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

Well, I'm going to mention this even though it's not about z/d. 

On Evanger's website it says that the Classic Chicken and Rice canned and also the Lamb and Rice canned are recommended for sensitive dogs.  They have limited ingredients and are complete and balanced.  And, you like the company so I thought I'd mention it. 

Lori

Thanks Lori, I used to feed Lamb and Rice up until month ago, but from what I read the grains causing allergies,  so I decided to get rid of that flavor, so now I only feed the Whole Mackerel and Gravy, Organic Turkey and Potato Dinner, and Duck and Fresh Sweet Potato Dinner. All of those have the Complete Balanced Diet written on the every can. From what I know, Rice is the least recommended ingredient for the allergic dogs. Please correct me if I'm wrong?

Sorry to hear about the allergies. So many dogs now seem to have them.. Have you looked at Cal Natural Lamb and rice... It's real simple formula.

Perhaps your dog has been exposed to so many environmental allergens it's Liver has built up toxic levels and no longer works well to digest it's food. If you read a lot of publications like WDJ you will see that Milk Thistle can help detoxify the dog's liver and help restore it's function. If I decided to feed a product that contained BHA / Ethoxyquin I would definitely consider using Milk Thistle if fed long term.

Dryer sheets, furniture polish, floor cleaner, grass pesticides, medications, flea and tick products, automobile pollutants, jet planes, coal plants, on and on I could go. Dogs are being exposed to things never imagined 100 yeas ago.

New information has come out recently that dog toys made in China contain deadly paint, dioxins from Vinyl Plastics. Dog dishes and bowls that are not glazed properly leach lead into your dog. Rawhides that contain Arsenic from being processed. All effect your dogs Liver.

Irina, my vet and the nutritionist both tried to steer me towards commercial diets at first for the "balanced" reason also.  But I made it clear I didn't want to feed commercial if I could manage a homecooked plan for them.  I use a supplement from this website: www.balanceit.com and they have an interface where you can build a balanced recipe for your dog with homemade ingredients.  Then you won't have to worry about over or under supplementing, you'll know exactly what they're getting and you'll be the one in control, not the food companies.  I hate these recalls and manufacturing issues, etc.  If there's a recall on brown rice or oatmeal, I have easily accessible alternatives, etc.  I also feel that although it's not a perfect world or solution, the people watching over the people food and what's in it are more careful than the ones watching over the dog food.  What I feed is very basic and easy, I can get veggies, broth, salmon and brown rice or oatmeal in any grocery store and never have to worry about some manufacturing change or added ingredient will throw my dogs for a loop.  I'm not affiliated with nor do I get money from the website, I just like to share it because it has really helped me alot.  It also provides recipes that use human vitamin supplements, so you don't even have to buy their supplement if you don't want to.  I do because it's powdered and easy to use rather than finding the right multivitamin for people and then grinding it up (Woobie won't eat pills).

Good luck!

My schnauzer back home was on Z/D for a while because she has a sensitive stomach and that's what the vets prescribed for her. Did not work AT ALL. I think it even made her sicker. Now she's on Blue for sensitive stomachs and she's doing much better now. So from my experience, Hill Z/D is not a good food. 

You can't generalize when trying to figure this out.  Rice may not work for my dog but might be fine for yours.  I dont' really understand how you can possibly even start to figure out what the issue is when you are feeding multiple protein sources and also food with two different potato and also veggie.  You've got to cut the ingredient list down. 

 If it's that big a deal to feed the z/d for you just cook one protein the dog has never eaten and one carb source and try that for a few months then add in other things and see if there is a reaction. 

Personally, I don't like this method.  I'd rather find a food or a few foods my dog is OK on and stick with them.  Trying different things to see if she got sick never appealed to me at all.

willowchow

You can't generalize when trying to figure this out.  Rice may not work for my dog but might be fine for yours.  I dont' really understand how you can possibly even start to figure out what the issue is when you are feeding multiple protein sources and also food with two different potato and also veggie.  You've got to cut the ingredient list down. 

 If it's that big a deal to feed the z/d for you just cook one protein the dog has never eaten and one carb source and try that for a few months then add in other things and see if there is a reaction. 

 

  Lori is right. Jessie is a good example. I learned through the elimination diet that she's allergic to white and sweet potatoes, but no grains. Meats are common allergens, and she's allergic to chicken, salmon, and pork. You really need to do a true elimination diet or find a food your dog does well on and stay with it like Lori does for Willow.
 

 Hi, I used to feed my dog Shadow a very high quality dog food (Wellness brand, Venison/Sweet potato (most recently), and prior to that Wellness fish/turkey dog food).  He was still extremely itchy, and even though he wore a cone at all times he still managed to lick and chew his feet and back raw.  It cost us hundreds of dollars to combat this, (antibiotics for the resulting infections, steroids, allergy meds,special shampoos and conditioners, etc.) We finally took him to a canine allergist,( that too is expensive), but at least we found out what the allergens were, that were tormenting him.  He is allergic to potato, barley, oats, milk ,rice, soybean,wheat, pinto beans, beef, corn, fish,and duck. He is much better now, but will still lick his feet sometimes, but not like before.  It would be just my luck if he turns out to be allergic to grass, dirt, etc.  At least for now both he and I are feeling much better.  So, you may want to get your dog tested.  Our regular vet recommended the canine allergist and I'm glad she did.  Hope this helps you.  Peace.

