# ziwipeak venison & fish



## heartagram (Aug 4, 2012)

I was just wondering if my bag of ziwipeak might be off, he has had this flavour before in the past and ate it fine. He has just finished a bag of lamb so decided to rotate back to venison & fish but I'm noticing an incrediably strong odour from the venison and fish, even with the bag closed, it's like a sickly salmon oil smell it's disgusting and he isn't touching it at all.

Is this smell normal? I don't recall it ever being like this at all, infact I found the lamb very smelly compared to what I rememebr my previous bag of venison& fish being.


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## WinniesMum (Jan 20, 2013)

Possibly, I take it it has just been opened? I would contact the company and see if you can get it replaced. Have they changed any of their ingredients since the last batch you bought? X


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## heartagram (Aug 4, 2012)

yep arrived yesterday, opened this morning.
I don't know if I can get a refund for food, i don't know? I'm not having a good month with shopping! so many returns w/ dysfunctional items 
It's just so expensive for it to go to waste if there is indeed something wrong with it, I have contacted them about it though. I only bought it because my raw supplier is being unreliable 

I'm not aware of any ingrediant changes but certaintly isn't the quality that I remember at all, very strong fish oil smell that lingers outside the bag and it is very tough.
Date on it is april 2013 which isn't very long, but I know ziwipeak doesn't have a long shelf life, but idk about unopened bags?


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## intent2smile (Dec 4, 2011)

I wondered the same thing. I bought the Venison flavor. It was a very strong smell yesterday. I chalked it up to Jaxx was eating the ZP Lamb formula for the past 8 weeks and I wondered if I just wasn't used to the Venison
Perhaps they did change something though..



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## woodard2009 (Aug 4, 2010)

heartagram said:


> yep arrived yesterday, opened this morning.
> I don't know if I can get a refund for food, i don't know? I'm not having a good month with shopping! so many returns w/ dysfunctional items
> It's just so expensive for it to go to waste if there is indeed something wrong with it, I have contacted them about it though. I only bought it because my raw supplier is being unreliable
> 
> ...


You make sure to tell them you are a valuable customer & plan to continue being a customer. There must be something wrong with this bag of food if your pup won't eat when he usually does eat it. They know. You can ask them to exchange it for a different bag of food. 

I wonder if ZP is changing something with the food? I hope not. If they are, I'd hate to think how many chis on this forum would get sick.


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## Evelyn (Oct 14, 2012)

I have mine on the lamb and it has a very strong smell, but it is the first bag that I have ever ordered, so I don't know the difference. Ike won't eat anything with a strong order of fish.


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## heartagram (Aug 4, 2012)

It is odd because my boy is not fussy, I tried hand feeding it and he just spat it out.
Like I say no previous problems with this flavor, he loved it.



intent2smile said:


> I wondered the same thing. I bought the Venison flavor. It was a very strong smell yesterday. I chalked it up to Jaxx was eating the ZP Lamb formula for the past 8 weeks and I wondered if I just wasn't used to the Venison
> Perhaps they did change something though..
> 
> 
> ...


From my experiance, lamb was the smellier one! and it has a slight greasiness to it. I personally hate the smell of lamb anyway but it wasn't overpowering like this fish is, it honestly smells like very strong fish oil makes me incred nauseous.
The past bags, venison and venison and fish have not had much odour to it and are crumby, my current one seems very tough/chewy.

Bleh  I hope they haven't changed the recipe, but I've noticed the price has gone up here and as I have no local shops to me that stock it I have to pay for shipping as well, it is becoming very very expensive.


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## intent2smile (Dec 4, 2011)

We get ours from Amazon with free shipping. We have Amazon Prime so we get free 2 day shipping. I think I paid $32 for the bag I received last week. We were buying from Wag.com or Chewy.com but the shipping was killing me. Someone here suggested trying Amazon and it has saved $5-8 a shipment.


