Hills Science Plan - your views please!

[Hurtwood Dogs]

Hello,

My last dog was on JWB most of his life and when he developed a few skin problems, I tried switching to Hill's Science Plan and it did wonders for him.. I can't see much within the forum about Hills Science Plan and wondered if many of you feed your Cocker's this and your thoughts on it? I've had to move Dave onto puppy Science Plan as I couldn't get hold of Nature diet around here easily (which is what he was weened on). He seems good on it so far (if a little less enthusiastic about eating it!) and even though I had to do a quicker change over than I'd have liked, it hasn't upset his tummy. My vet prefers Science Plan to Nature Diet... but they sell it 

Hannah

[Helen]

why do vets promote it so much?  surely not because they get a monetary kick back ? 

i don't like it, it's not an ethical kibble (ie they are on the BUAV list as testing on animals...) and I would rather feed Arden Grange if you want to feed kibble (as Jarv won't touch burns - hate it...)

Nature diet is fine, a better food imho than Hills - at least there aren't so many fancy additives in it.....

[*Jay*]

I tried Hills with one of my dogs and it gave him terrible wind    We didn't stay on it for long 

[shonajoy]

why do vets promote it so much?  surely not because they get a monetary kick back ? 

i don't like it, it's not an ethical kibble (ie they are on the BUAV list as testing on animals...) and I would rather feed Arden Grange if you want to feed kibble (as Jarv won't touch burns - hate it...)

Nature diet is fine, a better food imho than Hills - at least there aren't so many fancy additives in it.....

We order it in if clients want it, but we do not get a kickback and certainly don't promote it We do however, promote James Wellbeloved, and give out samples and their puppy packs, which we get free.

[Cob-Web]

We order it in if clients want it, but we do not get a kickback and certainly don't promote it We do however, promote James Wellbeloved, and give out samples and their puppy packs, which we get free.

All the vets I have been registered with promote Hills, I always assumed they had a commission deal with the company    Most of the different food manufacturers offer puppy packs; why did your practice chose to promote JWB, Shona?

Breeders often promote particular brands of foods cos of the extra's they get, too - all the trade stands at Champ shows I have been too are geared towards this 

[Hurtwood Dogs]

why do vets promote it so much?  surely not because they get a monetary kick back ? 

i don't like it, it's not an ethical kibble (ie they are on the BUAV list as testing on animals...) and I would rather feed Arden Grange if you want to feed kibble (as Jarv won't touch burns - hate it...)

Nature diet is fine, a better food imho than Hills - at least there aren't so many fancy additives in it.....

We order it in if clients want it, but we do not get a kickback and certainly don't promote it We do however, promote James Wellbeloved, and give out samples and their puppy packs, which we get free.

Did you choose JWB because you believe it's better than science plan as a complete feed? I can't see any additives on the packaging for Science Plan either - the ingredients look natural to me but I didn't know it was tested pm animals 

[sarah25]

Our dogs have Hill's.
We are really pleased with how they have come on , alot better than other foods we have tryed and they havent had any upset tums whilst on Hill's

[Joules]

I don't really know much about this food but Red, the boxer staying with me atm is on Hills and blimey he produces sooooo much poo - about 4 big lots a day!  Coco is on  BARF and she does 2 small ones a day.    I may be wrong but I would say this means there is lots of useless rubbish in Hills otherwise why is so much of it excreted out?!! 

[Hurtwood Dogs]

Hmmmm that's interesting, my pup has been doing less since he swapped him from Nature Diet to Hills    !

[flossysmum]

I have found that hills have been great for mine, they all love it as they are fussy eaters. We used to use JWB with Flossy but she never ate it neither did her pups, we tried every other dry food with her but she diddnt like it so we have always stuck with it. I would reccomend their food but i suppose its down to personal preference and
whether the dog likes it or not

[Joules]

Hmmmm that's interesting, my pup has been doing less since he swapped him from Nature Diet to Hills    !

I guess every dog is different and I agree it comes down to your personal preference and what your dog enjoys! 

[shonajoy]

We order it in if clients want it, but we do not get a kickback and certainly don't promote it We do however, promote James Wellbeloved, and give out samples and their puppy packs, which we get free.

All the vets I have been registered with promote Hills, I always assumed they had a commission deal with the company    Most of the different food manufacturers offer puppy packs; why did your practice chose to promote JWB, Shona?

Breeders often promote particular brands of foods cos of the extra's they get, too - all the trade stands at Champ shows I have been too are geared towards this 

We chose to give out JWB puppy packs as it's a much better quality of food, and we were having a lot of clients with behaviour issues which our puppy classes highlighted. When I joined they gave out *Buddies* puppy packs, with samples and money off coupons for pedigree and bakers, and I was instrumental in getting rid of those.

The JWB puppy packs are a much better starting point, so many puppies come from breeders who have started them on pedigree or something similar, it's very common, I don't know if it's a regional thing, but very very few pups are on premium quality low additive diets to start with round here.

We do not get kick backs from JWB, their puppy packs (2kg bags of pup food, a bowl, a belt treat bag, and a frisbee) are free of charge to us, like the other brands were, but we don't sell much - there's a very good pet shop locally that delivers free, so most buy from there.

[Sheryl]

When I was looking for a good food for Kali and Holly, I went on to the Peta website.  I wanted an additive and preservative free food but I also didn't want anything that was involved in animal testing.  Out of the foods that were listed as non animal testing companies I chose Burns.  However, that was a personal choice for ethical reasons   As a general rule of thumb I wouldn't buy anything that has cereal in or uses the term 'meat derivatives'. 

[Joelf]

I seem to remember Spike was on Hills as a puppy (it was what his breeder had weaned him on to) but he never really liked it & at that time the dogs were on NatureDiet & JWB so I changed him on to that.

[KellyS]

I think to really know if a food is good it has to stand the test of time (feed it for several years - if your still getting the same results years down the line and no problems have arisen then you know it's pretty good) I'm not a fan of dry food but I think I would prefer personally to feed JWB or Arden Grange rather than Hills.