ZiwiPeak's Oral Range - Antler

ZiwiPeak's Oral Health Care range featuring 'Deer Antlers' are a 100% natural, mineral rich, long lasting dog chew.

A mineral analysis would show high levels of calcium and phosphorus and trace levels of iron, zinc and sodium.

Deer Antlers are slowly ground down by chewing, providing a dog with enjoyment at the same time as helping to keep teeth and gums healthy.

Deer Antler is basically bone material, naturally shed by the Deer and because they are natural they are easy on the digestive system.

 

Renal Failure

Subject: Feline Renal Formula: 

Hi,

Do you produce a Renal formula (decreased protein) for cats with 

stage I or II Renal failure - similar to (or better than) Hill's K/D, 

moist (sachet or tin)?

Thanks

James

New Zealand 

 

Dr. Liza Schneider replies:

With renal failure quality of protein is of utmost importance to support health and of course ZiwiPeak supports this beautifully (in addition to the extra all the fabulous extra nutrients!). 

However, traditional veterinary wisdom has held that feeding a low protein diet to avoid the excess nitrogen in the system that the kidneys have to excrete is very important but this logic is changing to the above concept where the quality of protein is the most important factor. 

Phosphorous, which is found in higher levels in meat proteins, can play a role in kidney failure as it also accumulates as a toxin in the system when the kidneys aren't functioning properly. Renal diets have lower amounts of phosphorous. 

In my opinion ZiwiPeak is a better choice than all foods because of the incredible quality and overall goodness but the diet change should ideally be overseen by a vet to ensure that phosphorous levels in the blood aren't rising.

Kind regards,   

Dr Liza Schneider BVSc

Director

Holistic Veterinary Services

www.holisticvets.co.nz  

 

Liza with 'First Aid for your Animals'

First Aid for your Animal

Having a good working knowledge of what signs to look for to determine if your animal's health is at risk is a very helpful investment.    By observing your animal's vital signs (breathing rate and depth, colour of mucous membranes, heart rate and temperature) regularly when they are healthy will help you to detect an abnormality.

Subtle signs of illness might include a quiet or depressed demeanor, poor appetite, heavy eyes and a dull coat.    Other more obvious indications of dis-ease include rapid or difficult breathing, elevated or depressed pulse or heart rate, collapse, pale or bright red colour of the gums, difficulty walking or severe lameness, yelping out in pain, sudden bloating of the abdomen, severe vomiting and diarrhea as well as blood loss.

Some of these signs and symptoms are fleeting and pass quickly while others persist and might indicate a serious underlying problem.    Always have Rescue Remedy or Emergency Essence on hand, and if the animal isn't settling, seek veterinary advice.    There are a number of basic diagnostic tools to apply that will help you and your vet or vet nurse to assess how urgent veterinary input is in any given situation.

Heavy or rapid breathing are important indicators of pain or distress. Especially if the animal's gums are blue or purple with abnormal breathing, they aren't getting enough oxygen and they are likely to have damage to the respiratory system which might be in their lungs, circulation or red blood cells not transporting enough oxygen around.

If they're having difficulty inhaling, the problem is probably in the upper airway but if it is difficulty exhaling then the lower airway is likely to be dis-eased or damaged.    Pale gum colour might indicate shock or anaemia and red gums will indicate severe congestion or septicaemia.

A very valuable tool to indicate good circulation and hydration status is called the capillary refill time (CRT).    Identify a part of the gum which is pink, ideally above the canine teeth. Use a thumb to press it briefly with some light pressure. It will momentarily turn white and should turn pink again within two seconds. If this time is delayed beyond this then there is likely to be a serious problem.

An animal's core temperature is another valuable tool used to assess their status. A low temperature indicates poor circulation while a slightly high temperature may be an indicator of pain and a severely elevated temperature is likely to indicate major infection.

The heart rate is influenced by most of these factors and will be elevated with high temperature, rapid breathing and pain or stress.    A persistently elevated or depressed heart rate with none of the above influences requires further investigation. 