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## heartagram (Aug 4, 2012)

amazon in the uk doesn't stock ziwipeak anymore, well at least not for dogs - its been longterm out of stock for a good few months now, I have ordered them from the past.
I spent £20 on the venison and fish, which imo is alot compared to the amount of what I could buy from a raw supplier ( just hope his delivery arrives today ) I don't think I will be buying zp again now, too expensive to risk the loss of quality and by the looks of things atm, I dont' think they will refund me ugh!


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## Evelyn (Oct 14, 2012)

intent2smile said:


> We get ours from Amazon with free shipping. We have Amazon Prime so we get free 2 day shipping. I think I paid $32 for the bag I received last week. We were buying from Wag.com or Chewy.com but the shipping was killing me. Someone here suggested trying Amazon and it has saved $5-8 a shipment.


Oh good to know, I order my Fromm, Ziwipeak, and treats all at the same time, it all comes to over 50 dollars, at 49 you get free shipping. So I haven't thought about the shipping.


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## ittychichilover (Feb 10, 2013)

Hi there, 

I know this is an older post....hopefully someone can help or has ideas. My chi has been eating the Venison for a long time now. All of the sudden (bag almost gone) he won't touch it any longer. He picks up a piece and spits it out on the ground. He's been doing this for over a week. I've had to supplement him with boiled chicken and carrots. The pet store owner said he might be "bored" of the flavor so I bought a bag of lamb. He spits that out too! Can't figure this out and why we won't eat it?! Another member suggested I put salmon oil on top and mix it in. I did that and he still won't eat it. I've heard there is a bad ingredient in the canned food called carrageenan. Is this harmful? Should I try switching to this? Thanks!


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## Evelyn (Oct 14, 2012)

It only stays fresh for 6 weeks, if it is older then that it might be going bad and he can taste that. It has on the bag , not to feed after a certain length of time, so check that out. It is raw meat.


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## AussieLass (Mar 1, 2012)

The price of ZP will certainly go up again as New Zealand is currently in drought which will force the price of stock up dramatically as farmers are forced to supplement their feed.

There's been an awful lot of Chis who've suddenly just stopped eating ZP or having reactions to it - I personally think it's the richness (fat) and protein levels which are through the roof compared to most commercial foods.

I also believe most dogs have an intuition that will stop them from eating anything they know will cause them problems. When mine suddenly refused to eat it daily, I simply feed it about every 4-5 or so meals, with the other meals being raw or grainfree kibble - they then seem to eat it quite happily. 

I must say though, they hated venison & fish but none of mine like fish of any description except my cooked atlantic salmon.


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## heartagram (Aug 4, 2012)

My bag was replaced in the end, I think I might of had a dodgy batch - it does go off very quickly.
I've also gone on to buy the lamb ( idk why I did tbh! some sort of weird attachment to it lol? ) but only using it as topper now and I shall not be buyign from them again, nothing against them but I honestly believe the quality has deteriorated or changed. 
My boy just doesn't seem to enjoy it or tolerate it as a meal anymore.


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## intent2smile (Dec 4, 2011)

heartagram said:


> My bag was replaced in the end, I think I might of had a dodgy batch - it does go off very quickly.
> I've also gone on to buy the lamb ( idk why I did tbh! some sort of weird attachment to it lol? ) but only using it as topper now and I shall not be buyign from them again, nothing against them but I honestly believe the quality has deteriorated or changed.
> My boy just doesn't seem to enjoy it or tolerate it as a meal anymore.


I contacted them to ask them if something had changed and included a couple threads from here to show them other people were having problems too besides me. I was hoping of going back to ZP and wondering if they could suggest why Jaxx was itching so bad with the last bag.
In the end I won't be buying from them anymore.
She basically told me that most people that she interacts with that has problems with ZP she finds that they were not feeding ZP in the first place or feeding other things along with it. It felt like she was telling me I was not telling her the truth about what Jaxx was eating. I told her Jaxx was eating only ZP and nothing else at the time he started itching with the last bag. She was quite rude and did not respond to me any more.
I was so pleased with ZP and their customer service when we started feeding it but from the last time I contacted them their customer service has definitely went down hill.
I love the idea of feeding raw without me having to deal with the meat but I don't want Jaxx itching all the time and his itching has stopped since we switched him off of ZP.


