There are hundreds and hundreds of various dog foods on the market today. There are even many people who have their own theories about preparing home made foods for their pets. With so many options available, it’s difficult to decide what is best for your pet.
For the purpose of this article, we will focus on Science Diet and Eukanuba diets as they have been reported to be the most widely recommended by veterinarians across the country.
Both companies make “premium” diets for cats and dogs. They both manufacture foods formulated for different life stages; kittens and puppies, adult dogs and cats, and senior pets. A full line of prescription diets are also prepared by Hill’s Science Diet and Eukanuba.
I’ve used a variety of both with my own pets and have noticed a difference. We’ll concentrate on the dog foods here. Having a dog of good size, a Greater Swiss Mountain Dog, I originally put the dog on Science Diet Large Breed food. At that time she was middle aged, not yet a senior, so I put her on Maintenance. She was fed this food for a period of six months. During that time, she was proved to be healthy by her veterinarian aside from being a few pounds overweight, having a problem with gas and an issue with some joint pain.
After this time period, it was decided to switch the dog to Eukanuba Large Breed Maintenance. After a period of about a month, the problem she was experiencing with gas subsided. Her coat appearance improved, although it wasn’t bad to begin with. Her weight stayed about the same during the time frame.
With these two foods, ultimately it was preferred to keep the dog on Eukanuba, if nothing else but to help with the gas.
Later it was deemed that the dog should be put on a prescription diet for her joints. Unable to take prescription medications or joint supplements, a prescription diet was the remaining choice. Being happy with Eukanuba we tried her on Eukanuba Adult Plus Veterinary Diet. The results appeared to be the same as with Eukanuba Large Breed Maintenance. Still no gas, but there was no improvement with her joints either.
This is the time where she was switched to Hill’s Science Diet Prescription Diet J/d; their version of a diet specially formulated for joint health in prescription strength. After a period of about two months, improvement was seen with her joints. Today, she has been on the food for three years and is still able to walk without the help of prescription medications or joint supplement medications. However, the gas problem has returned and still remains. On the plus side, she has lost several pounds on the diet and is at an ideal body weight.
It boils down to these differences: Excessive gas appears to be the only downfall in this particular case with Science Diet foods. The Eukanuba over-the-counter foods appear to be more easily tolerated. However, when it comes to prescription foods, the Science Diet foods seem to be more effective for joint conditions. Granted, all dogs vary and each one will respond differently to different treatments. In this case, the dog has severe arthritis and hip displaysia; however she is unable to tolerate oral medications for the condition.
The veterinarian should always be consulted when it comes to your pet’s diet and nutritional needs. It’s for cases when options are given that this article has been written. Both foods are high quality and have premium ingredients. While there will always be those who have conflicting opinions on certain ingredients or diets in particular, there are just too many ideas available today to address them all here. Science Diet and Eukanuba are the most highly recommended diets by veterinarians when it comes down to statistics.
Both foods offer a “Satisfaction Guarantee” refunding any purchase money if the pet won’t eat the food or if you are unsatisfied. This in combination with your vet’s recommendations should make the switch easier on you as the owner.
In general, with my own experience, I prefer Eukanuba over Science Diet for Maintenance Diets. This goes from puppy food, maintenance and senior foods. When it comes to prescription diets, Hill’s Science Diet dog foods, in this particular case, remain to be unsurpassed.
