WHEN her pet terrier Tilly was poorly with a stomach upset, Amy Fowler was stunned to learn it was her food that was the problem.

And after learning just how poor standard dog food is for nutrition, Amy decided to set up her own healthy pet food business.

The 32-year-old, of Rosebank in Lymm, quit her job as a lawyer working in personal injury claims and set up Tilly’s Choice, named after her miniature Yorkie.

She said: “We had to take Tilly to the emergency vet as she wasn’t able to go to the loo. She’s always been fussy, so we gave her cat food and meals we ate ourselves.

“The vet asked what she’d been eating and explained that most pet food was lacking in any real nutritional value and that our food was also bad for her as it had such a high fat content.

“I felt awful and researched into what exactly was in traditional pet food. I found most of what we see in the shops is made in a big vat so every tin is different.

“Often it has only 30 per cent meat and is made up of cereals and grains to fill the dog up, and MSG or monosodium glutomate which is highly addictive. It’s like junk food and just because they eat it doesn’t mean it’s good for them.

“But giving them good nutritious food not only improves their health but prolongs their lives."

Amy started feeding her dog Tilly Symply wet food which is slow cooked chicken and vegetables after researching it on the internet and noticed an improvement straight away. She stopped having stomach upsets, devoured her bowl straight away rather than picking and her coat and skin improved too.

Friends noticed the change in the four-year-old dog and Amy and her boyfriend Andrew Dobby, aged 39, decided to launch a healthy pet food business together, with her quitting her job to run it full time.

She said: “Some people might think I’m mad giving up my job as a well paid lawyer but I was miserable and Seeing the change in Tilly made me feel so passionate about improving the health of other animals that I wanted to start a business doing it." See tillyschoice.co.uk.