Opinions or experiences with feeding ZiwiPeak cat food?

I just bought some ZiwiPeak cat food. I've heard the name and have seen it around, but due to the expense, I've never purchased it. It's up there in price, but the ingredients look excellent and so I decided to try it. First, let me provide information on what I bought and then I'll go into what I'd like to get out of it. Any opinions, suggestions, or experiences (with ZiwiPeak or otherwise) would be most appreciated.

This is the air-dried food I purchased:

Lamb (Daily-Cat) Cuisine Air-Dried 400g/14oz

Ingredients: Lamb - Meat (min. 61.2%), Liver (min. 15%, Tripe, Heart and Kidney (min. 9.5%), Chicory Syrup, Green-lipped and Blue Missel (min. 4%), Fish Oil, Lecithin, Kelp, Vitamins and Minerals. Naturally preserved with mixed tocopherols. Additives: Vitamin D3, Vitamin E, Copper. Calories = 1,854 KJ/100g.

Guaranteed Analysis: Protein (min. 36%), Fat (min. 29%), Moisture (max. 18%), Ash (max. 9%), Fiber (max. 0.5%), Calcium (2%).

And, these are the canned foods I purchased:

Lamb (Daily-Cat) Cuisine Cans 6.5oz

Ingredients: Lamb - Meat (min. 40%), Liver, Tripe, Heart and Kidney (min. 18%), Green-lipped and Blue Missel (min. 4%), Carrageenan, Minerals, Guar Gum, Flaxseed Oil, Sodium Tripolyphosphate, Vitamins, DL-Methionine, Taurine. Calories = 495 KJ/100g.

Guaranteed Analysis: Protein (min. 8.5%), Fat (min. 10%), Fiber (max. 1%), Moisture (max. 78%), Ash (max. 2.5%), Calcium (0.36%), Phosphorous (0.29%), Vitamin A (3000 IU/kg), Vitamin D3 (150 IU/kj), Vitamin E (15mg/kg), Copper (2.5mg/kg).

Venison (Daily-Cat) Cuisine Cans 6.5oz

Ingredients: Venison - Meat (min. 40%), Liver, Tripe, Heart and Kidney (min. 18%), Green-lipped and Blue Missel (min. 4%), Carrageenan, Minerals, Guar Gum, Flaxseed Oil, Sodium Tripolyphosphate, Vitamins, Taurine. Calories = 429 KJ/100g.

Guaranteed Analysis: Protein (min. 8.5%), Fat (min. 7%), Fiber (max. 1%), Moisture (max. 81%), Ash (max. 3%), Calcium (0.54%), Phosphorous (0.39%), Vitamin A (3000 IU/kg), Vitamin D3 (150 IU/kj), Vitamin E (15mg/kg), Copper (2.5mg/kg).

The air-dried food will be used just as a supplement or treat. I could never afford to feed it exclusively. It will not not be a major part of their diet and will not even be given on a daily basis. But, just as I give raw treats, I also will give this.

The canned food, however, I would like to throw in my rotation. It will primarily be for my DLH, Cassidy. She tends to put weight on fairly quickly despite being on a grain-free dry. My other cats won't eat grain-free wet foods consistently, so this will basically be for her only. I'd like to switch her over to grain-free wet exclusively and would like suggestions on what others use, but would also like opinions on ZiwiPeak. I couldn't afford for it to be her only wet food (as I feed about 75% week, if not more, to my cats), but if it looks good I'd be including it and it would be about 1/4-1/3 of the wet food she eats. My main goal for her (after speaking with the vet) is that she lose about 1-1.5 pounds and then maintain from there as she is not quite where she should be weight-wise.

So...any experience with ZiwiPeak? Any questions, concerns, opinions, or the like?

Oh YES! This is IMO the best food available!!!
Hope used to be on this food for a long time, and to save $$$ I changed her to cheaper ones... VERY cheap ones, shame on me, but... I am not sure if what got her sick was the variety, the new proteins, the by-products that she never had before, or what, but I am SO GLAD to have her back on ZiwiPeak, from where I should never have taken her from! It will break my bank... I feed her 1 can/day, so it costs me $2.50/day. Yep, expensive, but after the scare I just had with her, IMO well worth it. I thought I was going to lose my little girl, and I never want to go through that again...

This food is absolutely fantastic.
The one Hope likes the most is Venison and Fish, then Venison. She doesn't like the Lamb.

Venison & Fish - ‘Daily-Cat' Cuisine Cans 185g/6.5oz
PACKING DETAILS: 12 x 185g/6.5oz Cans per Tray
INGREDIENTS: Venison - Meat (min 26%), Liver, Tripe, Heart and Kidney (min 18%); Hoki Fish (min 14%); Green-lipped and Blue Mussel (min 4%); Carrageenan; Guar Gum; Flaxseed Oil; Sodium Tripolyphosphate; Minerals; Vitamins; Taurine. Calories 373 KJ/100g.


