Would you recomend the Hill's Z/D Ultra for the allergic dog?

First, no the canned doesn't contain any of the preservatives you are concerned about.  However, it does contain ALL liver and that did not work well as the only diet for us.  Liver, being an organ meat can cause diarrhea if fed in large amounts to some sensitive dogs.  And, frankly, if I'm going to be concerned about toxins from preservatives I'm not liking liver as my next option either--lots of toxins in that organ.

That said, IF you wanted to use the dry, it certainly wouldn't hurt especially for only 12 weeks.  The problems seen from those preservatives would take much, much longer to happen.

I also wanted to mention that as far as those preservative go there is a lot of drama and not a lot of facts to back up that they cause any type of issues.  From what I understand the amounts used to preserve dog food are much lower than the doses that would/could cause illness.  If you look at a z/d ultra dry bag you will notice the one preservative ethoxyquin at the very bottom of the ingredient list--meaning not much is in there.  And, the other preservative I believe is BHT--which is needed to preserve this type of diet due to the way the protein is broken down--from what I've read. 

Hope this info helps. 

I don't know how effective Hill's ZD is for dealing with allergies, but I DO know that Hill's WD controlled my Wire Fox Terrier's bloody diarrhea!

I was reluctant to try Hill's because I had read so many negative things about it, but after numerous vet trips, tests, medications, bland diets, and super premium foods, I was at the end of my rope.  The next step for Monty would have been much more serious and invasive procedures to try to determine the cause of his diarrhea.  It was at that point that our vet shared with me that one of her dogs, a lab, had the same problem as Monty.  After going through everything I described above and finding nothing, she decided to try the low fat/high fiber approach (Hill's WD), and it worked!

It worked for Monty, too.

Good luck! 

I do not think Hills Z/D is that great of an allergy food.

 I had my allergic dog on it for an elimination diet, and her symptoms did not stop. She was as itchy as ever, so I figured she must not have food allergies.

But now I know that she is in fact allergic to certain foods. I just dont understand why the Z/D never cured her itching? Maybe it was the oil they used, or something in the vitamin mix.

Of course, every dog is different so its at least worth a try. Just remember that if your dog still has symptoms, that does not mean it does not have food allergies. It could have a combination of food and environmental allergies, or maybe just food allergies but the z/d just did not work well.
 

jettababy

I do not think Hills Z/D is that great of an allergy food.

  If you're testing for food allergies, it's an excellent food. I used the dry food for an elimination diet for Jessie, who also has serious year-round environmental allergies. The z/d did not completely stop her itching, but when I added something to it she was allergic to, like chicken, she became itchier and would develop foot or ear infections. It does get a lot of bad press, but it's also very high in omega 6 and omega 3 fatty acids; Jessie's coat looked better on it than when she was on any other food, including Eagle Pack and California Natural. It's also high in antioxidants, having 450 IU/kg of vitamin E.

  Here's the ingredients for the canned, which is also high in fatty acids;

Wow, thank you so much for giving me the ingredients list, but it just doesn't look right to me. Is the only meat it has is the chicken liver? And is that safe to feed ( the liver only food )? Now I am scared of it. After I have already ordered. We are not sure what kind of allergies he has. He is taking right now the Temaril-P for the few more days, and after that I want to try the purely new food diet. Could that be the Hill's Z/D Ultra? The Royal Canine Rabbit/Potato which was my first choice to begin with is on the nationwide back order. They are missing some ingredient for it, and not making it at the moment.

the idea behind the hills z/d is that the protein from the liver has been completely broken down into amino acids- no recognizable allergens. The problem with hills z/d is that it's full of things like soybean oil and vitamins that dogs can be allergic to. You can always just do an elimination diet- pick one protein source, and one carbohydrate, and home-cook them and feed just that for your 12 weeks. It's an unbalanced diet, yes, but it should reveal whether the dog's symptoms are food allergies or not and it won't hurt your dog for only 12 weeks.

PomMommy

Wow, thank you so much for giving me the ingredients list, but it just doesn't look right to me. Is the only meat it has is the chicken liver? And is that safe to feed ( the liver only food )? Now I am scared of it.

