WHEN his pedigree dog Milo became ill after an allergic reaction to his food it made owner Stephen Ward pause for thought.

It had cost him hundreds of pounds in vets’ fees for prescribed steroids and other treatments, so he began looking for answers to the dog’s allergies.

After tests he discovered that Milo was allergic to wheat and gluten and he searched everywhere for suitable dog food.

He finally found a specialist non-allergenic, or hypoallergenic, local dog food supplier, and the father of two was thrilled to see his pet pooch make a rapid recovery.

But when the supplier suddenly went out of business Mr Ward, faced with the prospect of a sick dog and further vets’ fees, decided to set up his own pet food supply business from his home at Heights Farm, in Harwood.

Now the company, Heights Farm Premium Pet Foods, is taking off.

Mr Ward, aged 41, said: “We always wanted a Dogue de Bordeaux, which is a French mastiff, but Milo became ill with very red eyes and was scratching all the time.

“He was very irritable but we eventually found a specialist hypoallergenic food supplier which was gluten-free and once we gave it him he soon got better. We had been taking him to the vet and paying lots of fees for steroids but the food we got returned him to health very quickly.

“Then one day I went to get his food and found the shop had gone out of business. I didn’t want to start paying large vets’ fees again or give him steroids, so I began to search for the manufacturer.

“I saw there was a gap in the market for pets, both dogs and cats, which have allergies and which need non-allergenic, or hypoallergenic, food on a regular basis.

“Once Milo began eating the food he was a different animal. I think of it as ‘posh nosh’ for dogs and cats.”