Orijen dog food

[mgt818]

Hello,
Well since I joined this forum, I have learned a lotabout different dog foods that I had never otherwise heard of.  Orijen would be one of those.  I am considering this dog food for my dogs but I have 2 questions if anyone is able to provide an oppinion I would greatly appreciate it.
My first question is about the protein content in the food...  they have 40%min. protein in their foods.  Is that too much protein?  My dogs are not overly-active dogs.  My other question is would it be ok to give the kibble in combination with a raw food such as Honest Kitchen?  Or would I unbalance the ratios as some companies claim?  Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

[Danielle]

mgt818:
On the itchmo.com forum, the US sales manager for Orijen posted his e-mail address to answer questions. Here is the link to that board: http://itchmoforums.com/index.php?topic=311.60.

I am seriously looking at this food as well, and share your concerns about the protein. I read an excellent article in The Whole Dog Journal which said that senior dogs require more protein than the average adult dog, yet most senior formulas cut down the protein. This is why I really want to boost my dogs' food.  However, I just found out my oldest dog has hypothyroidism, so I have asked Clark if this food would be safe for him and his nutritionist is looking into it.

My vet thought 40% was a bit high, but suggested I slowly ease into it and then maybe mix 1/2 and 1/2 with the Canidae they are on now to bring the level down a bit. (I asked about this food before we discovered the hypothyroid problem.)  That said, I would think you could give a little less of the Orijen  and mix with Honest Kitchen. That would bring the protein level down a bit. You might want to ask Clark if that would unbalance the ratio. Also, there are a lot of botanical ingredients in the Orijen, and you might want to check the Honest Kitchen and see if there are any ingredients that might counteract the botanicals. Does that make sense?