Ziwipeak canned

missmimz said:

 
I have seen this complaint before about the Merrick LID, but i wonder how common the egg allergy actually is vs. the actual meat protein. The protein found in eggs is not the same as that found in the actual meat. At least with humans, most people with chicken egg allergies can eat chicken just fine, or vise versa. 

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That's interesting info re: chicken meat protein and egg protein, however,  there is info that indicate that the most common food allergens for cats (protein) are fish, beef, chicken and eggs; https://www.vetinfo.com/protein-allergy-in-cats.html

In any event, it's still false advertising by Merrick to list "single protein" on the duck LID and turkey LID. They are indeed LID, but not single protein.

Missmimz, I don't know if you are still looking for a venison alternative to ZP, however, I am thinking of trying Addiction's Hunter Venison Stew which is much lower in carbs than their other line of venison (which is very carby b/c of all the potatoes, I used it a few years back).

Anyway, Addiction has their own manufacturing facility and they signed TAPF's pledge of transparency of ingredient sourcing for customers.

I just checked Chewy, however, and they are temporarily out of stock.  I asked the owner of the indy store though where I work if he could order a case and he's checking on it, let me know if you have any interest in trying it, it seems like a nice alternative to ZP and a bit cheaper.

LisaMarie12 said:

 
Missmimz, I don't know if you are still looking for a venison alternative to ZP, however, I am thinking of trying Addiction's Hunter Venison Stew which is much lower in carbs than their other line of venison (which is very carby b/c of all the potatoes, I used it a few years back).

Anyway, Addiction has their own manufacturing facility and they signed TAPF's pledge of transparency of ingredient sourcing for customers.

I just checked Chewy, however, and they are temporarily out of stock.  I asked the owner of the indy store though where I work if he could order a case and he's checking on it, let me know if you have any interest in trying it, it seems like a nice alternative to ZP and a bit cheaper.

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Oh that's interesting I will check it out! I did take ZP canned out of my rotation for a short time since I received a large HT order and started making more raw. They're doing excellent on the raw I make and it's going really well, but I am getting ready to take Fluff out of state for his radio iodine treatment soon and I needed more canned food for them while I'm away so I had to add it back, at least temporarily. The only canned they really like that's 'pate' is ZP and Merrick LID chicken and turkey. 

Edit - It looks like Only Natural Pets carries it in individual cans but it's backordered for a few days. I might order a couple cans to try it because it looks pretty good. My cats are very finicky about veggies in their food, which is usually my main issue with canned foods. 

That's great the cats are doing well on HT raw!! I was actually thinking of ordering HT's boneless rabbit and supplementing with Balance It (to keep it single protein). I'm reconsidering venison also. Since Rad Cat venison is hit or miss lately, I'll consider canned.

I remember I wanted to try Addiction's Hunter Venison Stew a couple years back, actually, I did buy a few cans at an indy store that was out of the way. When I wanted to order online, the product was always sold out or on back order. 

It seems like the Hunter Stew does much better than Addiction's other line of venison which has has so many potatoes it should be called Venison Shepherd Pie. I remember I tried both the brushtail and the venison formula and there were so many potatoes I actually took a photo of all the potatoes I picked out and sent it to Addiction.

I wonder why they don't just phase out that other carby venison formula and just stick with Hunter Stew.

LisaMarie12 said:

 
That's great the cats are doing well on HT raw!! I was actually thinking of ordering HT's boneless rabbit and supplementing with Balance It (to keep it single protein). I'm reconsidering venison also. Since Rad Cat venison is hit or miss lately, I'll consider canned.

I remember I wanted to try Addiction's Hunter Venison Stew a couple years back, actually, I did buy a few cans at an indy store that was out of the way. When I wanted to order online, the product was always sold out or on back order. 

It seems like the Hunter Stew does much better than Addiction's other line of venison which has has so many potatoes it should be called Venison Shepherd Pie. I remember I tried both the brushtail and the venison formula and there were so many potatoes I actually took a photo of all the potatoes I picked out and sent it to Addiction.