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## KrystalLeigh (Aug 17, 2011)

intent2smile said:


> I contacted them to ask them if something had changed and included a couple threads from here to show them other people were having problems too besides me. I was hoping of going back to ZP and wondering if they could suggest why Jaxx was itching so bad with the last bag.
> In the end I won't be buying from them anymore.
> She basically told me that most people that she interacts with that has problems with ZP she finds that they were not feeding ZP in the first place or feeding other things along with it. It felt like she was telling me I was not telling her the truth about what Jaxx was eating. I told her Jaxx was eating only ZP and nothing else at the time he started itching with the last bag. She was quite rude and did not respond to me any more.
> I was so pleased with ZP and their customer service when we started feeding it but from the last time I contacted them their customer service has definitely went down hill.
> I love the idea of feeding raw without me having to deal with the meat but I don't want Jaxx itching all the time and his itching has stopped since we switched him off of ZP.


No way! I can't believe that she basically called you a liar. You would think that she would be nothing but helpful especially since she knows that you regularly share with so many people here. I'm offended that she just brushed you off. When we fed ZP and Odie had issues, we were only feeding ZP, no kibble. 


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## intent2smile (Dec 4, 2011)

KrystalLeigh said:


> No way! I can't believe that she basically called you a liar. You would think that she would be nothing but helpful especially since she knows that you regularly share with so many people here. I'm offended that she just brushed you off. When we fed ZP and Odie had issues, we were only feeding ZP, no kibble.
> 
> 
> Sent from Petguide.com Free App


I was very disappointed. You would think they would want to try to figure out what was happening. She said that forums intrigue her and then in the same sentence said that all the e-mails and calls they get consumers she finds that consumers never tell them what they are truly feeding their animals.

When I responded back that Jaxx was eating only ZP at the time she never responded back. I was always impressed with their customer service before they seemed really helpful. 

I am going to have to find different chews and treats for Jaxx. After her basically calling me a liar I won't buy anything else from them. He was on ZP treats and chews too.


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## pupluv168 (Mar 7, 2012)

intent2smile said:


> I was very disappointed. You would think they would want to try to figure out what was happening. She said that forums intrigue her and then in the same sentence said that all the e-mails and calls they get consumers she finds that consumers never tell them what they are truly feeding their animals.
> 
> When I responded back that Jaxx was eating only ZP at the time she never responded back. I was always impressed with their customer service before they seemed really helpful.
> 
> I am going to have to find different chews and treats for Jaxx. After her basically calling me a liar I won't buy anything else from them. He was on ZP treats and chews too.


I was only feeding ZP when Toby got sick. I'm disturbed that they would really blame you for something like that. It's enough to make me never want to use ZP products again. 


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## intent2smile (Dec 4, 2011)

pupluv168 said:


> I was only feeding ZP when Toby got sick. I'm disturbed that they would really blame you for something like that. It's enough to make me never want to use ZP products again.
> 
> 
> Sent from Petguide.com App



I think what irritated me the most is I included the posts from other people too and she basically said that ZP could not cause itching it dogs.

I understand that not every dog can eat every food and I would have preferred if she would have said that instead of just saying basically that it was something else he was eating that I wasn't telling her.


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## KrystalLeigh (Aug 17, 2011)

intent2smile said:


> I think what irritated me the most is I included the posts from other people too and she basically said that ZP could not cause itching it dogs.
> 
> I understand that not every dog can eat every food and I would have preferred if she would have said that instead of just saying basically that it was something else he was eating that I wasn't telling her.


Exactly. Like it couldn't possibly be an intolerance the dog has of a change in their supply. It could ONlY be your fault. So ridiculous. Getting ZP isn't super convenient for me. I order it through a pet store and it takes 2-3 weeks to get here. When the Orijen line becomes available I'll just switch to that. I'd rather get food that's made one province over anyway. 


