I have a 16 year old lab/terrier mix. For all of his life he's suffered
chronic ear infections. Aside from his extreme discomfort and my fear of
him going deaf, this was costing me about $5,000 - $8,000 a year. I've
been to many vets with him, specialist, etc. But no one could pin point why
he was so prone to the infections. These past two years they began to get
worse.

Finally, we have figured it out after much trial and error of different
shampoos; foods etc. He can't process protein properly. So his vet (whom
I'd trust with my own life and has been taking care of my dog and 3 cats
these past 5 years) recommended we try him on z/d. This was about 5 months
ago, we stopped all treats, and kept to the z/d regimen.

He is not a big eater, but lately its as if he can't get enough food. He
eats well, two large bowls a day, he's a perfect weight and in extremely
good health. Well, so far no infections (yessss!). so it seems to be
working.

However, he is like a dog who has never been fed, he not only has started
begging for food but now actually tries to steal it from your plate (the
cats are getting mighty pissed about this). He has never done this before.

My vet recently left his practice (terribly disappointing, now I have to go
through the search again) but his replacement who has treated my dog a few
times said it's possibly that he is hungry and that with the reduced protein
he isn't getting full. He's still perfectly healthy and actually his bowel
movements have increased (okay, I work in long term care, where if the
elderly eat, sh*t and nap their daily routine is complete, joking but sadly
there is truth to this), not a side effect I really wanted but nonetheless
one that's easily maintained, add an extra walk in the evenings and there's
no problem.

So health wise I'm not worried, but the thought that he may be hungry
concerns me. She said there may be a wet z/d available and she would
research it for me. I'm wondering if anyone here knows if there is a wet
z/d food and if it is available in Canada. Or if anyone has experience with
this and can offer advice, help or suggestions. He feels good right now, no
swollen draining ears, no red puffy eyes and no scratching, for the first
time in his life he's managed to go a straight 3 months without needing
prednizone for his ears. I'm happy, and he seems happy, now if I could only
cure his begging and stealing.

Thanks in advance
Trish

Trish,
I'm glad to hear his ARF problems and chronic ear infections have
been resolved. Chronic ear infections are a classic sign of ARF
(adverse reaction to food) How is his weight? If he's maintaining
weight, then the amount being fed is OK. As for a wet version you have
a couple choices - use a kitchen food grinder and add water making it a
"canned" product. The addded water may help him fell full. Oh yes, the
second alternative, check with your vet in late May - in Canada as
well.

Our own dog (we're a vet family) was 'saved' by Z/D as well when it first
came out. She suffered for so long and after the first month her skin
cleared up as well as those nasty ear infections. She gets baby carrots for
treats, and when we have fruit we give her some as well.(She loves apples,
bananas and nectarines) She is 14 and has arthritis and Lymphoma. She's
coasting along, comfortable. She had issues with dementia over Christmas and
we supplemented her with Welactin which helped greatly.

As for being hungry, (*I'm not a vet*), I'd worry about a new disease
popping up, especially at 16. You may want to inquire about some blood work
being done and anything else the vet recommends. Second opinions can be
peace of mind - don't fret about having records sent to another office for
this. Good luck!

-Sharon

As for a wet version you have
a couple choices - use a kitchen food grinder and add water making it a
"canned" product. The addded water may help him fell full. Oh yes, the
second alternative, check with your vet in late May - in Canada as
well.

YAY! If we had a rep that actually came around, (hint hint), we'd know this
without reading usenet.

-Sharon

How about sending me a email directly - maybe I can work on that a bit.
Actually, this one you can't blame on the rep, they haven't been told
yet.