I wonder why they don't just phase out that other carby venison formula and just stick with Hunter Stew.

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Strangely my cats weren't big fans of the boneless rabbit, but this time around i ordered the rabbit with bone but mixed it with boneless chicken to lower the bone content and they LOVE it. My cats like the beef/bone/venison mix better than the straight venison, but they LOVE beef and venison, so no surprise there. HT meat quality is really great though, I've never had any issues with any of it and I feel really comfortable feeding it. I'd be interested in hearing how you like Balance It. I looked at it before but it doesn't look like they give samples so i wasn't really willing to risk the cost of a whole packet if my cats didn't like it. I tried BITR and they wouldn't touch it. 

I'm so glad I found this thread! I have been feeding my 2 kitties the lamb version. I took to the internet after they both starting having digestive issues. I knew something had to be wrong with the food but the company was not much help.

My 8 year old kitty has lymphoma so I needed a food for IBS symptoms. This worked for a while so when he started having issues, I thought it was his cancer or his chemo causing it not the food. I added a 5 month kitten to our family about a month ago. I started feeding him the same food. Again, things started out fine but after 3-4 weeks, he too is starting to have the same IBS symptoms. Now I know it's the food!

My dilemma is finding another healthy food I can feed both of them. Does anyone have any recommendations? I cannot feed raw due to the lymphoma/doctor's orders. I need a wet food that is higher in fat, moderate in protein, and LOW in carbs without all the bad junk that seems to be in most cat foods. I thought I found a winner with the ZP. It has helped to get his weight back up. My back up food is Nature's Variety but they become disinterested in it after a day or two. I think it's the veggies.

I really appreciate any suggestions. I'm trying to be a good kitty momma but I feel like I'm going in circles with finding a decent food!

pixiegirl said:

I'm so glad I found this thread! I have been feeding my 2 kitties the lamb version. I took to the internet after they both starting having digestive issues. I knew something had to be wrong with the food but the company was not much help.

My 8 year old kitty has lymphoma so I needed a food for IBS symptoms. This worked for a while so when he started having issues, I thought it was his cancer or his chemo causing it not the food. I added a 5 month kitten to our family about a month ago. I started feeding him the same food. Again, things started out fine but after 3-4 weeks, he too is starting to have the same IBS symptoms. Now I know it's the food!

My dilemma is finding another healthy food I can feed both of them. Does anyone have any recommendations? I cannot feed raw due to the lymphoma/doctor's orders. I need a wet food that is higher in fat, moderate in protein, and LOW in carbs without all the bad junk that seems to be in most cat foods. I thought I found a winner with the ZP. It has helped to get his weight back up. My back up food is Nature's Variety but they become disinterested in it after a day or two. I think it's the veggies.

I really appreciate any suggestions. I'm trying to be a good kitty momma but I feel like I'm going in circles with finding a decent food!

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I still think ZP is good food, I feed the air dried without issue and I still use a little bit of the canned because my cats like it and haven't had any issues. I wonder if maybe the lamb itself is irritating them? Lamb is really fatty, and ZP's canned lamb especially. I only use the lamb & rabbit or the venison because the lamb itself is too fatty for my kids. 

Is home cooked an option for you? Are you only feeding novel proteins or can they eat chicken/turkey? 

pixiegirl said:

I'm so glad I found this thread! I have been feeding my 2 kitties the lamb version. I took to the internet after they both starting having digestive issues. I knew something had to be wrong with the food but the company was not much help.

My 8 year old kitty has lymphoma so I needed a food for IBS symptoms. This worked for a while so when he started having issues, I thought it was his cancer or his chemo causing it not the food. I added a 5 month kitten to our family about a month ago. I started feeding him the same food. Again, things started out fine but after 3-4 weeks, he too is starting to have the same IBS symptoms. Now I know it's the food!