Kind regards,   

Dr Liza Schneider BVSc

Director

Holistic Veterinary Services

www.holisticvets.co.nz

Allergies in our Animals

Maggie-Lee from New Zealand asks the following question from ZiwiPeak.

I have a 5 year old mixed Shepherd retriever who has had chronic, nasty ear infections.    Finally determined to be allergies related and two years ago started on Hills Prescription Low Allergen Z/D.    This has taken care of the problem and she has since been well.    But I have been hearing lately that Hill's food isn't all that great. 

Do you have a food intended for dogs with allergies? 

Thank you for your enquiry, yours is a common question. 

Modern thinking that kibble based diets do create allergy problems because kibble and other grains are major sources of allergens. 

The ZiwiPeak range on the other hand is all natural meat, have no preservatives and no grains or fillers.    In case you are unaware of the range, we specialize in "Good Cat or Good Dog" natural jerky treats and our "Cuisine" is a naturally designed complete food in air-dried and moist canned formulations.  

It is based the "natural fall" of an animal, the meat and organs such as a cat or dog would eat in the wild.    We also add special formulated vitamins and minerals specific to cat or dogs as specified by nutrition experts to ensure that the cuisine has everything that the pet needs.     The specifications on the products are far beyond any other petfood, and the health benefits are well documented, being why our distributors sell predominantly to vets and pet stores. 

Because of this ZiwiPeak is deemed to be hypoallergenic and we have had great responses from owners of dogs prone to allergies. You should certainly try ZiwiPeak on your dog. 

Kind regards

ZiwiPeak

 

Taurine and ZiwiPeak

Question:

I have recently been introduced to the ZiwiPeak Cat Cuisine food by a client and I was wondering if you add Taurine and if not why not?

Dr. Elise Holt. DVM. CVA.
Veterinary Acuptuncture and Herbal Medicine, Seattle.

Answer:

Thank you for your email Elise.   Taurine is indeed an essential nutrient, especially for Cats.   It is naturally present in all our products, but because it is essential, we have especially added it to our Cat Cuisine in both ( dry and our moist can products) at above the minimum maintenance levels required for Cats.

The pet nutrition experts advise a minimum maintenance level of 0.18% ME,  at ZiwiPeak we have it at 0.28% ME.

Green Lipped Mussel-New Zealand

Question:

Is the Green Lipped Mussel in your food added in a medicinal quantity?

Answer:

The volume of Mussel we add was recommended by animal nutritional experts.   Mussel extract has not been formally accepted yet as a medicinal aid but is generally accepted that it may be beneficial for a variety of reasons, especially in joint health.

The minerals present in ZiwiPeak pet food are accepted at a level to ensure the overall benefit of Mussel.

We put in 4% Mussel extract .

Are there Carbs in ZiwiPeak?

We have been approached by a lady who has a diabetic dog and wanted to know the carbohydrate content of our Cuisine Food in relation to percentage grams per our ZiwiPeak scoop.

The ZiwiPeak team answers:

Thanks for your enquiry.   You may have seen from our website that ZiwiPeak pet food has been formulated by a team of animal nutrition experts as a pure meat product that is based on the balance that a hunting animal would eat in the wild.

It has no grains, no preservatives, chemicals, colour, sugar or salt etc.  

At ZiwiPeak we combine our pure meat products plus other natural health ingredients  plus vitamins and minerals  which make ZiwiPeak pet food the very best you can buy on the world market.   It is regarded as the only Ultra Premium brand.

The cuisine comes in two forms, dried and moist.   The carbohydrate level is how the animal would naturally get it's energy and again is carefully balanced, approx 8% in the dried 2% in the cans.

The feeding guide on the packaging will give you the daily volume required based on the weight of your dog.   I would only suggest that you work on the low side of this because it is based on an average range of dogs (who are not diabetic!).

For the dried food, the carbohydrate levels would be approximately 4.5g or 0.16oz per scoop.
Good luck to you and your dogs as I am sure they will love ZiwiPeak.

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