Hi

I feed my dogs mainly raw but occasionally they will have some dried food.

My cat eats more dried food than the dogs, He does get raw to but seems to prefer his dry food.  I have been told not to let the dogs eat the cats biscuits as they contain to much salt and fat for the dogs and it will cause stomack problems in the long run.

Is this correct? They dont eat a lot of it but it did cross my mind to stop buying them their dry dog stuff which they are not that keen on and using cat stuff instead. As I say this is occasionally not all the time.   The cat actually likes their dry stuff to so they all tend to share lol

Wendy

Cat food normally has higher protein content than dogs,sometimes really high! so could be a bit rich for some

xx

No, I wouldn't feed cat food to dogs. Mine have occasionally snaffled some cat biscuits or cat treats which is fine but it's not suitable to feed on a regular basis. As the previous poster said cat food is higher in protein than dog food. Basically it's formulated for an animal with very different dietary requirements.

Hi

thanks I have just checked the dogs food is 26% protein and the cats 30%.

Would that 4% make a big difference to the dogs if they only got it occasionally?  

Wendy

Cat food is a different formula to dog food, its not just the protein I think it is something to do with the taurine in cat food which dogs shouldnt have ?

Pretty certain taurine isn't harmful to dogs in any way, it's the other way around -cats cannot live without it. Taurine is only found in animal flesh (so would have assumed most dogs do get it naturally), but cat food manufacturers tend to add extra to their foods as well.

Yep it is OK for dogs to have Cat food (much more expensive to feed it though), but may be a bit nutreint dense for a sedentary dog and you woudl ahve to feed less. 

Dog food is not nutritious enough for cats who are obligate carnivores.  Soem manufacturers are adding Taurine to dog food now, it may nto be essential to dogs but is benefitcial for the dog to have a wider range of amino acids.

reminds me of when I dated a guy years ago who had 2 dogs, and I had my two cats, and he used to ask occasionally if he could have some of the cat food to feed his dogs as he had run out.....I wouldn't have minded, but feeding a greedy lab on Hills isn't exactly cost effective LOL

If I'd have known then what I know now I could have found much better alternatives.....funny to drag that memory up...