My dilemma is finding another healthy food I can feed both of them. Does anyone have any recommendations? I cannot feed raw due to the lymphoma/doctor's orders. I need a wet food that is higher in fat, moderate in protein, and LOW in carbs without all the bad junk that seems to be in most cat foods. I thought I found a winner with the ZP. It has helped to get his weight back up. My back up food is Nature's Variety but they become disinterested in it after a day or two. I think it's the veggies.

I really appreciate any suggestions. I'm trying to be a good kitty momma but I feel like I'm going in circles with finding a decent food!

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I'm really sorry to hear about this. It seems ZP lately has had a plethora of issues with lackluster customer feedback.  I heard recently from someone that there are complaints re: digestive / diarrhea issues on other blogs as well --  Facebook, etc.

Have you considered NV's LID diets? The LID duck or LID lamb would be  higher in fat but not sure what you would consider a moderate protein.  Addiction's Hunter Venison Stew has fairly simple ingredients and appears to be low carb.  I'm guessing you are looking for more "novel" proteins vs e.g. chicken - otherwise, I would recommend Tiki Cat Gourmet Carnivore or TCGC beef. Natural Planet Organics makes a low carb chicken formula, the company recently removed the carrageenan, so I was informed, although they haven't updated their site.

Have you considered home cooking? You could get a premix like U-Stew or Balance It.

Good luck.

I did dry the other ZP flavors with my older kitty. He had immediate issues with all except the lamb. He would not eat the rabbit. Lamb seemed like the winner until recently and normally lamb is gentle on tummies. I think my kitten will eat just about anything outside of getting bored with the NV. I want to keep them on the same food b/c my older kitty always wants what is in the other bowl.

I do not have the equipment that I've seen used for home cooking (grinder, etc.) I would prefer to buy a healthy can food but I feel like I'm fighting a losing battle.

Chicken and turkey should be fine. They food just needs to have a higher fat content and usually chicken and turkey are low in fat. I've read the best diet for lymphoma is:

fat: 25-40% (DM)
protein: 40-50% (DM)
carbs: less than 10%

This is a HUGE challenge when mixed with trying to eliminate carrageenan, gums, grains, etc.

pixiegirl said:

I did dry the other ZP flavors with my older kitty. He had immediate issues with all except the lamb. He would not eat the rabbit. Lamb seemed like the winner until recently and normally lamb is gentle on tummies. I think my kitten will eat just about anything outside of getting bored with the NV. I want to keep them on the same food b/c my older kitty always wants what is in the other bowl.

I do not have the equipment that I've seen used for home cooking (grinder, etc.) I would prefer to buy a healthy can food but I feel like I'm fighting a losing battle.

Chicken and turkey should be fine. They food just needs to have a higher fat content and usually chicken and turkey are low in fat. I've read the best diet for lymphoma is:

fat: 25-40% (DM)
protein: 40-50% (DM)
carbs: less than 10%

This is a HUGE challenge when mixed with trying to eliminate carrageenan, gums, grains, etc.

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If you're looking for gum free, that will be a challenge, unfortunately.  While more companies are beginning to remove carrageenan, guar and other gums are still fairly prevalent. Is agar agar okay? Guessing it is since ZP uses agar agar.

The only gum free and agar agar free canned foods I know of other than Instinct (not Pride) would be Tiki Cat Gourmet Carnivore, Nature's Logic and First Mate chicken / turkey although not sure NL or FM would fall under the 10% carb range.

You don't need a grinder for home cooked if you use ground meat,  just a pan to cook the meat for e.g., 10 minutes will destroy any bacteria. This per U-Stew, which I've used myself in the past to home cook, very easy, not time consuming at all.

pixiegirl said:

I did dry the other ZP flavors with my older kitty. He had immediate issues with all except the lamb. He would not eat the rabbit. Lamb seemed like the winner until recently and normally lamb is gentle on tummies. I think my kitten will eat just about anything outside of getting bored with the NV. I want to keep them on the same food b/c my older kitty always wants what is in the other bowl.

