5 Things to Know When Feeding Your Dog Hill’s Prescription Diet

The following article was written in partnership with Hill’s.

Precisely balanced nutrition is vital to the overall health and development of dogs, no matter their age, size, breed, or health status. At Hill’s, we know pets with certain health conditions can benefit from the specialized nutritional support that the Prescription Diet portfolio offers.

How Hill’s Prescription Diet Dog Food Works

The Hill’s Prescription Diet brand includes foods aimed to help veterinarians manage a range of health conditions for dogs (and cats). Hill’s Prescription Diet foods have undergone extensive testing to ensure they meet the nutritional requirements for the specific health condition(s) they are recommended for.

Nutrition can play a role in how veterinarians manage certain conditions. Some examples could include:

• Gastrointestinal issues, for symptoms such as soft stools or vomiting

• Skin or food allergies, for symptoms associated with environmental or food sensitivities

• Weight management, for pets that are diagnosed as overweight or obese

• Joint health, for symptoms like slowing down on stairs or not jumping onto the couch

• Oral care, for symptoms like bad breath or tartar on the teeth

• Aging, for symptoms consistent with age-related behavior changes, like pacing more at night or seeming more disoriented

Your veterinarian plays an important role in recognizing more or less subtle conditions that can benefit from therapeutic nutrition.

Your Vet Can Determine If Your Dog Needs a Hill’s Prescription Diet

To determine if your pet should eat a Hill’s Prescription Diet food, your vet will start with a thorough physical exam and ask you questions about your dog’s lifestyle and behaviors.

After the exam, they may recommend additional diagnostics (such as blood work, cytology, urinalysis, or diagnostic imaging) to help properly diagnose your pet and rule out other conditions. This will help your vet formulate a comprehensive care plan, including a nutritional recommendation.

In my experience as a practicing veterinarian, the cases where nutrition is most frequently recommended are when the dog has an underlying condition related to any of the following conditions: urinary care, kidney care, skin/allergy care, weight management, and digestive care.

Hill’s Prescription Diet and Obesity in Dogs

When it comes to weight loss, it’s important to look at everything the pet is eating during the day. The easiest place to start is cutting out any extra calories like treats and table scraps.

However, most pets that are carrying excess weight do not benefit from caloric restriction from treats alone. In fact, just feeding a pet a smaller amount (or fewer calories) of their normal food is not recommended and may lead to nutritional deficiencies.

Several Hill’s Prescription Diet foods are specifically formulated to help your pet lose weight. Wherever you see “Metabolic” or “+ Metabolic,” this means that the food contains our synergistic blend of fibers from fruits and vegetables that activates the body’s natural ability to burn excess fat rather than store it.

This means that your pup’s metabolism will act more like the metabolism of a lean pet while ensuring that their nutritional and caloric needs are being met.

Results with Hill’s Prescription Diet

Every pet and health condition is unique and may respond differently when fed Prescription Diet foods. However, Hill’s performs extensive research and clinical studies to create specific and relevant product claims for Prescription Diet products.

To learn more about research conducted and results seen in our clinical studies for specific foods, visit hillspet.com or talk to your veterinarian.

Always talk to your veterinarian about their expectations and any important milestones to look for when giving your pet a Prescription Diet food.

Work with Your Veterinarian When Introducing a Hill’s Prescription Diet

It’s important to work closely with your veterinarian when switching your pup to a new food. Your veterinarian will help you determine how much your pet should eat based on the specific food and your pet's ideal weight and lifestyle. You’ll work together to create a feeding transition plan prior to switching to the new food.

It’s important that the feeding transition is slow and gradual to ensure that your pet will eat the new food and reduce the chances of any GI upset. We recommend seven to 10 days to fully transition to the new food—but for pickier patients, it may take longer.

Therapeutic nutrition can play an important role in managing your pet’s health. These foods have undergone extensive testing to ensure that they are precisely balanced and are an appropriate part of your veterinarian's treatment plan to manage your pet’s health condition.

Since these foods are only fed under the recommendation of your veterinarian, be sure to ask at your next appointment if a Hill’s Prescription Diet product is right for your pet.