In 1968, Hill’s Pet Nutrition was acquired by Riviana Foods Inc., which immediately began work on bringing additional products to market, such as the Hill’s Science Diet brand line. And in the 1960s, Morris’s son, Mark Jr., who was also a veterinarian, expanded the business. Soon, the company got a new name: Hill’s Pet Nutrition. We don’t know what was in the recipe for Raritan Ration B back in those days, but Hill’s Dog Food labels of the era featured ingredients like horse meat, horse meat byproducts, corn, wheat and something called “green bone,” which we think was a bone meal. Dog foods emerging from the facility featured brand names like Hill’s Dog Food and Sky-Hy Dog Food, sold nationally. The collaboration worked out well for both Dr. Before that, the packing company was known as Hill Rendering Works. Morris took his Raritan Ration B dog food to the Hill Packing Company in Kansas for a dog food canning collaboration.įounded in 1907 by a man named Burton Hill, Hill Packing Company had begun manufacturing dog food, as well as horse meat for human consumption, in 1930. Morris was finding this to be a much bigger operation than a single canning machine and a husband-and-wife team could handle.

With demand for his dog food growing, Dr. Photo: Vincent Davis/Wikimedia Commons The Hill Name Is Added Morris Sr., DVM, beginning in 1948, would evolve into Hill’s Pet Nutrition. These dogs also were 50% less likely to suffer clinical signs associated with renal failure, such as vomiting, lethargy and loss of appetite.” Hill Packing Company’s partnership with Dr. At the study’s conclusion, 4 times as many dogs fed Prescription Diet k/d were still living.

“ double-masked, randomized, 2-year study of 38 dogs concluded that dogs fed Prescription Diet k/d live twice as long as dogs fed a grocery dog food brand. Today’s Canine k/d is clinically proven to help pets live long, better lives and delay progression of kidney failure. Groundbreaking Pet FoodĪs the Morris Animal Foundation notes, this was “the creation of something most pet owners now take for granted - the use of specially formulated diets to treat disease.… The vast selection of prescription diets now available for dogs and cats owe their origins to this remarkable clinician.” Raritan Ration B is the dog food that would become the basis for Hill’s Prescription Diet k/d Canine. Morris had opened his animal hospital just a couple of years after earning his veterinary degree. Its name was a nod to Raritan Township, the original name of Edison, New Jersey, where Dr. After a while, Buddy’s health improved.Īnd that’s how the world’s first veterinary diet for dogs was born. However, glass tends to break during transit, so Frank sent the Morrises a canning machine - as well as a commission for thousands of orders. The first consignment of renal dog food was shipped to Frank in glass jars. They worked up the formula in their own kitchen. Morris and his wife set to work on a kidney diet recipe for dogs. The low-quality feed was contributing to kidney disease and failure,” according to the Morris Animal Foundation.ĭr. Morris discovered that a lack of table scraps during these difficult years led many dog owners to turn to inexpensive commercial foods in order to feed their pets. So, he corresponded with lauded veterinarian Mark L. Frank suspected that the dog’s health condition was the result of poor nutrition. This pet food brand’s history is intertwined with the career of the first Seeing Eye dog, Buddy.īuddy, guide dog to Morris Frank, a young blind man, developed kidney failure in the 1930s. Headquarters: 400 SW 8th Ave #101, Topeka, KS 66603Ĭontact info: 1-80, email, website Hill’s Prescription Diet History (a subsidiary of Colgate-Palmolive Company) Brand line includes: Hill’s Prescription Diet a/d Urgent Care, Hill’s Prescription Diet b/d Brain Aging Care, Hill’s Prescription Diet c/d Urinary Care, Hill’s Prescription Diet d/d Skin/Food Sensitivities, Hill’s Prescription Diet g/d, Hill’s Prescription Diet h/d Heart Care, Hill’s Prescription Diet i/d Digestive Care, Hill’s Prescription Diet j/d Joint Care, Hill’s Prescription Diet k/d Kidney Care, Hill’s Prescription Diet l/d Liver Care, Hill’s Prescription Diet m/d, Hill’s Prescription Diet r/d, Hill’s Prescription Diet s/d, Hill’s Prescription Diet t/d Dental Care, Hill’s Prescription Diet u/d Urinary Care, Hill’s Prescription Diet y/d, Hill’s Prescription Diet z/dĬompany: Hill’s Pet Nutrition Inc.

Hills pet weight management