what do you think of orijen dry cat food?

This maybe a little bit late, but the reason why fish could cause urinary tract issues in cats is if the bones are involved. Fish bones are high in phosphorus and magnesium which can be a big problem for our kitties when it comes to urinary tract and kidney disease, thankfully the fish on the Orijen ingredients list are de-boned. I myself feel my little one Orijen six fish formula with wet food every morning and she is a very happy kitty, which makes me a happy mummy since she has a sensitive tummy and would throw up daily with other foods. The only think I do extra with this food is add a bit of bottled water to the kibble is make it a little softer/moister for her before she chows down. Either then that she has been eating it for 3 years with no complaints, she actually won't eat anything else now, but I don't plan to change her food. 

I have 5 cats whose ages range from 2 years - 12 years. I have always had them on various dry kibble, ranging from JWB, Arden Grange, and Hills Science Plan. Until I became more educated in cat foods I had no idea that what the vet recommends is not actually the best food. Having more time on my hands recently I began researching and have had my eyes wide opened to what actually goes in to some pet foods, and pet foods that are considered and rated as high quality! One of my cats (Eva, a 3 year old female) developed a weight problem and was signed up to the weight clinic and prescribed Hills Weight Control Diet, she did do well on this, losing about 500 grams over 2 months, and she seemed to like the food! All my other cats ate the Hills indoor, and Hills Senior for the 12 year old. However, to cut a long story short, I decided to try Orijen dry after reading the benefits of this food and the amazing natural (no crap) ingredient list. I have to say when I first tried them, they were not too impressed, and only 2 of the cats would eat it. Three of my cats would only sniff it, walk away (disgusted) go back to their bowls (in case it had miraculously changed in to a 'more to their taste' food) and then walk away once more. These three would not touch it and when they finally did, being so hungry, they only ate a very small amount. Jack, one of our Maine Coons, had the right hump for two days, only trying about 5 kibbles at a time, and not liking it at all. My son even tried to hand-feed him, which resulted in him spitting out one in every 2 kibbles, ha! Anyway I decided to persevere - as at £23 for a 2.27 kilo bag, and of course wanting the best food for them, I wanted to try a bit longer before giving in! I had also bought the Ziwipeak Raw Diet Wet (the BEST found wet food available for cats).  My aim was to feed them this twice a week (replacing one evening meal of the Orijen with this). Now, they love the Ziwipeak (of course they would!) and today (day three) all 5 cats have eaten their breakfast of Orijen and I am feeling very relieved! Two of the cats did have runny poop for the first day, but I believe this was more a result of the Ziwipeak being quite rich, not the Orijen so much. But now....all good and on track, yay! I was astonished when I checked the three outdoor litter boxes to find NO POOP!!!!! I thought either they are constipated, or...this food is doing exactly what it says it will do, creating less waste as of the goodness and the body absorbing all of it; and having no rubbish to get rid of. Now, I do not know whether or not this is a coincidence, but they seem to be looking more perky (not that they weren't before, but even more so) and also my 12 year old male, who was sick every day religiously, has not been sick in 3 days! Now that is a miracle! The vet said this was just his age and the digestive tract playing up and it was nothing to worry about, but naturally I was still concerned. I think I will be sticking firmly with this food and be ordering a 6.8 kilo bag next week, plus the Ziwipeak Raw Diet - these combined together I feel is an awesome diet for cats! To ensure they still get enough fluid, we have an extra water fountain. My cats have always drank a lot though, and always have wet noses despite the dry diet, but they do have the wet food too. It comes at a price, I totalled it to be around £80 a month for both foods, but when it comes to the cats and their well-being, money is no object! I just wish they made more variety's of the food, they only do chicken and the 6-fish - my cats are not fishy types and so that only leaves the chicken. I wish they would bring it out in a beef, turkey and duck. How are everyone else's cats finding this food?

Day 4 and all tucking in to a breakfast of Orijen and an evening meal of the Ziwipeak! I will start to reduce the Ziwipeak over the next few days to eventually feed this twice a week only. Lastly.... firm, far less smelly poop and happy cats!  Orijen is a WIN for me, oh and the cats!   

