What do you think of Orijen?

preciouskits

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I was just curious as to who feeds their cats (or dogs) Orijen Pet Food?

I discovered this food a few months ago and have been feeding it to both my cats and dogs since. It is a great quality all natural food. My pets seem to be doing quite well on it. One thing I have definately noticed is that they have more energy.

Any one else have experience with this food and if so, how did you (and yours cats) like it?
 

sharky

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Love the company philophy, the ingrediants are good to great .... my animals faired well but not great and one turned up allergic to the formula thus I use another brand
 

rapunzel47

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That's what mine are on. They also get some wet, but I can't get any decent quality wet into them, so I'm glad they go for the Orijen -- and they do!
 

yosemite

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I feed Orijen and like it as do the cats. My vet seems to have some concerns about feeding it to male cats and has cautioned me to keep an eye on Bijou for kidney/liver issues. Since we feed wet morning and night and only 1/3 to 1/2 cup Orijen per day for the cats to share, I'm not overly concerned.
 

katgoddess

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Originally Posted by Yosemite

I feed Orijen and like it as do the cats. My vet seems to have some concerns about feeding it to male cats and has cautioned me to keep an eye on Bijou for kidney/liver issues. Since we feed wet morning and night and only 1/3 to 1/2 cup Orijen per day for the cats to share, I'm not overly concerned.
I have a young male cat, so I'm curious... what kind of concerns does your vet have about feeding Orijen to them? What makes them more susceptible to kidney and/or liver issues on this food than other ones? I guess aside from the fact that it's high concentrated protein in a dry matter. Thanks!
 

sharky

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ACANA s new grain free is IDEAL for UTI type issues ( ie male ) ... it PH and ash are
.. made by the company making orijen
 

wileysmom

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I've had cats all my life and I've had males cats who always eventually had urinary issues, chronic UTI 's, crystals building up in the urinary tract...etc.
It always turned into a many trips to the vet and a lot of money spent.
So when I adopted Wiley he was about 4-6 months old.
I bought this all natural wet and dry cat food California Natural.
Well dear God, I have never had and cat who's poo smelled so bad in my life, he was farting all the time, it just wasn't working.
It was the dry food causing the problem. I stopped giving him that and went online to find a better cat food.
I found this site www.felineintsticts.com and learned about the raw cat food diet.
If you think about it cats in the wild really don't eat veggies other than occaisional grasses to make themselves puke.
So why are we feeding our cats all these grains and soy and things that we would eat?
Anyway.. I bought ground turkey at first and he gobbled that up, his poo smelled 1000% better, his breath smelled better (he's a licker) and he seemed fine.
I read that you have to supplement the ground meat with liver, vitamins and bone meal. So i found this supplement powder to add to the raw meat that has all these things already in it. www.felinefuture.com
He didn't like that so much.
In fact I couldn't get him to eat anymore raw meat even without the powder after that.
We went back to wet canned food for a week
So then I tried chicken.
I bought already ground chicken and some chicken livers and chopped them up. I cooked it because he liked the cooked canned food, I dumped a 12 oz. can of salt free chicken broth in the pot, added the 1.5 lbs ground chicken and 1.5 lbs livers, added some of the supplement powder-but not as much as they say to use just a couple tbsp. and lastly added a can of the wet food that he liked so it would kind of smell like what he was used to.
He loves it.
I make a batch every few days and keep it in a container the fridge.
I'm sure it would freeze well also
It's kitty chicken stew.
Bceause everything gets boiled in the broth, it cooks in no time.
His poo is not stinking up the whole apt.
His breath is fresh.
It's so much better for him even if it's not raw.
And I believe he will be my first male cat without urinary issues.
 

maxcat08

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If you are cooking all the meat, then it isn't a raw diet. I'm not criticizing you....but why not feed it to him raw..at a slow pace so that he eats it again. Are your meats from the meat case in the grocery store? I would be concerned about the additives that processers add to the meats for human consumption. I thought a raw diet for pets was supposed to be organic, antibiotic free, and hormone free. I use raw ground food prepared and bought from pet stores. I'm too chicken to grind my own....I'm working up the nerve though....


I have a dilute red tabby, male. My Vet told me that he will be prone to UTI and crystals..and was glad that he's on wet food. He is just 4 months old now...but if I can do anything that will prevent any urinary tract conditions in him...I will do it. My two other males passed away at 8 yrs and 5 yrs...so I've never experienced that problem before. Also, my red tabby was neutered at 6 weeks old at the Humane Society....it is thought that early neutering can lead to urinary tract problems as well.

