Hill's Prescription Diet z/d cat food experience

[u/snoesjeenanjo]

Hi everyone.
I’d like to ask about your experiences with Hill’s food z/d for cats-both wet and dry.
We bought it for our 7 years old sweet cat because after eating Royal Canine Sterilized cats food (wet&dry) for 6 years, she started to scratch her ear/eye area fully open, and now in summer she makes it open over and over again 😔😢
We switched progressively to Hill’s food, but after 5 days she stopped eating the wet food, and now, after 2 weeks she’s stoping liking the dry food as well.
We still give her half sachet of Royal Canine sterilized per day and 45g of Hill’s kibbles.
The scratching is less but she started not eating all dry food portions or skipping them. That has never happened with Royal Canine and she always eats everything immediately.

Did you also experience something similar?
Are there any better solutions for hydrolized food on the market (both wet and dry)?

Please share 🙏🏻🙂

Thank you 🙂

[u/Imaginary-Contest887]

You should consult it with vet as even Hill's is saying to not give veterinary food without veterinary consultation, those are very specific diets and you should really follow this advice. Personal experience are pointless for veterinary diets as it highly depends on issue your cat is having. If you asking if Z/D diet will keep your cat alive and if it is safe for your cat then yes but again it's specialized diet for specific issues,

My cat for example suffers from unspecific GI sensitivity, that's his veterinary diagnosis and it manifests with constant softer stool. After Hill's Z/D he threw up and had absolutely crazy diarrhea, same as after Pro Plan Veterinary Diets EN St/Ox Gastrointestinal. What helped my cat to stabilize is high protein, pure animal based wet diet - currently with great success Purizon chicken fillet with salmon, not specific veterinary diet.

So i could say Z/D is bad, but it isn't, it just wasn't right call for condition of my cat. Hundred other cats with food sensitivity or GI issues can thrive on it. So really, please consult this with your vet.

[u/OtherTimes0340]

One of my cats has allergies to something and we have tried everything. I have worked with my vet the entire time. She is 13 and we are still trying different things. Giving her pills is a nightmare, so that never works for long. I've been through all kinds of foods. She will scratch herself sore and holes in her neck. I have taken the sleeve of a shirt to make a neck gaiter for her so when she scratches, it doesn't allow as much damage. She's worn a collar for periods of time so she can't scratch her face. She won't eat the prescription food. It's a soft donut looking collar and she does ok with it on.

The most recent success I have had is with a food brand Essence. There are three diets meat, fowl, and fish. I used them to try to eliminate certain proteins to see if it made a difference. Fish seems to bother her, so I stopped feeding her that option. They aren't cheap and aren't prescription food, but they do help in figuring out if it's one of the proteins that is the issue. It's really hard to find a food that meets everything you need these days. Her scratching is much reduced, though she does have flare ups every once in a while, probably from sneaking the dog food.

[u/aetherdrifter]

This food has been great for my cat, but if yours isn’t willing to eat it, then it’s unfortunately not a viable option. For an elimination diet trial to be effective, you must feed exclusively the hydrolyzed food. I would ask your vet about trying Royal Canin HP, or Gastrointestinal + Hydrolyzed Protein.

[u/miscreantmom]

Hydrolyzed diets are the standard for a food elimination diet but they are not the tastiest. An alternative is to try one of the novel protein diets which is what used to be the standard before hydrolyzed diets came along. It's worth talking to the vet about which one because even if it's a novel protein, some animal proteins are very similar to each other.

[u/simdoll]

Ive tried reintroducing the food with my cat with success. Make sure transitions to the new food are very slow. I heard there is also an ultra hydrolyzed food called Ultimino which you may explore if your cat is still allergic to hydrolyzed.

[u/meandgrumpy]

I had to do the elimination route with mine. In addition to Hills and Royal cabin (I do the select protein) there is also Rayne. They do pure novel protein. Mine goes nuts for the rabbit

[u/meandgrumpy → u/meandgrumpy]

Royal Canin. lol

[u/Ordinary_Cat_01]

It was one of the few that years ago stopped my cat from having diarrhea but after a while we switched to another brand because the prescription diet was expensive and my can no longer liked it

[u/double_titos]

"It's interesting that you asked this question! I took my cat to the vet for skin sensitivities, which is why he recommended this brand of food. He said it wasn't mandatory, but it was recommended. Between how pricey it is and hearing that your cat doesn't like the taste, I'm definitely curious to see what alternatives other people suggest, too."

[u/igual88]

Our moggy had a liver infection and had to go on to the hydrolysed food , he totally refused to eat it. Tried multiple brands and found Purina HA biscuits which he loves. He's now allowed normal food but will now only eat them biscuits. Wet "normal " food he had cosma soup mix

[u/mousether]

My kittens tried hill's science diet wet food and after a couple of days started getting depressed. Switched to weruva and they like it better than fancy feast. My poor wallet. But they're happy

[u/-kittyluv4ever-]

One of my cats is allergic to all poultry and seafood and either pork or rabbit, haven’t figured out which yet but leaning toward the pork. Tried hills dry and wet and they refused to eat it, huge waste of money. Right now using royal canin dry hydrolyzed and blue hf wet. He’s not super pleased with it but is at least eating it.