When I visited Hills awhile back I learned about their awesome animal welfare efforts — the company is totally dedicated to helping shelter animals throughout the country. They are of the mindset that, as you will agree, every pet in a shelter deserves food, shelter, and love… For the past 10 years Hill’s has provided over $240 million worth of Science Diet pet food to nearly 1,000 shelters, 365 days a year.

Together with their shelter partners they helped more than 7 million cats and dogs find their forever homes! WOW!

Now, with the new Hill’s Food Shelter & Love™ Program every eligible shelter in the U.S. has the opportunity to become our Partner – meaning they can/will reach even more pets!

Hill’s Food, Shelter & Love^TM is excited to open a new program in April 2013.

Since 2002, Hill’s Food, Shelter & Love^TM has helped more than 7 million pets find a new home and continues to work every day with nearly 1,000 shelters to feed their pets all year through.

The new Partner Program is accessible to eligible animal shelters that are not benefiting already from the current Hill’s Food, Shelter & Love^TM program.

Join the new program at a Partner level and:

-          Enable your shelter pets to enjoy the benefits of Hill’s Science Diet nutrition consistently 365 days a year

-          Obtain exclusive discounts on Hill’s Science Diet nutrition to feed your shelter pets

-          Access exclusive resources for your shelter and staff on the Hill’s dedicated website

-          Offer your new adopters exclusive Hill’s Science Diet offers

Submit your shelter application today via this link and see if you qualify to start immediately in April 2013.

The nice folks at Hill’s are truly are looking forward to you joining the Hill’s Food, Shelter & Love^TM program and helping them give millions more pets a home!

New Recipe for a Better Life™ Formulas Offer Precisely Balanced Nutrition and Industry Leading Quality

Hill’s is dedicated to animal welfare.

And through their remarkable recipes and food formulas, they help animals live longer and happier lives.

So I’m happy to announce that Hill’s Pet Nutrition is reformulating Science Diet food for dogs and cats to add more natural ingredients. This is yet another major improvement to Hill’s Science Diet pet foods since the brand was launched in 1968.

The new formulations will be available in December 2012.

Hill’s has endlessly innovated for over 70 years to provide precisely balanced nutrition to meet the specific needs of pets. Their product development continues to focus on delivering nutrition with clinically proven benefits, that is precisely balanced to deliver the optimal level of nutrients and customized for the pet’s age, size and lifestyle.

“We took a food that already delivered precisely balanced nutrition, industry leading quality and great taste and made it even better by adding the natural ingredients that pet parents want,” said Hill’s U.S. President Kostas Kontopanos.

Since its beginning in 1939, Hill’s has taken a consistent, scientific approach to developing nutritional therapies and wellness products for dogs and cats.

“But it’s not only about the science,” explained Kontopanos.

“It’s our dedication to our mission to enrich and lengthen the special relationships between people and their pets that drives the development and continuous improvement of our pet foods.”

 “Helping improve the health, longevity and quality of life for pets is at the heart of everything we do at Hill’s” explained Kontopanos.  “That’s why Science Diet is Veterinarians’ #1 choice to feed their own pets. We also want to be pet parents’ #1 choice, with the ingredients you prefer, the uncompromising nutrition that more than 50 precisely balanced nutrients deliver and the quality you can trust.”

New Hill’s Packaging

Hill’s will reformulate Science Diet pet foods because some consumers were making product choices based primarily on set criteria for ingredients, rather than the overall promise of superior nutrition, backed by clinical research.

“By providing the key nutrients critical to maintaining optimal health, from ingredients that consumers prefer, our products, now even better, will deliver exactly what your pet needs: the benefits of complete and precisely balanced nutrition with a taste they will love.”

The new Science Diet® dog and cat food formulas will feature:

• Quality protein as the first ingredient
• Natural ingredients
• No more chicken by-product
• No more artificial colors or flavors
• Great taste guaranteed

Along with the new formulation, Hill’s also will introduce new packaging designs, as well as new color-coded product groupings under Life Stage, Life Style and Life Care, which will soon appear in pet stores.  You can see the new packaging to the picture of the bag on the left.

This makes a Better Shopping Experience: Pet parents aren’t just looking for food, they’re looking for solutions. The new shopping categories reduce shelf clutter by 50% which makes finding the right Science Diet® food easier.

“We want pet parents to know that the ingredients we choose for any of our pet foods will always provide the precise balance of nutrients your pets need for optimal health and longevity,” Kontopanos said. “That is why this is the ‘Recipe for a better life’ for your pet and for your rich and long relationship together.

