Is it safe to feed a dog cat food?

Question

My sister has a caviliar king charles, but it turns its nose up at all different varietys of dog food. The only thing that he does eat is cat food, but that is only very rare (a little bit every day or so). There is also a cat in the holsehold, so i guess its just copying her! Especially as he sits at the back door miowing, and he lays on the back of the sofas as the cat does,
Is this something to worry about, or can we continue to feed him the food that is intended for cats?
Human food is his favourite though, and we know that overall that can definately do him more harm than good.
We are just so worried about him!!

Any tips and advice would be very much appreciated.
Many thanks.

Answer 1

you are not suposed to feed the dog a cat food diet, although you cannot tell my dog that. Catfoods have a differnt make up, richer in fatty oils and higher in proteins. There is no harm if they eat it since dogs are by nature scavengers.

Human food, if organic and or doesn't contain chemicals are good for your dog. Veggies are the best. it is the chemical additives you need to stay away from.

My dog hasn't been ill because of his sneeking in the cat food. I have open feeders and the animals eat all the time. I had asked my vet and she said as long as it isn't all the time and his only main food.

Cats should not eat dog food due to the lower fatty oils needed by cats as well as the additive to keep the urinary tracks from becoming infected.

Answer 2

NO! She needs to keep the cat food up where only the cat can get to it.

She can boil up some chicken, and run it through the food processor. Cook some rice (2 c water to 1 c rice) and put the processed chicken in the rice while it is cooking. Once the chicken & rice is cooked, she can put about 1/4 of a cup of it in a bowl and add 1/2 a handful of dry DOG food and mix it up. Feed him this for 2 or 3 days, then reduce the rice/chicken a little replacing it with a little more dry food. Another 3 days reduce the rice/chicken even more so it is mostly dry dog food now.

This way it is dog food with a little extra something rather than the other way around. After about 2 wks he'll be eating the dog food.

With the remainder of the rice/chicken, put 1/2 c of it in a ziploc baggie and flatten and freeze. Instant doggie tv dinners. Thaw 1 bag a day for a small dog using no more than 1/2 of it per feeding. My dogs love it!

Answer 3

Well...it probably shouldn't...cats diet is much meater that a dogs.... but as a dog can live on catfood..a cat cannot live on a dogfood. Catfood also has more calories per punch...sooooo you could end up with a fat dog.
If that is what he likes...try it..and then slowly mix in whatever regular dog food you buy little by little...till eventually he is eating the dog food.
As for human food... the greasy McDonald's type food is no good for him or human....but real food..the kind your grandma used to make in the 40's and 50's is very good for him. Remember...dog food is a new invention... its only been around for maybe 60 years. So..knowing that..think about what Fido used to eat... scraps from the table and whatever they could scrounge...and they lived far longer than they do today...the average age being 18-20 years...now we call our dogs old at 12. As said..if what he wants to eat is people food...by all means...carrots and greens are okay for them...onions, apple seeds and graps are no-no's. You want to feed the last of the hamburger or steak scraps to him..go for it.... just remember to stay away from the calorie riddled stuff..bread...french fries... chips...that we as humans really shouldn't be eating. Honestly..if your dog won't eat dog food... maybe he knows something you don't?

Answer 4

safe feed dog cat food

Answer 5

I wouldn't recommend it! Dog's have different nutritional needs than cat's do. I was having a problem with one of my dog's, not wanting to eat his dog food either. I took him to the vet to have him checked out and make sure the reason he wasn't eating, wasn't due to a medical problem. The vet said he was healthy, and was just a picky eater. He recommended, that I switch his food to "Royal Canin". The second I opened the bag, he got real excited. I put it down, and he loved it. I have been feeding it to him for a while, and have never had a problem since. It's a good, highly nutritious food, and you can find it in any pet supply store. If you have a Petsmart in your area, you can get it there. It's worth a try! I hope this helps! Good Luck!

Answer 6

no its not really safe. cats can eat dog food but dogs cant eat cat food because of certain things that are put in cat food but human food doesn't necessarily do more harm than good. if you cook a bit of mince up in the morning and put it neatly in the middle of the plate with a tiny tiny bit of parsley on it or just leave it plain in the morning then at night cook him a bit of chicken and that diet will do him the world of good remembering to give him something just a little bit different on a Wednesday of each week then he might be appreciative of Wednesdays as he wont know what he is getting.

Answer 7

No, dogs should not eat cat food. Go with the first answerer for how to wean him off it! Cat food has a higher fat content, and generally a different nutritional makeup.

Please note than Cavalier King Charles Spaniels are the NUMBER ONE breed for getting overweight and then obese. It's a breed disposition, and often leads to heart problems. Seriously, the number of ideal weight cavvies I've seen in my life is - three. And one of those was only because it was very ill! And I've seen a lot of cavvies.

Ordinarily I'd say cat food is OK for an occasional treat - but not with Cavaliers. They're so ridiculously prone to being overweight you literally can't give them an inch - probably about a quarter of the owners of animals attending my weight clinics are on strict instructions to keep their dogs AWAY from the cat food!!

Chalice

Answer 8

It's fine if he sneaks a bit of the cats food from time to time, but he can't be fed that as a main meal. Cat food lacks the vitamins that dogs need and therefore they have to eat dog food.

Good luck

Edit: P is right, 5 out of 7 of my dogs are picky as ever, I fed them some Innova EVO kibble and they just chowed it down, you should try it! It's extremely healthy too.

Answer 9

I know of someone myself gives their dog, cat food, they have 2 cats, 1 dog, so the dog went for the cats food instead, but I feel, it's safer to keep each type animal, on their own breed of food, as each breed, may have special dietary needs, and this coud possible hurt the pets intestines, also, their are special vitamin needs for each. I think a vet should be consulted on this matter to be safe, for the pets sake.

Answer 10

Well cat food can give your dog the runs! It is pretty rich too. I suggest trying a high quality brand like Innova EVO dog food. If your dog does not eat that, then he is just being picky.

It also helps to have your dog on a feeding schedule. For example I feed my dogs once in the morning and once at night. I take their food away after 10 minuets if they do not eat it. Then they do not get fed until night time. If they still will not eat, they have to wait until morning. This has only happend once though. They get Innova EVO dog food btw.

You have to teach your dog that he needs to eat his food. He sounds like he is the one in charge. A dog can go for 4-5 days w/o eating and will not hurt himself. A dog will not starve himself unless he is sick so don't worry about him. He is just being a picky dog.