Have any of you used Hill's science plan? My son was given 2 damaged packs of puppy complete (worth nearly £25) from the vet's surgery where he has a saturday job. I have given my puppy a 'taster' and she seems to really love it.

I thought you were going to say...... they were washed up in the containers in Devon  i saw on tv,lol.

lol thats what I thought too !!!

My mums lurcher is from Battersea and was reared on science plan and is still on it now, she is doing really well on it.

Science plan is not a food i would feel comfortable feeding long term,or even at all... It's made of mostly grains,and indigestable ones,such as peanut hulls and doesnt contain a whole hell of al ot of meat :rolleyes: Why vets sell this stuff is one of the greatest mysteries :(

The ingredients  for both varieties of Hills puppy food
Chicken (minimum Chicken 36 %; minimum
Chicken and Turkey combined 48 %): Ground
maize, chicken and turkey meal, animal fat, dried
beet pulp, digest, ground rice, maize gluten meal,
vegetable oil, dried whole egg, flaxseed,
potassium chloride, disodium phosphate, oat
fibre, salt, L-tryptophan, L-lysine hydrochloride,
taurine, vitamins and trace elements. Naturally
preserved with mixed tocopherols, citric acid and
rosemary extract.

Lamb & Rice (minimum Lamb 35 %; minimum
Rice 5 %): Ground maize, lamb meal, animal fat,
maize gluten meal, soybean meal, ground rice,
dried beet pulp, digest, vegetable oil, disodium
phosphate, potassium chloride, L-lysine
hydrochloride, salt, taurine, vitamins and trace
elements. Naturally preserved with mixed
tocopherols, citric acid and rosemary

the protein content seems pretty high, but what is 'digest'????

I found the following definition of 'digest' on this website:
Animal Digest - A powder or liquid made by taking clean under-composed animal tissue and breaking it down using chemical and or emblematic hydrolysis. It does not contain horn, teeth, hair, hooves, or feathers except in trace amounts which are unavoidable, Digest names must be descriptive of their contents....that is, chicken digest must be made from chicken and beef digest made from beef.

Digest
Do you know your puppy has a problem with protein levels?  As you puppy seems to be enjoying why not continue and see if it agrees with him.  All foods sold in the UK are perfectly fit for purpose it is just a question of finding one that suits you both.

No she's absolutely fine with protein as far as I know, it's just that Ktee said Hills doesn't contain a lot of meat. She seems to have a very good 'constitution' but JWB seems to make her very windy though no other adverse effects, whilst Burns was possibly making her sneeze??? I am going to try it again at some stage to see if it happens again. She seems to love all foods but I just want to find one that suits her best (ie doesn't make her too windy, itchy, dull coat etc) The more I search on the forum the more confused I get--almost wish i hadn't looked! Ultimately though she's doing well at the moment-good appetite, nice coat, good energy levels and good firm poos so can't complain!

My dogs have all thrived better on grain based foods.  If you enquire about any make of food using the search facilities you will come up with posts from contributors who dogs have done very well on it and those that really haven't.  As I say, all UK foods have everything a dog needs to stay healthy beyond that it is just trial and error I'm afraid :). 

Hills  is imported ,i prefer to use a good uk produced food that you dont have to pay for the food to be shipped here ,its got to much sea salt in at the moment.

Well, that is a good point, regarding the environmental impact too.  Although I think Hamster may as well use up the freebies :)

A very good point. Ethically we ought not to recommend any petfood not manufactured in the UK because of the high environmental cost of importation.

digest  Scroll down to 'flavourings'.

And i also must admit that hills is not AS bad as i first thought,although i dont if their puppy formula's are very different to the adult ones which is what i've seen the ingredients for...on the net.The ingredients seem to change dramatically depending on which country it's made in,similar to royal canin,in the US RC is a decent food,whereas here it's terrible in comparison....

As for the importing of pet foods,until Britain can make foods comparable to,say,timberwolf,then i'll have to feed imported food :( As yet there is not one that even comes close!

Not one for the greater good of mankind then

I'm curious ktee, why do you feed kibble? I thought you were a proponent of raw feeding. I'm not being sarcastic or having a go, just wondered why you feed kibble instead of raw. I know your dogs get RMBs etc but with your strong opinions about what one should feed their dog I'm surprised you don't feed a completely home made diet. I am not strongly opinionated one way or the other myself so it's not a poke. Just curious.

Hey Lori :)

>I'm curious ktee, why do you feed kibble? I thought you were a proponent of raw feeding.

The only thing i'm a proponent of is feeding a large variety of as healthful foods as possible.I probably come across as being a 'kibble hater' because,well to be honest i do dislike most of the kibbles on the market today and think they are highly inadequite,and are designed on the cheap to fit the manufactures and the consumers hip pocket,rather than the health of the dogs they are supposed to be feeding :( It is a well known fact that dogs have no need,or at the most,for some dogs, a low need for carbs and grains(there is no recommended % for dogs),but because they are cheap they make up the staple of most commercial foods around today.Anyway,i could go on and write a book about this subject,and you didnt ask,so... :D

Kibble makes up a small amount of what i feed my dogs,they get more fresh foods than processed.TBH i dont know why i feed kibble,i guess there are some days where i couldnt be bothered preparing a slap up meal for the puppers so they get a bowl of dry food mixed with some meat or another.
IMO there is nothing wrong with feeding kibble as long as it's not the only food the dog gets,it's meat based and every ingredient has a benefit for the dog,not the owner or the manufacture(eg cheap fillers,loads of grains etc)!

You live in the US dont you? You'de be able to see first hand the giant steps pet food has made and the wide variety of great foods available for pets.

No I live in the UK - you mean you can't tell I'm a Geordie ;-)

>No I live in the UK

oops sorry :o I thought you said mom once,which made me think you were American. Is there another Lori here from the US?

You're right, I am from California but I have lived in the UK for about 10 years now. The Geordie bit was a little joke. ;-)

Sometimes people make sweeping statements that have absolutely no truth in at all...they hear these 'alleged deeds' and don't do any research and then make them into 'urban legends'!!! They also seem to believe anything they're told!!!

So the  hills dog food being washed up on the shore is not part of the shipreck.but is part of hills green policy .The food is actualy made in Hull and tossed in to the north sea and then  picked up in the dead of night by suppliers around the coast  .ok i can belive that:rolleyes:

lol alistair......I'd use it if it washed up here!

i had to buy a bag of large breed Hills today for my 7 month old weimaraner because he is not putting on weight, he is extremely skinny, see his ribs and spine bones, costing me £11 odd for a 3kg bag. I am hoping that as well as feeding him his tripe and mixer he may put on weight.Can only afford to give him one mid day meal of Hills at that price.

But the Hills washed up in Devon was destined for South Africa, not the UK. :) (According to DW today.)