I do not have the equipment that I've seen used for home cooking (grinder, etc.) I would prefer to buy a healthy can food but I feel like I'm fighting a losing battle.

Chicken and turkey should be fine. They food just needs to have a higher fat content and usually chicken and turkey are low in fat. I've read the best diet for lymphoma is:

fat: 25-40% (DM)
protein: 40-50% (DM)
carbs: less than 10%

This is a HUGE challenge when mixed with trying to eliminate carrageenan, gums, grains, etc.

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Hmm yeah I don't know of any canned that don't have guar gum in them. I was going to suggest Merrick LID duck or perhaps Hound and Gatos lamb but they have guar gum in it. 

As mentioned, home cooked isn't the same as raw, it's cooked, so you don't need a grinder. You can buy pre-ground meat from the grocery store you just need to cook it (like you would meat you'd eat) and then add the specific pre-mix. There are pre-mixes made specifically for cooked meat such as BalanceIt or U-stew. I know you said raw was out, but I feed raw and don't have a grinder. I buy pre-ground meat from Hare Today, which is a company that specifically grinds and sells meat for raw animal consumption, then i thaw it and add the proper pre-mix. 

Duck would probably be a good option because its fairly high in fact. In fact i buy the boneless duck from hare today which is pretty fatty because it contains the skin. You could, in theory, buy that and cook it up. I actually cooked it once for my cat to see if he liked cooked better than raw but he preferred the raw. Hare Today also sells boneless lamb, so you could also cook that one as well if you went the home cooked route and wanted meats with higher fats that you might not be able to source as well at the store.  

Thanks all!     Looks like Nature's Logic could be an option.  

Litter box issues have gotten worse tonight for both kitties.   Today has been the worst day yet!   I opened a new shipment from Chewy today. Something is definitely a miss with this food for my kitties. Looks like I will be making a trip to Petco in the morning for NV.  It may not be their favorite but this cannot continue. 

My biggest concern about home cooking is knowing the percentage break outs.  I am trying to 'starve' the cancer cells so they don't reproduce and let the chemo kill the ones that are there.  I know it sounds crazy but he has been on this regiment for 5 months now and he has been doing so well!  

pixiegirl said:

Thanks all!     Looks like Nature's Logic could be an option.  

Litter box issues have gotten worse tonight for both kitties.   Today has been the worst day yet!   I opened a new shipment from Chewy today. Something is definitely a miss with this food for my kitties. Looks like I will be making a trip to Petco in the morning for NV.  It may not be their favorite but this cannot continue. 

My biggest concern about home cooking is knowing the percentage break outs.  I am trying to 'starve' the cancer cells so they don't reproduce and let the chemo kill the ones that are there.  I know it sounds crazy but he has been on this regiment for 5 months now and he has been doing so well!  

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I'm sorry to hear both kitties are still having digestive upset on ZP.

My cats aren't thrilled with NV's LID either but it doesn't cause them to have loose stools, other than the LID duck which does cause problems for my IBD kitty.

To get them to eat the food, I've lately started adding a few drops of Omega 3 fish oil, very smelly. My fussy one licks her bowl clean now.

If your cats like fish (I don't feed fish) this may work for you although I don't know if it will disturb your fat % requirements. Another option would be a freeze dried meat treat, no liver, e.g., Whole Life, Pure Bites, etc, crumbled on top of the food to make it more palatable.

It's a challenge dealing with a lymphoma kitty, you are doing a great job.

P.S. Contact Chewy's cust service and explain the issue, they are very good about refunds/exchanges.

pixiegirl said:

 
Thanks all!  

  Looks like Nature's Logic could be an option.  

Litter box issues have gotten worse tonight for both kitties.   Today has been the worst day yet!   I opened a new shipment from Chewy today. Something is definitely a miss with this food for my kitties. Looks like I will be making a trip to Petco in the morning for NV.  It may not be their favorite but this cannot continue. 