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## woodard2009 (Aug 4, 2010)

intent2smile said:


> I contacted them to ask them if something had changed and included a couple threads from here to show them other people were having problems too besides me. I was hoping of going back to ZP and wondering if they could suggest why Jaxx was itching so bad with the last bag.
> In the end I won't be buying from them anymore.
> She basically told me that most people that she interacts with that has problems with ZP she finds that they were not feeding ZP in the first place or feeding other things along with it. It felt like she was telling me I was not telling her the truth about what Jaxx was eating. I told her Jaxx was eating only ZP and nothing else at the time he started itching with the last bag. She was quite rude and did not respond to me any more.
> I was so pleased with ZP and their customer service when we started feeding it but from the last time I contacted them their customer service has definitely went down hill.
> I love the idea of feeding raw without me having to deal with the meat but I don't want Jaxx itching all the time and his itching has stopped since we switched him off of ZP.


What are you feeding now! I hate to admit it, but I might need to stop feeding ZP because it's causing tummy issues (noisy belly sounds).


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## Lindsayj (Apr 18, 2012)

That's horrible that they treated you that way, Amy! We've been having some small issues over here with our last bag. Chloe was very gassy and smelly. Her poops were horrible! And it's a flavor she's had several bags of before, Venison. It makes me think they've changed something in it. We just started a new bag of venison and fish. I'm going to see how this one goes, and if her smelly-ness doesn't improve I'm thinking about switching her back to Fromm.


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## AussieLass (Mar 1, 2012)

What the heck - she said ZP couldn't/wouldn't make them itch??? Well I'm here to tell her different, I've got 4 that drive me insane with their constant foot gnawing & scratching all damn day & night when they were getting a meal of ZP every day. Once I pulled back to 1 meal every 3 days or so there's only light itching for the next day which dies away to nothing the following day, and then we start all over again with the next meal.

Ingredients can be & are cumulative - HWMNBO & I were drinking Nestle Alta Rica Espresso Instant coffee for months, we loved it STRONG. After around 3 months, he came out in hives so severe he had to have days off work, his face swelled up to such an extent he was unrecognisable. He went through that 3-4 times before he finally realised it was the coffee. He stopped altogether whilst I continued drinking it and a couple of months later, I was full of hives and scratching so bad all over I was bleeding. Nestle too called us both liars and wouldn't hear of the fact that their poison coffee could cause any itching or other 'issues'. Pfft, what a crock, from that day to this (oh about 5 years) neither of us have ever had hives again, and nor had we before the stinking stuff.

I'm in regular contact with Nigel Woodd (correct spelling) the Director, think it's time I emailed him! There's too many threads all over this forum from dogs stomachs churning out runny poo for weeks on end to itching themselves and us crazy!


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## Star's Mama (Aug 15, 2012)

Wow Amy, I can't believe customer service treated you like this. 
I was wondering if I should switch too.
While typing this Star let out a slient but deadly one and she has been doing that a couple times a day. She has been itching and watery eyes more than usual, but I'm not sure its zp or the pollen here is really horrible now. The previous bag of ZP never did this. This bag she is eating zp both meals most of the time.I just bought this last month. I can't go back to 100% raw cuz she would stop eating and won't eat organs.


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## Barracuda51 (Oct 7, 2012)

I hate to step in but any dog food at anytime can cause problems, either right off the rip or many months to yrs later. Just because a dog food dont have this or that ingrediant dont mean it wont have problems later on with another ingrediant in the food, many many dogs have probslems with kelp and biggest problem with dogs is yeast wow look at that ZP has both in there food, although new zeeland green mussel is fantastic to use it can cause problems. It dont matter what type yeast gos in a dog food its still yeast and will cause probs. Just like vitamins there a good thing but over time can cause to much build up in the systom and cause problems. You need to do short test on the dog food and try and rule out whats causing the problems. I dont use ZP for the reason Muffin dont take lightly to yeast and she had probs with the ZP after a period of feeding it. Heres the question that so many people SHOULD ask all the time "Why is there so much stuff/ingrediants added to the food if its so natural?" You gota remember all dog food companies are out there to say "IM THE HOLY GRAIL OF DOG FOOD" my food is the best out there. But wow its all about whom can move the product the most and make the most from your pocket, i dont care how much they say there out for the love and well being of the animal. It maybe the best from there perspective but that dont mean your dog will be able to do well on it.


