BHA in Hill's ZD Food

My cat had elevated liver enzymes, 176 ALT, and she has gastrointestinal issues. We think she has food allergies. She also has a heart murmur and I am getting scared about HCM. My cat is a 5 year old sphynx and I know they are predisposed to this heart problem. Aside from the heart issues, the vet is trying to figure out what is wrong with her gastro system and has put her on Hill's Z/D. I picked up a 10 lb. bag today but I haven't opened it yet. I did research on BHA (preservative in the food) and discovered it could be a carcinogen. Should I return the food to the vet? I tried cutting out her wet food (She was eating Natural Balance Green Pea and Duck dry and wet food).. and I thought maybe the wet food was the culprit in upsetting her stomach. I cut out the wet food and her feces were more solid but then I discovered she was barely eating because she was waiting for her wet food that wasn't being given to her. I tried the Hill's ZD sample he gave me today, mixed it with her natural balance, and she loved it. She went poop tonight, though, and it was smellier than ever and squishier than ever. Someone suggested Nature's Variety Raw Rabbit. I looked it up and it costs 100$ for 6 lbs? How long does 6 lbs last?

I just don't know what to do. We suspect food allergies and that this may be causing the liver enzyme elevation so the vet wants her to eat the Hill's. With this BHA preservative in it, however, I am scared. Please help! I don't know what to do or who to believe anymore!!

Hi there!

IMO you should discuss these concerns with the vet, and ask him if there are other alternatives, if you are not comfortable with it... But don't do anything until you talk to him, since this is a prescription, and was given to your kitty as such. Do NOT start a raw diet without talking to him about it, especially if your cat is sick.
I do have a cat with food allergies, to chicken, out of all things, and he has been fine since I removed chicken from his diet. To find out it was chicken, I put him on an elimination diet, and went from there.
An elimination diet basically consist in putting the cat in a limited ingredients food, where the protein is not present on the food he is eating and giving him problems - usually these result in choosing a novelty protein, such as venison, rabbit, duck... The kitty eats this diet ONLY (it can be dry, dry + wet, or all wet) for about 6-8 weeks.
You then start adding different proteins to his diet, one by one, and recording the reactions - when he reacts badly to a protein, that is most likely it.
Discuss this with your vet, and see what he thinks. Yes, hills is junk, but the prescriptions do serve a purpose, and tend to work.
There are also other brands, if you are not comfortable - Royal Canin, for example might be a good choice.
Good luck!
P.S. - make sure she eats!!
Oh, almost forgot - yes, she will have diarrhea when you first add a new dry food into her diet, that is normal - ask your vet if this transition needs to be slow like regular transitions.
Also, ask him about the wet foods - if she is allergic to food, she should probably eat the same proteins in the prescription diet, otherwise you will defeat the purpose of it.

Thanks for your advice!

When I first got my cat she was eating Super Premium Maintenance food with rice and chicken from Costco and was having soft stools. We put her on a dry diet of Natural Balance green pea and duck and the stools improved. Then I added natural balance green pea and duck wet food. Stools seemed fine for a while. About 6 months ago, stools got soft again. This month, we had blood work done prior to a teeth cleaning and found the elevated ALT levels (liver enzyme) of 176. Normal is 10-100. Vet thinks this may be secondary to food problems/gastro issues so he wanted to try this Hills Z/D. The primary hydrolized protein in this Hill's stuff is chicken, though, which I think she may have had the original allergy to with the Costco food. Did you say that we should use the same protein that she had the allergy to in the Hill's? You said, "Also, ask him about the wet foods - if she is allergic to food, she should probably eat the same proteins in the prescription diet, otherwise you will defeat the purpose of it." What do you mean by this? She should eat the chicken in the prescription diet since we thought she was allergic to this in the first place? I don't totally understand what you meant, please explain further.

I'm just concerned about the carcinogens in the Hill's and don't want to feed it to her. When I tried just cutting out her natural balance wet food, she didn't want to eat the dry stuff and was having a rumbly stomach because she was so hungry - she was waiting for her wet food feeding that I didn't give her. I'm wondering if I hold out on her, will she eventually succumb and eat the Natural Balance dry diet? I want her to eat so I don't feel like holding out on her is a good solution, but I also don't like the Hill's.

I feel like my vet is so sick of hearing from me that I don't even want to talk to him about my concerns with the Hill's ZD. I feel like he will just be irritated with my further questions. Because of this, I'm considering doing the raw food diet without consulting him. Yes, I am an overprotective kitty mother - I just want what is best for my cat and I know introducing a new pure protein like rabbit could also provide a solution to her food allergy problem. It worked with the duck stuff for about a year and a half..... this would just be another switch. I just want the ALT enzyme levels to go down.

Thanks for the advice, any further advice is so very, very appreciated.

Neon

Originally Posted by NeonLily

Thanks for your advice!

