# Alternative to Hills Prescription Diet Z/D



## kelsey50

Hi. We have a 9 year old golden retriever who in the past year has developed a digestion problem that has made it difficult for him to hold down his usual dry food. Ultrasounds and other tests have ruled out any specific abnormalities so our vet put him on Hills Prescription Diet Z/D. He has been tolerating this food well. It is, however, very expensive. Unfortunately, I don't know much about what is in the Hills food or why it seems to work for him but I was wondering if anyone on this group has addressed a similar issue and found a less expensive but effective alternative to the Z/D diet that can be purchased at our local Petsmart or other pet store? 

Thanks for any feedback!


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## tem_sat

kelsey50 said:


> Hi. We have a 9 year old golden retriever who in the past year has developed a digestion problem that has made it difficult for him to hold down his usual dry food. Ultrasounds and other tests have ruled out any specific abnormalities so our vet put him on Hills Prescription Diet Z/D. He has been tolerating this food well. It is, however, very expensive. Unfortunately, I don't know much about what is in the Hills food or why it seems to work for him but I was wondering if anyone on this group has addressed a similar issue and found a less expensive but effective alternative to the Z/D diet that can be purchased at our local Petsmart or other pet store?
> 
> Thanks for any feedback!


Hi and welcome!

Z/D shows to be this:

Starch, Hydrolyzed Chicken Liver, Soybean Oil (preserved with BHA, propyl gallate and citric acid), Hydrolyzed Chicken, Powdered Cellulose, Dicalcium Phosphate, Calcium Carbonate, Glyceryl Monostearate, Potassium Chloride, Iodized Salt, Choline Chloride, vitamins (Vitamin E Supplement, L-Ascorbyl-2-Polyphosphate (source of vitamin C), Niacin, Thiamine Mononitrate, Vitamin A Supplement, Calcium Pantothenate, Biotin, Vitamin B12 Supplement, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Riboflavin, Vitamin D3 Supplement, Folic Acid), DL-Methionine, minerals (Ferrous Sulfate, Zinc Oxide, Copper sulfate, Manganous Oxide, Calcium Iodate, Sodium Selenite), preserved with Mixed Tocopherols & Citric Acid, Taurine, Beta-Carotene, Rosemary Extract.

Hydrolyzed protein is like feeding a boullion cube. If it were me, I would look into Prey Model Raw and research it's digestibility. For questions, visit the Raw section of this forum.

I am sure someone will chime in on what might be a kibble or canned alternative.


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## xellil

Looking at the ingredient list, it appears you could do much, much better - some of those ingredients are scary.

First ingredient - *starch*. From what? Where did it come from? What kind of starch? 
*hydrolized anything* - more likely to contain euthanized animals - this is from the fda website:


> There appear to be associations between rendered or hydrolyzed ingredients and the presence of pentobarbital in dog food.


*Powdered cellulose *is a fancy name for sawdust.

In my opinion, Science Diet is one of the worst dog foods on the market. If you stay with dry, I'm sure you'll get lots of good suggestions.

But i also recommend raw - easy to digest, little chance of allergies.


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## DaneMama

Hydrolized proteins have been broken down into smaller pieces so they're not "recognized" as animal proteins by the body. Hills z/d is mainly used remedy for dogs with food allergies. 

Basically you're paying out the nose for crap food, considering the 5th ingredient is basically saw dust (powdered cellulose). 

I would definitely do a raw diet for your Golden...the link in my signature is my website that is chock full of information on a prey model raw diet. 

Best of luck and welcome to the group!


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## chewice

In my awesomely expert opinion (sarcasm)... I would try a simple high quality one protein dog food. 

My dog has tummy issues when I give him a high protein kibble...so doing my research I have gone with Go Now! There is a sensitivity one for coats and stomachs made with salmon or duck and one "carb". This is also a hypoallergenic food, although its not helping my little man (but it could for yours!)

The z/d or d/d is a sh** dog food...its basically like a high calorie pepto bismol in my mind. 

Look at the reviews on it! Can't hurt to explore your options.


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## luvMyBRT

Welcome to DFC! :smile:

My first recommendation is to look into feeding a raw diet. This type of diet is most natural for a dog and there are numerous stories of dogs that have multiple problems that clear up once put on a raw diet. The link in Danemama's signature is a great place to start as well as asking questions here.