They didn't like the treats, so I really don't waste any $$$ there... The dry food I used for a while with Hope, but really prefers all canned. She did not hate it though. It is a good compliment; Bugsy LOVED it, which was one of the reasons I could not leave out... It is quite caloric, and he is chubby chubby.


On the cans, Bugsy has a problem with the texture - you will see what I mean when you open the can. This food is VERY natural, So you see bits of tripe, and meat and such... It is not as processed as the other canned foods... So I have one of those bullet type food processors and I quickly process their food into a cream before giving it to them (yep, they are spoiled ) It just take me a few seconds, and it's good because I can add a little extra water too...

Hope is feeling a whole lot better after being back on Ziwi, and so am I (not my pocket though )

I have one question... HOW are they air drying it or is that their freeze dried line?

Ziwi reads very well IMHO I have 5 to feed and 1 of another species so 10$ a day to feed is out of the question.

Originally Posted by sharky

I have one question... HOW are they air drying it or is that their freeze dried line?

Ziwi reads very well IMHO I have 5 to feed and 1 of another species so 10$ a day to feed is out of the question.

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I know, cost is definitely a major concern! I can only "afford" because it is Hope only... Bugsy eats very little wet - a couple TBSP in the am and in the pm, so I take it from Hope's food.

As far as how they are air drying the food, you need to ask them... They are good on answering questions, as you know... But it is NOT freeze dried - it is AIR dried, then sealed (the food is soft, and not even close to as dry as freeze dried).

Originally Posted by Carolina

I know, cost is definitely a major concern! I can only "afford" because it is Hope only... Bugsy eats very little wet - a couple TBSP in the am and in the pm, so I take it from Hope's food.

As far as how they are air drying the food, you need to ask them... They are good on answering questions, as you know... But it is NOT freeze dried - it is AIR dried, then sealed (the food is soft, and not even close to as dry as freeze dried).

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I will as many "air " dried things here are Chemically dried

Originally Posted by sharky

I will as many "air " dried things here are Chemically dried

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I will be very very surprised... But again, this is New Zeland, not US... They (ZiwiPeak) are all about natural natural natural. And keep in mind, it is not all dry... There is a lot of moisture in it - 18%...
Do let us know though

Originally Posted by Carolina

I will be very very surprised... But again, this is New Zeland, not US... They (ZiwiPeak) are all about natural natural natural. And keep in mind, it is not all dry... There is a lot of moisture in it - 18%...
Do let us know though

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I will look into it ... hum have you felt it? would it possible work for those needing a dry food without the crunch type factor?

Originally Posted by sharky

I will look into it ... hum have you felt it? would it possible work for those needing a dry food without the crunch type factor?

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Yes, it could... It is not crunchy, nor very dry either... Difficult to explain the texture. Like small pieces of beef jerky, but not as tough to cut through.

Originally Posted by Carolina

Yes, it could... It is not crunchy, nor very dry either... Difficult to explain the texture. Like small pieces of beef jerky, but not as tough to cut through.

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I was going to ask if it was like tender vittles food( minus the color , preserving agents..lol_your description works well for me

Watch out the ones have carrageenan in there

according to their web site they don't add carrageenan or guar gum anymore

Hi there,

I had an extremely bad experience with this product and two of my three cats. Two of them I put on Ziwipeak venison. They liked the food - ate it with no problems. The first and second delivery of cans (post via internet order) were fine. The last delivery, I came home to find the two cats that had been given the food had pools of blood in their stool and chronic diarrhoea. My third cat who was not on the food was 100% normal.

The two cats that were unwell had never had any digestion/diarrhoea/vomiting problems before, and have not had a single issue since recovering from Ziwipeak. I took them off the food immediately, contacted the Australian representative and organised the return of the products I still had, to them. They were extremely nonplussed by what had occurred and still have not provided me with the test results of the food as promised. 

Bad customer service and an extreme health scare for two of my cats. 

Have never had an experience like it before. Hopefully never will again.

Do NOT recommend.

The Armchair said:

Hi there,

I had an extremely bad experience with this product and two of my three cats. Two of them I put on Ziwipeak venison. They liked the food - ate it with no problems. The first and second delivery of cans (post via internet order) were fine. The last delivery, I came home to find the two cats that had been given the food had pools of blood in their stool and chronic diarrhoea. My third cat who was not on the food was 100% normal.
The two cats that were unwell had never had any digestion/diarrhoea/vomiting problems before, and have not had a single issue since recovering from Ziwipeak. I took them off the food immediately, contacted the Australian representative and organised the return of the products I still had, to them. They were extremely nonplussed by what had occurred and still have not provided me with the test results of the food as promised. 

Bad customer service and an extreme health scare for two of my cats. 
Have never had an experience like it before. Hopefully never will again.
Do NOT recommend.

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I'm so sorry to hear about this! How are your cats doing now?

