Really worried about Harley now.

hotcookie101

ZD is a highly researched completely balanced diet. The reason why it is unlikely to cause upset tums is because the protein in it has been hydrolysed (which means broken down into small bits so it cant cause an allergic reaction) It does not contain artificial colours or preservatives and is a highly digestible food. It is great for dogs with food intolerances as a trial. If I read your post right Harley is still suffering from colitis on his fish and rice? I would really recommend trying the hills, and tbh ignore the american sites which slag off commercial foods-if you look the same people probably talk about how rubbish vets are, how vaccinations kill their animals and how everything can be cured with snake oil! Parvo kills more animals than vaccinations-at least as far as I see in practice.
I think also that there may be a variation in hills diets between here and over the pond, but not sure. Hills ZD can be a massively successful food for some dogs so give it a go. Its pricey but if it helps then its priceless

scruffy96uk

Hi
Glad it is nothing too serious with Harley. Don't know anything about the Hills but might be worth just giving it a trial period.
Hope he is on the mend soon x

suki1964

Right now the Hills is the best food for Harley. maybe later on if and when you can get the colitis under control he may be moved onto a more "wholesome" food but believe me, for now keep him on the Hills

Btw Im not a Hills fan, but after having a very poorly pup having major intestinal surgery, Hills was the only food that he could be hand fed one teaspoon at a time every few hours.The proteins are so broken down and highly digestible it gave his stomach and bowel time to heal. It saved his life

zebidee1

It's good getting other opinions so thanks everyone. I did look the ZD Ultra up on the net elsien and it sounded ideal tbh, but that's when I also came across the other sites with people saying how bad it was for dogs.

hotcookie......99% of the time, Harley's colitis is fine on the fish and rice but he does seem to get tired quicker and once he gets into one of his 'panting episodes' (either due to heat or tiredness) then it seems to take him longer to recover. The vet thought he was perhaps in need of a more rounded diet and rather than use supplements, he thought it better to go back to dog food if we could. It's a case of finding something he can tolerate and the vet thought the ZD Ultra was the best candidate. I'll not go read anymore on the subject I think and just give this a go, at least for a while.

I have to say Harley seems very happy with the few bits that have been added to his fish and rice (3 meals) so far. His nose twitches like he's possessed and the plate gets an extra licking. :rolleyes: We have to add it slowly over a period to allow him to adjust to the new food but already he has had lovely partially brown formed poo. (It's usually yellow and formed but softish)

Can I just query...has anyone's (young) dog ever grown out of having colitis or is it a condition the dog usually has for life and just needs treatment every now and then if it gets out of control?

Also, as this is a Vet prescribed food, is it likely to be the same kind of cost all over?

suki....sounds like your poor pup had a seriously hard time for a while, I hope he's better now? Was his weight ok once he got over the surgery? The other thing I read was something about dogs losing weight because there wasn't enough substance to the food for them.

Although having said that, Harley was skin and bone for a while anyway purely because of the colitis so I suppose he couldn't be any worse on the Ultra.

janeys

Hi zebidee 1

As our dog has diabetes I have been researching pet pharmacies on line the 2 that I have found to be the best/cheapest are www.bestpetpharmacy.co.uk and www.hyperdrug.com I had a look for Hills and they sell it in various sizes and a various prices. I dont think you need a prescription( it just says that on the packet) but if you do you will get one free from the vet. I hope this next link takes you to the page you need, not very good with computers and am a wee bit tired. http://www.hyperdrug.co.uk/prodinfo.asp?number=HILLCANZDU

Good luck with Harley and let me know how you get on.

skyripper87

hi, sorry - perhaps no need to reply but my spaniel is on z/d and i buy it from petmeds. my spaniels are generally problematic so i end up using petmeds for a lot of stuff. usually comes next day or day after.

z/d canine http://www.petmeds.co.uk/p-254-hills-zd-canine.aspx

i have also used vetuk. while vetuk were cheaper at the time, the food didn't arrive and after lots of complaining, rude emails from them, i bought it from petmeds which arrived the next day, think they are great.

greenmoneysaver_2

I agree with the OP on the american websites - quite often filled with barking (excuse pun) people.

I particularly enjoy the website which states that "vets and paediatricians will look back on this era of vaccines with shock and horror at the tragedies they have caused"!!! I am sure polio was a pleasure!

ZD isa good diet, esepcially if your dog doesn't scavenge.

Some dogs do grow out of colitis, and it can be stress related. It sounds like you have come really far with Harley and his behviour already, and this is only the start of the journey, so you may find that the colitis symptoms lessen as he grows physically and emotionally.

Well done, if all dog owners put half as much into their pets working in the veterinary world would be much easier!