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Trish, glad your pooch is better but look at the ingredients of Science
Diet z/d

Ingredients
Dried potato products, hydrolyzed chicken liver, potato starch,
vegetable oil (preserved with BHA, propyl gallate and citric acid),
hydrolyzed chicken, powdered cellulose, glyceryl monostearate,
DL-methionine, taurine, ethoxyquin (a preservative), minerals (calcium
sulfate, dicalcium phosphate, salt, calcium carbonate, ferrous sulfate,
zinc oxide, copper sulfate, manganous oxide, calcium iodate, sodium
selenite), vitamins (choline chloride, vitamin A supplement, vitamin D3
supplement, vitamin E supplement, niacin, thiamine mononitrate, calcium
pantothenate, pyridoxine hydrochloride, riboflavin, folic acid, biotin,
vitamin B12 supplement).

No wonder he's hungry! Does that sound like something you would like
to eat day after day? Have you tried one of the premium foods
available that also contain no common allergens such as?

www.naturapet.com

www.solidgoldhealth.com

www.ohmpet.com

Why not try a small bag of one of these to mix in with your z/d to see
if it makes a difference without bringing back the allergies? If that
works, I'd eventually dump the z/d for one of the premium foods... Out
of curiosity, what were you using before the z/d, plain Science Diet?
That would certainly explain the allergies since it's loaded with Corn,
Soy and By-products.

Dave

sorry, that last link should have read www.omhpet.com

wrote in message
oups.com...
Trish, glad your pooch is better but look at the ingredients of Science
Diet z/d

(info snipped here but saved on my hard drive)


www.naturapet.com

www.solidgoldhealth.com

www.ohmpet.com

Why not try a small bag of one of these to mix in with your z/d to see
if it makes a difference without bringing back the allergies? If that
works, I'd eventually dump the z/d for one of the premium foods... Out
of curiosity, what were you using before the z/d, plain Science Diet?
That would certainly explain the allergies since it's loaded with Corn,
Soy and By-products.

Dave


Thanks; well before we started using the z/d we tried almost every food
there is but were consistently using a lamb and rice food (can't remember
the brand) mixed with Kibble and Bits, I know its like the McDonald's of dog
food but it was all he would eat, I have tried the naturapet duck formula,
it brings back the allergies slightly so I stopped it again. It seems after
carefully reviewing his food and what he manages to steal from us that
chicken is the worst for him. Eating at our house has changed dramatically,
and he's feeling the pinch. To add a little humour to all this we feel we
are also on a protein reduced diet just to make him feel better lol. After
all no point in him begging for food that doesn't appeal to him.

Low protein or even foods that have the protein broken down appear to be
very hard to buy. It kind of disapoints me actually, I live in a Toronto, I
mean come on the dog population here is enormous, what's up with little
choices. We've taken to going out of the city to buy our cats special food.
On the bright side though, there is a dog bakery downtown and they make all
natural dog treats (no meat or by products), he can handle those quite well
and has a love for carob (or however you spell it, he's not too choosey
about the spelling, it's all gimmee gimmee gimmeee!) But we curb the treats
to get him to eat food or he'd only eat the treats. I think I may have
mentioned, if not I will now, he has always been a difficult eater, and he
has not been given human food, even though he'd prefer it. On the
occassions that he has stolen the cat food his ears flare up immediately,
our vet sypathizes and says cat food is like steak while dog food is like
hamburger, of course the dog prefers cat food. So we do our best to keep it
away and are about 90% successful to this point. I have 3 cats and one
loves the dog and wants to share everything.

Also, he was receiving 1 benadryl a day for his puffy eyes, but since
strting the z/d we've been able to stop giving him this, which does make me
happy.

I'll try the other brands you listed and see what effect they have on his
infections. I'm also using two kinds of shampoo to help, one is an oatmeal
shampoo and the other is a fungal shampoo because when his infections get
bad his skin gets scales and begins to smell putrid, almost like the smell
of gangarine, that's something I can live without seeing he sleeps with me.
The vet says its a fungal infection, which also never returned after using
the z/d.

Thanks for your help and for listening.

Trish

diddy, After re-reading the original post, I'll retract my suggestions
above. I missed the comment regarding not being able to process
protein properly. I thought it was just an ear infection/itching
"allergy" problem. Thanks for bringing that to my attention.

Quote "Finally, we have figured it out after much trial and error of
different
shampoos; foods etc. He can't process protein properly."