Zignature Dog Food

Dakotazeb

Dakotazeb

Well-known member
Anyone on this site ever fed Zignature dog food? In searching for a new dog food I came across Zignature. All their formulas are Limited Ingredient. From the allergy testing I had done on my dog it appears the only meat sources she is not allergic to are venison and pork so it really limits the available foods. Their dry foods are made by either NutriSource in Perham, MN or Barrett Pet Food Innovations in Brainerd, MN. I'm looking at the Pork formula as it's less expensive than the Venison.

http://zignature.com/?page_id=5&lang=en
 
Sorry to hear that Zeb. That really narrows down your choices for sure. I'm surprised that lamb would cause her to be allergic that meat source is not one normally associated with food allergies. Sorry, I don't know anything about Zignature but have you had a look at Taste of the Wild? They have many different meat source formulas and it's usually accessible at most retail outlets. I see they do have a Pine forest formula, Venison is the main ingredeient, but I do see that Lamb meal and ocean fish is also on the list of ingredients further down.
 
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Just had a closer look at some of the Taste of the Wild formulas and it looks like many if not all have a secondary meat source down the list of ingredients a ways. Being down the list means it's not the main meat source but it is present. That is really odd that Venison and Pork are the only two that she tested negative on. Strange....
 
The allergy testing was done via a Blood sample. Not really sure how accurate the food panel test is but that's what it showed so for now that's what I'm going with. The problem I've found with many of the dog foods that have venison as the main ingredient is that they also contain either lamb meal or chicken meal, or both. What I've been feeding for the past 4 months are formulas with Limited Ingredients. For 3 months she was on Canidae with Wild Boar and Sweet Potatoes. She was doing very well on it except that she had a lot of stool. A month ago I switched her to a Venison Limited Ingredient formula from California Natural. Now I find out that California Natural is getting out of the dog food business. So in search for another alternative I came across Zignature with Pork. They also have a Venison formula but it's really expensive. What I like about the Zignature Pork is that it is 31% Protein and 18% Fat. So many of these limited ingredient formulas are quite low in protein and fat. It also has a decent calorie content at 430 calories per cup.
 
Yes that is tough. The only other option I saw without breaking the bank was muenster perfect balance at 29/15. A bit of fish meal down on the list though.
 
I'm going to give it two more months on food she is not suppose to be allergic to. If I don't see that the food has helped by then I'm just going to go back to Purina Pro Plan Sport 30/20.
 
Well, we are on our third bag of Zignature with pork. Bree seems to be doing very well on the food and really likes it. I still don't know if it's helping her allergies since she is still receiving the Cytopoint injections. The last injection will last into April and at that time I plan to see how she does with no more injections.
 
Dakotazeb said:
Well, we are on our third bag of Zignature with pork. Bree seems to be doing very well on the food and really likes it. I still don't know if it's helping her allergies since she is still receiving the Cytopoint injections. The last injection will last into April and at that time I plan to see how she does with no more injections.
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I looked up Cytopoint and depending on the size of your dog those injections can be quite pricey.. How long between injections?

Hope the food works out for ya, albeit probably a bit on the expensive side. Good luck with her.
 
birdshooter said:
I looked up Cytopoint and depending on the size of your dog those injections can be quite pricey.. How long between injections?

Hope the food works out for ya, albeit probably a bit on the expensive side. Good luck with her.
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We have been able to go 8-10 weeks between injections and they run about $60 each. The Zignature food is about $54 for a 27 lb. bag that lasts for about a month and a half. This whole allergy thing has been an expensive proposition but what are you going to do? She a great dog and I think has some real potential as a field trial dog and hunter. While the expenses do suck, it's not so bad as to create a financial hardship on us so it's a good thing she got us as owners.
 
Hey Dakotazeb

My dog has been shaking his head and itching since last October, not this past October, but about a year and a half or whatever ago. Been to the Vet 2-3 times trying to figure things out. Where did you do the testing for food allergies? Can that be done at the Vet?

I'm pretty confused as to what's going on. About the same time a year and a half ago our water treatment plant in our town changed a few things, and now you can smell chlorine at times when running our water. Well, he started shaking his head and all that around the same time they switched this water treatment stuff. So I question if it's the towns water? I have no idea.

