great deal cheaper than Hills, that's for sure.

bobgorringe

dollparts wrote: »

no exact figures for you atm but the difference would be a great deal cheaper than Hills, that's for sure.

I have oly just started to look into it myself but there are some good deals going on ebay at the moment for Hill Science Plan Puppy Large (Labs and above). maybe worth checking out as I will be taking this route very soon.

charlysez

my vet gave me hills science plan for my puppy, well he might haven given him speed for all i know. within 15mins of eating he was up the walls, literally, at first i thought he was just being a puppy. but after an hour or so he would calm down and be normal. it was the same after every meal, needless to say i stopped using it VERY quickly, dont know what it is that had that effect but its not good.

each dog is different, if you can cope with raw, i would go that route.

Lemony

Hi. I have an 11 week old puppy who I've had for 3 weeks. :j

I rescued him from the RSPCA who gave me a large bag of dry Eukanuba puppy food which suited him well. He enjoyed eating it and produced quite firm stools. Unfortunately they didn't tell me what they had been feeding him until I collected him so I'd already purchased a big bag of Hill's Science dry puppy food which my vet recommended to me. I was also given a big bag of it by my vet. I appreciate that vets probably get a comission or something for selling it, but I also believe that they wouldn't recommend it if it wasn't any good. Anyway, I gradually changed my puppy over to the Hill's Science food and he doesn't seem to enjoy it as much. I've tried putting gravy on it but he still only eats it when he's really hungry. I'm going to try the Pets At Home dry puppy food and if that doesn't suit him I'll put him back on Eukanuba.

When I was feeding Eukanuba I was told to give my puppy 4x 25g meals a day (he weighs approx 2.5kg now and is very small and is a cross breed of unknown origin). When I took my pup for his injections I spoke to the vet about his diet and he told me to weigh him every week to check he is gaining weight and to adjust the amount of food I give accordingly. He also said it is fine to change your puppys food as long as you do it gradually over 7-10 days. I asked if I could give my dog fresh meat and he said NO. Apparently feeding meat with complete dry food would be too high in protein and it's very important that they get the right nutrients. In the wild dogs eat meat as well as plants, bones and animal faeces which contain plant matter and seeds etc. They do not literally just eat meat and need other nutrients which is why it is important to give them a complete food.

viktory

Cassandra1983 wrote: »

Just an update after a few more days. It looks like his pong is still getting better. I'm going to bath him this week and see if it goes completely.

I second that. My pup was really smelly and seemed to have constantly dirty ears. The vet advised I switch her to JWB (Ocean Fish). She loves the food, demolishes all of it, doesn't smell and her ears are not much, much cleaner. Plus, her coat is shiny, her eyes bright and she is bursting with energy.

hethmar

Hills seem to be the brand which has cornered the vets sales doesnt it?. They gave me a bag of the stuff when I took my dog to register some years back. I changed to Royal Canin and now I mix two or three different brands to give the dogs a bit of interest.

Burns, James Wellbeloved, all easily available and good food for the dog. She is tiny though, so a bit of thought needed - not sure if Royal canin does a breed specific for her? Check on their website.