About Hill’s Pet Nutrition

Hill’s Pet Nutrition Inc. manufactures Hill’s® Prescription Diet® brand pet foods, therapeutic pet foods available only through veterinarians, and Hill’s® Science Diet® brand pet foods sold through veterinarians and finer pet specialty stores. Founded more than 60 years ago with a unique commitment to pet nutrition and well-being, Hill’s is committed to its mission to help enrich and lengthen the special relationships between people and their pets. Hill’s produces high-quality; great-tasting pet foods owners can trust and give to their canine and feline companions as part of a veterinary health care team recommendation. This ultimately improves patient health and the health of the practice. For more information about Hill’s Pet Nutrition Inc., and Hill’s Evidence-Based Clinical Nutrition™ visit HillsPet.com, or visit us on Facebook, keywords “Hill’s Pet Nutrition.”

The Science Diet® Ideal Balance™ Pet Café Truck is on tour of the US and coming to a location near you!

Food trucks may be reminiscent of ice cream or tasty food on the go. This summer, the Science Diet® Ideal Balance™ Pet Café Truck tours the country to bring this experience to dogs and cats across the US!

Science Diet® Ideal Balance™ treats and pet food feature 100% all-natural ingredients: real beef, chicken, fruits and vegetables. Additionally, all Ideal Balance™ products have no corn, artificial flavors, color or preservatives.

“Ideal Balance™ provides a tasty, natural pet food choice while still delivering the right balance of high-quality ingredients pet owners have come to expect from Science Diet,” said Mark Champ, Product Manager at Hill’s Pet Nutrition.

While touring the U.S., the Science Diet® Ideal Balance™ Pet Café will give away free samples of both its Ideal Balance™ dog and cat foods.

In addition to the tasty samples for your pet, join them for fun photo opportunities and friendly contests.

There will also be opportunities for dog owners to sample Ideal Balance canned food and new Ideal Balance™ all-natural treats.

For tour updates and more on Hill’s® Science Diet® Ideal Balance™ at Facebook.com/HillsPetUS.

Dates that are coming up super-quick include the Taste of Colorado (August 31-Sept 3), Minnesota State Fair (August 23 – Sept 3) and various events in NYC on September 12-15 and 26-28.

Check the Facebook page for a full schedule or leave a comment on this post.

Other cities being visited include Santa Monica, New Orleans, San Diego, Phoenix, Baltimore and San Fran (Half Moon Bay and lots more TBD!

Hairballs: The Inherent, Ever-Interesting Absurdity.

Your cat wakes you up in the middle of the night retching, perhaps mid-vomit or gag.  What the hell was he doing you ask?  As you fully awake the next day, realizing you weren’t dreaming, unfortunately, you see the answer; a wet hairy gross remnant of his midnight madness, the infamous hairball.

Most cat-owners know by now that hairballs are just common for cats (if you don’t – you do now); they also know that they’re surely an inconvenience for the owners who is now questioning what they just stepped right on… or right in…. or carefully around…

Often new and even some old-hat cat owners turn to our good friend Google, feverishly searching “hairballs,” “long haired cat hairballs,” or even “hairball cat” (yes “hairball cat” gets nearly 15k searches in Google a month!) and the like, seeking answers on fixing this sticky-icky pasty problem.

Fortunately, today, April 27^th, 2012 is National Hairball Awareness Day — and Hill’s wants to help us all increase awareness about this all too common condition.

Hill’s, as you might not know, has foods focused around helping cat owners overcome the difficulty of hairballs. But they also have a plethora of other to offer for National Hairball Awareness Month! More on these things in a minute…

AND WE HAVE A HILL’S HAIRBALL CONTROL BAG of FOOD GIVEAWAY FOR TEN LUCKY READERS TO TOO! (See bottom of post)

First, a few things to point out.

Hill’s offered me these interesting points/facts about cats and hairballs:

• Hairballs are normal for cats – particularly those who have trouble moving hair down the GI tract.
• Cats ingest quite a bit of hair because their tongues are covered in tiny barbs (papillae) that act like brushes when they clean.
• This hair builds up in their system until it is expelled, which is when the owner finds it. May I add that this is usually by hearing it come up or by finding it next to their pillow (ahem, Sasha).
• Indoor cats that get bored may groom themselves more often which can result in morehairballs. (Ahem Tater.)
  

  Kitty Bath {Flickr}

• Hairball activity can be more active in the spring and fall- when shedding is at its peak. (Ahem, Maxwell…)
• Brushing your cat helps remove excess fur, and decrease hairballs: brushing once a day may be often enough for long haired cats, 1-3 times a week for short haired cats.
• When a hairball occurs, hair often does not come up alone; any food in your cat’s system may come up too, causing an even bigger mess. (Many of you have probably realized this “engrossing” [get it?] fact on your own, but thanks Hill’s – we love you.)

