Orijen Dry Food And Cardio Myopathy

[Saturnine2587]

Hey Guys! If anyone could give me some advice I’d greatly appreciate it! Within the last few months I had a very healthy 10 year old cat die of cardio myopathy just shy of that worldwide release study involving mainly dogs and supposedly high quality dry food causing cardio myopathy. He predominantly ate dry food and his favorite was orijen. I have been given the run around by rude pet shop owners when I bring up the concerns as to whether they correlate.

Now, Persephone has a very sensitive gut and he only dry food she can eat without puking seems to be orijen. So I am very confused and frustrated and wonder if you have any insight!

 

[Mamanyt1953]

I am finding precious little information regarding cats. HOWEVER, I did run across one jewel that might be of help. The problem with grain-free foods and cardiomyopathy seems to be linked with the very low levels of taurine in these foods, which is necessary for good heart health in cats. I'd add a taurine supplement to her food, as they are readily available from almost any pet supply store, and certainly online!

 

[Saturnine2587]

I heard that too and luckily cats can’t overdose on Taurine either, the excess is simply excreted. But what I don’t understand is why this was never considered in these supposedly “healthy” foods and how come they keep saying lentils, potatoes and beans are the culprit? The whole thing seems very odd

 

[Saturnine2587]

And taurine is found in organ meat and muscle tissue so why does it matter if these foods are grain free anyway?

 

[denice]

The theory is, and it is still a theory, is that lentils in particular as well as peas absorb some of the taurine which then leads to an insufficient amount of taurine. Dog food is not supplemented with taurine to the extent that cat food is. Origen does contain lentils and peas but in small amounts, it actually has a high percentage of meat and organ meats. Some of the cheaper grain free foods have a much higher percentage of fillers then Origen does.

 

[Saturnine2587]

Yes exactly and that’s exactly why I chose to feed my fur babes orijen in the first place. Very little fillers. I did not know that about legumes and lentils absorbing the taurine! That is a very interesting point! Well in the end I sent hubby to buy cat and kitten orijen and bought powdered taurine on amazon lol!

The pet store lady had a theory it’s the FDAs way of making us buy veterinary cat food... which isn’t all that different tbh. The whole thing has been so surreal if it is indeed just insufficient taurine. Thank you so much for your advice guys! You are both angels!

 

[Mamanyt1953]

That's what we're here for! Let us know how everything goes!

 

[Saturnine2587]

Will do!

 

[jellycatfish]

I'm sorry to jump in this thread so late; I couldn't have said it better than OP and she resumed all my concerns. I'm quite late for the news, I just learned about this issue with grain-free food and cardiomyopathy in pets. I have been feeding my 2 cats Orijen Tundra for about a year now. They also eat Hill's TD Dental care; I've been trying to reduce their intake of that food but one of them is picky and he seems to prefer that dry food *sigh*. They also eat wet food twice a day, about 3oz each.

My 2 cats are Siberians which is considered to be a generally healthy breed, however, some do have a tendency toward hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. I've done a quick Google search and it seems the hypertrophic cardiomyopathy is a type of cardiomyopathy. Basically, I was on the bus earlier when I read an article about the grain-free food and I suddenly broke into a full body sweat and a small panic attack. I do not want to have made things worse for my babies by feeding them "bad" food especially if they are prone to cardiomyopathy! I pay a fortune for Orijen especially since I can only buy it online in my province. I opened a new big bag last week.
A supplement in taurine might help, you say? Is that all there is to it, even if it hasn't been proved yet? OP mentioned buying the supplement on Amazon, would that be safe without a vet's advice?
I'm sorry for all these questions; my anxiety has been a real pain recently and it seems this article is freaking me out a lot more than it should.

 

[1 bruce 1]

denice has a very good point about the legumes and lentils blocking the absorption of taurine. For now, I think the cat food looks pretty a-ok compared to the dog food. The problem is a lot of the dogs that tested to have DCM weren't taurine deficient, so that's a bit of a head scratcher. Some of the brands have a lot of different formulas, and not all the formulas of the brands that were mentioned were a problem.
I'm not sure how I feel on this issue, but for now jellycatfish would doing a brand rotation be something your cats would tolerate?

 

[jellycatfish]

denice has a very good point about the legumes and lentils blocking the absorption of taurine. For now, I think the cat food looks pretty a-ok compared to the dog food. The problem is a lot of the dogs that tested to have DCM weren't taurine deficient, so that's a bit of a head scratcher. Some of the brands have a lot of different formulas, and not all the formulas of the brands that were mentioned were a problem.
I'm not sure how I feel on this issue, but for now jellycatfish would doing a brand rotation be something your cats would tolerate?

