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Could Orijen Be Too Rich?


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Hi everyone. I was wondering if I could pick your minds for some advice. I have recently have swapped Baci on to Orijen (previously we were feeding her Nutro and this worked really well). We feed her a cup and a half as it is difficult to keep weight on her. Unfortunately over the last couple of days she has been throwing up and other horrible things overnight. So a couple of questions:

- Is it the food?

- Is there anything I can do rather than throw the food out?

- What sort of food should we feed in the future?

Thank you in advance for all your help.

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Well, you can keep her on it and see if it is the food or something else... or you can take her off it and see if it is the food or something else.

It's possible that there is something in the food that doesn't agree with her - Zero has allergies to preservatives and colours (makes him throw up) but with something like orijen, he didn't have a problem with the food itself - it just made him hyper. I'll be putting him back on it when his diet is over and we start doing agility.

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Hi- did you gradually introduce the new food?Sometimes tummy upsets can occur if food is changed suddenly...

If she loses weight quickly, and is throwing up etc- maybe a vet check is in order? It may not be the food at all !

best of luck...

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Food was introduced gradually and strangely the throwing up etc is only happening in the evening. Odd considering she is fed bright and early in the morning. But otherwise really bright and sparky as normal. It is a puzzle.

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Hmm that is odd - and shes only started this nightly throwing up since the food change? Or has there been another trigger - ie. nervous vomitting from bad experiences in the laundry?

Is the vomit just regurgitated food or is it bile?

Darcy is a big vomitter - but he never had a set time, usually 2-3 times per day. Turned out he had major stomach/digestion issues as a result of having parvo as a pup. Now on medication for life. But he doesn't vomit nearly as much!

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If I were you I would take her off the orijen and feed her plain chicken minced & rice for a few days and see if that stops the vomitting. That way you will soon no if it is the food. If the vomitting continues obviously you will need to see a vet.

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Zero's the same - he vomits after he eats certain foods that have artificial colours or preservatives in them and them sometimes for no visable reason (we've since found out he has scar tissue on his stomach from his abusive old owners that cause the vomiting when he drinks water too quickly).

If it's not the food, i would suggest a trip (or at least a phone call) to the vet.

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It is after she is put to bed as she sleeps in the laundry.

It certainly could be the food doesn't agree with her, but there could be a lot of other reasons. The above sentence makes me think it's probably not a sensitivity to the food. If she's fed in the morning and then vomits at night after going to bed it may be that her system is so empty she's nauseous. Orijen is grain free so theoretically it should have a faster transit time in her system that a kibble with grain, like Nutro. You might try giving her a little bit of food or a snack before bed time and seeing if that helps.

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Food was introduced gradually and strangely the throwing up etc is only happening in the evening. Odd considering she is fed bright and early in the morning.

Do you feed in the evening? If only in the morning, the food should all be digested by evening. So if she's only throwing up yellow liquid bile, then it may be because her stomach is empty.

The instructions on the label say to feed twice a day. Makes sense as without grain you feed less and it passes through smaller and faster.

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Same Orijen problems here.

The girls thrive beautifully on Holistic Eagle Pack. Naughty mumma introduced Orijen (slowly!). Madames absolutely loved it and poos were better. Unfortunately this changed once Orijen became 100% of biscuit component in their diet (they also have raw lean beef with every meal + weekly eggs and boiled veg) .

Happiness at meal times was replaced by "I am on a dog-diet", "I don't like food" (read ANY food!), "I have a tummy ache and a headache, so leave me alone".

They are back on Holistic Eagle Pack. Good mumma is enjoying the spoilt brats again.

BTW, Madames are fed 3xday. Not more food, the same amount spread over 3 meals.

Edited by Anna
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the protein content in Orijen is above 70%. For a lot of dogs I would expect hyperactivity and stomach upsets that is a severe amount of concentrate to be fed to a dog. 25% is the following

PACIFIC ORCHARD APPLES

FRASER VALLEY CRANBERRIES

SUN-CURED ALFALFA

PRAIRIE POTATOES

ALBERTA SUNFLOWER

WHOLE CARROTS

VINE-RIPENED TOMATOES

PACIFIC SEA VEGETABLES

Kelp, Irish Moss and Dulse are exceptional foods that are a valuable source for a variety of vitamins, minerals, trace elements, enzymes and phytochemicals. Sea vegetables contain iodine and absorb toxins from the bowel, increase and enhance metabolism and restore and nourish the entire body.