There was another thread re Ziwi Peak about three weeks ago, unfortunately I'm not able to link now but search under Ziwi Peak "missmimz" who started the thread.

I used ZP a couple years ago and also had problems but not to the extent you have experienced.

I agree re: their customer service, which is awful.

Hope your kitties are recovering.

LisaMarie12 said:

I'm so sorry to hear about this! How are your cats doing now?

There was another thread re Ziwi Peak about three weeks ago, unfortunately I'm not able to link now but search under Ziwi Peak "missmimz" who started the thread.

I used ZP a couple years ago and also had problems but not to the extent you have experienced.

I agree re: their customer service, which is awful.

Hope your kitties are recovering.

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I believe that this is the thread that you are referring to  

http://www.thecatsite.com/t/312369/ziwipeak-canned

Yup thanks Kat - can't link anything now on my end.

LisaMarie12 said:

I'm so sorry to hear about this! How are your cats doing now?

There was another thread re Ziwi Peak about three weeks ago, unfortunately I'm not able to link now but search under Ziwi Peak "missmimz" who started the thread.

I used ZP a couple years ago and also had problems but not to the extent you have experienced.

I agree re: their customer service, which is awful.

Hope your kitties are recovering.

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They are fine now they are off Ziwipeak. It took them a while to recover though and trips to the vet (who also thought it was the Ziwipeak). Their whole internal digestive system was completely thrown out of whack. I have no idea what ingredient it was in the food but I shudder to think what would have happened if I had fed the food to my third kitty who has a sensitive belly... And they sell the food as being ideal for felines with gastrointestinal issues!? 

The Armchair said:

 
They are fine now they are off Ziwipeak. It took them a while to recover though and trips to the vet (who also thought it was the Ziwipeak). Their whole internal digestive system was completely thrown out of whack. I have no idea what ingredient it was in the food but I shudder to think what would have happened if I had fed the food to my third kitty who has a sensitive belly... And they sell the food as being ideal for felines with gastrointestinal issues!? 

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I'm the glad the cats are better.

Unfortunately you may never know which ingredient(s) it was that caused the trouble. 

I wouldn't expect to hear anything back from ZP regarding the products you returned directly to them.  Hopefully nothing like this will ever happen to your cats in the future, however, if something were to occur, hang on to the product, don't send it back to the pet food company as there is close to zero guarantee they would be responsive.  Likely you'd have to incur the expense of having the food tested yourself but at least you would get some concrete answers and have evidence to hold a company liable, if need be.

Anyway, the main thing is that your cats have recovered.

The Armchair said:

 
They are fine now they are off Ziwipeak. It took them a while to recover though and trips to the vet (who also thought it was the Ziwipeak). Their whole internal digestive system was completely thrown out of whack. I have no idea what ingredient it was in the food but I shudder to think what would have happened if I had fed the food to my third kitty who has a sensitive belly... And they sell the food as being ideal for felines with gastrointestinal issues!? 

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Oh no that's really awful. Was ZP the only food you were feeding when they got sick? I feed quite a bit of ZP mostly just the air dried but some of the canned too the venison and rabbit and lamb. My cats haven't ever had a bad reaction to it, but I do think the company leaves a lot to be desired (as was mentioned in my thread about them). 

I will check out the thread too. We also had an incredible bizarre and scary experience with Ziwipeak that I will share.

This was about 4-5 years ago. At the time our girl was eating weight management wet food and we decided to try putting her on Ziwipeak instead as at the time she could only really tolerate venison and lamb proteins. After a week into Ziwipeak, she was constantly hungry and restless. She started with diarrhea, than had blood in her stool and started vomitting. Thank god we caught it in the knick of time as she had developed fatty liver which is deadly and the vets were able to save her. It was such a terrifying experience. Since then we will no longer feed Ziwipeak ever again!!

Something very interesting I have found in my research is that Ziwipeak contains 2X the amount of fat then protein. 32% protein to 66% fat!!!! That is way too high!!!! Whereas the diet of a feral cat would be reversed 63% protein, and 23% fat. 

See more here: http://www.catinfo.org/docs/SortableCatFoodChartCatinfo.org2-22-13.htm

Violetxx said:

Something very interesting I have found in my research is that Ziwipeak contains 2X the amount of fat then protein. 32% protein to 66% fat!!!! That is way too high!!!! Whereas the diet of a feral cat would be reversed 63% protein, and 23% fat. 

See more here: http://www.catinfo.org/docs/SortableCatFoodChartCatinfo.org2-22-13.htm

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Only the lamb formulas are higher in fat, but that's because lamb is fatty. If you look at other canned lamb foods they're pretty similar (something like Hound and Gatos). The venison has a pretty good protein to fat ratio. ZP changed their formula a little over a year ago when they took out the carrageenan. In the venison, at least, the protein went up and the fat went down. 

I think with any commercial pet food, YMMV, which is why it's best not to feed one brand exclusively.