Hill's z/d

I have yet to use it in dogs - but I've used it in cats. Not sure if that helps! But the z/d controlled his horrible, nasty, diarrhea. He does very well on it - nice coat, healthy, active. He's a himalayin (sp?), but not my personal cat.

Z Diet contains all sorts of things that ARE allergens.  The deal with it is that the molecules of the food are broken down SO tiny that the body deals with it differently than it does most 'allergens'.  That's why it works for some folks.

 Is that the stuff with the hydrolyzed protein?  That stuff kind of scares me. I've had vets suggest that for Ben but I've just never liked the looks of dogs that I knew were on it.

If that's not the same food, just ignore this.  

When I worked at that vet for a month, they were very big on the Z/D.  There was a girl who worked there who had an allergy dog and it was still bad on the Z/D, but that's allergy food, so it must be good and must be what the dog needs, so she thought.  I recommended the Natural Balance Allergy foods.  She came into work the other day and bought some Potato and Duck and said her dog was doing so much better on it than the Z/D.  I think the prescription diets can be what a dog needs, but not always...and I'm not convinced at all for food allergies.  Its basically like cardboard!  How is a dog supposed to get any nutrients that are actually good for the skin from that food?  It seems like it would be so lacking in the fatty acid department that it would not work well at all.

Thanks for the replies everyone.  But, please I am more than well aware of the opinions of Hill's products on this board.  But, I still want to hear from anyone whose used it and what the experience with it was.  So, please if possible refrain from insulting the product so people who may want to answer will and not feel like they are getting attacked.

Thanks.

I can not speak for the z/d as i have never used it.  BUT I do know that after KayCee put on all that weight--up to 85 pounds--during bad knees, surgeries, and recovery, and nothing else worked, the Hills r/d took the weight off her  Once the weigh was off it was back to Purina and now Taste of the Wild.  I have seen it repeaed posted here that it does no good to use it because the weight will come back.  Well, KayCee has maintined right at 67 pounds for over 4 years now--just had her last week for weight-in.   However, if I fed to much, etc i know she would gain.  But keeping her on reasonable amounts of food--2 1/4 cups of dry, 1 cup of homecooked, her weight is maintianed.  If my husband fed her, she would put weight back on.

 Also when my older golden developed a kidney infection and "tash in his urine" he was put on the Hills k/d for 3 months, his kidnesy cleared up and we was put back on his normal food and never had another problem.  Buck did not like the k/d and los weight due to picking at it--los 3 pounds in 3 months.  But it did as it was suppose to do, just as the r/d worked for kayCee. 

I am sure there are dogs that the 'script foods do not work for.  I just know the r/d and the k/d worked for mine when needed.  Good luck.

 Woobie was put on it after we tried loads of things.  Through a process of elimination, I've pretty much realized that any feathered fowl is going to give him anything from mushy stools to full on liquid diarrhea.  It may contain allergens, but as someone else said, it's the hydrolyzed proteins that are broken down so small, the body can't recognize them as such and so doesn't react.  Woobie can't handle any kind of chicken.  I can't even use chicken broth in his veggie slop and he has done really well on z/d.  Nice small firm stools very  very little odor.  Helped slightly with his anal gland issues and his yeasty ears.  Arabinogalactan really cleared those 2 issues up!

I'd use it if you have to.  For me, the 12 weeks we used it as an elimination tool gave me some peace from constantly fretting and trying to squeegee poop out of the grass!  LOL!  Sorry for the gross out!  ;)  After the 12 weeks and seeing an improvement, I was able to slowly reintroduce different proteins and see what he reacted to.  He can manage eggs which is kinda strange, beef, salmon and sardines.  From that, I was able to work towards a homecooked recipe that works for him.  But it's handy to know that if I have to travel w/him, etc. or board him, I have something to turn to that won't mess him up.

It's expensive though.  Big minus and a big reason I'm trying to at least use homemade as much as possible.  The only difference I see is on homemade he gets alot of salmon and his coat is shinier than before but overall muscle tone, energy level, etc. has stayed the same.  Except while on raw.  He was over the moon on raw and I have to admit I miss it, but don't want to risk it for personal reasons. 

