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Orijen Guardian 8 Formula Review

Orijen Dry Cat Food Review

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Ingredient Analysis

When evaluating a cat food, the first five ingredients can tell you a lot about the quality of a product as they make up the bulk of the product. Ideally, you're looking for quality protein sources with a minimum of cheap starches, fillers or by-products. Continuing down the ingredient list, look for ingredients that resemble real food with a minimal number of unpronounceable chemicals - the same as you would for human food.

Orijen Guardian 8 Formula includes the following:

Note - a bolded ingredient in the above tables indicates it is one of the first five ingredients listed by the product manufacturer.

In this case, Orijen Guardian 8 Formula's most plentiful ingredient listed is chicken, which is considered a quality protein source. It also contains salmon, turkey, whole herring and whole mackerel as additional quality protein sources.

Additionally, it's worth noting that this product does not list either by-products nor bulk-adding fillers within its top ingredients. By-products are considered inferior, lesser quality ingredients. Common fillers typically used to add bulk to the product are not required in your cat's diet. Together, their combined absence may be indicative of a higher quality product.

Allergen alert: This product contains salmon, whole herring, whole mackerel, dehydrated sardine, pollock oil, eggs and dehydrated egg which may be problematic for cats who suffer from seafood or eggs food allergies.

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Nutritional Analysis*

Compared to the other 2849 cat foods in our database, Orijen Guardian 8 Formula has:

• an average amount of protein
• an average amount of carbohydrates
• an average amount of fat
• less fiber than average
• significantly less moisture than an equivalent wet food

In general, cats have been shown to do better with a higher protein, medium fat, lower carb diet with sufficient moisture. However, specialty diets as recommended by your veterinarian may prioritize a different nutritional breakdown.

Calorie Breakdown

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All the product information on this page is based on data collected from the manufacturer's product website as retrieved on January 7, 2023.

The authoritative source for ingredient lists and nutritional analysis for any pet food is always the pet food manufacturer.

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Ingredients

Ingredients as published by the cat food manufacturer:

Chicken, salmon, turkey, whole herring, whole mackerel, chicken liver, turkey giblets (liver, heart, gizzard), eggs, dehydrated chicken, dehydrated turkey, dehydrated sardine, dehydrated chicken liver, dehydrated egg, whole red lentils, whole pinto beans, rabbit, pollock oil, whole green lentils, whole chickpeas, whole peas, whole navy beans, pea starch, ground miscanthus grass, natural chicken flavor, chicken fat, chicken hearts, whole cranberries, choline chloride, dried kelp, mixed tocopherols (preservative), whole pumpkin, whole butternut squash, collard greens, whole apples, whole pears, zinc proteinate, vitamin E supplement, dried chicory root, hydrolyzed yeast, dried brewers yeast, thiamine mononitrate, riboflavin, niacin, calcium pantothenate, pyridoxine hydrochloride, folic acid, vitamin B12 supplement, copper proteinate, turmeric, sarsaparilla root, althea root, rosehips, juniper berries, rosemary extract, citric acid (preservative), dried Lactobacillus acidophilus fermentation product, dried Bifidobacterium animalis fermentation product, dried Lactobacillus casei fermentation product.

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*Note that nutritional percentages reported are only estimated values, and are indicated as such as (est). Each cat food manufacturer is required by law to publish a Guaranteed Analysis, which defines each product's maximum values of fiber and moisture in addition to the minimum values of protein and fat contained within. Optionally, manufacturers may also publish a product's ash content. When they are not published an average of 3% ash for wet food, and 6% ash for dry food, will be used. Because exact nutritional percentages are not available and all calculated values (including carbohydrate percentages and calorie amounts) are determined using these minimum and maximum published values and therefore may differ from actual values. Any other manufacturer published values in a product's Guaranteed Analysis is done at the manufacture's discretion, and is not used in any of the calculations done by CatFoodDB.

Although a high score may be indicative of a higher-quality product it is not a guarantee. Similarly, a low score may or may not indicate an inferior product. The best food for your cat is the one that meets their individual needs.

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