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## AussieLass (Mar 1, 2012)

Hi all, I received a reply from the Director of ZP overnight, and knowing this man, no stone will be left unturned .... in the meantime, please keep listing your experiences in the ZiwiPeak feeders thread in Diet & Nutrition area. 

This is the response I rec'd which is self explanatory (albeit I did not mention a "mass exodus" lol:


Hi D,



Thanks for your email below. I am not aware of a mass exodus at all but I would like to look into your comments and others comments.



At the moment I am travelling in Europe and wont be back in NZ until the 5th April so I will not be in a position to look into the issues until then. It does seem a bit strange to me.



Thanks for the alert and I will aim to come back asap.



Kind regards, N


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## intent2smile (Dec 4, 2011)

AussieLass said:


> Hi all, I received a reply from the Director of ZP overnight, and knowing this man, no stone will be left unturned .... in the meantime, please keep listing your experiences in the ZiwiPeak feeders thread in Diet & Nutrition area.
> 
> This is the response I rec'd which is self explanatory (albeit I did not mention a "mass exodus" lol:
> 
> ...


Thank you so much Dee for doing this! I really love the idea of ZP. I was just looking for answers when I sent them a message I am so glad you are getting some! Jaxx's stools were a lot better on ZP but I just could not watch him itchy and chewing on his paws 24/7. I would not want to eat something that made me itchy all the time so I did not want to feed him something that was doing it. I know it has to be something with so many ZP'ers having problems suddenly. 

I posted Jaxx's information in your ZP feeding thread  

Thank you again!


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## AussieLass (Mar 1, 2012)

My pleasure Amy - I must admit to getting the jitters & having separation anxiety at the thought of having to stop feeding ZP altogether because I do believe the combo of ZP and raw is the absolute perfect diet for optimum health so it's super important we get to the bottom of what the heck is going on. 

If the effects have not been cumulative in all of our dogs (which is possible) then something has had to have changed in the ingredients. Time will tell, but I'm not giving up on them - I've got 1/2 a $150 bag to get through and look forward to buying the next bag


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## intent2smile (Dec 4, 2011)

AussieLass said:


> My pleasure Amy - I must admit to getting the jitters & having separation anxiety at the thought of having to stop feeding ZP altogether because I do believe the combo of ZP and raw is the absolute perfect diet for optimum health so it's super important we get to the bottom of what the heck is going on.
> 
> If the effects have not been cumulative in all of our dogs (which is possible) then something has had to have changed in the ingredients. Time will tell, but I'm not giving up on them - I've got 1/2 a $150 bag to get through and look forward to buying the next bag


I was very sad to have to switch honestly. Yesterday I was so aggravated that I did not think I would ever feed ZP again by the response of that lady but I love the idea of ZP and the quality that (was) representing. Also I realize everyone has a bad day and hopefully that is what her problem was. Also most of Jaxx's chews are ZP and I do not want to deprive him of something that he likes because I got aggravated. I definitely want to see what is going on though because with so many problems there has to be something going on. 

I am hoping when we move that our kitchen can be partitioned off so that I can try raw with Jaxx. I think I could over it being gross to me if there wasn't a risk of Jaxx taking it onto the carpet. Right now we live in a open floorplan and there is no way to put up a gate or something to keep Jaxx on the hardwood floors.


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## susan davis (Mar 25, 2011)

Instead of ZiwiPeak, why not try Stella & Chewies frozen/air dried? My chi's love it. Too expensive for me to feed totally, but they love it when I treat them with it!


