Hills Z/d And Allergies

Kal_shadowsmom

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Hi everyone,

Before posting this, I searched the forums for Hills Z/D and didn't really find what I was looking for.

This week, after shadows vet visit, and a recommendation from the vet, we are slowly transitioning over from Wellness Core turkey and duck food to Hills Z/D.

She has been itchy to the point of a skin infection. I've done a ton of research on allergen triggers in cats so a lot has changed in the last few months. I would have an allergy panel done, but it is just far too expensive at this time.

The vet is not entirely sure the cause of the itchies, but I'm hoping for some improvement after switching to the new food. If there is no improvement I will have to break down and pool some money together for the allergy panel.

My question for you all is, what experience have you had will Hills Z/D?

Also, if you have an allergy prone cat, what are your thoughts on storing food in a plastic container? I know plastic water bowls are a big no no, but not sure on the food situation.

I would have left the food in the original packaging, but last night Shadow decided to have a midnight snack and ripped a hole in the bag, lol. I guess it was just too good to be left alone, because that's the first time she's ever done that.

Anyhow, let me know what you guys and girls think.
 

maggie101

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My cat was on z/d also. It caused loose stools so she was on Nature's Variety Limited Ingredients. That solved the problem. No chicken. Safest is rabbit or duck. Only gave her canned. Dry has fillers not needed and could cause more trouble. There are other brands besides Nature's variety that have limited ingredients
 

duckpond

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I have never needed to use z/d, but it does have a lot of good reviews for helping cats. I hope it helps her.

As for storing the food in a plastic container, well not something i would want to do long term. From what i understand the bags are designed to keep the food fresher, and i would worry about something from the plastic leaching into the food. However it sounds like you dont have much choice if she tore it open. :rolleyes: My guys do stuff like that too, i must keep all bags of their food in a pantry that they cant get into :rolleyes: But honestly i dont think i would worry about storing this one bag in a plastic food container. Once used up i would normally keep food in its original packaging. But hey, at least she likes it :heartshape:
 
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Kal_shadowsmom

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I Once used up i would normally keep food in its original packaging. But hey, at least she likes it :heartshape:
Yea the container is big enough to fit the entire bag, it's one of those cereal keeper containers. Guess on the next bag I'll have to leave the food, bag and all in the container.lol

She's never been one for wet food, I almost think life would be easier if she liked it. I change her water twice a day though, and she drinks the required amount for being on a dry food only, maybe a bit more.

I noticed the Hills Z/D has a very strong smell, stronger than other foods anyway, maybe that's why she couldn't resist it.
 

Daisy6

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I used to have a cat with ~25 allergies. He had a blood allergy panel done to get off prednisolone every 3 months, which is dangerous long-term. I was then referred to a regional veterinary hospital's dermatology department, which performed the test. My cat's prescription diet was Hill's D/D, not Z/D. At the time I did not know enough about treating allergies and feline nutrition to ask a dermatologist why it is better to eat a prescription diet in addition to the weekly injections that were also prescribed. If I could do it all over again, I would have looked for a limited ingredient diet.
 

Daisy6

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I also was told to leave food in the bag. My plastic container for dry food could hold all of it, but I had to cut two inches off the top to make it fit.
 

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My cat was on z/d also. It caused loose stools so she was on Nature's Variety Limited Ingredients. That solved the problem. No chicken. Safest is rabbit or duck. Only gave her canned. Dry has fillers not needed and could cause more trouble. There are other brands besides Nature's variety that have limited ingredients
I agree, limited ingredient food is the best way to go. Through experiences with my own cats, fostering cats for a rescue organization, and taking care of cats as a pet sitter, I've seen a lot of allergic reactions and irritation in cats fed diets with gluten, grain, and protein sources that they can't tolerate (often fish, oddly enough). Most of Hill's Science Diet foods include grains and gluten as major ingredients, and use fish or chicken as protein source. I'm not sure about other prescription brands. Most recent experience was with sitting for a cat that had rampant diarrhea, was losing weight, and eating like there was no tomorrow, possibly from a change in dry food brand. Vet had prescribed metronidazole - didn't help. Another vet provided Science Diet limited ingredient duck wet food - which I didn't know existed, may be new - and the cat's stool was solid in 3 days. Big relief and unexpected collusion from the vet!!

Nature's Variety Limited Ingredient is great - I use it. Natural Balance is also good and less expensive. Both have wet and dry forms of multiple meat sources.

Be aware that working with the vet is important to be sure there is no other underlying cause for the problem - like cancer. But you don't have to accept their diet recommendations.
 
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Kal_shadowsmom

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I used to have a cat with ~25 allergies. He had a blood allergy panel done to get off prednisolone every 3 months, which is dangerous long-term. I was then referred to a regional veterinary hospital's dermatology department, which performed the test. My cat's prescription diet was Hill's D/D, not Z/D. At the time I did not know enough about treating allergies and feline nutrition to ask a dermatologist why it is better to eat a prescription diet in addition to the weekly injections that were also prescribed. If I could do it all over again, I would have looked for a limited ingredient diet.
That situation sounds very close to what I'm dealing with, with shadow. The allergy panel, were they mostly food related allergies?

I agree, limited ingredient food is the best way to go. Through experiences with my own cats, fostering cats for a rescue organization, and taking care of cats as a pet sitter, I've seen a lot of allergic reactions and irritation in cats fed diets with gluten, grain, and protein sources that they can't tolerate (often fish, oddly enough). Most of Hill's Science Diet foods include grains and gluten as major ingredients, and use fish or chicken as protein source. I'm not sure about other prescription brands. Most recent experience was with sitting for a cat that had rampant diarrhea, was losing weight, and eating like there was no tomorrow, possibly from a change in dry food brand. Vet had prescribed metronidazole - didn't help. Another vet provided Science Diet limited ingredient duck wet food - which I didn't know existed, may be new - and the cat's stool was solid in 3 days. Big relief and unexpected collusion from the vet!!

