Question for those feeding Orijen

When I got my first bag, my cat went crazy for it for about a week. After that she seems to have become very picky about eating it. She's had some health problems which have made her picky about a lot of things, but I can't seem to get her to enjoy the Orijen like she did at first.

I see her approach the bowl a lot and sniff it then walk away. If I act like I'm topping the bowl off for her, she'll usually start eating it okay. This morning I had to dump a few crunchies on the ground to get her to start eating it again. She smelled the ones on the ground, then ignored them and started eating out of the bowl. She always chooses this over any other food I've tried, but she still seems to be unsure of it for some reason. I'm wondering if it has dried out or smells different somehow from the first time I opened the bag. I've done by best to keep the bag sealed, but still.

Has anyone else using Orijen noticed your cat being a bit picky about eating it or find it goes "bad" relatively quick?

I'm glad you brought up this question. I was going to post almost the same thing, but about wet food. When I open the can, they love it...they love it for about 4 meals...then lose interest to the point where they won't eat it...they'll eat nothing.....I open a new can..and wow...they're back to liking it again.

I feed them different flavours, different brands...but the reaction is the same to everything.

They only get about a tablespoon per meal...with the kitten getting fed more often....the can is opened for about 4 days before it's getting emptied.

I'd also like to know if anyone else has this problem?

Thanks so much.

Riley will only eat any particular wet food twice in a row before he wants something else, so I have to buy the small cans. He gets half in the morning, half at night, then something new the next day. If I offer him the same flavor/brand a 3rd time he won't eat it.

He doesn't seem to be fussy about his dry food though. He's currently eating a mix of Orijen, Taste of the Wild and California Natural Chicken & Rice.

Originally Posted by maxiecat03

I'm glad you brought up this question. I was going to post almost the same thing, but about wet food. When I open the can, they love it...they love it for about 4 meals...then lose interest to the point where they won't eat it...they'll eat nothing.....I open a new can..and wow...they're back to liking it again.

I feed them different flavours, different brands...but the reaction is the same to everything.

They only get about a tablespoon per meal...with the kitten getting fed more often....the can is opened for about 4 days before it's getting emptied.

I'd also like to know if anyone else has this problem?

Thanks so much.

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Yes, I'm experiencing this with my kitten who eats mostly wet as well. She LOVES new cans and even runs over to the stack of them whenever it's feeding time. I can tell she's a bit disappointed when she sees me heading to the fridge. I always heat up the food a bit in the microwave to try and get it back to room temp as best I can. Sometimes she'll eat the reheated version right away, and other times she waits about 20 minutes then goes back and eats it. I'm thinking it has something to do with the reheat that they don't like. I've read that they prefer it reheated with a toaster oven but I don't typically have the time for that.

I used to heat their cold food up in the microwave..but didn't want to burn it..so now I run the water till it's hot, and add a few drops to make it just on the verge of soupy.

My (retired) Vet would swear up and down that cats will eat the same thing every day for their whole life.....LOL....I should have him come to the house and feed my cats.... ...I think he'd change his tune!!!

I must say that the food that seems to keep their 'attention' the longest is Wellness Chicken.....but I also have alot of other premium brands that they have to eat up as well.

Tamgirl99...I had to laugh when you said that you detected that your kitty was 'disappointed'...my beloved Max would show that emotion too. He would be so anxious to eat out of a new can, that when I headed to the fridge...the eager tail would go down, the uplifted face would go down....it was like he was thinking...oh darn.....not that cold stuff again!!! I wished I had known the trick of hot water heating up of the food.....poor fellow didn't like cold food...but I never realized it.

I haven't noticed that with my cats. In fact my senior cat started eating the Orijen instead of her own food so we finally gave up trying to feed her separately from the kittens....

There are a lot of cats that don't like food "nuked" including mine. I add a little hot water to, but then mine like it soupy. Do you have time to let it sit out and warm up at room temp before feeding, sometimes that helps.

I'm wondering if my cat has more of a problem with the shape of the Orijen than the taste. She eats it like she's not sure how to pick it up or something. She'll kind of move the kibbles around the bowl like she's trying to pick one up. She's used to the small round kibbles (Science Diet) so it might be that she's just getting used to picking this new shape up.

Since I feed my cats orijen I always leave the same amount to free feed during the day
Just some days they finish their bowl earlier, others last longer.. it depends on their mood and their hunger, also the weather, when is too hot they eat less.
In general they prefere something more like a junk food, but I still have lots of orijen I bought and as they eat it... they get some waltham kibbles as a treat...

About canned food... some flavors they do not like as much as others... when I open their favorite flavor they go like crazy ! but they do not complain if they have the same flavor for days, although I always try to change, they also do not get much of wet food, just 1 spoon 3 times a day.

Mine are on Orijen, free fed, and they're eating it fine. They also get some wet, but sometimes they eat the Orijen in preference.

These beasts are not difficult to please in terms of dry food. Wet is another story. I have had cats who would eat pretty much whatever you put down for them, and were very food-motivated. I always wondered what people were talking about when they referred to picky eaters. Now I know.

There are exactly four flavours of wet that they will eat, and any food that's been in the fridge you might as well throw away, because no mode of heating that I've tried suits them. If I do try them on something in a larger can, I'll have a go with the hot water trick, though -- that might be acceptable, as they prefer their food soft/soupy.

...Has anyone else using Orijen noticed your cat being a bit picky about eating it or find it goes "bad" relatively quick?...

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I've fed Orijen exclusively since last May. One of my observations is that the cats are eating lesser amounts of this than of their previous dry food. Obviously, that's to be expected - this is a more species-appropriate food with higher protein and fat, fewer carbs. Your cat may have developed a habit of frequent visits to the food bowl and is now realizing that she really isn't as hungry as she used to be.

I've never had any problem with Orijen "going bad" - I keep it in a small airtight container. So you know, the period between the manufacture date and the best-before date is 13 months. I've always been able to secure stock with 12 months "left" before the bb.

(I've recently added in Wellness Core - and - I'm pretty sure the amounts consumed have again reduced. I say "pretty sure" because someone else is now "at the table").