Home Reviews Hill’s Prescription Diet Joint Care J/D Canine Dog Food Review (Canned)

Hill’s Prescription Diet Joint Care J/D Canine Dog Food Review (Canned)

By Mike Sagman

Updated: March 22, 2024

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Strongly Not Recommended

Unrated

Hill’s Prescription Diet Joint Care J/D Canine canned dog food is not rated due to its intentional therapeutic design.

The Hill’s Prescription Diet Joint Care J/D Canine product line includes one canned dog food, a recipe designed to help in the treatment of joint conditions.

Recipe and Label Analysis

Ingredient Analysis

The first ingredient in this dog food is water, which adds nothing but moisture to this food. Water is a routine finding in most canned dog foods.

The second ingredient is rice. Is this whole grain rice, brown rice or white rice? Since the word “rice” doesn’t tell us much, it’s impossible to judge the quality of this item.

The third ingredient is lamb liver. This is an organ meat sourced from a named animal and thus considered a beneficial component.

The fourth ingredient includes pork by-products, slaughterhouse waste. This is what’s left of a slaughtered pig after all the prime cuts have been removed.

With the exception of hair, horns, teeth and hooves, this item can include almost any other part of the animal.¹

The quality of this ingredient can vary, depending on the caliber of the raw materials obtained by the manufacturer.

The fifth ingredient is flaxseed, one of the best plant sources of healthy omega-3 fatty acids. Provided they’ve first been ground into a meal, flax seeds are also rich in soluble fiber.

However, flaxseed contains about 19% protein, a factor that must be considered when judging the actual meat content of this dog food.

The next ingredient is corn. Corn is an inexpensive and controversial cereal grain. And aside from its energy content, this grain is of only modest nutritional value to a dog.

The seventh item is lamb. Lamb is considered “the clean flesh derived from slaughtered” lamb and associated with skeletal muscle or the muscle tissues of the tongue, diaphragm, heart or esophagus.²

Lamb is naturally rich in all ten essential amino acids required by a dog to sustain life.

The eighth ingredient is barley. Barley is a starchy carbohydrate supplying fiber and other healthy nutrients. However, aside from its energy content, this cereal grain is of only modest nutritional value to a dog.

The ninth ingredient is fish oil. Fish oil is naturally rich in the prized EPA and DHA type of omega-3 fatty acids. These two high quality fats boast the highest bio-availability to dogs and humans.

Depending on its level of freshness and purity, fish oil should be considered a commendable addition.

From here, the list goes on to include a number of other items.

But to be realistic, ingredients located this far down the list (other than nutritional supplements) are not likely to affect the overall rating of this product.

With 5 notable exceptions…

First, soybean meal is a by-product of soybean oil production more commonly found in farm animal feeds.

Although soybean meal contains 48% protein, this ingredient would be expected to have a lower biological value than meat.

And less costly plant-based products like this can notably boost the total protein reported on the label – a factor that must be considered when judging the actual meat content of this dog food.

Next, powdered cellulose is a non-digestible plant fiber usually made from the by-products of vegetable processing. Except for the usual benefits of fiber, powdered cellulose provides no nutritional value to a dog.

In addition, soybean oil is red flagged here only due to its rumored (yet unlikely) link to canine food allergies.

However, since soybean oil is high in omega-6 fatty acids and contains no omega-3’s, it’s considered less nutritious than flaxseed oil or a named animal fat.

Next, we note the use of taurine, an important amino acid associated with the healthy function of heart muscle. Although taurine is not typically considered essential in canines, some dogs have been shown to be deficient in this critical nutrient.

Since taurine deficiency appears to be more common in pets consuming grain-free diets, we view its presence in this recipe as a positive addition.

And lastly, the minerals listed here do not appear to be chelated. And that can make them more difficult to absorb. Chelated minerals are usually associated with higher quality dog foods.

Hill’s Prescription Diet Joint Care J/D Canine Canned Dog Food Review

Although this is a prescription product, our review has nothing to do with the accuracy of claims made by the manufacturer as to the product’s ability to treat or cure a specific health condition.

So, to find out whether or not this dog food is appropriate for your particular pet, it’s important to consult your veterinarian.

With that understanding…

Judging by its ingredients alone, Hill’s Prescription Diet Joint Care J/D Canine Dog Food looks like a below-average wet product.

The dashboard displays a dry matter protein reading of 20%, a fat level of 18% and estimated carbohydrates of about 55%.

And a fat-to-protein ratio of about 90%.

Which means this product contains…

Below-average protein. Below-average fat. And above-average carbs when compared to a typical wet dog food.

When you consider the protein-boosting effect of the flaxseed and soybean meal, this looks like the profile of a canned product containing a limited amount of meat.

Our Rating of Hill’s Prescription Diet J/D Canine Wet Food

Hill’s Prescription Diet Joint Care J/D Canine is a grain-inclusive canned dog food using a limited amount of named meat and named by-products as its dominant source of animal protein.

Hill’s Prescription Diet Canine Food Recall History

The following automated list (if present) includes all dog food recalls related to Hill’s through April.

• Hill’s Prescription Diet and Science Diet Dog Food Recall Expands to Include 44 Varieties (3/20/2019)
• Hill’s Prescription Diet and Science Diet Dog Food Recall (1/31/2019)
• Hill’s Science Diet Dog Food Market Withdrawal of November 2015 (11/29/2015)
• Hill’s Science Diet Dog Food Recall June 2014 (6/3/2014)

You can view a complete list of all dog food recalls since 2009 here.

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More Hill’s Brand Reviews

The following Hill’s dog food reviews are also posted on this website:

• Hill’s Healthy Advantage Dog Food Review (Dry)
• Hill’s Prescription Diet Weight Reduction R/D Canine Dog Food Review (Dry)
• Hill’s Prescription Diet Z/D Canine Dog Food Review (Canned)
• Hill’s Science Diet Adult Dog Food Review (Canned)
• Hill’s Science Diet Adult Dog Food Review (Dry)
• Hill’s Science Diet Adult Perfect Weight Dog Food Review (Canned)
• Hill’s Science Diet Adult Perfect Weight Dog Food Review (Dry)
• Hill’s Science Diet Adult Plus Dog Food Review (Dry)
• Hill’s Science Diet Grain Free Dog Food Review (Dry)
• Hill’s Science Diet Healthy Cuisine Dog Food Review (Canned)
• Hill’s Science Diet Puppy Food Review (Canned)