I sometimes hear of my neighbors complaining their dog eats cat food. Then they wonder what will happen to their dog, if anything.
Cat and dog food are made for each specific species because they require different dietary needs. Generally cat food has higher fat and protein content. It won’t directly affect your dogs health. However, if your dog eats cat food regularly he/she can become overweight or obese. Obesity in animals is similar to in humans and can cause other health conditions. Dog and cat food look and smell similar but it is important to remember the ingredients are different.
It can be hard to stop your dog from eating cat food. Dogs and cats generally have different feeding schedules. Cats have smaller stomachs than dogs so they typically eat all day long. Where as dogs are generally only fed once or twice per day. To keep your dog from eating cat food you may have to change the location of where they eat. Perhaps stage your cat food where your dog can’t reach it. You could also keep your dog outside during the days you are not home. Then, when you are home you can make sure your dog doesn’t eat cat food.
Here’s are some more ideas to help. There are several tricks that can work;
1) If you do feed both the dog and the cat at the same time, then be sure to “stand guard” and say “No!” to the dog in a firm voice if he approaches kitty’s bowl.
2) Have a spray bottle of water handy and be prepared to lightly pray the dog if he goes to the cat food bowl.
3) Put the cat’s food in a room that is easy for the kitty to get to but hard for the dog. Use of a small baby or pet gate can be helpful for this if you don’t want to use a cat door.
While you don’t need to panic if it is an isolated incident for the dog to eat the cat food, you definitely want to nip this behavior in the bud for the health of all your pets.
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