Has anyone here had any experience with the Orijen cat food?
I was looking to change Maurice on to something with a better meat content that the Royal Canin he is currently eating and was looking at this as we have a local stockist.
Printable View
Has anyone here had any experience with the Orijen cat food?
I was looking to change Maurice on to something with a better meat content that the Royal Canin he is currently eating and was looking at this as we have a local stockist.
Orijen is one of the better dry foods along with Acana and Almo Nature.
It's the same as anything though - introduce it gradually and your cat should adjust well. It has no allergens or grain in it at all.
It is supposed to be one of the better dry foods. The breeder of three of our MCs uses it (as one component of her diets) and she is quite picky. We unfortunately do not have any way to obtain it locally so have not tried it.
I spent quite a bit of time in Petco the other day looking at all the "high end" dry cat foods they sell. The Royal Canin ingredients are not terribly high quality (e.g., "chicken meal" vs. "chicken"). The best two in terms of quality of ingredients and protein levels were Pro Plan Selects and Blue Wilderness. I was extremely surprised to see even supposed "high end" dry foods with corn as a major ingredient and only 30% protein levels (PP Selects is 40% and Blue W. is 45% protein).
We normally feed Pro Plan Selects, but got a bag of the Blue Wilderness to try. The kitten just loves it, the other male likes it a bit, but neither of the girls will go near it! Also got a few cans of the Blue Wilderness wet, but that was less successful.
Incidentally, I also looked at prices of cat foods. Dry cat foods have actually become significantly more expensive than dog foods. The cheapest large bags of cat food I could find (at Walmart) were more than $.60/lb, while dry dog food can be had for $.40/lb. By contrast, the PP Selects and Blue W. are in the $3.60-$3.80/lb range--around six times the price. For that, you get mainly chicken or salmon, etc. as ingredients rather than "meals" or "meat by-products," and little "grain." One of the disturbing things is that a number of the "high end" foods at Petco are not objectively any better than the cheapest cat foods at Walmart. Don't know what you are paying for with them.
I also noted that the only foods that stated that their nutritional sufficiency had been confirmed in actual feeding studies were the Purina foods like Pro Plan. All other foods rely solely on nutritional assays and then assume the necessary nutrients will be available if they meet the (semi) governmental nutritional standards.
Hi,
My two Maine Coon kittens (now 7months / 6months) have been fed on Orijen Cat and
Kitten (chicken variety) since I got them. They are thriving on it (see pic).
My two older (15 years) moggies also love it.
Applaws dry food, available in UK (not sure about worldwide) is 80% chicken.
I can recommend Orijen
Best regards
Trevor
I would love to give it to my cats too, along with the raw meat they're already eating and instead of the Royal Canin; but unfortunately they really don't like Orijen... A friend of mine has the same problem: the cats refuse to eat it even when they're hungry. Apparently the taste isn't as good as that of other brands (or my cats are just extremely difficult when it comes to food)...
Mine refuse to eat all the better dry food brands by the way; Applaws, Sanabelle, Orijen, Akana, it's all no use... :sad2: I'm just glad that they eat some raw food next to the dry food. However they also refuse to eat some types of raw food so I can't completely change them to that either...
But if your cat does like Orijen, I can recommend it to you. Heard lots of good stuff about it!
I was thinking a long time ago of trying this food until I read this!!
Orijen food recall pet deaths - Pet Forums Community
Mind there are similar report re Royal Canin, so you never know..
So I investigated more.. and it seems it was only one shipment... and have not found anything else..
Champion Petfoods explains Orijen cat food recall
But guess what I cant get it here!! unless I go to the expensive stores and then it is €92.99 for 14 kg, I am not paying that... its bad enough paying € 55.47 for RC 10 kg I use 5 and a half bags a months!! way of my scale.. lol
Zoo plus are pretty good for food & free p&p dont see a 14kg bag though the 7kg bag is £39.99 We get the MC RC food from there 4KG £21.99 :smile: & it only takes a couple of days to arrive.
Hi, Phoenix has been on Orijen since we got her in June and has done very well on it! She has even put on 3-4 pounds bringing her weight up to 12-13 pounds. She loves it and even lets me know when she needs more by knocking her dish on the floor...lol..
Our 2 MC kittens have been on Orijen 6 Fish dry food since we brought them home, along with raw meat. They love the Orijen. They demand both types of food. Eat like horses. Growing like weeds.
I have Orijen fish down alongside RC Kitten and JWB Kitten Turkey & Rice - and my three eat al three about equally. My aim is to move over to Orijen and perhaps Applaws dry as the "stock" of the slightly less meat rich kitten foods run out. I also have a pack of the regular Orijen Chicken in the wings (geddit ? wings ? chicken ? no ? :) ) for late to try.
