Hills Z/D or Royal Canin Hypoallergenic?

tobilei

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Hi everyone!

The time has come to seriously consider putting my boy on a total elimination diet, just to rule out food allergies once and for all. In case you didn't see my other thread, he gets itchy and hot spots and over grooms as a result. He's a 2 year old (or will be 2 in February) Maine Coon.

We've done some trial diets cutting out soy, then fish and soy but so far no luck.

I attempted to switch him to raw but he's insanely fussy and not interested.

We attempted an elimination diet on Hills I/D (even though it contains chicken) because he's big and has trouble eating the Z/D dry (but I'm willing to give it another shot). We did try the RC hypoallergenic once before and he got diarrhea (however it was an old packet from a previous kitty).

The thing is, at this point, we are looking at either grains or chicken (my vet says chicken is more likely than grains and he has been on grain free food before and most of the time the only grain has been rice, Hills I/D excluded).

I'm pretty sure fish makes him worse so can't switch to all fish for an elimination trial.

Because it's possibly chicken (but then could also possibly be soy) I can't decide between the Hills Z/D and the Royal Canin Hypoallergenic.

In Australia these are my only 2 options (other than home cooked and I doubt he'd eat it nor do I know where to begin with that).

The Hills I/D has chicken (hydrolyzed) and the Royal Canin is soy based. Both companies assure me these are fine if he's allergic to that particular protein but I just can't decide what to do!

I do like that the Hills has a wet food option. (not that I've managed to get him to eat it in the past, he just buries is). I really really don't want him on all dry but if I have to do it I will (sigh).

Opinions on which you'd pick? I've done so much reading about both and I'm really just.....stuck.

Thank you so much!
 
 

Columbine

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Ugh - I'm sorry to hear you're in this position. Food allergies can be a nightmare - especially when coupled with a fussy eater :(

I know a lot of people have success with novel protein diets. If you're able to get a single protein, limited ingredient commercial food that might be another option as a basis for an elimination diet. Novel protein would be my start point for a home cooked diet too...the [thread="263751"]​[/thread] is a great start point if you wanted to go that route.

I'm only suggesting this because you're concerned that both soy and chicken are possible allergens in this case.

If you feel the best thing is to try the prescription diets, my instinct would be to go for the Royal Canin. I just think that chicken is more likely to be problematic than soy. That's just my opinion though - and I'm no vet or nutritionist ;)

Sorry I can't be of more help. Good luck :vibes:
 

missmimz

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Homemade is really easy. There are a lot of threads about how to make food and how to transition over a fussy eater. Can you get Merrick Limited Ingredient or Nature's Variety limited ingredient in Australia? They are both really good wet foods that only contain 1 protein. I personally do not like RX foods, especially for something like an allergy issue. Because you're dealing with a skin issue an all kibble diet could make it worse, since dry food can contribute to dehydration. You'd be better off with a single protein wet food or making your own with a novel protein. 
 

Columbine

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I've just done a search. Have you tried ZiwiPeak canned food as an elimination diet? Their Venison, Lamb or Beef canned foods seem to meet the criteria for a limited ingredient diet using novel protein. If you're really uneasy about the prescription diets, picking a single flavour out of these three might be an alternative way to achieve an elimination diet.

Obviously, discuss this with your vet before making a decision. I'm just trying to give you another option.
 

missmimz

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I've just done a search. Have you tried ZiwiPeak canned food as an elimination diet? Their Venison, Lamb or Beef canned foods seem to meet the criteria for a limited ingredient diet using novel protein. 
This is a good suggestion. I feed Ziwipeak a lot and I think it's excellent food. (a little expensive tho). It comes in both a wet and "kibble" form so if your cat isn't big on wet food yet you could try their "air dried" variety. My cats LOVE the air dried. 
 
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tobilei

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Ugh - I'm sorry to hear you're in this position. Food allergies can be a nightmare - especially when coupled with a fussy eater


I know a lot of people have success with novel protein diets. If you're able to get a single protein, limited ingredient commercial food that might be another option as a basis for an elimination diet. Novel protein would be my start point for a home cooked diet too...the [thread="263751"]Cooked Recipes Thread​[/thread] is a great start point if you wanted to go that route.

I'm only suggesting this because you're concerned that both soy and chicken are possible allergens in this case.

If you feel the best thing is to try the prescription diets, my instinct would be to go for the Royal Canin. I just think that chicken is more likely to be problematic than soy. That's just my opinion though - and I'm no vet or nutritionist


Sorry I can't be of more help. Good luck
Thank you! Yes, they can! Although we're not sure it's food. We *think* we've ruled out flea allergy although they're really hard to keep under control where I live and it could also be environmental. We need to rule out the food so we can either deal with it or move on to what really might be the issue. And yes, he's a nightmare of a cat when it comes to food! He will absolutely starve himself if he doesn't get what he wants! Little horror (lucky I love him so much!)

