How can I Change my Cat’s Diet? My kitten of 10 months will not eat dry cat food. What can I do to get him to eat it?
Dolores
Kingstown
An old adage holds that one can lead a horse to water but one can’t make it drink. Cats are not horses. One can neither lead them to water (or food) nor make them drink (or eat).
Some cats develop strong food preferences. These cats may resist diet changes. In my experience, the best way to transition cats from one food to another is to do it very gradually. Dolores, try mixing a small amount of dry food in with the wet. If your cat eats the mixture, you can increase the proportion of dry food a bit each day. After several days, you may have switched him to dry food without him realizing it.
Or, you may not have. Some cats don’t fall for the trick. If your cat is in this group, you may want to try other brands of dry food. Or, you could continue to feed wet food and dedicate a few minutes of each day to brushing his teeth to combat dental disease (wet food promotes dental problems more rapidly than dry food).
I should point out that in the case of the health benefits and risks of dry food versus wet food, the jury is still out. Wet food has been linked to dental disease and hyperthyroidism (so have home made diets). Dry food may be linked to obesity.
Can Cats Eat Dog Food, and Vice-Versa?
I have two cats and a dog. They eat dry food that is left on the floor, in food servers, as they wish. They are all healthy and not overweight. The problem is, the dog likes the cat food best and one cat prefers the dog food. Is this bad for them?
The dog got very sick eating canned cat food once and my vet says the dog food can cause liver problems in the cat, but it’s what they like. Even if I put the cat food up so the dog can’t get it, I can’t keep the dog food away from the cat.
Susan
Asan, Republic of Korea
Dogs and cats have unique nutritional needs. High quality foods are specifically tailored to the dietary requirements of the intended species. Therefore, it is not wise to feed an exclusive diet of dog food to cats, nor cat food to dogs.
Cats most definitely cannot subsist on dog food alone. Their dietary needs are harder to meet than those of dogs. For instance, cats must consume an amino acid called taurine to prevent heart problems. Dogs do not need to consume taurine–they can synthesize it internally. Therefore, cat foods are supplemented with taurine. Dog foods generally are not.
Because dogs are natural scavengers (cats are natural predators), their dietary requirements are less stringent than those of cats. Some cat foods may, in fact, be nutritionally replete for dogs. Others are not. However, cat foods are generally richer and more fattening than dog foods. Dogs that eat cat food may gain weight or suffer upset stomachs, even if they don’t develop nutritional deficiencies.
The moral of the story is that your dog should eat dog food, and your cats should eat cat food. The simplest way to make that happen could be to end the feeding free-for-all and offer meals to your pets in separate rooms.
Finally, please note that most cats and dogs can tolerate an occasional nibble of each others’ foods. However, serious problems may occur if cats eat only dog food, or vice-versa.
Dr. Eric Barchas, DVM, is a veterinarian who lives and works in San Francisco. His emphasis is on small animal medicine, surgery and wellness. An avid traveler, he has studied lions in Botswana and salmon in southern Chile.
Dr. Barchas is the resident veterinarian of Dogster and Catster. Since May of 2005, he has provided insightful and thoughtful answers to questions from members. His professional advice has added greatly to the wealth of pet health information on Dogster.com and Catster.com from which this column comes.
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