Orijen cat food

Makowiec

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Hi everyone,
I am new here so not sure if this topic has been brought up already, if so I apologize in advance.
So, I will be getting a new kitten soon and when thinking about what food to use I thought that I've been feeding Orijen kibble to all my previous pets, dogs and cats, for about 10 years now. Always thought it was the best dry food on the market. (That I could afford, that is) Then came 2018 and the famous lawsuit to Champion Petfoods.

I was extremely disappointed, specially for the price tag of their food, I am not concerned about the link some people say there is between grain free and cardiomiopathy, the reason I am considering moving on to a new brand is due to some shady actions by Orijen, and the fact that they kind of scam people by not labeling certain things, and misleading costumers into believing in "wild caught fish and free run chicken" for example. And most importantly, it was found some traces of a drug used in euthanasia, which they claimed it was a drug used for anesthesia (again not true).
Moreover, Orijen stopped selling on Chewy claiming that they were purchased by Petsmart but then Petco started selling Orijen....??? So, I decided maybe on trying Farmina Kitten dry food (and wet) Does anybody has experience with this Italian brand for cats? So far they never had a recall.

Back to the lawsuit, can someone shed some light in this topic? How did everything get resolved if at all?

Thank you folks!
 

maggie101

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I have never fed my cats dry food so can't help their. I do know Dr eseys dry is popular. Farmina wet cans are too small for a kitten and expensive. If I remember right, they were mostly fed wellness core and wellness complete-8 yrs ago. Avoid fish. What kind of kitten?
 

amethyst

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I can't really help with the lawsuit, that issue I believe was just issues in the US not in Canada, doing a quick search it looks like the lawsuit might have been dismissed by the court due to lack of evidence though. Champion Petfoods BPA Class Action Lawsuit Dismissed | Top Class Actions

Chewy was bought by PetSmart and since PetSmart doesn't sell Orijen that could be why you can still get Orijen at Petco but not on Chewy.

As to the food you can get a unbiased look at different foods on CatFoodDB - Cat Food Reviews to help you find the best cat food for your cat It just give scores based on ingredients and nutritional analysis so you can compare to see what works for your cat.
 
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Makowiec

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I have never fed my cats dry food so can't help their. I do know Dr eseys dry is popular. Farmina wet cans are too small for a kitten and expensive. If I remember right, they were mostly fed wellness core and wellness complete-8 yrs ago. Avoid fish. What kind of kitten?
Thanks Maggie. Bengal cat :)
 

ashenshugar

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Thanks Maggie. Bengal cat :)
We use the Farmina chicken & pomegranate for adult cats. With any dry food, make sure you give them plenty of water, and suppliment with wet food and/or home made food when you can.

For kittens, I'd have to check, but I think they have a kitten food as well.

Dr Eseys is popular, but they do use rosemary extract (not oil) but there's been some debate on potential toxicity of rosemary extract in cat food. Nothing has been proven, but some cats can be sensitive to it, so again I'd study up on ingredients and weigh pros and cons.

Farmina tends to have a few more fillers than other foods, but other foods have pea proteins (ergo MSG) and other additives. So it's rolling dice on dry foods on what additives you want in the food and what the cats best tolerate with minimal health risks.
 

Flybynight

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Hi M Makowiec
I feed Farmina wet foods and they do have kitten versions - at least one I have seen. It is a good brand.

I didn't know that about Orijen:ohwell: I liked their freeze dried treats but they stopped selling them where I live, maybe the scandal is why.
 

RTR

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I had fed my three cats orijen cat and kitten for 10 years. One day they all stopped eating it, so I bought another smaller bag thinking something went wrong with the larger bag. Same result. The ingredients had changed since they began making it in the United States. I switched to Orijen Tundra when I learned it was still made in Canada. They ate it for about a year and the same thing happened. Now I give them Purina One grain free. They love it. Plus i give them each a small can of wet food in the Am. Seem good now 13 and 14 year old kitties. Found all three. The two together thrown in a box in a dumpster and the other one nearly starved to death. Something changed at Orijen that all three cats will not touch any more! No more Orijen for my cats!
 

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I can't really help with the lawsuit, that issue I believe was just issues in the US not in Canada, doing a quick search it looks like the lawsuit might have been dismissed by the court due to lack of evidence though. Champion Petfoods BPA Class Action Lawsuit Dismissed | Top Class Actions

Chewy was bought by PetSmart and since PetSmart doesn't sell Orijen that could be why you can still get Orijen at Petco but not on Chewy.

As to the food you can get a unbiased look at different foods on CatFoodDB - Cat Food Reviews to help you find the best cat food for your cat It just give scores based on ingredients and nutritional analysis so you can compare to see what works for your cat.
Sigh...I get that companies getting bought out by larger corporations is part of life, and inevitable in a capitalistic world, but it still sucks every time. Especially when it’s a good company like Chewy 😏
 
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Makowiec

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Yeah Orijen (champion Petfoods) be like, I won't be selling on Chewy "because they're bought by Petsmart and no longer meet out standards of pet specialty" only to start selling their food at Petco.......
 
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Makowiec

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How about Ziwipeak aird dried? is it like regular dry food meaning that I would still need to feed wet food?
 

MissClouseau

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Farmina isn't persistent in the quality of their products. I fed my cat with N&D wet food for a while and the consistency always changed from one can to the other. There would be literal fish eye in one can, not in the other for example. In result, their wet food was one of the only 3 wet foods my cat regurgitated at one point. I have seen more problems with their wet food from other people as well.

Not to say you are wrong to be skeptical about Orijen. I have fed my cat with Acana for the last 2,5 years and I have my own concerns and own satisfaction with the food but... more popular a brand gets, more reasons come up to be skeptical. Like one may have this risk, another has that risk. That's why a vet whose opinion I trust recommends rotating different dry foods if possible and not to stick with the same food / brand for years. It makes sense to me.

P.S. Acana I buy comes from Canada. I know the US products are made in the USA so I can't make much comment there but the advertisement / marketing side of a company can be bad when their food is good or vice versa.
 
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Makowiec

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I mean the fact that there was a fish eye in a can of wet food isn't all all concerning for me or something I would question their quality for.

I'm not planning on using Farmina on wet food though, there are better quality ones like Feline Natural or ziwipeak, for Farmina I will use their kibble only, which seems pretty good reading the label, for a dry food anyways...
 

Babypinkweeb

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If you're open to another brand I recommend Dr. elsey's dry food in chicken flavor. It has minimal plant ingredients and fillers and is quite highly rated on cat food database.

 

Maurey

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How about Ziwipeak aird dried? is it like regular dry food meaning that I would still need to feed wet food?
Ziwi Peak Air Dry is high quality, but still lacking in moisture, most of which cats need to get from their food. As a desert animal, they never evolved to have much of a thirst drive. Additionally, with how expensive Ziwi is, I think you’d be better off feeding an all-wet diet. You can get one same price, or slightly more expensively at same or higher quality. I’d suggest looking into Smalls (around 2 to 4 USD a day for an average cat depending on formula), Just Food for Cats (~4 USD), Tiki Cat (3 to 6 a day, depending on the line), Rawz (I’m not sure of costs, apologies). There are also good options for frozen raw, and freeze dried raw which you rehydrate with water to consider. In comparison, Ziwi Peak Air Dry costs around 3 USD a day for an average cat, so you could comfortably feed an all-wet diet in a similar price range.
 
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