Dogs Eating Hill's Z/D transition to ??? what ???

CJ-Neo's Mom said:

My dog is 2.5 & has had loose stools/diarrhea and refusing to eat for most of his life. In the course of ruling out about 100 things, we have finally landed at the internal med specialist vet. She put him on Hill's Z/D--it's been 2 weeks & 1 day now. My boy's stools have been as close to "normal" as I have ever seen. This is good, but I do want to try some other food or home recipe to see if he can tolerate it. Has anyone had a dog transition from Z/D to something else successfully? I have no idea what irritates my dog's internal system. He has always eaten grain-free, high quality foods and I tried several different meat sources. If he does well on Z/D for 8 weeks or so, I want to try something else...maybe just begin with adding plain cooked chicken... ?? Any ideas ??

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Honestly most of these vet formulas just cover up symptoms. Many dogs just cannot tolerate kibble, period. I would please consider trying raw or homecooked and getting of the Hills food. The ingredients are not good for him. Also, keep in mind that while a dog may be, for example, intolerant to chicken in kibble, they will almost 100% of the time tolerate the raw protein. The structure of a protein changes when heat is added so he may just not tolerate cooked meat. If you have tried several meat sources and high quality grain free food I would highly suggest at least trying raw. Cooked proteins have little nutritional value compared to raw so you would have to add in a bunch of stuff to make it a complete diet, so raw would be easier than cooked. I would just try un enhanced bone-in chicken for a few weeks. It could make the world of difference for him.

I wouldn't be so quick to move on to another food if the z/d continues to work. After 2.5 years of upset stomachs, diarrhea, etc. it might be time to call it a day on rich foods he may not be able to tolerate. We were on the same path as you - many food trials, including grain free, limited ingredient, single source protein, etc. etc. All high-quality foods. Nothing worked. We moved and went to a new vet, who put her on z/d and Tylan. That was 3.5 years ago and she has not been back to the vet for her stomach condition since. The vet monitors her and as long as she is doing well, we're leaving it alone.

I'll admit, I've been tempted to switch to another food, esp since the z/d is so blasted expensive, but every time I start researching new brands, I remember the trip to the emergency vet and how miserable she used to be when she got sick, which was about every 9-12 weeks. She would go to her bowl, sniff and walk away. It was so clear that she associated eating with being sick - it broke my heart. So I have a sense of what you're going through.

She gets z/d canned and kibble as her base. She can tolerate bits of meat and vegetables as treats - about the size of a finger for the meat and maybe a 1/4 to 1/2 cup of vegetables, usually cooked green beans or carrots. She also likes raw carrots, watermelon, and yogurt (make sure it doesn't have artificial sweeteners - toxic for dogs). My vet recommend Activia. Also canned pumpkin (not the pie filling - just plain pumpkin). Ask your vet what she thinks.

The best of luck to you in finding a solution that works.

I have a little experience with this and a few suggestions. My schnoodle 3 yrs old started with not wanting to eat, stomach pain, diarrhea with blood and mucous. This went on for 2 months on and off and after many tests decided it was IBS. Of course the vet suggested the prescription hills diet but he did say I could research and find one with low fat and high fiber. Anyway I finally settled on NB low fat which he is doing great on - also started him on doggie probiotic powder. Now he is having a problem with throwing up bile- but I have started with 4 small feedings and pepcid at bedtime and he is doing better. What happened to dogs with no problems- they used to just eat and poop and go to the vet for their shots!!!! My other 10 yr old dog is allergic to chicken and now is very picky and won't eat his dry food unless I doctor it up with wet food and cooked veggies. Go figure. Good luck but I will not feed my dogs that prescription food- it is full of corn and all sorts of other grains.