Orijen cat food

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MaryB & Chester

MaryB & Chester

Member Since 2012
Has anyone looked at the Cat & Kitten food by Orijen?
It looks very good. Lots of meats and very few, low GI carbs. I'm not sure on the percentages, but I've emailed the company in hopes they give me some numbers. They do say it's 42% protein, made with 80% meat based ingredients and 20% "botanicals".

I don't want to get into the debate about wet vs. dry food. I understand that wet food is the best possible option. I'd just like to discuss another potential dry option for those who have a hard time switching.
 
But that shows a very different ingredient list than the bag that I have.
Boneless chicken, chicken meal, chicken liver, whole herring, boneless turkey, turkey meal, turkey liver, whole eggs, boneless walleye, whole salmon, chicken heart, chicken cartilage, herring meal, salmon meal, chicken liver oil, chicken fat, red lentils, green peas...It's 16 ingredients before you leave animal products and even then there are no potatoes.
I suspect that Young Again may have an outdated list.

I do hope they can get back to me about the numbers.
 
...It's 16 ingredients before you leave animal products and even then there are no potatoes.
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But those red lentils and green peas are both high in carbs. Plus, all the other fruit and vegetable ingredients are going to raise the carb level.

The ingredient list you gave is very different than what some of the on-line pet food websites says. Of course, manufacturers change their ingredients lists all the time so it's not surprising there have been changes. The Orijen foods used to have potato and sweet potato pretty high up in the ingredient list. I see that is not the case anymore.

For dry food, you can get a rough idea of the carb content, by adding up the protein, fat, fiber and moisture contents on the back of the bag. The Orijen website had these as 42 (Prtn), 20 (Fat), 3(Fbr), 10 (Wtr) = 75 subtract from 100 leaves 25% carbs. It's the guaranteed analysis basis, not the as fed values, but it does give you a rough idea of the carb content.

Chester may not be carb sensitive and this food may be ok for him. On the other hand, if his numbers go higher, than you know it's not a good choice for him. If you want to try a food trial, it may help you determine how he does on this food.

He's already a pretty bouncy kitty. So it might be tough to determine if the food is causing the higher numbers or if it's because he's dropping low overnight and bouncing more.

Does Chester not like the Wellness, Fancy Feast and Tiki cat that he was getting?
 
He loves his canned food very much.
I'm just always looking for "better" dry foods that I can feed the rest of my clowder. I am pretty sure that Chester stays out of it - we NEVER see him at the dry bowl - but I want low carb just in case.
The Young Again didn't really work out for my crew. I had a couple of them go nuts for it and a couple more eat as little as they could. Ordering online was a pain and it was expensive, just not worth it in the end. We switched to EVO and that seemed to be a great solution, then EVO had the recall and our pet food store stopped carrying it. We went over to Wellness Core as a reasonable compromise, but I've never been really happy with it for some unknown reason. We got a sample bag of Orijen from a friend and it was like kitty crack - they LOVED it (maybe too much).

Kibble, although far from ideal, is also easier to send with Chester when he goes to the Hotel. He's used to eating canned food four times a day, and I don't think they feed him that often there. He always comes back with way too much food left over. Some low-carb kibble to keep in his bowl between feedings would be one way to make his stay easier.

Fortunately, I just found a new pet food store by my work that DOES carry EVO, so we'll probably just go back to that.
 
I hear you on the Orijen being like kitty crack. My hyper-T/IBD kitty Libby loved the Orijen and Arcana brands of cat food and she did well on them with her IBD. It was one of the few foods she could eat and not have constant diarrhea. I tried switching her to canned and even raw but she wanted nothing to do with them.

Sorry to hear about the Young Again zero carb not working out for your clowder. It seems to be either that cats love it or hate it and it sure didn't help to have half your gang turn up their noses at it.

Many kitties just will not eat as much when they are being boarded. Sounds like that is the case with Chester. If that's true, you might want to consider dropping the insulin dose way down, maybe even in half while he's off at the kitty hotel. It would be safer for him, especially since many boarding places are not staffed overnight, and we suspect that's the time when Chester likes to nosedive.
 
Please note that soon EVO products may not be available due to their rash of recalls. A Pet Supplies Plus manager told me they were no longer able to get their products (10/28/1025)
 
Someone is predicting a food going away in 10 years? Awesome. I wish all foods would guarantee they'll be around for 10 yrs.
I don't think the change in availability has much to do with the recall is it does with another company buying them and phasing out the lines they don't need.

We tried Orijen when EVO was on recall. My cats interest just kind of waned until no one was eating it anymore. I didn't let my diabetics have it so I can't say to the effects on BG.
 
Bill Neeboyskey said:
Please note that soon EVO products may not be available due to their rash of recalls. A Pet Supplies Plus manager told me they were no longer able to get their products (10/28/1025)
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It has nothing to do with recalls. I was told by my local pet store by the Natura rep that several lines were discontinued and will be re-evaluated and some possibly re-introduced. The purple bag of dry EVO cat & kitten food is still available. Chewy.com has the best prices I've seen.
 
I just got off the phone with an EVO rep, she said that the purple bag, Turkey and Chicken, is the biggest seller in their entire line and isn't going anywhere. She also said it's in the talks to get it back into Canada. She said sales had dropped too low to warrant the hassle of international dealings.

Maybe if enough people from Canada called and or emailed them requesting it, it might expedite the process?
 
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Mogmom and Goofus said:
I just got off the phone with an EVO rep, she said that the purple bag, Turkey and Chicken, is the biggest seller in their entire line and isn't going anywhere. She also said it's in the talks to get it back into Canada. She said sales had dropped too low to warrant the hassle of international dealings.

Maybe if enough people from Canada called and or emailed them requesting it, it might expedite the process?
Click to expand...

I'll have to get on the phone to them again. With our pet food import regulations getting much more strict up here, they must be getting a lot of requests to be reconsidering the Canadian market. Here's hoping!
 
@MaryB & Chester - let us know how you make out with the Orijen numbers. I know that low GI foods work in human diabetics - you never know! I have one cat who is apparently taking lessons from Menace in terms of transitioning to wet food - I'd sure like other options to feed him. Currently feeding NV Instinct Chicken - reportedly 17% calories from carbs. His fasting BG is 3.2 and I'll keep testing him every few months (especially because he's pudgy). I have a great carb calculator I got from Elizabeth (Elizabeth & Bertie) and can run the numbers for you.

@Mogmom and Goofus -thanks for the update Tammy. I need to get on the phone, too.
 
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