My cat eats dog food: how can I avoid this?

My cat eats dog food: how can I avoid this?
5 min read

Feeding your animals separately, in two different rooms or at least in opposite corners of the same room can be a good solution.

If you and your cat are already familiar with using aclicker, use it to distract your feline from the dog's food.

Additionally, oriental longhair you can prevent your cat from nibbling on your dog's food by filling thebowls of the two companions at different times. By doing so, you have the ability to monitor your animals and intervene if necessary. This is the most effective solution to prevent your cat from using the dog's bowl. Ideally, your pets should be taught from an early age to eat only food from their own bowl.

Another method is to offer food to your pets for a set time of 15 minutes. Drop off his bowl to your dog and remove it once the 15 minutes have elapsed. Thus, your dog learns to eat the entire contents of his bowl during the quarter of an hour he has.

Dogs usually eat so quickly and in one go that in many cases there is no need to develop such a system. In this case, the feline friend has no chance of stealing a few kibbles, knowing that the dog leaves no crumbs at the bottom of his bowl. He devours his meal in full and at full speed!

Choosing the right food for your cat

The consumption of abalanced food has positive effects on the health and well-being as well as the life expectancy of the cat. Thus, it is strongly recommended to attach great importance to good quality food. A cat food should contain ingredients that are essential for its health. Logically, there should be no harmful substances in it.

My cat eats my dog's kibble, what should I do?

Cats and dogs are very different pets. Their nutritional needs are just as important! If one day your cat eats the dog croquettes, don't worry, it's not a big deal. You have no reason to be concerned cheetoh. But if your cat gets into the habit of pecking in the bowl of your dog, the negative consequences on his health are to be considered very seriously. In any case, this behavior should be avoided.

In principle, cats must absolutely consume the food that was designed for them, in the form ofcroquettes orsachets made from high quality ingredients. This is explained by the fact that cats have a high need for protein accompanied by a certain rate of taurine, since their body does not produce this amino acid. Taurine plays a particularly important role in the health of cats since their liver cannot synthesize it on its own.

A high-quality cat food is first recognized by the accuracy of the information on the label. However, we draw your attention to vague terms such as “product”. The terms "animal by-products", "fish by-products", "dairy products" and "bread products" are euphemisms to qualify the residual products of the agro-food industry, recovered following the development of products intended for human consumption. In the most severe cases, we can sometimes find residues of blood, urine and animal claws.

The reason?

The enzymes allowing the conversion of substances into taurine are not very active in the cat's organism. To overcome this phenomenon, cat food must be supplemented with taurine.

On the contrary, dogs' organisms are able to produce taurine, tolerate proteins less well and need food rich in carbohydrates. The taurine level present in dog food is so low that by consuming the food of his companion, your cat could suffer from deficiencies.

If your cat has been eating dog food for some time, it can lead to serious deficiencies, manifesting as a dull coat and sick looking eyes. In the most severe cases, this deficiency can lead to retinal degeneration, also called progressive retinal atrophy. No treatment currently exists to combat retinal degeneration in cats, an irreversible disease that can lead to blindness in the long term.

Animal proteins are mainly found in meat and fish. Vegetables, on the other hand, are high in carbohydrates. This explains why the dog food is rich in vegetables while cat food has more fish. Dog food does not meet the nutritional requirements of cats. On the one hand, they are too high in carbohydrates due to their high composition of vegetables. On the other hand, they do not have a high enough protein percentage to satisfy cats. If your cat eats the dog's kibble, it is therefore far from consuming food adapted to its needs.

 

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