food

[smallscreamy]

As most of you know, Willow has hip dysplasia and is being seen by specialist vets. Anyway, I was thinking of changing her food to something that might be more helpful to her hips and the vet recommended Hills JD as being very good for this. This is not a food I have used before and I just wondered if anyone had any experience with it and if it made any difference? At present she is on Adult neutered Royal Canin - mainly because she is not the world's best eater and this she seems to have to eat less of to get the same nutrition.

I also thought of using something like glucosomine but I have been told that the evidence that this helps is a bit weak? Anyone have any opinions on this?

Thanks

[pennys mum]

Originally Posted by smallscreamy

As most of you know, Willow has hip dysplasia and is being seen by specialist vets. Anyway, I was thinking of changing her food to something that might be more helpful to her hips and the vet recommended Hills JD as being very good for this. This is not a food I have used before and I just wondered if anyone had any experience with it and if it made any difference? At present she is on Adult neutered Royal Canin - mainly because she is not the world's best eater and this she seems to have to eat less of to get the same nutrition.

I also thought of using something like glucosomine but I have been told that the evidence that this helps is a bit weak? Anyone have any opinions on this?

Thanks

we have had penny on hills science from being 10 weeks old. she seems to thrive on it.
she is now 6 months old and 31kg, a very confident girl, however we may introduce an adult version over the next couple of months, mainly to calm the lunatic down a bit,lol it was on offer at pets at home befor xmas, can recomend it.....pennys mum carol p.s. hills have a website

[Beki]

Personally I'm not too keen on hills. You need to do a lot of research into the values of the food and not just what the vet suggests. They only tell you what they are told by the company that they supply. At vet school they only do a half day to a day on diet/food and that is usually done by pedigree or similar.

Personally I would give glucosamine as some has got to be better than none but not those stupid stick treat things as they are full of added rubbish just give tablets

[jesterjenn]

I can't comment on the food as I feed raw, but with regards to the glucosamin, I give both of mine this. Harley gets a small dose as a preventative measure, and Jess, who has arthritis, has a mix of tablets, being: a combined glucosamin, MSM and Chondroitin pill, devils claw and green lipped mussle. These help tremendously, and you can really tell if she's not had them, so I can thoroughly recommend them.

[LOVEGSD]

I too would avoid Hills, there are some great dry foods out there....

Royal Canin is a good one, Orijen, Burns, Arden Grange....

[nisbreagha]

I too would stay clear of Hills, do a bit of research and you'll see why. As Beki said vets get very little training on pet nutrition and tend to just sell what they have in their surgery as they make money on it. I feed RAW because it's IMO the best diet you can feed your dogs but do your own research and make your own decision.

[Broxi Bear]

We started Cooper off on Hills Science but 2 months ago we changed him onto JWB (James Wellbeloved) and he seems to love it and has a great shine to his coat.

[Shrap]

I would steer clear of Hills - the vet recommends it because they get a nice kushty commision from every sale. They know nothing about canine nutrition. It's extortionate for the rubbish that's in it!

I would go for a fish and potato food like wainwrights, fish4dogs and the like. Orijen if you can afford it. I would also look into supplements like glucosamine, chondroitin, MSM etc.

You could also give some raw chicken carcasses every now and then as cartilage etc is a great source of natural glucosamine