# Alternatice to Hills Z/D



## luv4paradise (Oct 26, 2012)

Hi I have a five year old Doberman who has a bad case of allergies. We have tried everything the vet has suggested, even a raw food diet. The only thing that seems to help him is Hills z/d but it is pretty expensive and by prescription only so we have to drive 45 minutes to the vet office just to pick it up. Does anyone know of an alternative to this food that is less expensive? Thanks for your time and help!


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## SaharaNight Boxers (Jun 28, 2011)

What version of raw did you try? (Prepared, freeze dried, BARF, PMR?) And what is he allergic to?


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## DaViking (Sep 27, 2011)

luv4paradise said:


> Hi I have a five year old Doberman who has a bad case of allergies. We have tried everything the vet has suggested, even a raw food diet. The only thing that seems to help him is Hills z/d but it is pretty expensive and by prescription only so we have to drive 45 minutes to the vet office just to pick it up. Does anyone know of an alternative to this food that is less expensive? Thanks for your time and help!


Hi and welcome by the way :smile:

Hills Z/D is a very basic "bare metals" food. It is basically only starch, chicken (hydrolyzed), fat (oil), fiber, minerals and vitamins. The "bare metals" is important for your dog. I'll throw you a non therapeutic commercial alternative that *could* work but the purists here will probably call me crazy for suggesting you feed more potato than chicken. Have a look at First Mate GF Chicken & Blueberries, can be purchased from Amazon or pet stores on the US west cost or pet stores across Canada. Since Hills Z/D is the only thing that have worked we want to stay as close as possible. The First Mate formula is as close as you are going to get. It is basically starch (potato), chicken, fat, blueberries (includes fiber), minerals and vitamins. Have 84% animal protein. I have seen first hand how this food have helped numerous dogs and I see dogs daily who have no particular need still does great on this food. I don't get too hung up on potato being the number one ingredient. The potato (Idaho potato meal/flakes) is not a purified starch nor is the chicken hydrolyzed but on the other side, your dog might not need that at the end of the day. It's not the cheapest food, nothing from Taplow is, but it have quality ingredients, is gently processed and is highly digestible. And even more important, it's proven for dogs with severe allergies.


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## luv4paradise (Oct 26, 2012)

SaharaNight Boxers said:


> What version of raw did you try? (Prepared, freeze dried, BARF, PMR?) And what is he allergic to?


We have done an allergy test and it has come back that he is allergic to nothing but after everything we have tried he believes it is meat that he is allergic to. Not sure on the name of the raw diet we tried. We gave him fresh meat, such as chicken quarters, livers and hearts


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## luv4paradise (Oct 26, 2012)

DaViking said:


> Hi and welcome by the way :smile:
> 
> Hills Z/D is a very basic "bare metals" food. It is basically only starch, chicken (hydrolyzed), fat (oil), fiber, minerals and vitamins. The "bare metals" is important for your dog. I'll throw you a non therapeutic commercial alternative that *could* work but the purists here will probably call me crazy for suggesting you feed more potato than chicken. Have a look at First Mate GF Chicken & Blueberries, can be purchased from Amazon or pet stores on the US west cost or pet stores across Canada. Since Hills Z/D is the only thing that have worked we want to stay as close as possible. The First Mate formula is as close as you are going to get. It is basically starch (potato), chicken, fat, blueberries (includes fiber), minerals and vitamins. Have 84% animal protein. I have seen first hand how this food have helped numerous dogs and I see dogs daily who have no particular need still does great on this food. I don't get too hung up on potato being the number one ingredient. The potato (Idaho potato meal/flakes) is not a purified starch nor is the chicken hydrolyzed but on the other side, your dog might not need that at the end of the day. It's not the cheapest food, nothing from Taplow is, but it have quality ingredients, is gently processed and is highly digestible. And even more important, it's proven for dogs with severe allergies.




Thanks so much for your reply, I am looking that up now.


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## Unosmom (May 3, 2009)

I would try something like grain free california natural, they even have a kangaroo formula out.


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## SaharaNight Boxers (Jun 28, 2011)

luv4paradise said:


> We have done an allergy test and it has come back that he is allergic to nothing but after everything we have tried he believes it is meat that he is allergic to. Not sure on the name of the raw diet we tried. We gave him fresh meat, such as chicken quarters, livers and hearts


What was his reaction to the things you believe he is allergic to? And what kind of test was it?