 Hi, just found this web site today while looking up sites to purchase the hills z/d ultra diet.  We used to feed our dog the Wellness brand Whitefish/ turkey dog food but he kept licking, and chewing on his feet and back until he was raw and bloody, prior to that we tried a lamb blend, we then tried a third blend with venison, sweet potato, potato protein, canola oil, potato fiber,and flaxseed.  That one was a little better for him, but he still chewed himself raw even with a cone collar on at all times.  Well, many long months of antibiotics, steroids, allergy meds, and the various diets later, the vet sent him to a canine allergist.  It was expensive but worth it.  He is allergic to potato, barley,oats, milk, rice, soybean, wheat, pinto beans, beef, corn, fish and duck.  I always thought that rice was good for the allergic dog, but I was wrong.  He is much better now, but will still go after his feet,etc.  I just hope he isn't also allergic to grass, dirt and things like that.  I thought that giving him good, healthy, human grade food instead of the junk dog food that they sell in the grocery stores was the way to go.  Now I have to give him this stuff. 

 I haven't read the other posts, but the dry z/d no longer has ethoxyquin so you don't need to worry about that. I would recommend it over the rabbit/potato formula because I tried that formula for Jessie and she got a very bad ear infection. It turns out she's allergic to potatoes. I used the z/d for an elimination diet and Jessie did very well. Dogs love it because it tastes like chicken liver and her coat was nice because it has a good amount of omega 3's.  Here's the canned z/d ingredients;

 Water, Hydrolyzed Chicken Liver, Corn Starch, Powdered Cellulose, Soybean Oil, Dicalcium Phosphate, Calcium Carbonate, Potassium Citrate, DL-Methionine, Choline Chloride, Iodized Salt, Vitamin E Supplement, Taurine, Ascorbic Acid (source of vitamin C), L-Threonine, Zinc Oxide, Ferrous Sulfate, L-Tryptophan, Beta-Carotene, Thiamine Mononitrate, Copper Sulfate, Manganous Oxide, Niacin, Calcium Pantothenate, Vitamin B12 Supplement, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Biotin, Calcium Iodate, Vitamin D3 Supplement, Riboflavin, Sodium Selenite, Folic Acid.

 My little dog is allergic to rice, too, Garema. She's also allergic to human dander, fleas, cockroaches, dust mites, and several kinds of grass. It's ridiculous! She eats Z/D, too, and is thriving on it, which is better than I can say about any diet I've ever used, for her.

Hi,

It's funny that you posted this question, because I signed on today to post a very similiar question.  My 5 year old cocker spaniel has been eating Hill's z/d canned food for about 2 years now.  I started giving it to him after he kept getting paw infection after paw infection.  He hasn't had a paw infection since. 

I was also looking for a dry food because I like to give dry as a snack and wasn't crazy about the z/d ultra dry.  They did stop using the ethoxquin, but the soybean oil they use in this dry contains bha, propyl gallate and citric acid.  It's only in the soybean oil that they use in the dry z/d food.  This is the only thing stopping me from using it. 

So I tried the Royal Canin Rabbit and Potato prescription food (about 7 months ago) along with the z/d ultra cans.  This worked for a while, but lately Jake keeps getting skin infections along his groin area.  He is also licking and biting himself there and he keeps going on oral antibiotics along with topical steriods for these infections and now I'm wondering if he could possibly be allergic to the rabbit or the potatoes.  So I was thinking of stopping this dry and trying the z/d ultra dry to add along with the z/d ultra wet. 

 I'm hoping this makes sense and I didn't lose anyone yet!  LOL!  My only concern is the bha and propyl gallate in the soybean oil with the dry z/d ultra.  Would you be concerned about this?  He would probably only be eating about 1/2 cup of dry a day. 

 My dog does love the z/d ultra (it looks like rubber to me and smells awful, but he loves it)!  I was/still am concerned about him only have an organ meat like liver, which probably isn't the best, but he is a highly allergic dog and I don't have many other options.

What do you all think about the dry z/d ultra that I mentioned?

Thanks,

Michelle

You can take the wet food, spread it on a pan, and bake it at low until it's firm. It may or may not make "cookies" (I haven't tried it with z/d) but it will make crumbs you can use for training treats. You can experiment with veggie starches to see whether there's something your dog can tolerate - tapioca, carrot, sweet potato, jicama, plantain, maca - and if you hit on something, make a "mashed potato" sort of thing and use it to bind the canned food to make something more like a cookie. Have fun experimenting - your dog will enjoy eating the "failures" as much as the successes!

I have 3 labs. 2 have really bad allergies---skin itching, ear yuckies and so on. After very expensive and many trips to the VET for ear cleaning and such, we went on ZD ultra for an allergy cleanse. Our dogs did super on this. They did drop a little bit of weight, so we increased the amount they get. It is expensive and we go through a lot for 2 big dogs... but it's less expensive than visiting the vet every other week to be checked for one thing or another. REcently we decided to introduce them back onto a "low allergy" over the counter food. We were told to either try EVO by Innova, or Taste of the Wild. We went with Taste of the WIld (1/2 the price than zd). Within 2 weeks we were back the vet, this time as an emergent visit, because our dogs were now with swollen ears, eyes, lips and face. We had to start with steroids and everything. Now we are back on ZD. I am wondering if our dogs can stay on this food for their life? or is there a reason they should not (besides the price)....? anybody know? Thanks.

 *shrugs* I have no plans of switching.

 

I wouldn't risk a complicated food like EVO on my allergy dog. Something super simple, like Natural Balance's allergy formulas, California Natural, or Wellness Simple Solutions is where I'd start, if I wanted to switch off of the prescription food.