By "brand rotation", you mean changing their dry food every few months and then go back to Orijen? My cats adapt pretty well, but to make a change in dry food I'd have to do the transition during a few days every time. Moreover I'm at a loss at which other brand I could buy? I tried to make them eat some Ovenbaked brand (popular here in Quebec) and it seems the mix of Orijen and Ovenbaked gave them hard stools, so I stopped trying to feed them Ovenbaked. Moreover that brand is also grain free! I just went on the "AskVet" subreddit and they full on suggest to go to the 3 big brands (Hill's, Purina pro plan and the other one who just slipped my mind) because they say "no grain free food is safe, especially for dogs". Why is it that no one can ever agree on pet food? Many brands have too much fillers, others apparently cause DCM especially in dogs. Just as a side note, changing to a raw diet just isn't possible for me. I don't eat meat that I cooked myself because I can't stand to manipulate it; I would have a hard time to prepare a lot of raw meat-based meals for my cats.

 

[Saturnine2587]

So we ended up taking my cat to the vet and the vet said not to buy taurine supplements and that they get enough from their food but for the time being stop buying Origen until there are more answers. I’ve decided to try cutting out dry food anyways cause it’s usually the culprit in kidney diseases or stones. My cats get dry food very rarely and it’s been a dental/skin formula ever since she advised me to stop with Origen. Then they have Purina vet indoor cat wet food supplemented with almo wet food. I also give omega oils .

I’m going to take her advice right now since she seems to be trustworthy.

 

[Saturnine2587]

I am a little in shock over the whole ordeal since my kitty that predominantly ate Origen dry food died of cardio myopathy.

 

[Saturnine2587]

Whether there is a correlation there or not it’s still freaking me out

 

[silkenpaw]

Saturnine2587 What kind of cardiomyopathy did your cat have? Taurine deficiency causes dilated cardiomyopathy. Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy is at least partially inherited.

 

[jellycatfish]

Whether there is a correlation there or not it’s still freaking me out

I can only imagine. I'm sending you a hug. I've been freaking out for a few hours now, and I have no one to confide in about this.

If your vet said Purina vet indoor wet food is okay, I'll have to check it out at my vet's clinic... My cats have taken a liking to Fancy Feast fish pate flavors and while I know it's not the best for them, 2 years ago I had a hard time financially (lol, who am I kidding, I still do!) and I had to cut back on half of their wet food; it cost about 5$ a day without the dry food. The breeder expressly said not to feed them this kind of wet food since his first Fancy Feast can Happy is more picky than ever. I'm bummed about this brand new bag of Orijen I opened last week. The thing was $100 with shipping... What am I going to do.

 

[1 bruce 1]

Our cat who can't eat raw food has done so well on Fancy Feast Classics I can't help but give them a thanks. It's low carb, high meat, no fancy fillers. He has a strange case of IBD (diarrhea, vomiting, followed by constipation) as well as feline asthma and this is one food he likes, and his stomach seems to like, too.
We use the chicken, chicken and liver, and the turkey and giblets. We stay away from fish and beef with him as they don't agree with him We do keep a few cans of the gravy lovers on hand, if for some reason his stomach upsets him and he doesn't want to eat (usually a hair ball ), this is more like a treat to him.
There's a saying in the cat world. The "worst" wet food is better than the best "dry" food for an animal like a cat.

 

[jellycatfish]

Our cat who can't eat raw food has done so well on Fancy Feast Classics I can't help but give them a thanks. It's low carb, high meat, no fancy fillers. He has a strange case of IBD (diarrhea, vomiting, followed by constipation) as well as feline asthma and this is one food he likes, and his stomach seems to like, too.
We use the chicken, chicken and liver, and the turkey and giblets. We stay away from fish and beef with him as they don't agree with him We do keep a few cans of the gravy lovers on hand, if for some reason his stomach upsets him and he doesn't want to eat (usually a hair ball ), this is more like a treat to him.
There's a saying in the cat world. The "worst" wet food is better than the best "dry" food for an animal like a cat.

What I have heard is "the best kind of food for your cat is the one he/she will eat". While I wholeheartedly agree, I've been told repeatedly "yikes, Fancy Feast,t a bit too salty/high in ash for young males", which makes me doubt myself. I feed them the classics cans too I believe, and I started with the chicken and liver but since he tasted fish Happy completely ignores any type of chicken/poultry wet food unless it is mixed with fish, which of course contains more ash... If I could feed them gold (figure of speech), I would! I tried to feed him only wet food for a few days when he was a kitten, Happy wasn't eating much and he had diarrhea. So dry food is a must in his diet

 

[lutece]

My 2 cats are Siberians which is considered to be a generally healthy breed, however, some do have a tendency toward hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. I've done a quick Google search and it seems the hypertrophic cardiomyopathy is a type of cardiomyopathy.

Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) is different from dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM).

• HCM is basically a thickening of the heart muscle tissue. It is not caused by taurine deficiency. Most HCM has no known cause, but in some cases it is genetic.
• DCM is a condition in which the heart walls become thin and weak. It can be the result of taurine deficiency. Before cat foods were formulated to contain adequate taurine, DCM was seen more frequently in cats, but now it is rare.

 

[Saturnine2587]

I’m not sure what type tbh I just heard cardio myopathy and left it at that. I will look into it though. It was assumed by my vet I didn’t get a necropsy done.