If a raw diet doesn't work for your situation I agree to look into a limited ingredient kibble. Be sure to look at the actual ingredient list on the bag. It's good to see a meat source as the first ingredient.

Here is a list of ingredients to avoid:
The Dog Food Project - Ingredients to avoid

Good luck! :smile:


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## 1605

kelsey50 said:


> Hi. We have a 9 year old golden retriever who in the past year has developed a digestion problem that has made it difficult for him to hold down his usual dry food. Ultrasounds and other tests have ruled out any specific abnormalities so our vet put him on Hills Prescription Diet Z/D. He has been tolerating this food well. It is, however, very expensive. Unfortunately, I don't know much about what is in the Hills food or why it seems to work for him but I was wondering if anyone on this group has addressed a similar issue and found a less expensive but effective alternative to the Z/D diet that can be purchased at our local Petsmart or other pet store?
> 
> Thanks for any feedback!


This has probably been covered in other posts, but here goes:

1) Examine the ingredients list for your dog's previous foods where he had GI issues. Compare against the Hills Diet he's currently on. What is on the 1st one that is not in the 2nd? That will probably give you a good idea of what is the trigger for the GI problems.

2) Go look for a good dog food that has the ingredients he can tolerate. It appears that chicken is not an issue, so that as the protein source would be logical. General rule of thumb: the fewer the ingredients the better. 

In the end YOU are the only one who can fill in the blanks for what might be problem ingredients for your dog. No one can give you a blanket "go to food" to replace the Science Diet without determining what the underlying problem ingredient might be.

Bonne chance,


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## PDXdogmom

One of my dogs is an almost 11 yr old golden retriever who has shown an intolerance to a number of ingredients. He does especially well with a rotation of grain-free simple ingredient formulas. Right now he is thriving on NutriSource Pure Vita Grain Free Turkey. Grain Free Dog Food Turkey Formula PureVita - Pure and Natural Holistic Pet Food

An even more simple line of single meat protein foods which helps many dogs are the California Natural formulas: Natural Dog Food, Cat Food and Puppy Food for Pets With Food Sensitivity


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## kelsey50

PDXdogmom. I had not seen your post before i finished mine. Thanks for the suggestions. I'm on my way to the store now to look for them!


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## xellil

I'm not sure Beneful isn't a better dog food.

After all, look at the first ingredient in Hill's - starch. I would guess corn starch. At least the first ingredient in Beneful is ground up corn, and it doesn't have sawdust in it. And it probably doesn't have euthanized animals in it, either.

although chicken by-product is certainly not optimal, I think I'd go with the Beneful if I had to choose between the two.


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## Kat

I agree, a raw diet would be best for your golden. I switched my pug to raw 5 months ago after she became allergic to any dog food brand I tried. 

If you really dont want to go the raw route, I would suggest switching to a high quality limited ingredient diet, and if your feeding kibble, it would be best to also mix in some extra canned food and warm water to make the kibble softer. Some dogs have trouble digesting kibble because they need to use their own water reserve to break down and digest the kibble. It makes it easier on their system to add the water in to help with the digestion. 

Natural Balance has several limited ingredient diets, with canned versions aswell. And Nature's Variety also does limited ingredient, but I believe they only do turkey and lamb.


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## CorgiPaws

Wow am I ever glad this isn't in the dry/ canned section, so we can recommend raw without being burned at the stake because it really sounds like a potential godsend in your situation. I highly encourage you to read the link in danemamas sig and mosey to that section for further assistance. 
If raw, despite being the most logical and simple answer, is not an option I highly recommend a simple kibble, particularly California natural herring.


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## kelsey50

I wanted to again thank everyone in this group for all of their advice. I bought the California Natural dog food and we've been transitioning over from the ZD and our Golden is doing great so far! He really seems to like it and he has had no problem holding it down. The information about the ZD food was really enlightening and I had never even heard about a raw diet before. I'll keep you posted if there is any change but just wanted to again thank you all for your help.


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## PDXdogmom

I'm so glad to hear that you have a good start with the California Natural dog food. Their simple ingredient formulas really are an answer for so many dogs.


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