Sharkey...I will be looking for that ACANA food. My cats don't get much dry..it's more for my peace of mind...knowing that there's something for them while I'm at work.
 

wileysmom

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Wiley not eating raw food, which meant he was not eating at all, went on for 2 days. I wasn't going to push it, the kitten needs to eat.
We have here in Philly the Reading Terminal Market where there are numerous farmer's markets and restaurants.
The Amish come in from all over PA to sell their meats and dairy products.
I usually only eat their meats as does the cat. Their bacon is the best in the universe.
They don't use pharmaceuticals, hormones or additives.
 

maxcat08

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You're so fortunate to have a market like that. It's wonderful to know that the meats you're buying are so 'pure'...I wish we had something like that here.

For sure, your kitty needed to eat...I just meant that he may accept raw again if introduced very slowly. Just like our foods (veggies, esp)..cooking destroys alot of the nutrients..and of course we can't eat raw meats.
I'm still learning what raw foods my cats like or don't like. So far, they're not crazy about rabbit, but they like chicken and ostrich.

I wish continued good health for Wiley!
 

yosemite

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Getting back to the original topic, I'm not certain why the vet is worried about Orijen for male cats in particular. I love my vet for medical issues, but don't get my knickers all in a knot with her nutrition advice.
Besides, at our house Mika is the one that prefers the dry food and Bijou the wet so I don't worry so much.

Orijen is a quality food but may be too rich for some cats so we have to do what is best for our own cats.
 

followedbydolls

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Originally Posted by sharky

ACANA s new grain free is IDEAL for UTI type issues ( ie male ) ... it PH and ash are
.. made by the company making orijen
so you feel this food would be ok to introduce into a mainly male cat household? what about for a young one?... the baby is just 4mths but very food neutral ... unlike the adults in this house


ETA; i see 3 formulas listed, which one do you recommend? or it just based on the cats taste preference

http://www.championpetfoods.com/acana/products.php
 

nekochan

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I use Orijen for all my cats (4 males, 3 females) and they all love it. Of course the younger cats have loved every food I've used (Wellness Kitten/CORE, Solid Gold Indigo Moon, By Nature, etc...)
Their fur is very soft and they have no dandruff or odors. My Maine Coon's coat is gorgeous and shiny. They are all in good condition/shape except one of my almost-one-year-olds, for some reason even though he eats the same food as his littermates he is overweight and is already 13 pounds, which is 4 pounds larger than his littermates.

The only thing that I don't like about Orijen is I just found some that had spilled on the carpet without me knowing it, and the carpet is now stained red!
 

momto3cats

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I fed Orijen to my cats for a while, but they didn't do very well. I don't remember exactly what the problem was, but I switched to another brand because I wasn't happy with their condition.

In general, I have never had good results for cats or dogs with "kitchen sink" foods - the ones with a lot of veggies, fruits & herbs tossed in to appeal to humans. I have come to the conclusion that simple is best for pet food.
 

wishiwas

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Kitty loves Orijen and does well on it. It was also the first food I was able to get her to eat for more than a week other than Nutro.

I tried the dogs on it, but Perk seemed to like her CORE better, so I stick to that.
 

carolina

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Orijen household here too
, except for my little foster Hope, who needed to put on some weight so she was fed Nutromax Kitten. I am also transitioning her to Orijen. Since Bugsy has problems with Chicken, I have changed them all to Orijen 6-fish. They love it, have no problems with it, and I love to give them what I consider the best food on the market, as far as ingredient quality goes... I will take a look at Acana to offer them some variety; hopefully they have one with no chicken!
 

yosemite

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Originally Posted by carolinalima

Orijen household here too
, except for my little foster Hope, who needed to put on some weight so she was fed Nutromax Kitten. I am also transitioning her to Orijen. Since Bugsy has problems with Chicken, I have changed them all to Orijen 6-fish. They love it, have no problems with it, and I love to give them what I consider the best food on the market, as far as ingredient quality goes... I will take a look at Acana to offer them some variety; hopefully they have one with no chicken!
I actually mix Orijen and Acana together in a container and feed Bijou that mixture. I put a few pieces of T/D on top to try to help his teeth and it seems to be working.
 

darlili

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Did your guys like the T/D on its own? My vet gave me a sample of TD to use as treats (and tooth cleaners, I gather), but neither of mine seem to like it at all, and I was trying to figure out a way to at least get them to try it.
 
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