[Britster]

Very insightful article. Explains the different nutrient levels and how a food can LOOK very great but isn't necessarily.

A Look at Orijen Adult Food, or Why I Should Stop Making Rules If I’m Just Going to Break Them |

A Look at Orijen Adult Food, or Why I Should Stop Making Rules If I’m Just Going to Break Them

Disclaimer: I am not a nutritionist of any kind, human or canine. I’ve been feeding a home made diet for eleven years, and became interested in the actual nutritional content of foods after seeing signs of nutrient deficiency in my dogs, both obvious (toenails falling off), and not so obvious (dry nose. Both of those were zinc deficiency, btw.) I don’t belong to any particular sect of the Church of Dogfood, and I don’t believe in the One True Diet ™. I feel each dog should be fed according to it’s needs, and a dog’s needs do not necessarily match up with the psychological needs of the human who feeds it.


I consider Pubmed to be recreational reading; that should tell you something about my dog food philosophy. I feel that choosing a food for your dog should be based on the type of food the dog needs for health conditions or stage of life (if applicable), cost, whether the dog does well on the food and will eat it, and nutrition. Choosing a food should be done with the head, not with the heart. This is why I rarely participate in dog food related discussions.


It’s been a long time since I’ve fed kibbles, and the last time I looked, I was rather appalled at the way kibbles are marketed. This food is no different and that, in part, is what prompted me to take a look at the entire food in question, not just the mineral content.


Over on Inu-Baka there was a post on a dog food line, Orijen, changing it’s formula. The bit about calcium levels interested me, so I went to the company web site and took a look at the food line. That look turned into a cursory analysis, since they specifically mentioned calcium levels. After a short conversation in the comments, I took a closer look at the major minerals and fat soluble vitamins and this is what I found. I did not change dry matter to as fed, the food has 10% moisture, so the difference is rather small anyways.


According to the 2006 National Research Council nutrient requirements for dogs, a moderately active adult dog of 55lbs would need on a daily basis (doesn’t actually need to be fed on a daily basis, as long as the dog gets what it needs over time):

Calories 1297

Calcium 1450mg

Phosphorus 1100mg

Magnesium 220.5mg

Sodium 292.92mg

Potassium 1570 mg

Iron 11.18mg

Copper 2.24mg

Zinc 22.36mg

Vitamin A 167.7 IU

Vitamin D 201 IU

Three hundred grams of the Adult formula of Orijen food provides:

Calories 1150

Calcium 4800mg

Phosphorus 4200mg

Magnesium 300mg

Sodium 1200mg

Potassium 770mg

Iron 72mg

Copper 7.8mg

Zinc 60mg

Vitamin A 4500

Vitamin D 600

(Note that my dogs would likely need more of this food than the recommended amounts, because they are spazmoids.)


That is three times the amount of calcium and phosphorus, four times the sodium, six and a half times the iron, three and a half times copper, and three times as much zinc as the NRC recommendations. Vitamin A is high but the maximum safe amount of that is huge. Vitamin D is also high but well within the safe dosage. Magnesium is acceptable. Potassium is at half the recommended amount.


Excess dietary calcium and phosphorus decreases magnesium and zinc absorption. Excess zinc reduces copper and iron absorption. The correct ratio for zinc to iron should be 2:1, and zinc to copper should be 10:1. Increased calcium calls for an increase in zinc, and thus the other ratios will change as well. Because excesses in these three minerals can be problematic, it is optimal to reduce the calcium and phosphorus, instead of increasing the zinc, iron, and copper.

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