When I first got my cat she was eating Super Premium Maintenance food with rice and chicken from Costco and was having soft stools. We put her on a dry diet of Natural Balance green pea and duck and the stools improved. Then I added natural balance green pea and duck wet food. Stools seemed fine for a while. About 6 months ago, stools got soft again. This month, we had blood work done prior to a teeth cleaning and found the elevated ALT levels (liver enzyme) of 176. Normal is 10-100. Vet thinks this may be secondary to food problems/gastro issues so he wanted to try this Hills Z/D. The primary hydrolized protein in this Hill's stuff is chicken, though, which I think she may have had the original allergy to with the Costco food. Did you say that we should use the same protein that she had the allergy to in the Hill's? You said, "Also, ask him about the wet foods - if she is allergic to food, she should probably eat the same proteins in the prescription diet, otherwise you will defeat the purpose of it." What do you mean by this? What I mean by this is: if she is on a prescription diet, and you suspect food allergies, do not feed different foods to her, wet food, I mean. Stick with the prescription, at least for a while -if you want to feed wet, feed the same, Hills ZD wet.
She should eat the chicken in the prescription diet since we thought she was allergic to this in the first place? I don't totally understand what you meant, please explain further.
Now, IF she is allergic to chicken, this diet will not work, since Hills has chicken.
Royal Canin has a prescription diet for allergy cats made of Venison and Pea... Natural Balance has the same - have you tried switching her to Venison and Pea?
I'm just concerned about the carcinogens in the Hill's and don't want to feed it to her. When I tried just cutting out her natural balance wet food, she didn't want to eat the dry stuff and was having a rumbly stomach because she was so hungry - she was waiting for her wet food feeding that I didn't give her. I'm wondering if I hold out on her, will she eventually succumb and eat the Natural Balance dry diet? BAD, BAD idea, it can kill a cat. Never ever ever starve a cat, as you run the risk of quickly developing Fatty Liver Disease, a horrible disease that can be lethal. I want her to eat so I don't feel like holding out on her is a good solution, but I also don't like the Hill's.

I feel like my vet is so sick of hearing from me that I don't even want to talk to him about my concerns with the Hill's ZD. I feel like he will just be irritated with my further questions. Because of this, I'm considering doing the raw food diet without consulting him. Again, you NEED to discuss these things with a vet, and if he is not letting you do so, or you are not comfortable with him, time to find another vet. Do NOT start a raw diet on a sick kitty without talking to your vet - I understand you are overprotective (we all are), but that (feeding raw minus vet) can harm the life of your kitty. Yes, I am an overprotective kitty mother - I just want what is best for my cat and I know introducing a new pure protein like rabbit could also provide a solution to her food allergy problem. It worked with the duck stuff for about a year and a half..... this would just be another switch. I just want the ALT enzyme levels to go down.
Royal Canin has Green Pea and Duck, Green Pea and Rabbit, Green Pea and Venison, and green pea and lamb for Limited Ingrediets prescription diets, as well as a hypoallergenic one, and another for intestinal issues. You might want to discuss RC with your vet instead of Hills. But no matter what, your vet NEEDS to know, and you do need his help...

Thanks for the advice, any further advice is so very, very appreciated.

Neon

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I guess I'm just going to keep her on the Hill's for now and see how it goes. She's eating and she likes it. I certainly don't want her to stop eating. I also don't really want to do anything else without consulting my vet, so I'll just do as he says and have her on this Hill's stuff for a while and see how it goes. I will just plan to switch her off of it in the future. I don't want her on this diet long term. Maybe after a couple months on Hill's I will talk to the vet about a Royal Canin diet or a raw rabbit diet, some novel protein. I'm suspecting that the Hill's won't work anyway because of the hydrolyzed chicken in it... because chicken was the first suspected allergen with her Costco food. We'll just see how it goes for a while and then plan to switch to something new in the future. Thanks so much for the advice.

Worried kitty-mom,
Neon

IMO you are doing the right thing!!

Thank you carolinalima. I appreciate your support and advice very much!

Neon

Originally Posted by NeonLily

I guess I'm just going to keep her on the Hill's for now and see how it goes. She's eating and she likes it. I certainly don't want her to stop eating. I also don't really want to do anything else without consulting my vet, so I'll just do as he says and have her on this Hill's stuff for a while and see how it goes. I will just plan to switch her off of it in the future. I don't want her on this diet long term. Maybe after a couple months on Hill's I will talk to the vet about a Royal Canin diet or a raw rabbit diet, some novel protein. I'm suspecting that the Hill's won't work anyway because of the hydrolyzed chicken in it... because chicken was the first suspected allergen with her Costco food. We'll just see how it goes for a while and then plan to switch to something new in the future. Thanks so much for the advice.

Worried kitty-mom,
Neon

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hello Neon Welcome to Tcs

Z/D is a VERY special food in the fact all the proteins are processed into particles to small for the cats body to recognize ... Please do talk with the vet in a few weeks as this food is designed to be feed only 6-12 weeks ..

Thank you for the continued advice. I do plan to talk to the vet within a month. He said after her stools harden on this Hill's Z/D we can re-check her liver enzyme levels through another blood draw in about a month. At that time, I will talk to him about possibly switching her over to a raw diet. I'm thinking about Nature's Variety raw rabbit diet. Too bad I bought a 10 lb. bag of the Hill's Z/D... oh well, I figured the 4 lb. bag wouldn't last a month so I shelled out the $50 for the larger bag of this Hill's stuff. Everything is so expensive!

Thanks for all of the advice and help - this forum has been so great!

Neon