Hill's Science Diet

Hill's Science Diet is the only brand on our index owned by Colgate-Palmolive, through its Hill's Pet Nutrition arm, and one of three we score not made in Australia. Its country of manufacture reads USA and multiple sites, alongside ZIWI Peak and Royal Canin. Transparency lands at 67 of 100, mid-table rather than poor: ownership is stated plainly, but a manufacturing line reading multiple sites says less about a given bag than the single-country records the Australian-made brands carry.

The sharpest line in its card is nutrition against ingredients. Nutrition reads 77 of 100 while ingredients read 57, and that 20 point spread between those two pillars is the widest we record, with Royal Canin next at 18. The formulation discipline is real; the panel underneath it is not what 57 buys elsewhere. Leaps & Bounds, the Greencross house brand sitting in the $$ tier, scores 56 on that same pillar, one point behind a brand priced at $$$$.

Value is where Hill's is weakest. At 52 of 100, no brand in our index scores lower on that pillar, not Royal Canin at 54 and not a single supermarket house label. The Adult Chicken 12kg comes in at $139.00 AUD, working out at $11.58 per kg and roughly $2.70 a day for a 15kg adult dog. Sensitive Stomach 12kg is $149.00, $12.42 per kg and about $2.90 a day. All figures here are editorial estimates.

Both indexed bags list chicken first, at 22 per cent protein. Black Hawk's Adult Chicken and Rice 20kg lists chicken first as well, carries 26 per cent protein, and estimates at $8.45 per kg and $2.10 a day: 60 cents a day less, on a bag we rate 85 against Hill's 77. On that Adult Chicken 12kg we hold Petbarn at $152.00, $139.00 for members, and Pet Circle at $132.00, falling to $125.00 on subscription: a $27.00 spread on one bag.

The case for Hill's is the vet-directed one, and the card supports it that far. Nutrition and availability both read 77 of 100, and the Sensitive Stomach 12kg rates 78, the better of the two bags we price. None of the four supermarket chains we track carry the brand, so it sits with specialists like Petbarn, Pet Circle and Budget Pet Products. If a vet has put your dog on a Hill's diet, that consistency is what you are paying for. This is general information, not veterinary advice.

Skip it for a healthy dog when you are buying everyday kibble on panel and price. At 66 of 100 overall, Hill's carries the lowest score of the four food-index brands we place in the $$$$ tier, under Royal Canin at 68 and under Lyka at 87 in the same band. A swap is not automatically cheaper: Prime100, one of its named alternatives, estimates at $14.88 per kg and $3.20 a day on the 8kg kangaroo dry bag. Ivory Coat's 13kg lamb is the cheaper move at an estimated $10.38 per kg and $2.40 a day. All figures in this section are editorial estimates.