Dry Cat Food For Dogs?

[cj-b]

I'm very curious to know if you can feed a dog dry cat food?

While I was looking at dry cat food the other day, I noticed all the ingredients are pretty much the same as the dogs kibble, just different levels of protein and fats etc. The main difference I found, was the cat food was much higher in protein around the 40% and less fat around the 5-10%. I know this is essential for a cats diet, but I'm thinking it might also be benefical for dogs, as animal protein levels seem to be the key factor when choosing between dog kibbles.

So I'm curious, would you or have you ever fed your dog dry cat food?

Edited September 7, 2010 by cj-b

[~Anne~]

My dogs eat the cat's food all the time.

Seriously though, it is ok to feed your dog cat food but not ok to feed your cat dog food. Cats have different nutritional needs, such as a need for taurine, that dogs don't have.

[karly101]

Temporarily or small amounts are ok.. as a long term diet its not a great idea as dogs and cats have different nutritional needs. There are theories that too high protein levels may be implicated in renal failure in cats and am not sure if this would also be an issue if dogs were fed cats food long term.

Edited September 7, 2010 by karly101

[Linda K]

ditto to what Anne said, would also add that the biscuit size would be alot smaller with cats too.

[Starkehre]

Small amounts OK as in for training treats and similar, but I would not suggest you feed as a staple.

Also perhaps have another look at the nutrition panel, there is likely to be a difference in sodium content.

Cats can be finniky eaters, hence in most cat foods the sodium levels are high as sodium is a booster (flavour enhancer). Too high salt content in your dog's diet can lead to some issues such as pancreatitis, kidney stones and other nasties.

You may have noticed that as a general pattern, cat foods are double the price of dog foods. this is becuse of the boosters they need to use in the cat foods to make them palatable for cats.

I do not advocate feeding such tasty foods to a dog other tha in a training situation, when they can be equally satisfied on dog foods. IMO it is setting yourself up to have a fussy dog. It also gives you nothing to fall back on if you ever have illness and eating issues down the track and need a back up plan for desperate feeding times.

[Staranais]

I guess you could feed cat food to a dog, but it's richer & will put more weight on the dog. To my knowledge any diet that is suitable for a cat would probably be suitable for a dog. The converse isn't true - cats need several nutrients that dogs don't, and higher levels of protein & fat.

There are minor differences in most minerals in AAFCO levels in cat vs dog food, e.g., dog food has a high minimum Zn level than cat food, and a max & min Ca:P ratio are specified for dog food & not for cat food. Although nutrient levels do vary widely between brands of dog food as well, since the AAFCO levels are often fairly vague, and often do not specify an upper safe limit for nutrients.

FYI:

http://www.scribd.com/doc/27322535/AAFCO-D...trient-Profiles

If you think about it, I guess if you are feeding a prey model diet, you'll feed pretty much the same thing to a cat & a small dog. The only difference is that you can get away with more mistakes when you feed raw to dogs compared to cats.

However, I don't see any point feeding cat food to a dog, it costs more, and like one poster said, cat food tends to be very palatable (cats are fussy!) so by not feeding cat food now, you have a fall back in case your dog gets ill & won't eat dog kibble. Why not just buy a premium grain free dog kibble if you want to spend the extra $?

Edited September 7, 2010 by Staranais