Most cats spend up to 30% of their time grooming themselves and in the process up to 2/3 of what a cat sheds can be ingested.  Even though it’s a natural part of your cat’s life, there are still plenty of ways to help minimize hairballs.

Sasha Bathing! LOL

The first way to combat the “hairball battle” is to get in the habit of grooming your kitty daily.  This will remove a majority of the excess fur so what they do ingest will pass through with no problem.

The second is to ensure your cat is eating a food with a perfect balance of fatty acids. Fatty acids are the fundamental building blocks for healthy skin and coat. HILL’S HAS MANY IDEAL FOODS TO TACKLE THIS – I AM GIVING SOME AWAY (see bottom).

With the right nutrition and good grooming habits, your cat can celebrate national hairball day free of the horrible hairball hell we all go through!

Hill’s Specials and Other Fun for Hairball Awareness:

• Hairball Sweepstakes on Hill’s Facebook Page – Monday, April 23 – Friday, May 4, 2012
  • To celebrate National Hairball Awareness Day on April 27, 2012, Hill’s Pet Nutrition, makers of Science Diet® and Prescription Diet® brand pet foods, is giving away terrific prizes between April 23 and May 4^th.
  • Prizes will include a free bag of one of Hill’s® Science Diet® Hairball Control products that can help avoid hairballs in just 30 days and a $20 PETCO gift card.
  • Head over to Hill’s Facebook page at Facebook.com/HillsPetUS to sign up.
  • Deals on ALL Hill’s® Science Diet® Foods for both Dogs and Cats
    • Look for the PETCO banner ad on the Hairball Battle site and click for a $3 coupon good toward any          Hill’s® Science Diet® Hairball Control product.
    • $3 off coupon good on all Science Diet foods for both dogs and cats at http://www.HillsPet.com/UniqueNutrition (Live starting May 1, 2012)
    • Hill’s® Science Diet® and petMD offer cat owners food, nutrition resources and a chance to win $2,500 in pet retailer Gift Cards – see official press release below.  http://www.petmd.com/cat/mybowl
    • Additional Special Offers from Hill’s http://www.hillspet.com/products/products-special-offers.html
    • 30 Days of Hairball Tips starting Monday, April 23 – Wednesday, May 23, 2012
      • Join the fun and ask your readers to submit their own tips for “battling hairballs”! This is sure to be fun and entertaining…and educational for your readers.
      • Here’s a link to our Facebook polling our readers to tell us about their experience and what works for them. http://www.facebook.com/223700263326/posts/10150944999263327

*** Don’t forget to play the funny-as-hell Hill’s Hairball Battle Game on Facebook and invite friends! You can choose from characters like Mattie, Shaggy, Hack, Knotty and Harry and throw furballs at your friends! Hee Hee!

Hairball Battle Creatures!

** AND ENTER THE “HILL’S HAIRBALL HELL HAIRBALL CONTROL FOOD GIVEAWAY” on ThoughtsFurPaws.com RIGHT NOW!

Send me a picture of your kitty pre- and post-brush, OR leave a comment HERE OR on the THOUGHTSFURPAWS FACEBOOK PAGE on why you should get one of TEN BAGS of HILL’S HAIRBALL CONTROL (and there may even be MORE WINNERS!!! It’s a surprise!) ThoughtsFurPaws.com admins, of course, are throwing in kitty toys to this giveaway, so be sure you send your photos to thoughtsfurpaws@gmail.com or leave a story/comment here on on our Facebook page.

The month of April brings lots of fun stuff from Hill’s!

Did you know that National Hairball Awareness Day is…uh hum, “coming up” on April 27???

It’s sure to not only be informational but lots of fun!

Hill’s will be featuring the Hairball Battle Game on their Facebook page, there will be a video that talks about the amount of hair your cat consumes just grooming itself (starring Roady, a Hill’s’ employee kitty) and more!

Enter now online for your chance to win a gift basket for your special cat. **Gift basket will include a free bag of Hill’s® Science Diet® Hairball Control cat food and a $20 Petco gift card!

Roady the Hill's Hairball Spokescat!

Roady is here to help me tell everyone about the amount of cat hair he (as an average cat – albeit, he’s NOT average wink wink) will consume over a year’s time simply grooming himself.

Did you know an average cat will actually consume 173 grams of hair over a year???!!!

Take a peek at the video to see just how much cat hair that is!

Remember to play the Hairball Battle Game and Happy Hairball Awareness Month!

Also, stay tuned on ThoughtsFurPaws for a Hill’s Science Diet pet food giveaway!

In two days, I will be announcing the Hill’s pet food giveaway contest!