what do you think of orijen dry cat food?

missmimz · Dec 26, 2016

kitlit said:
I have started supplementing with Petcurean Go Fit dry food which is 46% protein, low in starch and sourced from Canada. It does contain some fish but my 3 cats only get it once a day along with grain free wet food in their rotation diet. They are fed a ratio of 4 wet grain free to 1 dry grain free. They like their cookies so I do still offer this excellent dry food in moderation.

I def wouldn't call Go "excellent." Go and RR are pretty similar in terms of protein/carbs/fat ratio, with RR being slightly higher in fat and carbs. Fat isn't really an issue for cats, though. Ingredients wise RR is better as they use less "meal" products, and Go has some strange things in their food like cottage cheese and pineapples (wut). Go also contains DL-methionine fairly high up on the ingredients list, which is often added to food that doesn't contain enough meat based protein. Remember that just because a food says its high in protein doesn't mean its high in meat based protein.

aric pont · Dec 26, 2016

Thanks for the response. I'm actually able to still find the OR from Alberta, locally, at a Dave's Soda and Pet Food City, so I'm hoping there is enough backstock for a while before they get the new stuff in. I'd love to be able to feed Luna all wet all the time but my schedule is wonky, so it's nice to be able to leave her some kibble if I'm late etc. I am also starting to look at better wet foods... Tiki Cat any good? Seems affordable and better than Fancy Feast by a mile but I'm not too sure. She's very picky.. I've tried feeding her Blue Mountain wet stuff but she really only will eat the Patte style wet foods like Fancy Feast Classic style (chicken, beef, liver, turkey, etc.. she's not a big fish eater)

missmimz · Dec 26, 2016

Aric Pont said:
Thanks for the response. I'm actually able to still find the OR from Alberta, locally, at a Dave's Soda and Pet Food City, so I'm hoping there is enough backstock for a while before they get the new stuff in. I'd love to be able to feed Luna all wet all the time but my schedule is wonky, so it's nice to be able to leave her some kibble if I'm late etc. I am also starting to look at better wet foods... Tiki Cat any good? Seems affordable and better than Fancy Feast by a mile but I'm not too sure. She's very picky.. I've tried feeding her Blue Mountain wet stuff but she really only will eat the Patte style wet foods like Fancy Feast Classic style (chicken, beef, liver, turkey, etc.. she's not a big fish eater)

Tiki is good. They recently were purchased by another company but the food is still pretty good. FF classic line is okay, esp. if you feed it in rotation to other foods. Weruva is another good brand as well.

kitlit · Dec 26, 2016

For wet food, I feed : Tiki Cat Puka Puka Luau, Tiki Cat Carnivore Chicken and Duck, Weruva Peking Ducken, Nature's Variety limited ingredient Rabbit and Lamb, Holistic Precise Flaked Pork, Purina Beyond grain free Turkey, Sweet Potato and Spinach and Natural Balance Platefulls Indoor Turkey,Duck and Pumpkin mixed 1 to 1 with Applaws chicken or chicken and pumpkin or chicken and asparagus.My cats get 7 varieties in a 14 meal cycle.

karen dsupin · Dec 27, 2016

I have recently started using Nulo dry cat food as a topper for their wet food. A tablespoon of Nulo on top of Sheba chicken. They get their wet and dry together and they love it, I don't free feed anymore, they were becoming so picky and wouldn't eat. I now give them their food in smaller portions, more times a day and they eat it all at each sitting without all the waste. I also found that Spring Naturals dry cat food, which is now owned by a different company, was one of their favorites. I can find it once in a while, and the ingredients are very good, in my opinion.

kitlit · Dec 28, 2016

I have read the ingredient list for Petcurean Go Fit Turkey Chicken and Duck and still feel that it has an excellent nutritional profile for a dry food (when Fed sparingly). The synthetic compound you reference is listed as 36 on the ingredient list. I don't see that as a problem when served as a supplement to a grain-free, high protein, carrageenan free rotation canned diet.

missmimz · Dec 28, 2016

kitlit said:
I have read the ingredient list for Petcurean Go Fit Turkey Chicken and Duck and still feel that it has an excellent nutritional profile for a dry food (when Fed sparingly). The synthetic compound you reference is listed as 36 on the ingredient list. I don't see that as a problem when served as a supplement to a grain-free, high protein, carrageenan free rotation canned diet.

Ingredient wise RR is better. I suppose "excellent" is up to interpretation, but i wouldn't put it anywhere near that category.

desktop · Jan 12, 2017

I just wanted to chime in here, since I have been feeding my cats Orijen for a while now. In the beginning when they were kittens I was feeding them Iams, until one day I ran across a site talking about cat food and they pointed out the horrible ingredients in a lot of the mainstream cat foods (Iams being one of the worst). So I started to do some research into a better cat food and tried Wellness, Blue Buffalo, and so on eventually discovering Orijen. My cats took to this food immediately and not long after they started eating it I noticed some significant changes in them; their coats become softer and shinier, they had much more energy (instead of sleeping all day they were playing and ripping through the house) AND there was a lot less to clean up in their litter boxes.