Now, I also was concerned that since I had taken him hunting in Western MN and SD back in October a year and a half ago, that there was a certain field that I was afraid he got a grass seed lodged in his ear or something, but it must not have been that because he probably wouldn't be with us anymore by now. The vet couldn't find anything regarding a grass seed either.

So, sorry about the long email, but I'm trying to figure out why he's shaking his head, licking/biting between his paws, etc. I have it in my head now that it's food allergies. So I'm wondering about getting him tested to see what he's allergic to. Is this an expensive test and I wonder how accurate the test is.

Thanks in advance for any advice!!!



Dakotazeb said:
The allergy testing was done via a Blood sample. Not really sure how accurate the food panel test is but that's what it showed so for now that's what I'm going with. The problem I've found with many of the dog foods that have venison as the main ingredient is that they also contain either lamb meal or chicken meal, or both. What I've been feeding for the past 4 months are formulas with Limited Ingredients. For 3 months she was on Canidae with Wild Boar and Sweet Potatoes. She was doing very well on it except that she had a lot of stool. A month ago I switched her to a Venison Limited Ingredient formula from California Natural. Now I find out that California Natural is getting out of the dog food business. So in search for another alternative I came across Zignature with Pork. They also have a Venison formula but it's really expensive. What I like about the Zignature Pork is that it is 31% Protein and 18% Fat. So many of these limited ingredient formulas are quite low in protein and fat. It also has a decent calorie content at 430 calories per cup.
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My vet is where I have the allergy testing done. They took a blood sample and sent it into some lab. Cost was about $300. The panels they run test for many things like grasses, trees, weeds ,dust mites, etc. and also food allergies. I'm not sure how accurate the test is and my vet even said it is not totally accurate. You can also have skin allergy tests done like they do in humans where they inject various allergens under the skin and see which ones the dog reacts to. I'm sure that is much more accurate.

Is your dog on any meds to control the itching, biting and head shaking? My dog has been receiving Cytopoint injections about every 2 months and it has totally controlled her itching. There is also an oral med called Apoquel that you give daily. Apoquel and Cytopoint are made by the same company. I like the Cytopoint because it's just once every 2 months rather than a daily pill.

If your dog truly have allergies it is a bugger to deal with. It's been over a year and I still don't know what my dog is truly allergic to and may never know. You may seek out a pet dermatologist or go to a vet school that treats pets. Not sure where you are located but I've had dogs to the vet school at the University of Minnesota a couple of times. They have a lot more resources than your local vet.
 
Good Info, thanks!

My dog is not on any medication. I've heard and read about Apoquel, and heard the side affects could be very bad. I suppose that can be with anything.

That's a lot of money for allergy testing. But, I do live in the Minneapolis area so I could go to the U of M pretty easily.

I'm going to look into it more and see what I can do.

Thanks for you help Dakotazeb



Dakotazeb said:
My vet is where I have the allergy testing done. They took a blood sample and sent it into some lab. Cost was about $300. The panels they run test for many things like grasses, trees, weeds ,dust mites, etc. and also food allergies. I'm not sure how accurate the test is and my vet even said it is not totally accurate. You can also have skin allergy tests done like they do in humans where they inject various allergens under the skin and see which ones the dog reacts to. I'm sure that is much more accurate.

Is your dog on any meds to control the itching, biting and head shaking? My dog has been receiving Cytopoint injections about every 2 months and it has totally controlled her itching. There is also an oral med called Apoquel that you give daily. Apoquel and Cytopoint are made by the same company. I like the Cytopoint because it's just once every 2 months rather than a daily pill.

If your dog truly have allergies it is a bugger to deal with. It's been over a year and I still don't know what my dog is truly allergic to and may never know. You may seek out a pet dermatologist or go to a vet school that treats pets. Not sure where you are located but I've had dogs to the vet school at the University of Minnesota a couple of times. They have a lot more resources than your local vet.
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If you are in the Twin Cities area I would strongly suggest a visit to the U of M. Especially if you normal vet is unable to figure it out. No doubt you are going to drop some money before you're done but our four legged dogs are worth it.

My previous dog had cancer and we had to put her down in Nov. 2016. I made two trips to the U of M before we found out what her problem was. Now this allergy pup. In the past year and a half I've spent $6,000 on vets and that doesn't include travel.
 
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