Hill's Science Diet Ideal Balance dog food review

Eating right is important. I think we all can agree that even if you are not a food health nut that most of us wish we had better eating habits. For families that have pets, these furry members deserve the same nutrition. I've learned a couple things while being a pet owner and one of those is checking out the nutritional contents on the back of the bags before trying a new food. A lovely pet store owner once took the time to explain to me why I want to look for specific meat meals such as "chicken meal" or "beef meal" and to stay away from any byproducts. Why stay away? Because, byproducts are similar to eating bologna for humans. They can literally be any part of the animal. This does not exclude the feathers, feces or hooves. So now there is not one time that I will buy a dog food bag and not at least make sure it is not a byproduct meal.
Want a suggestion for a brand you can trust? Hill's Pet Nutrition has a great line of dog food products that are not only a healthy balanced diet but can also be specific for what your dog needs. Did I mention they were Vet recommended?

We tried out Hill's Science Diet Ideal Balance Dog food. The list of ingredients are below:
Chicken, brown rice, whole grain wheat, cracked pearled barley, soybean meal, chicken meal, pork fat (preserved with mixed tocopherols and citric acid), dried egg product, natural flavor, whole grain oats, apples, lactic acid, soybean oil, cranberries, peas, carrots,dried beet pulp, iodized salt, flaxseed, broccoli, vitamins (l-ascorbyl-2-polyphosphate (source of vitamin C), vitamin E supplement, niacin, thiamine mononitrate, vitamin A supplement, calcium pantothenate, biotin, vitamin B12 supplement, pyridoxine hydrochloride, riboflavin, folic acid, vitamin D3 supplement), calcium carbonate, vitamin E supplement, choline chloride, minerals (ferrous sulfate, zinc oxide, copper sulfate, manganous oxide, calcium iodate, sodium selenite), taurine, preserved with mixed tocopherols and citric acid, phosphoric acid, beta-carotene, rosemary extract

The bag was quickly devoured by both my lab and bull mastiff and the price I find to be reasonable when it comes to high quality food. Right now you can get a 4lb bag for $10.99 shipped to your door. That makes it around $44.00 for 16 pounds. That is more than what I pay for my dog food but sadly, the food I get is no where near as healthy :/ I thought I was doing pretty good until I read reviews on Hill's Science and saw the ingredients.

Want to learn a little more about what exactly is good for your dog and what each ingredient is good for? Pet MD and Hill's have partnered up to give you My Bowl. This great little feature will help you make the best decisions when it comes to your pet's nutrition.


I received this product for the purpose of review. The opinions in this post are 100% my own and may differ from yours.