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Feeding the cat dog food?

chloe92us

Well-known member
I can't remember if it was this board that had a thread about the Wysong food that was designed for cats and dogs...

Anyway, I was thinking that since my cat loves my dogs' food anyway, is there any reason not to feed the same food?

The only thing it sounds like my cat needs over my dogs is TAURINE, so I would have to make sure the food I choose has that in it (it's looking like many of them do).

Am I right? Should I try it?
 
Well, I'm feedling my pack Orijen now, which does NOT have taurine, but Solid Gold Barking at the moon DOES. Anyone have experience with this food?
 
No, it isn't wise to do this with any old food. Cats have some very different needs and most dog food has a protein level that is way too low as well. Cats can get very ill from being fed dog food (whereas dogs mostly just get too many calories and too high a protein level from cat food).
 
Okay, well my cat eats a lower quality food than my dogs, so here is a comparison. The dog food has MORE protein than the cat food PLUS all of the supplements suggested for cats!

Cat's current food:
Crude Protein (minimum)32.00%Crude Fat (minimum)17.00%Crude Fiber (maximum)3.00%Moisture (maximum)10.00%Ash (maximum)6.75% Linoleic Acid (minimum)3.50%Magnesium (maximum)0.085%Zinc (minimum)200 mg/kgVitamin E (minimum)150 IU/kgTaurine (minimum)0.16%Ascorbic Acid (minimum)*18 mg/kgDocosahexaenoic Acid (DHA) (minimum)*0.05%


Solid Gold, barking at the moon:
Guaranteed Analysis:
Crude Protein, min 42%
Crude Fat, min 20%
Crude Fiber, max 4%
Moisture, max 10%

Ocean Fish Meal | Beef | Potatoes | Potato Protein | Canola Oil | Tomato Pomace | Natural Flavoring | Salmon Oil (source of DHA) | Choline Chloride | Taurine | Dried Chicory Root | Parsley Flakes | Pumpkin Meal | Almond Oil | Sesame Oil | Yucca Schidigera Extract | Thyme | Blueberries | Cranberries | Carrots | Broccoli | Vitamin E Supplement | Iron Proteinate | Zinc Proteinate | Ferrous Sulfate | Zinc Sulfate | Copper Sulfate | Potassium Iodide | Thiamine Mononitrate | Manganese Proteinate | Manganous Oxide | Ascorbic Acid | Vitamin A Supplement | Biotin | Calcium Panthothenate | Manganese Sulfate | Sodium Selenite | Pyridoxine Hydrochloride | Vitamin B12 (Cyanocobalamin) | Riboflavin | Vitamin D Supplement | Folic Acid |
 
Feed your cat cat food! Solid Gold makes a cat food. Do NOT feed a cat dog food. I worked at a vet clinic where a kitten was fed dog food and her hind legs never properly developed. She had to be euthanized due to bladder/leg complications from poor growth. Check out this: http://www.cvm.uiuc.edu/petcolumns/showarticle.cfm?id=189

Please feed them cat food. Their nutrition differences are too wide to be ignored.
 
The supplement LEVELS are likely to be be completely different!! Particularly taurine which cats require at a certain level or become very ill and which dogs probably do not really need at all. Also with few exceptions, most dog foods are up to and over 10% LOWER in protein than dog foods -- many trainers fell high protein levels in dog food causes hyperactivity and behaviour problems. This may not apply to every dog but consider that Royal Canin's small breed dog food is 28% protein and that is considerably higher than all its other foods, they say because small dogs have a much higher metabolism. Most dog foods, such as James Wellbeloved or RC large breed, are only about 21% protein. Compare that to my RC cat food with is 32% protein -- that's a significant difference!! The very high protein dog foods do have some level of controversy around them -- a lot of breeders won't feed them nor will many trainers. But as noted, all dogs differ.

Also why is the cat the second class citizen? :shifty: Surely you care about both equally? :lol: My cats and dogs get equal quality when it comes to food and equal care. :c*t: (or I'd hear about it from the cats...)

Also see:

Q. Why is it a no-no to give dog food to cats?

A. As we often say, "Cats are not small dogs." In the case of diet, it is important to realize a cat's nutritional requirements are much different than those of a dog. For example, cats require higher levels of protein than dogs. Cats must have the amino acid called 'taurine' in their diet; dogs can actually make their own taurine. A cat eating food deficient in taurine can develop severe heart disease and other health problems. Almost all cat foods now contain added taurine.
Cats require a different form of Vitamin A than dogs do. Dogs can use beta-carotene as a source of Vitamin A; cats cannot. Cats can not manufacture the fatty acid called 'arachidonic acid' and must have it supplemented in their diet; it is not essential for dogs to have this fatty acid in their food.

So, you see, if a cat is allowed to eat a significant amount of dog food, the cat would be eating a diet deficient in many of the cat's required nutrients. For your cat's health, be sure she is eating quality cat food.

Even when making raw diets you add different things to cat food than to dog food. I wouldn't even buy something designed for both regardless of the reputation of the food company.

I keep the cat food out of reach of the dogs, and the dog food is never available long enough for the cats to get to it. :lol:
 
Hello

Having not had any dogs for quite a number of years till the girls came along we always had rescue cats and they were treated like the ancient cats in Egypt especially my bad tempered neutered character ginger tom named Fudge (he died from Fiv aged 5 ) then Ben came along (He passed away July 2006 age 10 then Aug 2006 Poppy the cav came ) ,for some reason i always found that gingers had a very strong dominant way and normally terrorised the neighbourhood ,my next door but one neighbour actually complained that Fudge was bullying and tormenting his pet Rottweiler ,which i would have felt a bit ashamed about admitting. Both my two cats have the best "cat" food i can find and both are fully insured for life with Petplan and for hols i have found a superb cattery in Eastham run by two cat loving ladies one of which is a retired vet (y)
 
Hmmm, as for the difference between what I feed my cat & dogs...I still feed her what is considered "premium" food, but not the ultra-premium stuff I feed my dogs.

Let's just say my cat eats the equivalent to what I eat, and my dogs eat top-of-the-line gourmet, much better than I eat!
 
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