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About 5 years ago my late Maltese, Echo, was suffering from hotspots and terrible dry, itchy patches of skin. She would bite until she bled and massive patches of skin would peel off, taking the hair with them. This is an all-too-common thing for the Maltese breed.

I had been through about everything with my vet: anti-fungal shampoos, cortisone shampoos, and various other prescription remedies. Nothing worked.

One day I happened to be in the pet health food store in Gainesville, Florida and I started talking to the owner. He told me he had a degree in animal nutrition and that Echo’s skin had everything to do with her diet. He said the common brands of dog food I had been deeding her were making her sick. He likened it to you or I eating at McDonald’s everyday for all our meals. He told me it might not actually kill us, but we would become fat and sick over time.

He pointed me to a few holistic brands of dog food and I decided to try Eagle Pack’s Anchovy, Sardine & Salmon Meal variety. He told me that over a period of two to three months, Echo’s condition would go away. Looking at the ingredients, I saw the first ingredients were the fish products. There were no byproducts, no corn, and no fillers. It was all food I would put into my own body.

Guess what? It worked. Echo’s skin healed and remained healthy and beautiful until the day she died of old age. I felt great about the food I was giving her, though I felt terrible that I had gone a good part of her life without realizing the importance of not giving her just any dog food that was on sale and tasted good to her.

I have another Maltese now – Phoebe. She is an older rescue and has had a terrible diet over the course of her life. I’d been giving her Eagle Pack as well, but to be honest, the cost of the food is hard on my budget. I started to look around and found that FINALLY, some of the brands that are sold in grocery stores are beginning to get a clue and are putting out healthy products without byproducts and corn.

That is when Hill’s® Science Diet® Nature’s Best® entered the picture. I was skeptical at first, because in the past when I looked at the ingredients in Hill’s products I did not see anything I would give to my dog. Nature’s Best® dog food, on the other hand, is just what I have been looking for!

You have to read the ingredients yourself to see what I mean:

Ingredients: Chicken, Brown Rice, Whole Grain Wheat, Cracked Pearled Barley, Soybean Meal, Chicken Meal, Pork Fat (preserved with mixed tocopherols and citric acid), Dried Egg Product, Natural Flavor, Whole Grain Oats, Apples, Cranberries, Soybean Oil, Peas, Carrots, Dried Beet Pulp, Iodized Salt, Flaxseed, Broccoli, Vitamins (L-Ascorbyl-2-Polyphosphate (source of vitamin C), Vitamin E Supplement, Niacin, Thiamine Mononitrate, Vitamin A Supplement, Calcium Pantothenate, Biotin, Vitamin B12 Supplement, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Riboflavin, Folic Acid, Vitamin D3 Supplement), Vitamin E Supplement, Choline Chloride, Taurine, Minerals (Ferrous Sulfate, Zinc Oxide, Copper Sulfate, Manganous Oxide, Calcium Iodate, Sodium Selenite), Preserved with Mixed Tocopherols and Citric Acid, Calcium Carbonate, Beta-Carotene, Rosemary Extract.

Whole meats lead off the list and the food is absolutely packed with antioxidants, veggies, and all the right supplemental vitamins. On top of that, Pheobe LOVES it! And, I do not have to drive to a specialty pet boutique anymore to buy dog food.

The moral of my story is that you owe it to your pet to give them the best, and now the best can be found in less expensive brands at your local pet superstore or grocery store.

Note: I received my Nature’s Best as part of a promotion through BzzAgent. They give me free products to try and I let you know what I really think. It’s that simple.