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## SaharaNight Boxers (Jun 28, 2011)

DaViking said:


> Hi and welcome by the way :smile:
> 
> Hills Z/D is a very basic "bare metals" food. It is basically only starch, chicken (hydrolyzed), fat (oil), fiber, minerals and vitamins. The "bare metals" is important for your dog. I'll throw you a non therapeutic commercial alternative that *could* work but the purists here will probably call me crazy for suggesting you feed more potato than chicken. Have a look at First Mate GF Chicken & Blueberries, can be purchased from Amazon or pet stores on the US west cost or pet stores across Canada. Since Hills Z/D is the only thing that have worked we want to stay as close as possible. The First Mate formula is as close as you are going to get. It is basically starch (potato), chicken, fat, blueberries (includes fiber), minerals and vitamins. Have 84% animal protein. I have seen first hand how this food have helped numerous dogs and I see dogs daily who have no particular need still does great on this food. I don't get too hung up on potato being the number one ingredient. The potato (Idaho potato meal/flakes) is not a purified starch nor is the chicken hydrolyzed but on the other side, your dog might not need that at the end of the day. It's not the cheapest food, nothing from Taplow is, but it have quality ingredients, is gently processed and is highly digestible. And even more important, it's proven for dogs with severe allergies.


If I count as a Purist, I think it's ok. If the dog can handle it anything is better than Hill's.


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## twoisplenty (Nov 12, 2008)

Sahara, you are in the dry food section and the OP is asking for a similar dry product as what they are feeding. Leave Raw out of the discussion. If you can not recommend a similar dry product then dont respond to the discussion or if you feel the need to probe deeper, how about sending the OP a PM instead.

Lets keep kibble in the kibble section and Raw in the Raw section.

I'm sorry but I have no recommendations for you. I hope others can help direct you to another similar kibble and that you can get these allergies under control.


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## SaharaNight Boxers (Jun 28, 2011)

twoisplenty said:


> Sahara, you are in the dry food section and the OP is asking for a similar dry product as what they are feeding. Leave Raw out of the discussion. If you can not recommend a similar dry product then dont respond to the discussion or if you feel the need to probe deeper, how about sending the OP a PM instead.
> 
> Lets keep kibble in the kibble section and Raw in the Raw section.
> 
> I'm sorry but I have no recommendations for you. I hope others can help direct you to another similar kibble and that you can get these allergies under control.


I meant in general. I'm sticking to the rules, I promise. There's no point in creating useless drama by pushing raw here. Just a waste of everyone's time. I meant it as more if he truly is allergic or just more intolerant because everything came back negative. I probably should've taken the raw part out.


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## Jace (Oct 3, 2012)

For some owners who are unsure of what the particular allergy is, it can be tricky to know where to go. The hydrolyzed protein of the chicken is considered "hypo-allergenic", due to the structure of it not being the same as regular protein. I would agree trying a simple profile, using one protein, and limited carbs is the best way to go. The FirstMate could be a good option, or the California Naturals. Have you thought about doing the Nutriscan test? I have heard good results from some people, and it is different than an allergy test, as it uses saliva. Some consider the accuracy better, especially as I think you said the results didn't show anything???


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## MollyWoppy (Mar 19, 2010)

My neighbour has a miniature Schnauzer that the vet diagnosed as being allergic to meat protein too. She was on SD ZD for 5 or 6 years. From what I understand, the chicken is broken down to the molecular level where the body doesn't recognise it as chicken. I believe that food is meant to be a temporary, not a long term solution. 
I persuaded her to try fish. We started with one of the California Natural Fish formula's and the dog handled the food just fine. From there she has been on Orijen 6 Fish, EVO and another couple of fish formula's. 
And, what a difference, body odour is way down, her paws and face are not orange anymore (constant licking), her eyes cleared up, her skin cleared up and stopped itching, wasn't red and inflamed, her whole demeanour changed into a fun loving energetic dog. She still gets ear infections, not as chronic as they use to be, but I think that is something that will stay with her for life.
Maybe fish could help with your dog too.


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## monster'sdad (Jul 29, 2012)

I would try Verus Opticoat. Menhaden is a very tolerable protein and is better than most when fed in a singular fashion. Verus is made at Ohio Pet so no issue with quality. I know many vets that swear by this formula.

There is another called ZinPro made by Lincoln Biotech. Pretty similar with a high tech form of zinc.

These two are for extreme cases. Verus is pretty easy to buy.


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## Dog Walker (Dec 23, 2010)

We have a cat who has food allergies, I am not completely sure to what but it is either grain/gluten or chicken. We just did a trial run with him and 3 different brands of Limited Ingredient Holistic foods without chicken, grain, gluten or corn. So not only were they hypoallergenic but also natural. We tried Natural Balance, Before Grain and Nature's Variety with awesome results. In a few days his symptoms cleared up, so I know now for sure he has an intolerance to grain or chicken, our next trial will be a food with chicken in it to see if that is the allergen or not.


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