Now if Orijen is not all that well, including the 6 fish, then why is it number one all over the worl d ?  Also, after that it is cooked test have shown that there is still a good amount of tourine in the foods. I use  Orijen, but I rotate with 3 other brands that I feel are equal. I feed a can once a week and they share it. I do supplement with Primal raw or Nature's Variety raw 3 times a week. But again, cats are thriving on Orijen all over the world and in zoos. The foundation of good health is proper nutrition and Orijen has nailed it. I do however, have a pet fountain on both floors of my home. My cats are well hydrated. 

melalpha said:

Well, they could make it, but I get harassed/meowed/pawed half to death the moment they hear a crinkly bag. My schedule isn't stable either, so they get extra hungry some mornings/evenings.

I figure the kibble will keep them topped off while wet food is their main intake. I'll recheck the bags of orijen for fish levels, see which one has the least. Is mercury really a contributor of FLUTD?

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Serve a better quality grain free canned food instead, it keeps them full longer.

Hi folks,

I've been feeding my 9 years old Maine Coon with Orijen (all three types, even if she prefers the fish) for a few months and she developped a very very bad renal / bladder infection, just had to spend 2 days with her in ER with antibiotics directly to the blood stream to get rid of it.

I've bought orijen because of all the "good" ingredients in it and the hollistic, whole prey, made in Canada approach but it seems that vets got a hoard of cats developing very bad renal & bladder infections due to this brand. It seems that their food, while being made with good quality products, is not balanced at all for cats. My cat drinks like a horse / camel since she's a baby too (i'd say 50cl per day, it's really unbelievable, she spends like 1h drinking at least, everyday, bringing so much joyce when cleaning her litter) and always had a very healty urniary system.

Out of 8 years fed on Royal Canin only (maine coon 31, tooth special and interior cat food) she never ever had any problem. 

Now, 2k$ short on my pocket, i'm going to have to figure out some food to feed her, especially low protein one, which is going to be quite a challenge... She hates Hill's with a passion (which removes 75% of all veterinarian food), so my best bet would be Royal Canin low protein formula, along with some Maine Coon 31 agian (which she doesn't eat anymore now that she tasted the orijen). I think she hates can too (trying today to see if she hates it).

To make a long story short, beware of holistic approach, it might be good ingredients, for sure, but it can also create serious trouble for ur cat.

What you need to know is that if you look at the nutrient analysis after the cooking process you will see that it's rather still sufficient.also note, dry food may not be the best, for dogs and cats, but, some of the best ones have been shown to increase overall pets health, especially ones high and cranberry and blueberries.

Our 3 year old male cat was eating Orijen 6 Fish as the major part of his diet when he got a urinary blockage. He was loaded with crystals and bacteria. He had a damaged bladder muscle following the blockage and was hospitalized for two weeks. It was incredibly stressful and although he thankfully recovered with the help of an incredibly dedicated medical team I would not suggest it as a food for male cats and in general I think wet food is far preferable especially for boy kitties.

I'm sorry to here about your kitty. That is sad. I don't feed the fish formula otfen. Never did. I use the chicken and the wild boar based foods from origen. Its still not safe to blame your cats issue on the foods as many non educated reactive traditional Vets will do. Do you have a pet fountain? Also, rotation is best, especially if using a fish based diet. While raw diet is best and canned 2nd, a few dry foods yield goods results if the pet is watered correctly. Too many people feed dry foods and there cats live long healthy lives. Trust me, if Orijen was a bad food and causing peoblems like this across the board, their sales would drop dramatically as did other companies. Unlike Hill's,who pays traditional Vets and gives them there nutrition classes in collage. Its called kick backs.

