Should I feed Hills Derm Defense long-term for my dog's health?

These two foods are very similar. They are both prescription diets and both used for allergies. The only concern is that your dog may have a little upset tummy from switching abruptly from one food brand to another. If you have any of the old food left, I would try to mix the two at first. If Benji gets an upset tummy, I would let your vet know to see if he needs any meds. I hope this helps!

And thank you for your question! Hills Z/D is a great allergy diet. The way it works is that it is a hydrolyzed protein diet meaning that the proteins that normally cause allergies are too small to trigger the allergy with the hydrolyzed formula. Hill's Derm defense is a great food as well. The way that Derm defense works is that it strengthens the Skin Barrier and it has multiple antioxidants and phytonutrients period before switching to Derm defense I would suggest speaking with your veterinarian who previously placed Louie on Z/D to see if this would be a good switch. Some other things that help with allergies would include omega-3 fish oil supplements and essential 6 Spot On by dermoscent. Help this guide you in the right direction. Please do not hesitate to contact me with any further questions or concerns you may have

Thank you for submitting your question regarding Snowball. Hill's Science Diet is a great food and can certainly be fed longterm. It is from a trusted company and backed by extensive research. More importantly, it seems to be controlling her diarrhea. This means that she is likely feeling better on a daily basis. I hope this information helps!

Prescription diet A/D is high in calories so it may not be the most suitable diet for long term. You have to monitor Coco's weight to determine when this food needs to be discontinued. Also it isn't necessarily a puppy food, so it's best to go back to his normal large breed puppy diet primarily and then if you want to mix in just a few tablespoons of the A/D to keep him interested, that may be completely fine until he reaches sexual maturity and no longer has high calorie food demands, which is typically around 8-12 months of age in large breed dogs. I hope this helps!

Thats funny! Most dogs don't want to eat the Z/D! I don't think they have a food that tastes exactly like the Z/D at non-prescription price but you could try any of the science diet dog foods - all of which are very palatable and she may like. For just a general food, I like science diet adult for dogs over 1. Once she is over 7 years old, I recommend to switch her to the senior diet. It is perfectly safe for her to eat the z/d long term although that would be expensive for you. I hope this helps!

HI there. I would recommend using a true weight loss diet and not a "weight management" or "healthy weight". You should use the weight loss diet until he is his ideal weight then you can transition to a management diet. These diets are expensive but they are not meant to be a long term solution so keep that in mind. If you feed the correct amount it shouldn't be too horribly expensive. You must feed him to his "ideal weight" and not the weight he is currently. So read the instructions on the bag of food carefully. Feed him this diet only - no treats or bones or people food. I would suggest Puirna OM or Hill's w/d. These are prescription diets and should be prescribed by your vet but I have recently come to find out you can buy them on Amazon without an Rx. They should not make his coat or skin poor. If that is a recurring theme then he may have an underlying condition like hypothyroidism causing that (could also be why he is heavy) so you may want to consider having his thyroid levels checked. These links are from Chewy.com. I don't know if they require a Rx but you can check Amazon too or just ask your vet for a prescription. https://www.chewy.com/purina-pro-plan-veterinary-diets-om/dp/50028 https://www.chewy.com/hills-prescription-diet-wd/dp/54717 Hope this helps. Best wishes!

I am so glad to help you! In my opinion, the best choice is a commercial kibble like Royal Canin. Royal Canin does have veterinary nutritionists on staff. I'd also recommend Hill's Science Diet, Purina Pro Plan, and Iams. They also have veterinary nutritionists. I personally feed my dog Iams.