Here is a review from pubmed Lori, there are many articles looking at this kind of diet.  It appears the major problems listed are decreased palatablility, hyperosmolar diarrhea, and persistant allergenicity (major just means most common, not necessarily frequent problems).  Anything can be an allergen and as everyone who frequents the nutrition section knows the statistically most common ones are meat proteins and not grains.  My friend uses it on her boston who was unable to be controlled on any other diet including several "allergy" diets from RC and NB.  It has it's place IMO.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17085233?ordinalpos=3&itool=EntrezSystem2.PEntrez.Pubmed.Pubmed_ResultsPanel.Pubmed_RVDocSum 

   Lori; I recently used the z/d for Jessie. 3 years ago when the veterinary dermatologist recommended it for an elimination diet, I bought it. When I brought it home and read the ingredients though, I refused to use it. However, I wanted to do another elimination diet because of some ear infections she had in the fall and she's over nine years old now, so I wanted to make sure she had a balanced diet and not the one protein/one carb elimination diet I did before. Even though she's allergic to chicken, she did fine on the z/d. I was worried about her coat because I always supplemented her food with fatty acids, but the z/d has more omega 3's than is in many dog foods, and her coat stayed soft and shiny, and her energy level was great.  I found it necessary to add pumpkin for her stools, but you may not need to. She absolutely loved the food; it's made with chicken liver.

 Hi Lori,

It wasn't my intent to insult the food.  I said it had hydrolyzed protein, which is true, and I hadn't liked the looks of any dog I'd ever seen on it.  I've never tried it even when urged to do so because of those two points.  Ben has done very well in spite of multiple allergies, without the need for that food.

If someone needs to use this food, I don't think any less of them.  I just said it scares me.  And Colleen raised an excellent point about fatty acid levels.  OFAs are extremely important to a healthy immune system, and sensitive/allergic dogs tend to have a lowered ability to synthesize EPA and DHA from plant sourced oils. 

brookcove

  And Colleen raised an excellent point about fatty acid levels.  OFAs are extremely important to a healthy immune system, and sensitive/allergic dogs tend to have a lowered ability to synthesize EPA and DHA from plant sourced oils.

   As I said, Jessie did very well on the z/d; apparently she was able to utilize the fatty acids just fine. It has .5% omega 3's and 4.05% omega 6's.

jessies_mom

brookcove

  And Colleen raised an excellent point about fatty acid levels.  OFAs are extremely important to a healthy immune system, and sensitive/allergic dogs tend to have a lowered ability to synthesize EPA and DHA from plant sourced oils.

 

   As I said, Jessie did very well on the z/d; apparently she was able to utilize the fatty acids just fine. It has .5% omega 3's and 4.05% omega 6's

Yes, it looked like I was contradicting you when actually I wrote this post much earlier, then realized about an hour later that I'd walked away and not posted it.  Sorry - just a coincidence.  Anyway, my reply was to people who noted that their dogs responded somewhat but still seemed to have minor (but annoying) skin issues.  Sometimes this can be relieved by adding a fish body oil supplement, even though the food's profile states a high OFA level.  That's because of the difficulty some dogs have converting ALA (in the soybean oil) to DHA and EPA.

brookcove

Anyway, my reply was to people who noted that their dogs responded somewhat but still seemed to have minor (but annoying) skin issues.  Sometimes this can be relieved by adding a fish body oil supplement, even though the food's profile states a high OFA level.  That's because of the difficulty some dogs have converting ALA (in the soybean oil) to DHA and EPA.

   Jessie's always had some minor dandruff even though I add fish oil and vitamin E to her food, including foods that already had fish oil in them. As you probably know, dogs with allergies lose more water through their skin than normal dogs, causing dry skin and dandruff. I was worried when I put her on the z/d because I couldn't add any supplements. Her dandruff disappeared. They must process the oils in such a way that they're well absorbed. It's not a food I would use long term unless I had to because of the low protein and the ethoxyquin, but I was surprised that she did so well on it. By the way, I learned she doesn't have any new food allergies (as if chicken, salmon, potatoes, and brewers yeast aren't enough). It seems it was just a very bad allergy season last fall.
 

 Emma tolerates it, fine. I don't know how she'd do with it as her main diet, but my friend's dog eats it (by necessity, he just doesn't tolerate anything else, poor guy!), and it smells INCREDIBLE. Emma can't always control herself when nobody's looking...

Since I know she tolerates it, I'll occasionally feed a few pieces as training treats.

Most of the dogs I've known who've eaten it full time haven't done as well as Jessie, buuut in this area, environmental allergens are out of control.