Ziwipeak Air Dried Dog food for ferrets?

[daddywarbots]

I just happened to notice that ziwipeak dog food looks very similar to their cat food, and is cheaper.

About 13 dollars a pound vs 20 dollars a pound.

Here's are the ingredients and analysis for their lamb recipes.

Lamb, Lamb Heart*, Lamb Liver*, Lamb Tripe*, Lamb Kidney*, Lamb Lung*, Lamb Bone, New Zealand Green Mussel, Inulin from Chicory, Dried Kelp, Sea Salt, Parsley, Minerals (Potassium Bicarbonate, Zinc Amino Acid Complex, Copper Amino Acid Complex, Selenium Yeast, Manganese Amino Acid Complex), Vitamins (Vitamin E Supplement, Vitamin B1 Supplement, Vitamin D3 Supplement, Folic Acid). Naturally preserved with mixed tocopherols. *Depending on seasonal availability will be temporarily substituted with sheep.


Crude Protein min. 36%
Crude Fat min. 35%
Crude Fibre max. 2%
Moisture max. 14%
Ash max. 8%
Chondroitin Sulfate min. 1300mg/kg

Calorie Content (ME calculated) 5600 kcal/kg
Calorie Content (ME calculated) 318 kcal/level scoop

Lamb, Lamb Heart*, Lamb Liver*, Lamb Tripe*, Lamb Kidney*, Lamb Lung*, Lamb Bone, New Zealand Green Mussel, Inulin from Chicory, Dried Kelp, Sea Salt, Minerals (Magnesium Amino Acid Complex, Zinc Amino Acid Complex, Copper Amino Acid Complex, Selenium Yeast, Manganese Amino Acid Complex), Taurine, Vitamins (Vitamin B1 Supplement, Folic Acid, Vitamin D3 Supplement). Naturally preserved with mixed tocopherols.*Depending on seasonal availability will be temporarily substituted with sheep.

Crude Protein min. 36%
Crude Fat min. 35%
Crude Fibre max. 2%
Moisture max. 14%
Ash max. 8%
Chondroitin Sulfate min. 1300mg/kg

Calorie Content (ME calculated) 5600 kcal/kg
Calorie Content (ME calculated) 318 kcal/level scoop

Can you spot which one is which? I think there's only one difference disclosed on the label. Is the lack of supplemental taurine enough to take if off the table as a ferret food when Hearts are the second ingredient?

[LindaM]

It could be, you're going to have to email the company and ask if they can give you an idea of the levels of taurine in the canine and in the feline bags each. For example, I've seen some of NV Instinct's products between the dog and cat versions, and while the ingredient lists were exactly the same, the feline version had added Taurine for a much higher level, while the dog version was insufficient.

Which you will notice in those two above, only one states Taurine in the ingredient list too, so I'm going to say the top one is the dog, and the bottom is the cat version.

[Sherry]

You can always just add some taurine powder weekly in a soup if you like. Frankly I can't see a difference. Although Linda has the right idea about messaging the company. Even though heart is second, if the dog one has far more muscle meat than the cat, ratios will be different. The one thing that does concern me about the inulin in ziwipeak is that it does seem to lower blood glucose levels. So if you have a ferret with borderline insulinoma this could affect it badly.

[daddywarbots]

Thanks. I'll send them an email.

I actually have taurine powder already because it has potential benefits for humans. How much would you suggest giving a ferret though? More than a few grams gives humans diarrhea.

I wouldn't think there's all that much inulin in ziwipeak. It's a dietary fiber. Crude fiber is only 2% and some of that I assume is the dried kelp. Isn't blood glucose reduction just an effect of dietary fiber in general? All the data I can find for inulin reducing blood glucose is about small effects in diabetic humans. Which seems speculative to apply to ferrets. *shrug*

btw they would not be fed exclusively this. Currently the stuff labeled for cats is about 25% of their overall diet. I can't feed raw right now. But I spread the risk among low carb commercial foods and keep their diet varied.

[LindaM]

When hearts are unavailable to give ferrets in their diet, and you need to supplement with Taurine powder the dosage is 500mg a day. So 250mg in the AM meal, and 250mg in the PM meal. If you give it all at once, they will just pee the excess out since their little bodies can only absorb so much at a time.

You'll be surprised how incredibly small amounts can still make a big difference in ferrets, after all, they are very small creatures to begin with. And some ferrets can even just be born with a predisposition to suffer worse health effects than others. Most of us prefer to play it safe, since these little creatures can go downhill very fast if something occurs.

What other food labeled for cats are they getting? Not all cat food is healthy either, they come in tiers of "Do not touch even if your life depended on it" horrible, bad, better, and decent. And remember, with ferrets it's not just grains and the like that can lead to awful things like insulinoma, the fruits and veggies commonly found in cat foods count towards that risk. The lower the amounts of those in the product, the better.

[Sherry]

I wouldn't think there's all that much inulin in ziwipeak. It's a dietary fiber. Crude fiber is only 2% and some of that I assume is the dried kelp. Isn't blood glucose reduction just an effect of dietary fiber in general? All the data I can find for inulin reducing blood glucose is about small effects in diabetic humans. Which seems speculative to apply to ferrets. *shrug*

The problem is some are more genetically prone to this issue than others. And you have no way of knowing until too late.