For me this was the deciding factor in staying with Orijen (I give them the Regional Red brown bag). I started putting money aside each month so I could afford to keep buying that food (I get the large 12 lbs bag because it's a better deal than the 5 lbs bags). I'm still trying different brands of wet food and leaving those out for them on occasion (with none of the Orijen out), but so far they won't eat anything but the Orijen. So until some miracle happens in the wet food dept. I'm satisfied with the results they get from Orijen.

kitlit · Jan 12, 2017

I feed my 3 cats the best high protein, grain free, fish free canned food { they like chicken, duck and turkey but will also eat Precise Holistic Flaked Pork} (on a rotation menu) that they will eat and I can afford(Tiki Cat and Weruva have a few excellent options). I also feed a small amount of Petcurean Go Fit! dry once a day since they don't want to go without their cookies. I will be trying a small amount of Orijen Regional Red in the near future. Am having a problem finding high protein rabbit and lamb that they will eat (am going to try Ziwipeak next). Beef and venison cause one of mine gastrointestinal upset.

missmimz · Jan 12, 2017

desktop said:
For me this was the deciding factor in staying with Orijen (I give them the Regional Red brown bag). I started putting money aside each month so I could afford to keep buying that food (I get the large 12 lbs bag because it's a better deal than the 5 lbs bags). I'm still trying different brands of wet food and leaving those out for them on occasion (with none of the Orijen out), but so far they won't eat anything but the Orijen. So until some miracle happens in the wet food dept. I'm satisfied with the results they get from Orijen.

Well you really can't transition cats to wet food when they have the option of eating dry. Hungry cats will eat, cats that aren't hungry will just ignore wet food or hold out for the kibble. Even if you put the wet food out with no Orijen if they got their fill earlier they simply wont eat the wet food.

kitlit · Jan 12, 2017

In the A.M., I feed wet food first and don't put down dry food until 3/4 of the wet food has been eaten. I never rely on a starvation mode because it can be unhealthy. Some cats just won't eat something they don't like.

kitlit · Jan 12, 2017

I feed Weruva Chicken and Duck, Tiki Cat Chicken and Duck, Purina Beyond Turkey, Nature's Variety Platefuls Chicken Turkey and Duck combined with a pouch of Applaws chicken and pumpkin or chicken and asparagus, Holistic Select Flaked Pork, Nature's Variety/Pride Rock Star's Rabbit. Will be trying Ziwipeak Rabbit and Lamb next. My cats don't like/tolerate beef and I don't feed fish.

kitlit · Jan 12, 2017

Start with the basics of hygiene. Provide stainless steel bowls washed in an organic dish detergent at high temperature. Contain the feeding station in an inexpensive boot tray and wash daily with an unscented vinegar solution.

missmimz · Jan 12, 2017

kitlit said:
In the A.M., I feed wet food first and don't put down dry food until 3/4 of the wet food has been eaten. I never rely on a starvation mode because it can be unhealthy. Some cats just won't eat something they don't like.

I'm not suggesting you starve your cats, that's never suggested ever. I'm suggesting that you use hunger to encourage them to eat wet food, which is why it's always encouraged to feed meals time, not free feed. It sounds like you're doing a fine job, and hopefully over time you can encourage them to eat more wet food.

stephaniem · Jan 14, 2017

My cat's 20 years old and she was on this food for about a year, she loved it. I usually alternated between Cat and Kitten and Regional. Occasionally the Six Fish, but my vet recommended not feeding fish flavors to cats so I mostly stuck with the other two. All in all, I was very happy with it and Piper loved it

jazzyp · Mar 11, 2017

missmimz said:
Well you really can't transition cats to wet food when they have the option of eating dry. Hungry cats will eat, cats that aren't hungry will just ignore wet food or hold out for the kibble. Even if you put the wet food out with no Orijen if they got their fill earlier they simply wont eat the wet food.

I came across this thread looking at different dry foods that might be acceptable to serve as part of my cats' diet. There are a few in the running, but that really is a topic for another thread. The issue I have had with my cats has never been that they won't try a new food, even when I first started offering wet, but that they like it the first time or two, and then get bored with it. Bottom line is that I am always on the lookout for anything that can be added to the rotation.

missmimz · Mar 11, 2017

JazzyP said:
I came across this thread looking at different dry foods that might be acceptable to serve as part of my cats' diet. There are a few in the running, but that really is a topic for another thread. The issue I have had with my cats has never been that they won't try a new food, even when I first started offering wet, but that they like it the first time or two, and then get bored with it. Bottom line is that I am always on the lookout for anything that can be added to the rotation.

At some level I think you have to teach cats to appreciate food rotation, especially if they've been fed the same food for long period of time. Additionally, utilize toppers to entice them to eat new foods.

jazzyp · Mar 12, 2017

missmimz said:
At some level I think you have to teach cats to appreciate food rotation, especially if they've been fed the same food for long period of time. Additionally, utilize toppers to entice them to eat new foods.