Nature's Variety Limited Ingredient is great - I use it. Natural Balance is also good and less expensive. Both have wet and dry forms of multiple meat sources.

Be aware that working with the vet is important to be sure there is no other underlying cause for the problem - like cancer. But you don't have to accept their diet recommendations.
Going through the forums, I've been seeing that Nature's Variety a lot. I've had that Google search on the backburner, haha.

I was concerned that the Hills has chicken as its main protein, and frankly it isn't as high a quality as what I was feeding her.
 

Daisy6

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That situation sounds very close to what I'm dealing with, with shadow. The allergy panel, were they mostly food related allergies?
No, which is why I was confused about the food prescription. His blood panel allergy test included tree, grass, and weed pollen, dust mites, fleas, and some mammals. It did not include a single kind of food ingredient.
 

Daisy6

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Going through the forums, I've been seeing that Nature's Variety a lot. I've had that Google search on the back burner, haha.

I was concerned that the Hill's has chicken as its main protein, and frankly it isn't as high a quality as what I was feeding her.[/QUOTE]

Unfortunately chicken is not the main protein in Hill's recipes. It's chicken meal in dry foods, followed by chicken byproducts, instead of straight chicken. That's what they mean by low quality protein. There is no "boneless chicken breast" in Hill's products. Same applies to other animal proteins that are supposed to be safe for allergic cats.

Google Nature's Variety INSTINCT. The Pride line is not grain-free.
 
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Kal_shadowsmom

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Going through the forums, I've been seeing that Nature's Variety a lot. I've had that Google search on the back burner, haha.

I was concerned that the Hill's has chicken as its main protein, and frankly it isn't as high a quality as what I was feeding her.
Unfortunately chicken is not the main protein in Hill's recipes. It's chicken meal in dry foods, followed by chicken byproducts, instead of straight chicken. That's what they mean by low quality protein. There is no "boneless chicken breast" in Hill's products. Same applies to other animal proteins that are supposed to be safe for allergic cats.

Google Nature's Variety INSTINCT. The Pride line is not grain-free.[/QUOTE]

I did a quick search of the instinct line and I've got to say in pretty happy with the varieties and ingredients of that food. Depending on how she does on the Hills and if there's a flare up again, I may switch. Like I said, I'm not thrilled with the Hills (ha), because of all the carbs and by products.

No, which is why I was confused about the food prescription. His blood panel allergy test included tree, grass, and weed pollen, dust mites, fleas, and some mammals. It did not include a single kind of food ingredient.
Interesting. I know she's got an allergy to fleas. I will start tracking the allergy indexes and see if there is a correlation between the recorded allergens in the air and flare ups, and maybe switch to an allergen filter on the furnace in the fall.

Thanks for the info Daisy6 Daisy6

In all the years of owning cats, dogs and everything else, I've never had to deal with allergies with them. I'm so glad I came to this site, everyone is so helpful!
:thanks:
 

Daisy6

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Kal, you screwed up my quote to make it look like your own comments. Someone else posted the quoted paragraphs. Can you fix that?

The test results show a range - not allergic, borderline allergic, mild/moderate, then severe. That allows the client to see if allergies are getting better or worse.
 

verna davies

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I have been dealing with food allergies in my young cat
Hills did not suit him so my vet contacted a specialist who recommended Dechra Specific wet food and Purina H A dry food. They have had good results apparently. I live in the UK and can easily get both but I dont know about other countries.
 

Daisy6

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Purina is only a good option if you cat will not eat anything else.
 
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Kal_shadowsmom

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Kal, you screwed up my quote to make it look like your own comments. Someone else posted the quoted paragraphs. Can you fix that?

The test results show a range - not allergic, borderline allergic, mild/moderate, then severe. That allows the client to see if allergies are getting better or worse.
I can't edit the message anymore. Perhaps a moderator can fix it?
 
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2BSH

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Going through the forums, I've been seeing that Nature's Variety a lot. I've had that Google search on the back burner, haha.

I was concerned that the Hill's has chicken as its main protein, and frankly it isn't as high a quality as what I was feeding her.
Unfortunately chicken is not the main protein in Hill's recipes. It's chicken meal in dry foods, followed by chicken byproducts, instead of straight chicken. That's what they mean by low quality protein. There is no "boneless chicken breast" in Hill's products. Same applies to other animal proteins that are supposed to be safe for allergic cats.

Google Nature's Variety INSTINCT. The Pride line is not grain-free.[/QUOTE]
Pride by nature’s variety is grain free. I feed it to my cats. It’s grain free.
 

Rue

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Can anyone help me?
My cat is allergic to every protein there is. Let it be eggs, fish, chicken, raindeer, vension, even insect protein. There's only one brand of dry food she can eat - Specific Allergy management plus. But the problem is that to balance it out i gave her hills z/d wet food. She started to not really like her Specific dry food an on top of that she started to not like the wet food. Tried tk switch to zd dry food and she out of nowhere has allergies to that food even though it's specifically hydrolyzed protein source. What do i do? Are there any other hydrolyzed protein food for cats? I'm at my wits ends. She doesn't eat wet food and she's started to have block solid stools that she can't get out. I tried to we the specific dry food but she refuses to eat it wet. I have no options left to feed her. And shes allergic to absolutely everything that includes any source of protein that's not hydrolyzed. And even the one that's hydrolyzed appearntly. I can't keep giving her prednisolone so she can eat anything.
 
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