Upcoming microbiome-based nutrition products announced at VMX

Hill's' upcoming product launches.

Photos courtesy of Hill's Pet Nutrition

At the 2025 Veterinary Meeting & Expo (VMX) in Orlando, Florida, January 25-29, Hill’s Pet Nutrition showcased a handful of new and improved Prescription Diet and Science Diet products. The products, according to Hill’s, will be launching this year.

"Every meal is an opportunity to enhance the health and well-being of pets," Karen Shenoy, DVM, chief veterinary officer for Hill’s US, said in a news release.¹ "At Hill's, veterinary professionals are at the heart of all we do, and we stand as their partners in pioneering new and improved, innovative nutrition that helps them best meet their patients' evolving needs. Our newest advancements in microbiome science, support for pets with concurrent conditions, and life stage nutrition are extensions of our commitment to enriching pets' health, every step of the way."

The new products build on the success and technology in products like Hill’s Prescription Diet Gastrointestinal Biome, the company said in a news release.¹ Additionally, many of the new products will contain the company’s ActivBiome+ technology, which used information from the collection and processing of thousands of fecal, oral, skin, and urinary microbiome samples for its development.

“At Hill’s, we have a real focus on continuing to innovate, thinking about how we can push the envelope around how we can use nutrition to help support animals, both in healthy pets and with sick pets,” said Karen Shenoy, DVM, chief veterinary officer for Hill’s US, in an interview with dvm360 at VMX. “And through that focus on the microbiome, we've been focusing on something called ActivBiome+ technology. And there's actually a few different forms of that.”

Currently company has 3 ActivBiome+ blends¹:

• ActivBiome+ Digestion: A Hill’s blend of prebiotics that quickly “activate the gut microbiome to support digestive health and wellbeing.”
• ActivBiome+ Kidney Defense: “Activates” the gut microbiome to decrease harmful waste products.
• ActivBiome+ Multi-Benefit: A mixture of prebiotic fibers and antioxidants that lay the groundwork for long-term health by helping digestion, the immune system, and organ health.

RELATED: What the microbiome means for pet health

The products launching in 2025, which were created to also help veterinary professionals manage patients with more than one condition, include¹:

• Prescription Diet z/d for dogs and cats with ActivBiome+ Digestion: A therapeutic diet with hydrolyzed proteins designed to help lower skin irritation, scratching, and digestive issues caused by adverse food reactions
• Prescription Diet i/d for cats with ActivBiome+ Digestion: A nutrition designed to activate the gut microbiome and help settle digestive upsets
• New Prescription Diet i/d for puppies and kittens with ActivBiome+ Digestion: A “highly digestible” nutrition developed to activate the gut microbiome and help settle digestive upsets
• New Prescription Diet Multi-Organ for dogs and cats with ActivBiome+ Kidney Defense: Designed to feed pets that “may have conflicting nutritional needs”
• New Prescription Diet Brain Care + j/d for dogs and cats: A clinical diet created for pets with cognitive dysfunction and compromised mobility

Speaking of the upcoming newPrescription Diet i/d for puppies and kittens, Shenoy told dvm360, “We have an existing product, Hill’s Prescription Diet i/d that's been one of our flagship products that we've had for a really long time, and we're continuing to innovate with that diet as well. [We] have a new option where we'll have a puppy-kitten formula as well as an adult formula, and…both of those formulas will contain ActivBiome+, so [it will] really help with easy to digest formulas, and that technology that helps with the gut microbiome at the same time.”

In addition to upgrading its Prescription Diets, Hill’s is improving its Science Diet lifestage dry dog and cat foods. These products, according to Hill’s, will now contain ActivBiome+ Multi-Benefit. “We're really not only thinking about microbiome health, but some of those challenging cases where you might have multiple issues going on in the same pet, and it can be a little challenging sometimes to decipher which nutrition is the best for them. So it's a good diet that can help in multiple situations where there may be different disease processes going on in that same pet,” explained Shenoy of the upcoming early 2025 product launch, in an interview with dvm360.

Science Diet lifestage dry dog and cat foods with ActivBiome+ Multi-Benefit.

“The new Hills Prescription Diet Multi-Benefit for dogs is designed to help with dogs that might have fat sensitivities or have liver disease, cardiac disease, renal disease. And the cat product is designed for cats that may have issues with the heart, kidney, liver or the urinary tract,” she continued.

At VMX, Hill’s was also recognized as a 2024 VETTY Awards winner.² The company received the North American Veterinary Community (NAVC) Spotlight Award for the “Hill’s Prescription Diet–Silent Sufferers” campaign, which was developed by Hill’s and VML, a partner agency.

Kristen Coppock Crossley, MA contributed to this article.

References

1. Hill's Pet Nutrition leads the way in microbiome science at VMX 2025, unveiling breakthrough product innovations. News release. Hill’s Pet Nutrition. January 24, 2025. Accessed February 5, 2025. https://prnmedia.prnewswire.com/news-releases/hills-pet-nutrition-leads-the-way-in-microbiome-science-at-vmx-2025-unveiling-breakthrough-product-innovations-302359972.html
2. Coppock Crossley K. NAVC presented VETTY Awards at VMX 2025. dvm360. February 5, 2025. Accessed February 5, 2025. https://www.dvm360.com/view/navc-presents-vetty-awards-at-vmx-2025