Dry dog food for cats?

[Kommiekat]

I've just finished my first week in my newly bought Condo here in Koh Samui and noticed I have 2 unexpected Neighbors.

One is a dog who is "public domain" that sleeps in the underground parking. Very friendly dog.

I call him "Brutus".

Also, I have a cat that sleeps on the washmachine on the balcony.

I call him "Bruno".

So, I am penny pinching now because living off the remains of my life savings and unemployed, for now, so I thought "Perhaps if I buy one bag of dry dog food, the cat won't mind".

And that I did and Bruno seems to eat it.

Question:

Would this cause any problems for cats in any way as regards to their digestive tract and so forth?

[Phronesis]

Dry dog food for cats...yep...its called fish...

[NancyL]

Short-term it probably won't cause problems for a cat, but it sure will long-term since dogs and cats have different nutritional needs. Cats, in particular, need taurine for cardiovascular health and nowadays it is added to commercial cat food. It also occurs naturally in fish, so you may wish to supplement the cat's diet with fish. Our local Thai market sells small steamed fish that they call "plaa meaw" and by that they don't mean "catfish"

My mom had a cat who would only eat kidney, which she'd get at the butcher and cut up for him. Eventually the cat died of an enlarged heart from lack of taurine in his diet.

[Kommiekat]

Dogs eat.............fish?

[Pomthai]

Yes, bit of an issue, he'll start barking and digging holes. Keep feeding it dog food and its ears'll droop, it'll stop killing birds and bring a tennis ball to you instead. Having thought this through (thank you) every cat should eat this.

If his coat gets dull supliment with some fish food, it will make his colours more vibrant.

[Phronesis]

Dogs eat.............fish?

[Cuban]

Raw oily fish good for pets. My dogs love mackerel.

Read about BARF

Kibble pet food is mostly cheapest cereal (old rice) mixed with meat trimmings and connective tissue and slaughter-house blood, mixed, extruded and baked ONLY then is it sprayed with an oil to make it smell "interesting" enough to a dog/cat to eat.

Why do you think all kibble is brown?

[Bosse137]

My cats eat has eaten dog food for years.Sometimes they catch a steak (mouse,bird) themself,to add to the menu...

[aussiebrian]

Cat food is OK for dogs, but not the other way around.

Sent from my N9500 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

[Pomthai]

Cat food is OK for dogs, but not the other

Quite right........."If ya want Fido clawing the furniture and purring"

[Sheryl]

If the cat just occasionally nibbles on the dog food and still has her own food (meant for cats) should be fine. But a cat will nto be healthy on a diet solely or mostly of dog food and vice versa.

[Patsycat]

Agree, i had one of those huge 45 kilo Bernese mountain dogs who loved Pussy's (i know?) cat food.

She, Pussy, got sick. Why? Dog ate all the cat food and she had to eat his to survive. Until momma (me) put pussy's (i did not name her) food on a higher ground.

Everybody happy. Except Tufty the dog.... Until Pussy started pushing steaks and pork chops off the kitchen counter onto the floor.... In cahoots those two!! Great to watch, him all "it wasn't me" and her all nose in the air!!

I love animals and miss my Jimmy every day... He'll be13 in September.

Edited August 14, 2013 by Patsycat