We have a mix of senior and adolescent cats at home (2 seniors, 1 adolescent) and finding the right food is always a challenge. In the end we mix it up a bit and choose between 2-3 mid level or semi-premium foods of various flavors.
Although the brands we choose are decent (Nutro, Purina One, Iams), we have yet to try a truly premium food. I also do my best to stay away from gimmicks like holistic foods (sorry Wellness!). What I am truly interested in trying is an ultra premium food made and prepared with the same attention that human food is and from the same quality ingredients. Recently we had the chance to try such a cat food.
Mr. Chewy provided us with a 15.4 pound bag of Orijen 6 Fish cat food to try out. In my prior professional life I was a general manager of a well known big box pet store and consider myself knowledgeable in animal foods. I know what a quality food is and I must say I was pretty impressed when I opened the Orijen cat food when it arrived.
The first thing you notice is the smell, it hits you like a brick. It smells like bag of fish! And this is good! What do you smell when you open the food you are using now? I used to smell something like fish, but it also smelled like wheat or an unidentifiable sour odor. The reason why Origin has such a strong scent is because it is 80% fish! Most mid level foods contain maybe 20-25% actual meat, and much of that is from a dry meal. The remaining 20% in the bag is vegetation. There aren't any grains, gluten, or fillers of any kind in Orijen. And that brings me to my next observation.
The next most prominent aspect of this food is how dense and rich each kibble is. Why is this important? Well, ultra high quality ingredients and no fillers equals a food that is solid yet digestible. And highly digestible food means fewer trips to the litter box. The food gets turned into energy, muscle, and bones, not poops. I didn't even need to feed Orijen to my cats to know we received a quality food, but how did the cats like it?
The cats came running as the smell was quite obvious to them. At first they were cautious, if you know cats you know you don't just change their food. I can't imagine what I would have found in my bed that night if it didn't go over well. Well, I can say that I found no surprises on my pillow that night and the cats seem happy as clams. Their stool is smaller and more firm, no more surprise loose and unusually smelly poops.
Although we aren't through the big bag yet, the cats are loving Orijen and so am I. My eldest cat has been quite frisky and playful recently, it can't be a coincidence...
To learn more about this and other Orijen pet foods, visit MrChewy.com.
Thank you to Mr. Chewy for providing a complimentary product sample for us to base this review upon.
