Kitten getting loose stool from eating Orijen.

roxanne

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Lately, my kitten has been getting loose stoll from eating Orijen. I'm guessing it might be because the food is rich and I free-feed her. Should I quit doing that and feed her like 3-4 times per day in small amounts? If so, whats the correct amount? She's about 4 months old and weighs around 4 pounds.
 

sharky

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Originally Posted by KatKisses

Did you just recently change her food? If so I suspect that you switched over too fast.
or the food is too rich for her ... what was the prior food??
 

blaise

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Personally, I do not subscribe to any theory suggesting that high protein and fat, low carb foods are "too rich" for any cat. I've seen this comment periodically here.

My sense - from personal experience - is that cats who have been fed grain filled/based "foods" and then - too quickly - are given a more appropriate-content food do develop a loose stool. When we're talking kittens, that factor inherently rises.

Free feeding is essential for kittens, so I would never resort to so-called meal feeding. I would simply reduce the percentage of the Orijen drastically, monitor the stool and, when it had returned to normal, ever-so-slowly begin increasing the percentage of Orijen and decreasing that of the former food until I had eliminated the old food.
 

sharky

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Originally Posted by BLAISE

Personally, I do not subscribe to any theory suggesting that high protein and fat, low carb foods are "too rich" for any cat. I've seen this comment periodically here.

My sense - from personal experience - is that cats who have been fed grain filled/based "foods" and then - too quickly - are given a more appropriate-content food do develop a loose stool. When we're talking kittens, that factor inherently rises.

Free feeding is essential for kittens, so I would never resort to so-called meal feeding. I would simply reduce the percentage of the Orijen drastically, monitor the stool and, when it had returned to normal, ever-so-slowly begin increasing the percentage of Orijen and decreasing that of the former food until I had eliminated the old food.
NOTE for those with many years of kitty experience ... ANY food can be too rich ... it just seems a HIGHER percentage of too rich EVEN WHEN done PROPERLY switched of no grains ... Personally for 3 different cats .. ONE needed raw , one tried four no grains before finding the right one and the other tried two ... same with the dogs ....
 

blaise

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Originally Posted by sharky

NOTE for those with many years of kitty experience ... ANY food can be too rich ... it just seems a HIGHER percentage of too rich EVEN WHEN done PROPERLY switched of no grains ... Personally for 3 different cats .. ONE needed raw , one tried four no grains before finding the right one and the other tried two ... same with the dogs ....
Let me start on this in the manner I should have...

sharky- you said
...or the food is too rich for her ...
What exactly did you mean by "too rich" in the context of this thread (a kitten, free-fed Orijen, developing loose stool)? What about the food would constitute "too rich" for you?
 

sharky

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Originally Posted by BLAISE

Let me start on this in the manner I should have...

sharky- you said


What exactly did you mean by "too rich" in the context of this thread (a kitten, free-fed Orijen, developing loose stool)? What about the food would constitute "too rich" for you?
Just like humans cat systems all react differently /...lol.. I get issues from to many nuts
... the DRY matter of so much protein often cause issues in some with digestion... Sometimes the issues with a no grain are loose stools other times it is hard stools... loose prevails it seems...

NOTE at this pt THERE is NOT a "simple" no grain ie one meat and one starch outside of Natural balence which is starch and a meat and not a HIGH protein high fat... IMHO the issue arises from DRY matter protein content ... which in many no grains can have a significant % of protein from Potato which in many animals has a laxative effect
 

laureen227

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now, this is purely anecdotal evidence... but true. i have 5 cats. i have 1 that will develop runny stools on very high quality drys. she does fine w/wet, & medium quality dry [i.e. not grain-free or high fat]. she's the only one who has this problem. i think it's just her!

i can't feed her 1 thing & the other 4 something else. i work during the day so dry needs to be available. i have a small [927 sq. ft.] house w/no interior doors, [except bathroom & closets] so can't really isolate her effectively.

when i say a food is 'too rich' for Cable, this is why.
 

enet

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I had the same exact experience with Orijen and my 3.5 month old kitten. I was eager to have a dry that could be left out for free feed because he is a kitten and I'm gone all day - but even after weaning slowly he dissolved (so to speak) into liquid diarhea rather rapidly. Even with it introduced slowly.

This was the "out all day" Orijen red with Primal Freeze Dried (which he eats but doesn't love passionately) as supplemental meals morning and evening.  The vet wanted to put him back on his foster feed of Hill's crap but I simply stopped the Orijen to see what would happen - plus added some fortiflora. His stools got firmer within a day. Yes, it could be the fortiflora acting alone, but I'm going to wait on the Orijen for a bit before trying again.

Also, he started on RED ( I ddin't even know there was a Kitten/Cat) but we tried it with the same results... I am however getting okay results with the Orjen Wild Boar Treats - which he loves - but we're very judicious in the number a day.  I think we use the term "rich" because of how it reacts in his body, not based on taste (unless someone's tried it personally, lol).

*Note This past weekend I've begun adding in (to try) the Frozen Primal Pronto Turkey to see if it went better than the Freeze Dried and boy-oh-boy has that been a hit - with zero stomach issues so far. It's only been three days however. But it looks good. And he does seem to be more excited about it than the Freeze Dried rehydrated.

Personally I think the Orjen is just too hard on his system for some reason. He was also drinking a TON more with it. Chasing me to the sink for flowing water and using the fountain... Once we stopped it completely he's started drinking much less and pooping better by 99%. So no dry option in our world - which is a bummer for me. I dug around for others with the same issue and even asked Orijen but they had no real comment.
 

enet

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Also - i can't believe i forgot to mention it - the gas and smell was almost as horrific as the messy litter/kitten paws.
 

mosimom

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Instead of Orijen, try Acana. It is Orijen's sister company.

My breeder was exclusively on Orijen for years. When Orijen upped the protein all of her Maine Coons started having problems.
Acana has a lower protein like Orijen used to have.
 

2cats4me

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Instead of Orijen, try Acana. It is Orijen's sister company.

My breeder was exclusively on Orijen for years. When Orijen upped the protein all of her Maine Coons started having problems.
Acana has a lower protein like Orijen used to have.
Sorry this is off topic but I  just looked at your photo album and I have to say that Mosi is absolutely gorgeous .  I love that face ..
 

charlismom

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I had same horrible experience with Orijen and so did my son.  Ditch it!
 

mosimom

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I had same horrible experience with Orijen and so did my son.  Ditch it!
The Orijen is literally as hard as a rock. It is so dense that it takes hours for it to absorb water and swell. It doesn't digest well. My cat would eat then drink and barf up whole pieces hours later. I think the problem lies more with density than the high protein content.
 
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