LifeWise Recall & Issue Log
Key information
- The information on this website relates to suspected adverse reactions to a pet food or pet product.
- Information on suspected adverse reactions should not be interpreted as meaning the pet food or pet product is unsafe to use. Only a detailed evaluation and scientific assessment of all available data allows for robust conclusions to be drawn.
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- Please use responsibility when entering information regarding a possible adverse reaction to a pet food or pet product. This information is to help consumers, retailers, and manufacturers correlate issues with a particular product.
- For more information refer to how to report an issue with a pet food or pet product.
About LifeWise
LifeWise is an Australian brand of pet food.
Lifewise BIOTIC FAS Calm
had been weaning three dogs from young to older onto this recommended dogfood.
Weaning very slowly as it is a rich food
Now a expensive case of pancreatitis treated in Hospital direct result of the food. For one dog. The older dog vomited and we took him straight off it after a few weeks.
The youngest dog poops were never quite right.
We were weaning them onto it very very carefully and slowly but to no avail and had to stop and revert to their former dog food.
Lifewise did not want to know about it. Incredibly poor Service and absolutely no interest, clearly put in profits ahead of interest in the health of dogs.
Primary pancreatitis is a condition which can be caused by change of dog food to rich foods. Other dogs can be absolutely fine on this type of food. However, it is incredibly concerning to find out that this company has no interest in what happened nor in assisting with any palatability refunds for the really expensive bag of dogfood which is almost full and can’t be used – they have a returns policy which but won’t help you do if you don’t live in Melbourne and return it to them within a certain amount of time. They also claimed because we didn’t bite directly from them that they can’t help us. And of course the retailers don’t want to know about it because the shipping cost too high to get it back to them. return policy for food that can’t be used for medical reasons which I would think would be a good reason, the returns policy is worth nothing
would never deal with his company again
Purchashed a 2.5kg bag, a 9kg bag of chicken, with no issues whatsoever.
It only started after purchasing an 18kg, which, of course the receipt wasn’t given for and I didn’t think of it until later on.
Dog was very sick, incessantly eating grass, diarhhea etc. Changed to chicken and rice, after a week or so he was good as gold. Tried Lifewise again to the same result.
Tried emailing the company, including that I wasn’t after refund/replacement as I had no receipt, I just wanted to bring the issues to their attention. No reply.
Not that it’s all acceptable for their product to be sent out in that state, but accidents happen. Not replying to emails of that nature though speak volumes about the company; and in general the dire state of pet food in this country.
Avoid Lifewise.
Back in January 2023 our local pet store recommended our 3 yo Golden Retriever Harvey try Lifewise Biotic skin as he had some skin sensitivity in summer. He had already been on other Lifewise kibble along with veggies and raw chicken/ sardines. We put him on Biotic skin and things improved a bit and then they had a production ‘issue’ and it was out of stock for a few months. When it was back in stock ( I bought on 20/9/23) and went home with a fresh pack, transitioned him and then the drama started ! The pack I bought had a best before sticker of 11 Mar 2025 but I could not find a batch number on it.
Immediately he vomited a few hours later, drank a lot of water and started to have violent diarrhoea / 3-4 times overnight. We stopped the Biotic kibble and he settled. Slowly gave him some more a few days later, same result. Stopped immediately. Meanwhile I decanted the giant 15kg bag into my sealed dog food container ( in the same position for years) and within hours the whole container and all the kibble was covered in ants. We have never had ants in the house.
I took a sample back to my local petshop and the owner was very sympathetic and had other people returning this kibble to her. She immediately rang Lifewise and they started deflecting. Must be a problem in your area, people aren’t storing it correctly etc etc. They said they would pick up my sample and test it which took months, but after much follow up nobody heard anything.
Meanwhile my local pet store had some old sample packs of Biotic Skin. We compared these to my new kibble and it was vastly different. My kibble was very dark in colour and greasy. We tasted it and it was super salty and very unpalatable. She rang Lifewise again and they basically didn’t believe her. I suspect it had a salty tallow contamination overload – which explains the ants
A few days later, I was contacted by a lady called Deb who was the pet nutritionist at Lifewise. She proceeded to not only disbelieve me but berated me for not storing my kibble correctly (it should only be kept in the bag it comes in – which nobody has mentioned EVER), also my supplemental feeding of veg/sardine/chicken was a huge disaster for my dog as he should only exclusively eat Lifewise as it is so scientifically proven etc etc. Alarm bells started to ring as it dawned on me they weren’t even interested in investigating this contamination. We switched to the chicken lifewise kibble and he still got upset tummies.
I spoke to Laurel at Lifewise who I have communicated with since 2006. She also didn’t believe me and said they went through such rigorous testing and all her dogs were Ok and was there something wrong in the water down here and she made disparaging remarks about my local pet store ( they are independent and fantastic). At this stage I decided there was something very wrong going on at Lifewise and I wanted no part of it.
I was shocked and dismayed at their lack of care. I mean it was obviously a contaminated batch and they just didn’t care. What other dogs were affected across Australia ? It was quite upsetting for us as we have been such a loyal customer for 17 years.
I checked back with my pet store in late November and there had been no update or feedback from Lifewise.
Harvey now eats 50% Lyka and 50% Eureka and it is just life changing for him. He always had a shiny coat but now glows in the dark and his poos are just perfect and no smell. Itching has stopped and yeast infections gone. Both of these suppliers have been fantastic with information and deliveries. We are just so happy and really lucky to be able to afford this food – but hey, no vet bills.
My dog got dandruff (which he never had in his life before) and loose green stools two days after eating black kibbles from new bag(wild tuna grain free) last year.
Explanation from the same lady was “blackish colour is because it’s a different type of tuna and dogs should only eat lifewise and nothing else. Treats or other foods make microbiome imbalance” etc.
If all new lifewise products are black colour kibbles, it was not because of different type of tuna then.
It’s sad that a once very trusted company starts pursuing profits over the health of pets.