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Hill’s Pet Food ends the Ideal Balance line

Hill’s pet food has “decided to end the manufacture and sale of” Ideal Balance cat and dog foods.

Hill’s pet food has “decided to end the manufacture and sale of” Ideal Balance cat and dog foods.

TAPF was provided with a letter Hill’s sent out to veterinarians regarding the pet food’s decision to end the Ideal Balance product line. No information was provided as to why Hill’s decided to end the manufacture of this line of pet foods. Click Here to view the Hill’s letter to veterinarians.

The Ideal Balance pet foods were feed grade products that included images of human food on the label:

So…why is Hill’s ending this product line? Is this linked to the ongoing grain-free pet food investigation?

From a press release issued by Hill’s in 2013 (in part):

The new Hill’s Ideal Balance dog and cat food formulas feature:

  • Fresh Chicken or Natural Salmon to help keep pets slim and trim (1st ingredient)
  • Brown Rice for healthy digestion
  • Fruits and Vegetables for a healthy immune system
  • No corn, wheat or soy
  • Grain-free options for dogs and cats”


Per the 2013 press release, none of the Ideal Balance pet foods included corn. As corn is currently being hyped by some veterinarians and other brands as a ‘miracle food’ (it’s not) – did Hill’s end the product line to jump on the corn band wagon?

Or…is Hill’s losing money and is the company forced to cut product lines?

Per PetFoodIndustry.com stats of Top 50 Pet Food Companies in 2018, Hill’s pet food was ranked #3 in the world of pet food sales.

The latest stats from PetFoodIndustry.com shows that Hill’s dropped a spot and is now ranked #4 in the world in sales.

Another source – PetFoodProcessing.net – doesn’t list Hill’s in the top 10 of any pet food sales category.

Whatever the reason, one line of feed grade pet foods are gone. Hopefully opening up shelf space for a human grade pet food.

Wishing you and your pet(s) the best,

Susan Thixton
Pet Food Safety Advocate
Author Buyer Beware, Co-Author Dinner PAWsible
TruthaboutPetFood.com
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6 Comments

6 Comments

  1. Jane

    September 20, 2019 at 12:04 pm

    I didn’t realize that corn is being promoted as a “miracle food” for pets! That makes absolutely NO sense from a health standpoint and it’s alarming that some veterinarians are buying into it.

  2. Cannoliamo

    September 20, 2019 at 12:32 pm

    A couple of reviews I discovered show Ideal Balance to be a low-protein, high-carb, mostly plant-based, low nutrition feed that is near the lower end of the overall ratings scale.

    https://www.catological.com/hills-ideal-balance-dry-cat-food-review/

    https://www.dogfoodadvisor.com/dog-food-reviews/hills-science-diet-ideal-balance/

    A half-step above junk food.

  3. Sherri

    September 21, 2019 at 3:24 pm

    Corn being hyped as a “super food”!! It would be laughable except for the masses of people who still believe and trust in every word their vets say and what they hear in pet food commercials and make no effort to educate themselves. And of course the pet food industry and vets want to hype such ingredients and keep selling their crap food. Very sad for the pets.

  4. Darlene Nicholson

    September 30, 2019 at 2:52 pm

    It really is awful that we can’t trust the ones who make ourpet food. There’s so many to choose from and the grain free they’re saying the peas aren’t good if there’s to much so I just wish someone could tell me what to use.I have alot of cats and a big dog. I’ve tried so many brands of food and still can’t decide.your articles are very much appreciated, I have learned alot that I didnt know. Thank You Susan.

  5. Tom Mews

    November 28, 2019 at 8:25 am

    Our boston terrier was on this dog food for the last 5 years. We picked up another flavor that took its place. Gradually switched from the left over to the replacement. To make a long story short. He made it about 3 days on the new food before loosing interest. On day 5 we had to take him in to the emergency vet. $600 later he is still recovering. We recieved a weeks supply of canned soft food from the vet that is supposed to be the best substitute. We are on day 3 of cleaning up after accidents and plenty of trips outside. We found a travel bag with some of the original balance. He devoured it. He has been back to normal today but ee wont have enoight to finish out the week. What ever they changed from the old formula to the new. Almost cost us our family memeber.

    • mark

      December 10, 2019 at 12:36 pm

      I know there were recalls for excess I believe it was a vitamin that could have easily killed dogs

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