Good God, I hate to hear that about your cat. I pray he is well now and stays that way. I've just purchased a maine coon kitten. In getting one, I was made aware of the heart and kidney problems that is genetic to this breed. In fact, they often come later on in life. So these things you need to consider. While one food is not the best for every cat, breed, species, and various other factors that are involved; Orijen is still a wonderful food for the masses. Now, if your cat was on dry food for the majority of his life; What could have may as well happened is the opposite of what should take place when given such a good food based off of his age and lack of proper amounts of moisture all these years. So the food was good, and rich. But lack of proper moisture and nutrient dense food, sent his body into shock and made his system surcome to a predisposed genetic conditions that were possibly on the rise. A good thing can be bad for you if not in proper balance and or if not prepared or introduced correctly. Things to consider. The Vet might say one thing, but will give you a crappy Hill's formula in which they get kick backs from. I feed Origen ond others and i keep pet fountains in my home. Our cats thrive.

Orijen is in general as good as dry foods get. I tried it with my girl and it was way too rich for her. After trying several foods, she and I have finally settled on Wysong Epigen 90 as the absolute best dry food. I have to say, however, that dry food is only one half of her diet. She gets one three ounce can of wet food in the morning which she usually finishes without problems and only 1/4th a cup of Epigen 90 in the evening. I have tried going all wet before but for various reasons it did not work.

I'm sorry but you all seem to be making this harder than it is. Call your vet and ask what food they would suggest. At the end of the day a mix of dry and wet food will be perfectly fine for the vast majority of cats. My boy almost died last December because of urinary issues. Since then I switched to purina one chicken and turkey dry food and Sheba wet food. I also mix half a crushed up tablet with his wet food. Dry food is the only food that doesn't make him vomit so he can only get a spoonful of wet at a time. The vet looked my boy over recently and said that he is extremely healthy and has a lot of muscle making up his body weight. That can only come from high protein diets. Dry food really isn't an enemy and being expensive doesn't make it better.

*tablet of vitamin c which is good for urinary health

I also saw another user point out that it isn't always the food which is very true. We also cut out most of the cleaners we had been using especially the ones to clean the floors and counters. We use a steam mop (the kind that doesn't use anything but water) and we clean regularly with hot water. Chemicals in our cleaning products do more damage than people realize to children and pets.

I still believe if we cut out dry period, regardless of price, and feed a decent canned or raw food WE are helping our cats stay healthy rather than making excuses for why we can't.

Yes, one brand is not always the best for all. It is rich. You might look at Greatlife grain and potato gree. I hope your cat gets plenty of water on epigen. It could be me, but it seemed really hard to me.

If you want to go to doing best for your cat regardless of pricethen you should simply make your own cat food. Cats eat mostly meat in the wild but not completely. Even Jackson galaxy is cool with dry food for cats and most cats have no problems with it. Some of us do have a budget thanks and if I want to have enough saved up for an emergency then everyday cost of food vs it's true nutritional benefits rather than perceived comes into play.

I don't typically have peoblems with my pets health. I feed what is best for them. Also,I. feed raw too, rather supplemental. Now, i suggest people do the best they can and not let their pets put them in the poor house neither let your pets do what ever they want to rule the coop. The world doesn't revolve around my cats. In all, do your best,as far as what you can do. Im simply not goung to prepare nothing homemade. My cats will get that dry and some premade raw and maybe a can a week. They better be glad to get that.

He won't go near a water fountain, he seems to think they are evil! Believe me, we've tried.

I would not and did not say that Orijen is a bad food, just that in my cat's case I have no reason to think it wasn't the cause of his crystals since it was what he was eating for 3 months before he got blocked and he did not experience any issues with crystals (that we know of) previously when he was on Science Diet regular food (when he was a kitten) or Science Diet Z/D (which we were feeding all of our cats because our oldest cat has food allergies.) We were trying to Orijen to see if a grain free food would help the oldest cat. Since the boy cat went on the Hills C/D urine tests have not shown any crystals. Even though I agree that some vets may push the Hills foods because they are told to, in our case I will not chance another serious medical issue for our boy cat by switching his food again. In a perfect world (and with only girl cats) I would totally feed raw or grain free foods.