# changing Petria's diet, advice please



## joanelaine (Aug 14, 2010)

Good Morning,

I have always cooked my Chihuahua's food but now I must change to commercial dog food. I am not well and so if something happens to me Petria will go to my sister in law. She only feeds dry dog food with occasionally adding some chicken or some human food to the dry. 
My Petria suffers from Epilepsy and after researching all the dog food available in Australia I have discovered that most contain ingredients that may cause Petria to have a seizure, they are BHA, BHT and Ethoxyquin, I think the latter is no longer used. I have been emailing various companies and they all tell me they use a small amout of BHA & BHT they are preservatives. I found Natures Gift and they assured me that they don't put those things in their dry or canned food. They they said that the meat meal or chicken meal they source from elsewhere may have "traces" or miniscule amounts of BHT & BHA. I was at a loss at what to do so thought I had no other choice but to go with Natures Gift. Now I have phoned Purina Dog food company and they assure me that their dry food " One for small breeds", does NOT contain those 2 ingredients. I don't know why but I thought somewhere I had read that Purina brand was not very good, I could be wrong. The lady there was very sure that they use vit e as a preservative, so not sure what to do. I have to stick to dry kibble because I know my sister in law WILL NOT feed anything else apart from adding some human food sometimes. She has a little dog and it is fed Optimum dry dog food which is loaded with BHA & BHT so whatever I feed Petria I am sure she will change for both dogs.
Does anyone know anything about Purina One for small dogs.?
thank you for any help.
PS I was very disappointed when Petria had a seizure 2 weeks ago after not having one for 8 months.
Regards,
Joan.


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## Wicked Pixie (Oct 14, 2011)

Have you looked at ZiwiPeak? It is made in New Zealand so should be available in Australia.
It is an air dried product not a kibble so it is much less processed. I feed raw, but will happily give the odd meal of ZiwiPeak, (I would never feed a kibble personally) it is a great product and lots of members here feed it.


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## joanelaine (Aug 14, 2010)

Thank you for responding. Unfortunately, I have to go with a kibble as my sister in law will not feed Ziwipeak, I checked and it is available in Australia. my brother didn't like the idea that its just air dried meat. My brother and sister in law will change to whatever kibble I decide on for their little dog and Petria if she ends up with them. I must admit the idea of just giving meat when she is used to what I cook which is Kangaroo meat, brown rice, and a mixture of vegies. Sometimes I give her chicken without the skin and sometimes fish. I can only hope that the Purina folk are being honest with me when they say their dry food does not contain BHT and BHA. I have had 6 Chi's over the years and fed all of them the diet Petria is on, they all lived very long healthy lives. I did have 3 of them together once some time ago. 
Thank you,
Joan.


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## coco_little_bear (May 30, 2012)

joanelaine said:


> Thank you for responding. Unfortunately, I have to go with a kibble as my sister in law will not feed Ziwipeak, I checked and it is available in Australia. my brother didn't like the idea that its just air dried meat. My brother and sister in law will change to whatever kibble I decide on for their little dog and Petria if she ends up with them. I must admit the idea of just giving meat when she is used to what I cook which is Kangaroo meat, brown rice, and a mixture of vegies. Sometimes I give her chicken without the skin and sometimes fish. I can only hope that the Purina folk are being honest with me when they say their dry food does not contain BHT and BHA. I have had 6 Chi's over the years and fed all of them the diet Petria is on, they all lived very long healthy lives. I did have 3 of them together once some time ago.
> Thank you,
> Joan.


Ziwipeak is not just air dried meat. It also contains liver, lung, tripe, heart, kidney, green lipped mussel, finely ground bones, kelp, as well as other things. It's a very high quality grain free and complete dry food, better than kibble imo. 

But if your sister in law insist on not feeding that, I definitely don't recommend going for Purina as that's a terrible brand. There's a great website called dogfoodadvisor.com where dog foods are analysed and rated. It might be worth having a look on there and choosing another highly rated food.


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## joanelaine (Aug 14, 2010)

Thank you for that link, it certainly doesnt rate purina very well. I think I will talk to my sister in law and brother again, I am thinking now that I ziwipeak would be best choice. Everything seems to have BHT and BHA in it, so frustrating. I wish I didn't have to change her diet but if something happens to me I have to make sure she will be looked after properly. My prognosis is not good but I am a positive person so may just beat the odds.
many thanks for your help. I have made my decision so just have to convince my sister in law.
love,
Joan


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## coco_little_bear (May 30, 2012)

joanelaine said:


> Thank you for that link, it certainly doesnt rate purina very well. I think I will talk to my sister in law and brother again, I am thinking now that I ziwipeak would be best choice. Everything seems to have BHT and BHA in it, so frustrating. I wish I didn't have to change her diet but if something happens to me I have to make sure she will be looked after properly. My prognosis is not good but I am a positive person so may just beat the odds.
> many thanks for your help. I have made my decision so just have to convince my sister in law.
> love,
> Joan


I'm sorry to hear about your situation. It must be very difficult, but it's good that you're staying positive. Good luck, I wish you all the best. As for dog food, it's difficult as so many are full of awful and questionable ingredients. It can be hard to find a good trustworthy food, but Ziwipeak is great and one of the only commercial dog foods I'm happy to feed my dogs.


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## Kismet (Jun 18, 2014)

I'm so sorry to hear about your situation, I can't imagine how difficult this must be.  is there any reason you need to transition her now? Maybe you could leave some frozen meals at your sisters (replace every 6mths or as needed) and she could transition her once she gets there. I'm in Australia too and feed a combination Earthborn Holistic Grain Free and Big Dog premade raw with ZiwiPeak peak for treats. I have found that my Chi's can't tolerate a lot of the 5 star foods on dog food advisor, they can't eat ZiwiPeak alone either. Some of them have super-high protein contents which leaves my guys at the water bowl continuously. Sending you much love and best wishes as you navigate all of this.


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## joanelaine (Aug 14, 2010)

Thanks again everyone for your advice.Yes Kismet I must wean Petria off what I cook now, just in case , because of my prognosis, but who knows I may beat the odds. I am certain my sister in law won't do it, also my brother and sister in law live in Sydney and I am in Hervey Bay so would be difficult to give them the frozen food. Gosh the ZiwiPeak is very expensive, I might try what you are doing if I can get it here and just give the ZiwiPeak for treats. I am pretty sure they won't pay so much for the ZiwiPeak, I would but then that's me and would do anything for my little girl.
The Natures Gift seems to be my only choice, there is no BHT or BHA in their canned but now they tell me there COULD be a miniscule amount in the meal they buy from another source for their semi moist kibble. I'll keep researching.
many thanks,
Joan.


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