Healthy dogs can eat most common or commercial dog foods but it doesn’t mean that we can just grab any food from the shelf because it is still necessary to consider the nutritional value of the food. Hill’s Science Diet Vs Taste of the Wild are two good choices among those many dog food brands in the market that promise good quality ingredients as well as proper formulation. If you plan to buy one of them, do check what they can offer below.
In this article, we are going to give you information about:
- Are Commercial Dog Foods Safe
- What are Hill’s Science Diet and Taste of the Wild
- How Many Food Variants in Hill’s Science Diet and Taste of the Wild
- What are the Ingredients of Hill’s Science Diet and Taste of the Wild
- How are the Quality of Hill’s Science Diet and Taste of the Wild
- How are the Nutritional Value of Hill’s Science Diet and Taste of the Wild
- Hill’s Science Diet Vs Taste of the Wild
Choosing a Good Dog Food
Having a pet or animal at home is great because whether you realize or not, they are bringing happiness to our daily life and many of us treat them as part of the family as well that we love and care so much. Common pets like dogs and cats don’t have a long lifetime hence we want them to have the best while we are still able to provide. One of the most important factors affecting their health is the diet itself and we are sure you also agree with this.
What confuses us is that there are plenty of dog foods out there and all of them are claiming the same promise such as balanced diet, high quality ingredients, grain-free, better formulation etc. which as consumers we never know which of them are telling the truth. What we can do as the owner of a house pet is checking both the ingredients and nutritional value to determine whether they are safe for your pet and whether the nutrients are matching their daily need.
But, it is also not always helpful because the one knows these ingredients and foods are the manufacturer themselves. We also often believe that expensive feeds are better and we will get what we have paid yet, this is also not always the case with pet food, especially dog food. FDA has been investigating more than 500 reports of canine dilated cardiomyopathy since 2018 which seems to be related to grain free food. Yet, it is still not clear as well about what exactly causes heart disease in the majority of dogs.
Choosing dog foods can be tricky and it is never certain as there are always chances that it contains something that can be harmful or just not as healthy for your dog. The best way to feed them is probably by cooking at home or making them yourself just like how we made our dishes but it is not convenient and not all of us have the time to prepare them, moreover if you have more than one to feed. Looking at all of these hurdles, customers are left with no option but rely on the food information.
Our belief is that choosing the food made from good quality ingredients and not by claim but by checking what the meal is made of. Here at least we know whether the material is harmful or not and know what most of the feed is made from helps you guess the nutritional value as well. Unlike humans, our pets need different nutritional intake everyday and while pet or dog food are not the best in terms of good quality ingredients, sometimes we have no other choice than trying to be selective.
About Hill’s Science Diet and Taste of the Wild
If you have friends or neighbors who are also taking care of dogs, we can ask them to recommend the feed they use since it helps to decide which are safe or just to narrow down the option. If not, you can ask the veterinarian about which food you should give to them, more importantly when they have certain health issues to address. For convenience, we can just see what other dog owners on the internet are using or popular brands with good reputation.
Among those many brands of dog foods that offer good options and have been around for quite some time to ensure integrity for our pet’s health, Hill’s Science Diet and Taste of the Wild are two popular options where you can find not only tons of good dog foods but also seem to be made from safe and overall well-sourced ingredients. They are not exactly the best but still among the best and budget wise are worth to pay compared to many similar brands.
Hill’s is probably one of the most common dog food used by so many dog owners and the claim that they are formulated based on science makes you at ease as well when feeding the food to the dogs. Science Diet is a brand by the company and in addition they also have another option called Prescription Diet which as the name suggests is designed for dogs with certain health concerns. As for Taste of the Wild, this is actually one of our personal favorite dog foods.
Our other favorite is Blue that you can check in our Blue Wilderness Vs Life Protection here as they are made from good animal sources and have balanced nutritional value. This brand is the favorite of many as well as rated good by many dog food advisors based on the quality ingredient.