Australia has a policy of irradiating almost all imported food. There was an (apparently) unexpected reaction to the irradiation that resulted in links to the deaths of a number of cats in Australia (only). It's easy to find articles on the web - but difficult to find wholly rational and non-emotional ones. Which is somewhat understandable, but I wanted facts...
I've been feeding Orijen for over 2 years now, its the best dry food I have found. They used to enjoy RC Maine Coon but since I changed to Orijen I noticed a big difference in coat condition in both cats. gets a 10/10 from me.
Oooh i hope it works for mine too!
I have always fed Royal Canin (MC and Kitten food) and im ashamed to say i fed that because thats what we sell at work and the rep gives us so much free :shy: but one of my girls has never done really well, so after getting her all checked out for any underlying health problems i am hoping a change in diet might give her some "zing" back.
Im A VN and really intrested in Nutrition so Orijen seems the natural choice, i have ordered myself a bag so ill have to wait and see if it makes a difference.
I suppose if they do better on the Orijen i can give my free bags of royal canin to our local Cats protection branch :smile:
I completely agree with the people above. Its as high quality dry food as can be bought in the UK. It is still subject to the same issues as all dry food - cats need water to accompany it, and from all I have read, cats fed solely on dry food do not take in as much water as cats fed on wet food. This may lead to issues around chronic dehydration. Having said that, I use orijen in combination with wet (and raw) and a water fountain. So its a personal choice!
Acana comes from the very same manufacturers as Orijen I believe, and is also a very good dry, but slightly cheaper.
i have been using it almost sinse my guy was a kitten and he has been doing great i love the stuff
Im using orijen since 1,5 months ago... and my boy is getting bigger and health, he was 15 weeks and 3,2 Kg... without any obesity, full muscle... offcourse with many exercises... It's good if you combine with "RC hair and skin".... very useful for hair growth.... CMIIW
I fed my cat with Pro plan kitten, but just now I'm trying to mix it with Orijen cat & kitten. I hope everything will be good as I expected.
----------------------------------------------x
Is it for real?! 15 weeks, 3,2 kg?
3 months Casper (my male kitten) just got 1,9 kg.
I bought this one last week,but both cats don't seem interested!
Might try mixing it with the wet stuff.
http://i47.tinypic.com/2wowtg8.jpg
I have just started Roarke on Orijen and have been mixing it with RC Maine Coon Kitten. He really likes the Orijen and I am thinking of transitioning to just Orijen but I am concerned about it not being breed specific. Am I just being silly and buying into all the RC marketing? Have most people (who's cats eat the Orijen) just had good experiences?
Breed specific is just marketing. They are cats. The only differences should be in the size of the kibble.
It took both cats over 2 weeks to finish the chicken one,mixed with wet & RC kitten,bought the fish one this time,its a bit expensive though £4:50 for 400g,will let you know how it goes!
http://i49.tinypic.com/nzof1f.jpg
Well thats over a week now & both cats have hardly touched it.Have over 3/4 of a bag left.
Have tried mixing it with dry & wet but its still left!
Took some over to my mums house for her moggie & she sniffed it & walked away:winkwink:
Hi everyone :)
Butters has been on Orijen since I can remember :) she is 4 years old now a strickly indoors cat. Never a health problem except a week ago where she got gingivitis. So even though you are feeding your loved ones kibbles, don't forget to always clean and maintain their teeth...like someone said...you don't clean your teeth by eating pretzels :)
Casco was on mainly Orijen but his coat was becoming very greasy. Switched him to Royal Canin and his coat is spot on now. I guess just because it's good food on paper doesn't necessarily mean it will agree with each and every cat!
Sidney has been a "sickly" cat since we got him (looks like he had Calici virus as a tiny kitten) and has tried just about every "good" cat food on the market. I have spent a lot of time reading labels and am underwhelmed by the Royal Canin ingredients - the breed specific stuff is nonsense too.
In my opinion, the best dry foods in the UK are Applaws, James Wellbeloved, Orijen and Acana. Sidney doesn't like the Applaws very much and refuses to eat the James Wellbeloved completely. The Acana is "ok, I suppose" but I have to keep the bag or Orijen locked in a cupboard. His bowl is always full, but if he can get at the bag, then he rips it open and stuffs himself. On the previous foods he didn't thrive and is still underweight, but since being on the Orijen he has started to gain weight steadily (with the odd blip when his gums get sore).
It's no good if your cat won't eat it, obviously, but if they will, then we have found it to be marvellous.
On the subject of gradual transitioning to the new food - I mixed the Orijen in with some Applaws and he picked out all the Orijen kibble then meeped cos he had no food left!