We don't have single protein diets here sadly. I looked into importing one from the US but it would cost me an insane amount of money. There is one called Simple made by Wellness however it's for dogs so not exactly nutrient appropriate for a cat. I will take a look at the cooked recipes thread, thanks for that!
 
Homemade is really easy. There are a lot of threads about how to make food and how to transition over a fussy eater. Can you get Merrick Limited Ingredient or Nature's Variety limited ingredient in Australia? They are both really good wet foods that only contain 1 protein. I personally do not like RX foods, especially for something like an allergy issue. Because you're dealing with a skin issue an all kibble diet could make it worse, since dry food can contribute to dehydration. You'd be better off with a single protein wet food or making your own with a novel protein. 
Thank you. I will take a look at them. He won't eat steak or chicken or leftover lamb that's been cooked for our dinner so I don't fancy my luck with home cooking but it's worth a shot before I go commercial dry. Sadly no, we don't get either of those. It's very frustrating. We don't even get the Royal Canin limited. The only one available is as I mentioned above, the Simple for dogs. Worst case I will speak to my vet about the Simple with taurine or additives. Thank you for the advice!
I've just done a search. Have you tried ZiwiPeak canned food as an elimination diet? Their Venison, Lamb or Beef canned foods seem to meet the criteria for a limited ingredient diet using novel protein. If you're really uneasy about the prescription diets, picking a single flavour out of these three might be an alternative way to achieve an elimination diet.

Obviously, discuss this with your vet before making a decision. I'm just trying to give you another option.
Thank you for this! I have tried him on the wet ziwipeak before but he "buries" it the minute I dish it up. The only other issue I wondered about it is if Green Lipped Mussel might be an allergen for him given I'm pretty sure he reacts to fish (both salmon and tuna) or whether it would be classed as something else :/ I appreciate the help!
 
This is a good suggestion. I feed Ziwipeak a lot and I think it's excellent food. (a little expensive tho). It comes in both a wet and "kibble" form so if your cat isn't big on wet food yet you could try their "air dried" variety. My cats LOVE the air dried. 
Oh I love it! I wish my boy would love ANY of the foods I love (ziwipeak got buried as did wellness, holistic select and earthborn holisitic, even whiska's and Hills Ideal balance are out for him, not sure if I could starve him into submission I get too worried after 16 hours of him refusing to eat). I haven't tried the dried ziwipeak though only the wet (and as I said above, unsure about the mussel?) Thank you!
 
I'd probably start with the royal canin bexause Z/D can cause terrible diarrhea in some cats.  Also have you tried an anithistamine for relief?
Thanks StephenQ. We did initially try antihistamines (ipramine, zyrtec, clarityne) but none seemed to make a real difference. Ipramine was probably the most effective but I think mostly because it doped him out a lot. My new vet told me when we first saw her that anithistamines aren't effective in cats (the opinion seems to be mixed with that one, we had 1 vet who would only prescribe them and 2 who said they're useless in cats, but as stated, not much luck sadly, perhaps in combination with something else maybe.....)

Yes, he did get diarrhea from the z/d last time. Hills told me this effect wears off after a month or so (but it seemed odd to me to give an allergic cat a food that would almost definitely cause diarrhea).

Thank you for your input!
 
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tobilei

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Damn - I must've overlooked the green lipped mussel


Good luck with the Royal Canin. That really does seem the best option for now.
I did too originally! It might be fine (and I guess I can try it again once I've ruled out everything else and see how it goes).

Thanks again :)
 

jahzara

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My cat also had allergies. I tried to do an elimination diet, but nothing helped. Turns out, I never would have been able to figure it out doing it that method! I decided to do an allergy test; turned out she was allergic to soy, lamb, and beef. She also had environmental allergens of fleas, dust, and ragweed. I would highly recommend to do an allergy test because you could be faced with the same issue of more than just one food allergy. It will also save you and your cat a lot of trouble. You won't be wasting money, buying foods he may or may not like, hoping for some answers, all the while, switching his diet and throwing his digestive tract out of wack (which sounds like this has been a problem) possibly causing him stress. I believe the test set me back $230. Which was worth it in the end to save all the headaches. She was put on immunotheraphy shots for her environmental allergens, and I knew what foods to not purchase.

I'll also suggest this - certain supplements from a holistic vet helped my cat greatly!! She was given two different supplements, which I sprinkled on her food, and they worked well. What finally caused me to do the test, however, is that I didn't want to subject her to the same supplement taste for the rest of her life and I felt that shots would much easier on her. (Turns out giving shots isn't that bad and I'd love it if all meds came administered as such!)

Good luck with your allergen search! I understand how frustrating it can be - the constant scratching and scabies all over their body, the hot spots, the clumps of fur all over the house... Heck, my cat even got a skin infection to where we had to shave her backside and put her on antibiotics! It's very frustrating... Grr
 
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