hydrolized z/d diet for kittens?

[haleyrose99]

i have two kitten 5.5 mo and a few vets have told me now that they have symptoms of a food allergy, chicken is suspected. every vet so far that i've been to has been a little difficult with treatment options and resources, and basically has told me to figure out the food on my own which has been nearly impossible. i went to a new vet this morning who prescribed a hydrolized z/d diet to see if they would improve, but i guess i'm just worried about nutrition and what they prescribed. would they be getting enough from a hydrolized diet wet and dry? he said it would be okay, better than leaving them with the symptoms (diarrhea, excessive grooming, itching, licking paws, flaky skin) to just get worse over time. he also prescribed a chicken version of the diet, even with the mention of a possible chicken allergy, but i assume it's to test if chicken is really the problem? this was the first vet of three to actually listen to me and give me a treatment option for their symptoms so i don't want to suspect anything, but i do worry a bit.

 

[Furballsmom]

Hi

he also prescribed a chicken version of the diet

I wouldn't try this chicken version.

If this were me, I'd give them the hydrolyzed food, and see if hopefully it gets their digestive systems back to a balance.
You could check into a probiotic as well.

Then once they are normal try cautiously adding food brands that are labelled as All Life Stages (they're old enough that they don't need specifically Kitten food) which doesn't have chicken but rather rabbit, venison, this sort of novel protein.

 

[haleyrose99]

I wouldn't try this chicken version.

Yeah, it seemed weird to me after i mentioned that chicken was the suspected allergy... do you know what other proteins there are/brands offer a hydrolized diet? they're getting hills now. they actually basically only eat chicken with the occasional fish (salmon/tuna) and turkey, is there a protien that would be safest/best coming from a mostly chicken diet?

i used to get a probiotic capsule because one kitten had crazy bad poops, would the capsules be okay? i don't remember the brand but i can look online

 

[Furballsmom]

I apologize, I was under the impression there was more if a selection of hydrolyzed foods

Hydrolyzed Protein Cat Food | PetMD

According to this article the product made by Blue is chicken free, (I don't know about the Royal Canine HP) if you can get your vet to change the prescription.

The capsule should be fine

 

[haleyrose99]

I apologize, I was under the impression there was more if a selection of hydrolyzed foods

Hydrolyzed Protein Cat Food | PetMD

According to this article the product made by Blue is chicken free, (I don't know about the Royal Canine HP) if you can get your vet to change the prescription.

The capsule should be fine

me too actually, looking now i dont see much i would try the blue but i believe my girl is also sensitive to salmon (i suspect that's what caused the first bout of diarrhea). it looks like hill's has a duck or venison version, but the duck is out of stock everywhere near me and the venison doesn't even have a link anymore... guess i'll keep looking and call the vet on monday thank you!

 

[haleyrose99]

I apologize, I was under the impression there was more if a selection of hydrolyzed foods

Hydrolyzed Protein Cat Food | PetMD

According to this article the product made by Blue is chicken free, (I don't know about the Royal Canine HP) if you can get your vet to change the prescription.

The capsule should be fine

I actually just saw that ziwi peak's venison, lamb, and rabbit cans are available off amazon, but it's a LID... would that be a bad idea to try? i dont exactly know the difference fully between hydrolyzed and LID

 

[Furballsmom]

It might not be a bad idea to try. Sometimes tummies are able to handle a protein that they haven't had before, if you do a very gradual transition.

Hydrolyzed food is where the proteins are actually broken down, this is a decent description ;

Hydrolyzed protein cat food contains proteins that have been broken down to a very small size. Traditional cat food contains intact proteins of normal size. Most known food allergies are due to an abnormal reaction to intact proteins in food. The aim of a hydrolyzed protein diet is to disrupt or break down the proteins within the diet, so the immune system does not react to them.

 

[haleyrose99]

It might not be a bad idea to try. Sometimes tummies are able to handle a protein that they haven't had before.

Hydrolyzed food is where the proteins are actually broken down, this is a decent description ;

Hydrolyzed protein cat food contains proteins that have been broken down to a very small size. Traditional cat food contains intact proteins of normal size. Most known food allergies are due to an abnormal reaction to intact proteins in food. The aim of a hydrolyzed protein diet is to disrupt or break down the proteins within the diet, so the immune system does not react to them.

ah okay, so i guess the plan with the chicken is to test if their allergic reaction to the chicken in their current food goes away on the diet? but that seems a bit redundant if any hydrolyzed food eliminates the component that causes the allergic reaction... but they do any really eat chicken so i guess this would help. safe to say i need to call my vet lol thank you so much!

 

[Furballsmom]