Hi, I'm not sure who's going to get back to me the quickest ... the vet or Champdogs!

After a severe bout of diarrhea over the weekend and vet visit yesterday, one of my girls (doggy!) is going to be put onto a hydrolyzed protein diet (this is an almost year long problem, on and off. It's nothing horrible such as IBD- she's in perfect health, glossy coat, oodles of energy, parasite free, just has mega bouts of diarrhear periodically. We were sorted until Chappie changed their formula ... they deny it but they have :-( I know, I've seen the aftermath and I used to have to dig the food out the tin, now it slops out easily with a spoon :-( :-( ). The vet placed an order for Royal Canin Anallergenic yesterday. Rang this morning to be told they'd not been able to get hold of due to manufacturing problem. Annoying as I could have ordered on the net yesterday from supplier who does have it in stock and would have had today :-(

Anyways, I'm awaiting my vet to come back with their suggested alternative. From my much research this morning I suspect that is going to be Hills z/d Ultra Allergenic.

Just whilst I'm whiling away my time, has anyone tried either of these two? If so what were the results?

Think we're dealing with a major intolerance - might be particular foods or might be to protein. This is the only sure way of finding out, we think. Not going down the route of allergy testing - notoriously unreliable and hugely expensive. I don't have much insurance for this issue remaining :-O

I know some helpful folk will come along with alternatives to try, but it really is only hydrolyzed protein food I'm interested in, and I can't find any others beyond the RC and Hills, not hydrolyzed to the extent I'm looking for. So thanks for any suggestions but it is only this type of food information I'm interested in :-D

Now got RC Anallergenic ordered ... I'll still be interested to hear from anyone who has tried a hydrolyzed protein diet for the dog and the outcome. Thanks :-)

Last year one of our dogs Toby was on Purina veterinary Diet HA which is a hydrolyzed protein diet as he was diagnosed with lymphangiatasia and pancreatitis. He did very well on the Purina and his stomach was very settled on it and it helped significantly with the pancreatitis he seemed to enjoy although as he was on steroids he was always hungry . He was also on large doses of medication for both issues, put he had another 10 very good months before we lost him. i hope this is of somw help to you and I hope you get your dogs problem sorted soon 

That is helpful thank you. The fact that it helped is good to know. Just had a call from my vet with blood results back. She has a low B12 level due to the chronic diarrhea, which in turn is most likely due to a food intolerance. The hydrolyzed food should arrive tomorrow, the ingredients fill me with horror but needs must. Thank you for taking the time :-)

good luck!

Ta :-D She's gonna need it having read the list of ingredients :-O Main source of protein is apparently from feathers :-O :-O

My dogs love eating feathers, if that's any consolation.

Well one of my dogs has autoimmune problems and very severe allergies,she's actually allergic to all proteins,Hill's ZD Ultra is the only food she can have(she can't have the Royal Canin Anallergenic as it has fish oil and marigold extract,both of which contain protein).Luckily she loves it(enough for me to use it as training treats) as the protein source is hydrolysed chicken liver.She's doing very well on it with no tummy problems and very small poos.Its not what I would choose to feed as my other dogs are fed raw(I'm not keen on the fact it contains BHA and BHT) but I have no option and its sorted her itchiness out.

Hi we have been using Hills ZD for the past 8 weeks and within a week my dogs symptoms improved and have continued to improve. We tried so many different foods over the last few months and this has been the only one she would eat and has actually helped. We now have reasonably firm feaces without any blood for the first time in 6 months so I think it's great but very expensive. Hope that helps.

helenmd & baileca - thanks for that. It's sounding promising ... I know the Anallergenic is the next step beyond the ZD as the molecules are broken down that little bit further and it's good to know that you have found the ZD work for your dogs. I'm keeping fingers crossed that when it, hopefully, arrives tomorrow that she'll actually eat it and we might start getting somewhere.

Good luck, all I can say is that our "fussy" pup loves it so hopefully yours will to.

Did you start the food straight away? Or did you phase it in with the original food you were feeding?

I'm thinking I should start her off on it straight away with no phasing in period given the nature of the diet and what it's being given for. Really hope it arrives today :-)

Did you start the food straight away? Or did you phase it in with the original food you were feeding?

I'm thinking I should start her off on it straight away with no phasing in period given the nature of the diet and what it's being given for. Really hope it arrives today :-)

Hydrolyzed feather fodder arrived AND my girly quite likes it :-O :-O Hope it does the job it's been bought for!

Just to add my girl has been on the ZD for about a year now and yes,I switched her right over to it straight away with no problems as she was in such a bad way(itching-wise) I had nothing to lose really.Good luck,glad your girl likes it :-)

Yes me too, started it straight away as like you didn't think it could get any worse. I hate feeding it thoughas all my others are fed raw but it does the job. Im hopeful it's something my girl will grow out of and we will eventually be able to re introduce "proper food". Please let us know how she gets on, will be interesting to hear.

helenmd and baileca - thank you very much. I've given her it for supper and she's happily scoffed it down. I believe it's quite a new product so fingers crossed. Not something I'd want to voluntarily feed either, but ... maize the first on the list of ingredients, then feathers :-O Still, they're so broken down they wont be recognised as much at all. The smell isn't great and looks really uninteresting, but the bowl is empty. Now have to make sure she doesn't get a single morsel of food from elsewhere over the next 2 months, including no licking of the other dogs bowls! Will keep you posted.