We say dogs shouldnt eat cat food long term because it is bad for their health yet Orijen has a higher protein content then most cat foods?! Maybe do a blood test especially on older dogs to test kidney function before whacking them on a diet like this.

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I just wanted to say thank you to everyone. I'll probably take her off it for a couple of days and feed chicken and rice. Then feed twice a day and see how Baci goes. Will keep you all up to date.

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the protein content in Orijen is above 70%. For a lot of dogs I would expect hyperactivity and stomach upsets that is a severe amount of concentrate to be fed to a dog. 25% is the following

PACIFIC ORCHARD APPLES

FRASER VALLEY CRANBERRIES

SUN-CURED ALFALFA

PRAIRIE POTATOES

ALBERTA SUNFLOWER

WHOLE CARROTS

VINE-RIPENED TOMATOES

PACIFIC SEA VEGETABLES

Kelp, Irish Moss and Dulse are exceptional foods that are a valuable source for a variety of vitamins, minerals, trace elements, enzymes and phytochemicals. Sea vegetables contain iodine and absorb toxins from the bowel, increase and enhance metabolism and restore and nourish the entire body.

We say dogs shouldnt eat cat food long term because it is bad for their health yet Orijen has a higher protein content then most cat foods?! Maybe do a blood test especially on older dogs to test kidney function before whacking them on a diet like this.

So surely the same would apply for a BARF diet or even a diet in the wild - ie the natural canine diet? Weren't grains introduced by manufacturers to fill out food.

I have in fact experienced a lack of stomach upsets etc compared to feeding Eagle Pack, Royal Canin or Euk.

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the protein content in Orijen is above 70%. For a lot of dogs I would expect hyperactivity and stomach upsets that is a severe amount of concentrate to be fed to a dog. 25% is the following

PACIFIC ORCHARD APPLES

FRASER VALLEY CRANBERRIES

SUN-CURED ALFALFA

PRAIRIE POTATOES

ALBERTA SUNFLOWER

WHOLE CARROTS

VINE-RIPENED TOMATOES

PACIFIC SEA VEGETABLES

Kelp, Irish Moss and Dulse are exceptional foods that are a valuable source for a variety of vitamins, minerals, trace elements, enzymes and phytochemicals. Sea vegetables contain iodine and absorb toxins from the bowel, increase and enhance metabolism and restore and nourish the entire body.

We say dogs shouldnt eat cat food long term because it is bad for their health yet Orijen has a higher protein content then most cat foods?! Maybe do a blood test especially on older dogs to test kidney function before whacking them on a diet like this.

I am sorry but I you are mistaken on several levels:

1) Orijen is about 40% protein, not 70%.

2) 70% you are referring to is meat, which sounds about right because dogs are carnivores

3) the 25% IS NOT the list you have since the Orijen Adult ingredients are:

Deboned chicken, chicken meal, turkey meal, russet potato, lake whitefish, chicken fat, sweet potato, whole eggs, turkey, salmon meal, salmon and anchovy oils, salmon, natural chicken flavour, sunflower oil, sun-cured alfalfa, dried brown kelp, carrots, spinach, peas, tomatoes, apples, psyllium, dulse, glucosamine Hcl, cranberries, black currants, rosemary extract, chondroitin sulfate, sea salt.

Which means that the 30% vegetables are mostly russet potatoes and sweet potatoes.

4) Cat food is not harmful for dogs. It's the dog food that is harmful for cats as it does not contain enough taurine that the cats cannot make themselves, as opposed to dogs.

5) There is no scientific evidence for kidney problems resulting from high protein meat based foods. There is however evidence that high protein grain foods can be harmful for kidneys. Orijen does not contain any grains.

Back to the OP. It's possible that Orijen does not agree with your dog. However if you feed her in the morning and she is throwing up in the evening, after she has already digested her food, there might be other reasons. For example you might need to feed her twice a day or something else is going on.

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Is it possible that you are feeding too much Orijen? You should feed her a lot less Orijen than the less premium foods such as Nutro - the amounts on the bag are guidelines, and maybe try adjusting a little bit less AND also spread it out between two meals a day, morning and night...

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Good point Gomez! I have dropped from 9 cups to 7 cups a day on Orijien.

Laffi - you are correct - protein levels are around 40%. The food is 70-75% meat source and 25-30% fruit/vegetables.

Google Urban Animal as they did a series of articles over the last issues about deciphering food labels.

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