Orijen cat and kitten: how long does it keep and kibble rotation

Hi there,

I just joined two days ago and it seems like Hugo has all of the sudden become finicky. Hugo is about 5 months old rescue, unneutered male (he gets neutered in 2 weeks) and always been on a 50% wet, 50% dry grain free diet. I tend to buy an assortment of different flavours of wet food each week and mix it in with his dry kibble with some additional water. We started with Go Natural and I switched him to Orijen a month or so ago which seems to work for him until maybe today.

He usually has a 7.30 am feed and today for some reason, he did not touch or eat his meal. I thought the wet might have gone off and opened another can for him - same thing, a few bites and none. Then I tried to a piece of treat in his bowl of kibble which finally got him to eat a few bites of the kibble.

I'm not sure what is going on but could the Orijen kibble (large pack) I bought 2 weeks ago have gone off? I had to store it in air tight boxes because he bit his way through the first pack of Orijen even before I even opened it. Or is he being finicky because I haven't change his kibble brand in maybe 3 weeks? (the rescue had him on science diet and I moved slowly to Go Natural then to Orijen)

Please advice because I'm not sure how often does one rotate kibble?

Thanks

Q

Kibble doesn't need to be rotated.  As a matter of fact, it's best NOT to rotate it, since it often causes an upset tummy.   Canned is a completely different story. It's good to rotate wet food so they get used to varieties of both brands and flavors and textures, that way you don't have a finicky cat.   And, IMHO, there is really no reason to feed both kibble and canned, and certainly no reason to actually mix it together in the same meal.  If you feel you need to feed both, why not feed canned for breakfast and dinner, and dry for lunch or something like that.  Maybe he doesn't like them mixed together any longer   (Or am I misinterpreting what you wrote...you said you opened TWO different cans, and added a treat to his kibble to finally get him to eat, so I'm not sure if this was all in one big bowl, or what ...possibly THREE separate bowls?)

Anyway, if he would eat ALL wet food, that's actually the way I'd go, just because the benefits of feeding an all wet diet are so much healthier (again, IMHO )

mrsgreenjeens said:

 
Kibble doesn't need to be rotated.  As a matter of fact, it's best NOT to rotate it, since it often causes an upset tummy.   Canned is a completely different story. It's good to rotate wet food so they get used to varieties of both brands and flavors and textures, that way you don't have a finicky cat.   And, IMHO, there is really no reason to feed both kibble and canned, and certainly no reason to actually mix it together in the same meal.  If you feel you need to feed both, why not feed canned for breakfast and dinner, and dry for lunch or something like that.  Maybe he doesn't like them mixed together any longer

  (Or am I misinterpreting what you wrote...you said you opened TWO different cans, and added a treat to his kibble to finally get him to eat, so I'm not sure if this was all in one big bowl, or what

...possibly THREE separate bowls?)

Anyway, if he would eat ALL wet food, that's actually the way I'd go, just because the benefits of feeding an all wet diet are so much healthier (again, IMHO

)

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Hi,

Thank you for this.

I think I was a little frantic because he usually gobbles his morning meal quite a bit. I mix it as a way to hope that he wouldn't get too fussy.  I had an open can for him but he didn't take to it (tuna) then I subsequently opened a second can (beef) . I'm not sure what happened but he seemed quite taken by chicken and pumpkin last night.

Oh... I wish I could feed him wet food all the way. It's a matter of budget and also that I am not exactly home at fixed times for dinner. His meals are usually wet when I am around with a free feed (about 60 - 80g) of Orijen on the side while I am at work. I'm just wondering if I need to rotate since I have read contradictory advice for that. 

He is my first cat so I do get a little antsy otherwise...

When I bought a 5lb bag of Orijen Cat&Kitten and Regional Red, I was told by the sales person that once opened, ~ 6 weeks before the food starts losing its nutritional value.  I'm not sure if that's just a story or if there's truth to that.  You could email the manufacturer.  They'd love to receive customer emails I'm sure.

Yet, I just put the bags in the freezer to prolong the life.  

Having said that, I feed 90% wet and only give the kibble for when I'm going to be away, via timed auto-feeder. Or, when I'm rewarding him for letting me brush his teeth or his coat, or medication. 

lucentstreak said:

 
Hi,

Thank you for this.

I think I was a little frantic because he usually gobbles his morning meal quite a bit. I mix it as a way to hope that he wouldn't get too fussy.  I had an open can for him but he didn't take to it (tuna) then I subsequently opened a second can (beef) . I'm not sure what happened but he seemed quite taken by chicken and pumpkin last night.

Oh... I wish I could feed him wet food all the way. It's a matter of budget and also that I am not exactly home at fixed times for dinner. His meals are usually wet when I am around with a free feed (about 60 - 80g) of Orijen on the side while I am at work. I'm just wondering if I need to rotate since I have read contradictory advice for that. 

He is my first cat so I do get a little antsy otherwise...

Click to expand...

So you aren't actually mixing the wet and dry food together then, just putting two separate bowls out for him?  One to nibble on throughout the day while you're gone?  That makes sense, since you're away for long hours, it sounds like.  And I completely understand how budgets can play into this...dry food is definitely less expensive than . 

Cats are like people...there are just some foods they like better than others.  And it seems that the majority of cats are not that fond of beef.  When you think about it, in nature, a cat would not take down a cow to eat, but they could definitely catch a bird, therefore fowl would be their most common meal.  I guess that's why chicken and turkey are such a popular cat foods.  I still haven't quite figured out why cats like fish so much, since that also wouldn't be something they would normally eat in the wild, since they tend to stay away from water  

Anyway, how is your little one eating today?  After seemingly being picky yesterday morning, did he scarf down his food later in the day?  If not, then keep a close eye on him, because it's not normal for them to go too long without an appetite and he could be under the weather .  Is he peeing and pooping and playing like normal? 

mrsgreenjeens said:

 
So you aren't actually mixing the wet and dry food together then, just putting two separate bowls out for him?  One to nibble on throughout the day while you're gone?  That makes sense, since you're away for long hours, it sounds like.  And I completely understand how budgets can play into this...dry food is definitely less expensive than . 

Cats are like people...there are just some foods they like better than others.  And it seems that the majority of cats are not that fond of beef.  When you think about it, in nature, a cat would not take down a cow to eat, but they could definitely catch a bird, therefore fowl would be their most common meal.  I guess that's why chicken and turkey are such a popular cat foods.  I still haven't quite figured out why cats like fish so much, since that also wouldn't be something they would normally eat in the wild, since they tend to stay away from water

 

Anyway, how is your little one eating today?  After seemingly being picky yesterday morning, did he scarf down his food later in the day?  If not, then keep a close eye on him, because it's not normal for them to go too long without an appetite and he could be under the weather

.  Is he peeing and pooping and playing like normal? 

Click to expand...

Hi,

Cheers - I was mixing them together in one bowl for breakfast and dinner. However, I would wait till he finish before washing the bowl and serving up dry kibble. Hugo has a tendency to wake me up 3 hours before I go to work so that is what I  usually do.

I guess he liked chicken more and now is eating his food normally (albeit slightly less). What a fright that was. He had a good breakfast and I thought it might be because of the change in weather too (we're experiencing more sun and warmth over the last two days).

He is peeing, pooping and playing as usual - last night he tried to pull down the draceana that I had up on a shelf away from him due to toxicity. Sigh. Rambunctious kitten he is.