Hill’s Science Diet and Taste of the Wild Food Variants
Just like any dog food brands out there, Hill’s Science Diet and Taste of the Wild are available in various different types of foods as well as recipes in both wet and dry form. Starting with Hill’s, the sample today is their adult dry dog food for regular size in Chicken and Barley recipe. Other choices are canned or packet wet dog food with variants of recipe like Beef and Vegetable or formulation made for certain health concerns such as weight and oral care as well as food for different dog size and life stage.
Similarly, Taste of the Wild is also made with lots of different recipes but this line of food is only made for one life stage or it doesn’t have specific puppy and senior dog variants yet they are still available in both dry and canned wet food form. The sample we are using today is one of the most popular recipes from the brand called Pacific Stream. Besides Taste of the Wild, the company has Prey which is a brand that focuses on limited ingredients.
Hill’s Science Diet and Taste of the Wild Nutritional Ingredients
As it has been mentioned above, while it is difficult to look for the best dog food, we can try by checking what they are made of. Since there are lots of recipes or variants, we will not talk about every one of them but choose one sample only. Hill’s Science Diet is in the Chicken & Barley recipe which is designed for adult or 1+ year old dogs. It is made from chicken as the first ingredient and then followed with cracked pearled barley, whole grain wheat, whole grain corn, and whole grain sorghum.
On the other hand, the Taste of the Wild which is in Pacific Stream recipe today as the name suggests is made from salmon as the first ingredient. It is then followed with other typical ingredients like ocean fish meal, sweet potatoes, potatoes, and peas.
Hill’s Science Diet and Taste of the Wild Nutritional Ingredient Quality
Moving further, let’s see these ingredients and whether they are safe for our dogs. Chicken is one of the most popular protein sources in dog foods and is a good source as well since it is rich in nutrients including fat. They however contain much water that may reduce the amount once turned into dog food. Barley is an alternative to rice and is a good source for fiber that is also easy to digest. Whole grain wheat is also a safe source of carb along with corn and sorghum for healthy dogs.
In the Taste of the Wild Pacific Stream recipe, the main ingredient salmon is not only a great source of protein but also rich in omega-3 fatty acids that supports the immune system and even decreases inflammation. The ocean fish meal is another protein rich ingredient that is made from various fishes along with the bone, usually comes in a dry powder form. The rest like potatoes and sweet potatoes are a source of carbs and rich in vitamins as well as excellent prebiotics to maintain a healthy digestive system.
Hill’s Science Diet and Taste of the Wild Nutritional Value
The last part we want to mention is their nutritional value as it is also important to see whether your dog will get a balanced diet and consume a proper meal. For Hill’s Science Diet, this food contains 23.9% of crude protein, 14.7% of fat, 2% of crude fiber, 0.5% omega-3, and 4.3% omega 6 while on the other hand the Taste of the Wild in Pacific Stream contains 25% of crude protein, 15% of crude fat, 3% of crude fiber, 0.3% omega 3, and 2.4% omega 6.
Hill’s Science Diet vs Taste Of The Wild
These dog foods are using real meat as the first ingredient as well as containing moderate protein for healthy dogs. In comparison the Taste of the Wild recipes are mostly using more animal based products in the ingredient list which also results in slightly higher fat content yet, the gap is not much. The two are good options and we do think as long as the dog has no certain health issue, we can use any of these foods.
| Hill's Science Diet | Taste Of The Wild |
|---|---|
| - Chicken and Barley ( Chicken & Barley recipe) | - Salmon and ocean fish meal (Pacific Stream) |
| - More expensive | - Slightly cheaper |
| - Large food varieties | - Less food variants |
| - Slightly less protein | - Higher protein |
Conclusion
While the two are equally good, personally we will recommend trying Taste of the Wild because it uses more animal based products as the top ingredients because our dogs are eating mostly animal sourced food. The nutritional value is pretty decent but the protein can be higher for a better quality meal.