My biggest concern about home cooking is knowing the percentage break outs.  I am trying to 'starve' the cancer cells so they don't reproduce and let the chemo kill the ones that are there.  I know it sounds crazy but he has been on this regiment for 5 months now and he has been doing so well!  

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I know you're weary about homecooked or raw, but i found this earlier that might be of interest to you. The co-creater of this new company/pre-mix is an active member here that's very knowledgeable about cat nutrition. She talks about her cat going into remission from lymphoma.

@LisaMarie12  it's a bummer that EZcomplete contains chicken liver because it might have been a good option for Molly, perhaps? Hopefully they make other flavors without chicken liver in the future. I just ordered a bag to try with Fluff  

Oh! Wonderful to see that from LDG, congratulations to her for developing this product, I'm thrilled for them both!

Other than the chicken liver - you're right, not sure Molly could tolerate it due to a chicken allergy, the mix looks great, especially with eggshell as the source of calcium.

Sigh...thats too bad for Molly but I'm very happy for them!!

I have to do something different soon, nothing seems to curb her ravenous appetite - not the steroid, probiotic, diet - we started b12 shots 2 weeks ago, that can take awhile, if it works at all, nada - she will eat us into bankruptcy, seriously, it's getting so expensive to feed her and she's not our only cat. She even wants the food from our plates after she has her own food, it's so sad, she's not the same cat any more.

I am happy to report that after a few days off the Ziwipeak both of my boys are back to normal! Energy levels have even increased. My cancer kitty feels like playing at top speed again! This was definitely food related. Thankfully I purchased by the case from Chewy.com. A refund is already processing and I have them on NV until I can decide exactly what I want to do.

Thanks so much for your wonderful responses! I greatly appreciate them!

LisaMarie12 said:

Oh! Wonderful to see that from LDG, congratulations to her for developing this product, I'm thrilled for them both!

Other than the chicken liver - you're right, not sure Molly could tolerate it due to a chicken allergy, the mix looks great, especially with eggshell as the source of calcium.

Sigh...thats too bad for Molly but I'm very happy for them!!

I have to do something different soon, nothing seems to curb her ravenous appetite - not the steroid, probiotic, diet - we started b12 shots 2 weeks ago, that can take awhile, if it works at all, nada - she will eat us into bankruptcy, seriously, it's getting so expensive to feed her and she's not our only cat. She even wants the food from our plates after she has her own food, it's so sad, she's not the same cat any more.

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Are you part of the IBD raw feeding group on FB? I don't know why I just found out about it but tons of info! In fact they referred me to a hyperthyroidism group that's amazing too. I feel so much better about Fluff's I-131 treatment this weekend. Hope you can sort out what to do with Molly next. I was reading that people are having issues with the new RC too  

pixiegirl said:

I am happy to report that after a few days off the Ziwipeak both of my boys are back to normal! Energy levels have even increased. My cancer kitty feels like playing at top speed again! This was definitely food related. Thankfully I purchased by the case from Chewy.com. A refund is already processing and I have them on NV until I can decide exactly what I want to do.

Thanks so much for your wonderful responses! I greatly appreciate them!

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Great, that is wonderful news!! Chewy is a fantastic company to order from as far as refunds / exchanges, in addition to their lower prices.

pixiegirl said:

I am happy to report that after a few days off the Ziwipeak both of my boys are back to normal! Energy levels have even increased. My cancer kitty feels like playing at top speed again! This was definitely food related. Thankfully I purchased by the case from Chewy.com. A refund is already processing and I have them on NV until I can decide exactly what I want to do.

Thanks so much for your wonderful responses! I greatly appreciate them!

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Glad to hear it. I haven't used ZP canned in awhile but I feel like they are having some quality issues for sure. Chewy is the best. I actually got a bag of ZP air dried that was missing the expiration date and they sent me a new one no questioned asked.