Pet food: can dogs eat cat food?

This is a question many owners ask themselves: Can dogs eat cat food? The short answer is: no, your dog should not eat cat food, be it croquettesbe it food humid. This is for a simple reason: the nutritional needs of dogs and cats are different.

Just as the cat cannot eat dog food because otherwise it will lack taurine and proteins, the dog should also not eat cat food to avoid digestion problems and nutritional deficiencies.

Differences between kibble for dogs and cats

The dog is usually considered an animal omnivorousalthough many do not like this definition and prefer to consider it a opportunistic carnivore (which is appropriate, given that it descends from the wolf, a carnivorous animal). The cat, on the other hand, is a strict carnivore, like the ferret. This means that the nutritional needs of dogs and cats are quite different.

The cat, in fact, needs a greater amount of proteins, fatty acids and a good supplement of taurine. But all these proteins are not part of the nutritional needs of a dog.

Typically cat food contains higher levels of protein, taurine, arginine, cysteine ​​and methionine. All things the dog doesn’t need. Or rather: dogs also need proteins and essential amino acids in their diet, but not as many as cats.

The dog dietsand commercial dry ones composed of kibbleboth those humidwhether commercial with cans or home-made, need more moderate levels of proteins, with also integration of carbohydrates and fibre.

The nutritional needs of dogs and cats are different. Of course, we always start from the same ingredients, but what changes are the percentages and proportions between the various ingredients. Added to this are supplements with particular nutritional elements suitable for that species.

What happens if the dog eats cat food?

Basically, if the dog does not have particular problems with food allergies and intolerances, pancreatic insufficiency, IBD, chronic enteropathies or colitis, if every now and then he steals a bit of the cat’s food, nothing happens.

Dogs actually love and crave cat food. Cats, having a more demanding and refined palate, require more formulations palatable. Which explains why yours dog always tries to steal cat’s food.

However, if the dog eats too much cat food or only eats cat food, he could develop various problems:

How to prevent your dog from eating cat food?

Since, as we have said, the dog loves cat foodwhich is much tastier for him, it is important to prevent him from eating it. How to do it, though? Well, in various ways:

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