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## AussieLass (Mar 1, 2012)

Heartagram - can you please add your experience on this thread:

http://www.chihuahua-people.com/chi...1762-ziwiwpeak-feeders-both-past-present.html


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## Jayda (Jun 15, 2012)

susan davis said:


> Instead of ZiwiPeak, why not try Stella & Chewies frozen/air dried? My chi's love it. Too expensive for me to feed totally, but they love it when I treat them with it!


I feed both mine ZP and this thread scares me. I, like many, love the idea of it. I personally will not deal with true raw by personal preference. I haven't had any problems yet but I feel like I am waiting for the bottom to drop out after reading this thread. I typically had used only venison but accidently ordered venison and fish the last time from amazon. I agree there is more of an odor to this flavor but mine eat it up. I also give them Stella and Chewies about three times a week. Had anyone fed only Stella and Chewies for an extended period of time without problems?

Also, Prince has been scratching and licking his paws a lot over the last week or so but I believe it seasonal allergies as the pollen has really come out here. Any chance itchiness for others is seasonal allergies? I just don't want to believe ZP is doing bad things to dogs  lady has trimmed down nicely on it and both have lovely soft coats.


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## Lindsayj (Apr 18, 2012)

Jayda said:


> I feed both mine ZP and this thread scares me. I, like many, love the idea of it. I personally will not deal with true raw by personal preference. I haven't had any problems yet but I feel like I am waiting for the bottom to drop out after reading this thread. I typically had used only venison but accidently ordered venison and fish the last time from amazon. I agree there is more of an odor to this flavor but mine eat it up. I also give them Stella and Chewies about three times a week. Had anyone fed only Stella and Chewies for an extended period of time without problems?
> 
> Also, Prince has been scratching and licking his paws a lot over the last week or so but I believe it seasonal allergies as the pollen has really come out here. Any chance itchiness for others is seasonal allergies? I just don't want to believe ZP is doing bad things to dogs  lady has trimmed down nicely on it and both have lovely soft coats.


If it was just itching then it might be seasonal allergies, but a lot of dogs have had stomach upset, too. That's more of the reason why we're switching back to kibble. 


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## MChis (Oct 13, 2009)

I've fed ZP for over a year to my crew. I'd been wanting to add in a bit of Fromm but what got that ball really moving is Matilda (who has occasional digestive issues anyway) began getting stomach pains 2-3 times per week...assuming caused by gas. Kind of scared me at first, she would stretch side ways & just act odd. First thought she was having some type of seizure honestly. Gave her some gas busters we had on hand & it seemed to subside. It continued...until I switched her to 100% grain free Fromm. She's been on it for about a month w/no gas pain since. I've switched my other 3 pets to 50/50 Fromm/ZiwiPeak & none have had issues. My crew is itchier but they always are this time of year so I'm not convinced at all the itchiness is due to food. But Matildas stomach/gas pain...I'm sure is due to something odd w/ZP. 

I hate to think such a good food is changing something that is effecting our dogs. Hopefully it's easy to find the cause & one they can change!


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## MiniGrace (Oct 31, 2011)

Jayda said:


> I feed both mine ZP and this thread scares me. I, like many, love the idea of it. I personally will not deal with true raw by personal preference. I haven't had any problems yet but I feel like I am waiting for the bottom to drop out after reading this thread. I typically had used only venison but accidently ordered venison and fish the last time from amazon. I agree there is more of an odor to this flavor but mine eat it up. I also give them Stella and Chewies about three times a week. Had anyone fed only Stella and Chewies for an extended period of time without problems?
> 
> Also, Prince has been scratching and licking his paws a lot over the last week or so but I believe it seasonal allergies as the pollen has really come out here. Any chance itchiness for others is seasonal allergies? I just don't want to believe ZP is doing bad things to dogs  lady has trimmed down nicely on it and both have lovely soft coats.


I have fed all three flavors to our dogs and all the Venison and Fish bags i have ever gotten definitely smells more strongly. Also the texture of the venison and the lamb has always been different. I feed a mixture of half kibble and half ZP and so far the dogs are doing great. I don't want to believe that ZP is bad either because they are doing so great on it.


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