# Ziwipeak for puppies?



## coco_little_bear

So I just came back from the vet for Lilo's first check up. 

It's the first time I go go this vet and she was very good overall but when it came to food she kind of had a go at me. She's one of those who really pushes the science diet... She asked me what I'm feeding her and I said Ziwipeak. I didn't tell her that I also feed half raw... she would certainly not have approved of that. She didn't seem to have heard of it since she asked me to repeat the name a few times and asked me what the ingredients are... but she immediately told me that it wasn't good and that I really need to put her on a 'proper' puppy food like science diet for puppies... or she'll have a calcium deficiency, etc. She seemed to think that I should have left her on Royal Canin (what the breeder fed her). I said that she was very lethargic, itchy, bloated, had weird stools on that food and that she's been doing very well and been more energetic on Ziwipeak... but she told me the improvement was probably unrelated to the diet change. 

Anyway, I was just wondering if some people here feed/have fed their puppies Ziwipeak as their whole diet? A lot of people say that food formulated for puppies is just a marketing scheme... there is so much conflicting information online though, sometimes it's hard to tell who's right. 

I am feeding half raw so she is getting calcium from bones, etc... but let's say I was to feed only Ziwipeak, would it really lack anything or is it still a great pre made food for a puppy?


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## doginthedesert

Ziwipeak is approved for all life stages from AAFCO- so yes you can feed it to puppies! It has all the same essential nutrients as any other puppy or all life stages food would. Your vet is uninformed about dog nutrition (sounds worse than most actually). There is nothing wrong with feeding an all life stages food to puppies, there is plenty of calcium in Ziwipeak and you are doing a great thing by putting your puppy on raw and one of the best commercial foods out there! Keep it up, you can see how happy and healthy they are doing on the new food, that should be proof enough.


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## Wicked Pixie

Ziwi Peak has plenty of calcium, it is a balanced food, and would be a far superior choice as a sole food than Royal Canin!
ZP and raw together is even better. Please don't let one ill-informed vet sway you from your decision to feed your pup this way. You are feeding a top quality diet, and this should show in her coat, teeth, breath and general health.


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## doginthedesert

I see your in London- AAFCO is the regulating agency in the US that controls animal feed. So while not particularly pertinent to you in the UK- the fact that it meets the all life stages requirement they have still means the same thing to you. It is fine to feed to your puppy.


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## Skyismybabychi

Vets get commission for recommending foods such as science diet and royal canin it may also interest you to know that of their 4/5 years training as a vet only one month of this covers diet!!!!!! In general they really don't know much about food on the market if you asked the vet to read out the list of ingredients on the back of a science diet bag and then asked then to explain what each ingredient actually was I can garuntee they would not know.... Stick to foods where you can read the ingredients list and understand exactly what's in it..... Ziwipeak is great!  x 


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## queen princess

I know here in the US, vets try to get you on royal cain and science diet, because they get part of the profits from the sales. personally, I won't let that CRAP in my home without a good medical reason. what I mean by a good medical reason, is any health issue that is still not able to be regulated by raw, freeze dried, or a high quality kibble. I don't like kibbile AT ALL! unfortunately, my little girls sugar level drops to much on raw, so she is on a mix of wellness wet, halo kibble, natures variety prairie. we are going out today to find 2 more kibbles. with her being picky, I have to make sure she has a mixture of kibbles so if somebody is out of one, or there is a recall, we have back up foods. we are waiting for our samples to come on ziwipeak.


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## coco_little_bear

doginthedesert said:


> Your vet is uninformed about dog nutrition (sounds worse than most actually).


Thanks guys!! I guess I just needed some reassurance. I thought she sounded very misinformed too so I just said yes and nodded to everything she said while thinking "oh dear"... but it got me wondering whether Ziwipeak on its own was right for a puppy. I would never feed royal canin or science diet so I guess if Ziwipeak hadn't been appropriate for a puppy, I would have switched to full raw. It's just good to know that if I go through a phase of only feeding her ziwipeak she'll be fine.


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## Wicked Pixie

Ziwi Peak is possibly the best dog food on the market, you are absolutely doing the right thing feeding her this way.
British vets are hopelessly under educated about all aspects of nutrition.


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## coco_little_bear

Skyismybabychi said:


> Vets get commission for recommending foods such as science diet and royal canin it may also interest you to know that of their 4/5 years training as a vet only one month of this covers diet!!!!!! In general they really don't know much about food on the market if you asked the vet to read out the list of ingredients on the back of a science diet bag and then asked then to explain what each ingredient actually was I can garuntee they would not know.... Stick to foods where you can read the ingredients list and understand exactly what's in it..... Ziwipeak is great!  x


Yeah!! It's really quite worrying! You'd think nutrition would be one of the most important thing for a vet (or any doctor) to learn. :dontknow:


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## Skyismybabychi

coco_little_bear said:


> Yeah!! It's really quite worrying! You'd think nutrition would be one of the most important thing for a vet (or any doctor) to learn. :dontknow:


I know right!!! I am a pet nutritionalist.... I have spent 5 years studying nutrition etc.... I have now started a course in veterinary nursing so that I can combine the two as I agree with you that they really should know more!! I'm hoping I can bring around a small change in this area  x x 


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## coco_little_bear

Wicked Pixie said:


> British vets are hopelessly under educated about all aspects of nutrition.


That's what I can see! I wish I could have responded to her better, but she was a bit patronising so I froze. 



Skyismybabychi said:


> I know right!!! I am a pet nutritionalist.... I have spent 5 years studying nutrition etc.... I have now started a course in veterinary nursing so that I can combine the two as I agree with you that they really should know more!! I'm hoping I can bring around a small change in this area  x x


Oh wow, that's great!! Good luck with that. I think there certainly is a need for more people like you in this area (as well medicine in general!). I've always been very interested in this and was actually toying with the idea of studying nutrition too.


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## Skyismybabychi

coco_little_bear said:


> That's what I can see! I wish I could have responded to her better, but she was a bit patronising so I froze.
> 
> 
> 
> Oh wow, that's great!! Good luck with that. I think there certainly is a need for more people like you in this area (as well medicine in general!). I've always been very interested in this and was actually toying with the idea of studying nutrition too.


Do it.... It's the most amazing career path ever!!! I have learned so much and it just makes me wanna know more!!!! It's hugely rewarded to know that your job is to genuinely help animals and improve their life x x 


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## Sideout

Skyismybabychi said:


> I know right!!! I am a pet nutritionalist.... I have spent 5 years studying nutrition etc.... I have now started a course in veterinary nursing so that I can combine the two as I agree with you that they really should know more!! I'm hoping I can bring around a small change in this area  x x
> 
> 
> Sent from Petguide.com Free App


What do you study/get a degree in to become a canine nutritionist? Im in my last year of college as an art major but lately I've been thinking that being a canine nutritionist might be an option.


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## coco_little_bear

Skyismybabychi said:


> Do it.... It's the most amazing career path ever!!! I have learned so much and it just makes me wanna know more!!!! It's hugely rewarded to know that your job is to genuinely help animals and improve their life x x


Oh sorry I hadn't seen this message. Absolutely, I can imagine it's both very interesting and rewarding.  I spend so much time reading about nutrition, biology and health I should probably make a career out of it. hehe


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