   Of course it's safe to feed; they've done animal feeding tests and it's complete and balanced. The ingredients I posted are for the canned, since that's what you're asking about. The dry z/d has both chicken liver and chicken. Three years ago I did an elimination diet using one protein and one carb, but last fall I thought Jessie may have developed new food allergies and chose z/d because she's nine years old and I wanted  her to have a balanced diet.  By the way, this could take more than 3 months. If your dog improves, you'll have to determine what food(s) he's allergic to by adding the ingredients from all the foods he's eaten, one at a time, for about 2 weeks each.

Edited to add;  The soybean oil used in the z/d is probably very well refined since it's a special diet. The more refined an oil or fat is, the less likely people or dogs will react to it, which is why people with peanut allergies can often eat products made with peanut oil, such as chips. I couldn't use the RC potato diets because Jessie's had canned food with potato, which is why I chose the z/d. Your dermatologist should be able to answer any questions you have about the z/d.
 

Willow feels a lot better on it and seems to have tons of energy.

Does Willow still eating it? I remember reading that she didn't like it first.  I am willing to try it. Sorry to be asking too many questions. I am a very nervous doggy mommy.

P.S. I can ONLY feed the canned food. My dogs didn't love the dry food at all, when I tried it with them. This little dude was just swallowing whole kibbles without chewing them. ( He has silly idea in hes head that the faster he finishes hes food or treat the more he gets, I have no clue where he got that idea from. )

I tried first to give her only canned.  And, she didn't like it much and then it wasn't working.  So, I switched to the dry.  But, she's not only eating that.  We already know a list of foods that can be added in. 

I really wouldn't worry about the chewing, they really don't do much chewing regardless of what kind they eat.  The dogs teeth aren't really made for chewing.

PomMommy

Sorry to be asking too many questions. I am a very nervous doggy mommy.

   No problem; I can understand how you feel. I was nervous about feeding the z/d too; I feed holistic foods with natural preservatives and add cooked or raw food. My veterinary dermatologist knows about many holistic brands and likes them, but she recommended the z/d for the elimination diet. I honestly didn't expect Jessie to do so well on it, but she did great.
 

Yes, I would and do.  My dog has done well on both the canned and the dry z/d.  It really helped us when I was fed up with trying all these different foods and still having loose stools, gunky ears and clogged anal glands.  However, if you really want to do an elimination and want to avoid all those chemicals, maybe you could do a homecooked diet.  I've transferred both of my dogs over to 100% homecooked and I've found it's really not that difficult if you can devote a couple hours on the weekend and freeze individual portions.  Maybe you could try a novel carb like oatmeal (mine love it) and a protein your dog hasn't had yet (canned salmon is convenient and most dogs haven't had it if they've been eating commercial foods).  I had a consult with a vet nutritionist and had a homecooked mealplan developed.  It's been money well spent and both my dogs are doing fabulous.

Good luck!

Monty's Mum

I was reluctant to try Hill's because I had read so many negative things about it, but after numerous vet trips, tests, medications, bland diets, and super premium foods, I was at the end of my rope.  The next step for Monty would have been much more serious and invasive procedures to try to determine the cause of his diarrhea.  It was at that point that our vet shared with me that one of her dogs, a lab, had the same problem as Monty.  After going through everything I described above and finding nothing, she decided to try the low fat/high fiber approach (Hill's WD), and it worked

This is exactly the road Iv been down with my Westie Louie..... and ya know what.... W/D WORKED and Im not changing a thing..... Im glad to see someone else has been thru this same thing and came to the same conclusion on the W/D and that it really does work :)

You know, I used to home cook for them when all those recalls were happening last year, but I was terrified that I was hurting them more than helping them because I couldn't possible make the complete balanced diet. I was adding calcium citrate, and then egg shells, but I could never be too sure that I was measuring exactly right, and my Vet scared me, that if I'll make mistake and add too much, I'll do more damage. Besides, it looked to me like they were having less energy while I was cooking for them, but maybe it was just me, my husband was saying that I was going nuts with all the food issue, and that it wasn't true. My Vet honestly recommended me to feed the complete and balanced commercial diet (just to find the one I like) - and then I found the Evanger's (Thanks to this message board), and my dogs are on it since the last June. I love the Ingredients and the flavors, and my dogs love eating it, but one of them started having allergies last August, and I've been dealing with it ever since.