I'm not really worried about that, because my cats seem to enjoy new foods. The problem I am having is how quickly they lose interest if I feed the same thing for too long. Right now I am feeding canned and dry. I found Young Again Zero Carb online, and am pleased with it, so I got some of their dog food, too, but the problem has been keeping the cats from getting into the dogs' food, so I have switched the dogs to Wysong Epigen 90, which is designed for either a cat or a dog, in hopes that the occasional visit to the dogs' bowls would be less harmful.

A few weeks ago, I got my dogs some small bags of Acana, an Orijen product, in various flavors. This was when the cats really started trying to get at the dog food, and that got me wondering about adding Orijen to my list of acceptable dry food, so I could offer different formulas and keep them from getting bored. The only thing that concerns me is the ash content, as I do have cats with a history of UT issues. Young Again has very low ash, for a dry food, and while I haven't been able to locate the ash content of Epigen, it is not their primary food. I have multiple fountains, and all but one of the cats has shown a marked increase in water intake since I got them. The one who doesn't use the fountains still has regular water bowls, which she uses, and gets the first shot at "soupy" cat foods, like Weruva, which she likes very much. I watch the litter boxes like a hawk, checking at least once a day after each cat has urinated, and their urine output is good, no tiny dribbles or anything like that.

So...any thoughts about adding Orijen in my situation? I see a lot of contradictory information about what causes UT problems. Some blame ash, some say ash isn't the problem, it's all about pH, and high pH is caused by too many non-meat ingredients. I know inadequate water intake is a huge issue, but I think I have that covered. Again, none of the dry foods is fed exclusively, but when I tried canned only, I was throwing out way too much food. Meal feeding six cats who have always been nibblers, and making sure everyone gets enough to eat is simply not an option for me. I wouldn't get anything else done!

missmimz · Mar 12, 2017

JazzyP said:
I'm not really worried about that, because my cats seem to enjoy new foods. The problem I am having is how quickly they lose interest if I feed the same thing for too long. Right now I am feeding canned and dry. I found Young Again Zero Carb online, and am pleased with it, so I got some of their dog food, too, but the problem has been keeping the cats from getting into the dogs' food, so I have switched the dogs to Wysong Epigen 90, which is designed for either a cat or a dog, in hopes that the occasional visit to the dogs' bowls would be less harmful.

A few weeks ago, I got my dogs some small bags of Acana, an Orijen product, in various flavors. This was when the cats really started trying to get at the dog food, and that got me wondering about adding Orijen to my list of acceptable dry food, so I could offer different formulas and keep them from getting bored. The only thing that concerns me is the ash content, as I do have cats with a history of UT issues. Young Again has very low ash, for a dry food, and while I haven't been able to locate the ash content of Epigen, it is not their primary food. I have multiple fountains, and all but one of the cats has shown a marked increase in water intake since I got them. The one who doesn't use the fountains still has regular water bowls, which she uses, and gets the first shot at "soupy" cat foods, like Weruva, which she likes very much. I watch the litter boxes like a hawk, checking at least once a day after each cat has urinated, and their urine output is good, no tiny dribbles or anything like that.

So...any thoughts about adding Orijen in my situation? I see a lot of contradictory information about what causes UT problems. Some blame ash, some say ash isn't the problem, it's all about pH, and high pH is caused by too many non-meat ingredients. I know inadequate water intake is a huge issue, but I think I have that covered. Again, none of the dry foods is fed exclusively, but when I tried canned only, I was throwing out way too much food. Meal feeding six cats who have always been nibblers, and making sure everyone gets enough to eat is simply not an option for me. I wouldn't get anything else done!

I don't feed or use kibble, so I can't really give any suggestions but maybe someone else can. I think feeding any dry food can trigger urinary issues. I did use Orijen a few years ago, but I wouldn't recommend it or suggest it. I don't necessarily think rotating kibble is a good idea, because it's so heavily processed it can cause tummy issues. I do believe strongly in protein rotation for wet and raw food. I think kibble is bland, and most cats just get bored with it anyway. Nibblers are typically cats that have been free fed, and don't understand meal times. The best way to solve this is to transition them to meal times. They'll be hungry, so they'll eat all their food and you wont have the nibbling issue. I do have an older cat that eats probably 6 small meals a day, but he has tummy issues from being kibble fed for many years and requires lots of small meals, my other cats all eat only at meal times. I don't waste any raw or wet food.

kitlit · Mar 12, 2017

My 3 cats get 7 different varieties of wet food twice weekly (for a total of 14 meals). I feed them chicken,duck, turkey, rabbit,lamb and pork. They get 3 ounces of a high quality dry food in the A.M. only, after they eat their canned food. Rotation and high quality protein are the keystones of their menu.

what do you think of orijen dry cat food?

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