Question...

Cali Likes to snack on dog food ocassionaly, is this ok for her to do while shes pregnant? I know its pretty much made of the same stuff but it is made for dogs not cats. she only eats like 4 or 5 pieces. (she actually used to eat it as her meal instead of her cat food!) I have her on purina cat and kitten chow, and she does eat it but she still snacks on the dog food. Is it ok?

Snack is entirely OK.
But it wouldnt be good as only or even main source of food.

If she is eating other meals I wouldn't worry about the dog food snacking.

I would discourage it. Even if its a small amount. And I would also get better quality food then you are currently feeding. Purina is really cheap food and is ok, but there are far better brands out there for a pregnant mom.

If cost is an issue, go with Max Cat brands (canned and dry) and Chicken Soup for the Cat Lover's Soul.

Quality brands include Wellness, Natural Balance, Innova, Blue Buffalo, or Royal Canin.

just to clear up some stuff she is on purina because it is the only food she will eat except spaghetti and chicken which she will do anything to get. as for all those brands golden kitty ive tried almost all of those except the chicken soup one i don't think ive seen that one.Where would I get it? And keeping her from eating the dog food as a meal try to tell her that lol I tried to keep her from eating it but there is no place in my apartment she wouldn't climb to get it. It wasn't until I got the purina kitten chow that she would eat the food made for cats.

I've seen the Chicken Soup one at Petco and Petsmart stores. Some cats are so stubborn about eating good food.....

Will she eat canned foods - that would be a better option if she insists she has to have Purina!

I had alot of people with this problem at the petstore where i worked, and our vet told us to tell people 2 things. one always mix the old food in with the new food you want to try. And put a little water in the new food and mic it for 10 secs and that releses more intense flavors and usualy tempts them to eat. also remember that a cat will not starve itself so you just have to wait it out and be more stubborn than the cat. I know this is hard i had to do this with one of my cats ... she loved friskeys and didnt want to eat the better quality foods either. in the end it is about their health and we are the parents LOL good luck

Originally Posted by Xylinda

I had alot of people with this problem at the petstore where i worked, and our vet told us to tell people 2 things. one always mix the old food in with the new food you want to try. And put a little water in the new food and mic it for 10 secs and that releses more intense flavors and usualy tempts them to eat. also remember that a cat will not starve itself so you just have to wait it out and be more stubborn than the cat. I know this is hard i had to do this with one of my cats ... she loved friskeys and didnt want to eat the better quality foods either. in the end it is about their health and we are the parents LOL good luck

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It's not so good to let a pregnant cat starve just to change food though

The problem with most dog food is that it does not contain all the specialized nutrients a cat needs. If she eats too much of it and doesn't eat the cat food, she (and her kittens) will not be well nourished. Is there any way you can feed the dog on a schedule and not leave the food out where the cat can get it?

For introducing different foods, you do whatever works. I have two cats who are very picky. They don't want their dry food to be moisturized, and they won't touch anything that's been microwaved. When I mix a new dry food in with the old, they go through and pick out the one they like and leave the other sitting in the dish. So much for gradual introductions. One of my other cats will eat just about anything, and the other two are somewhere between the two extremes.

My cat Elmo eats a few kibbles of dog food from the dog's bowl each day but his main diet is fresh meat so I don't worry. I would probably discourage it, since she's pregnant. Please just be careful about the advice you are given - it's not wise to be mixing up and changing a female cat's diet too much when she is pregnant.

she absolutly loves wet food...too much though she eats it all in one sitting and throws it up. I have to feed her and guardian at the same time or they bully each other out of food. I usually give them half a can each and she will push guardian away and eat his wet food too and about 5 minutes later throws it all up. Guardian was also getting really fat on the canned food so I took them both off of it. And I cant seperate them or neither one of them will eat. sigh...my crazy babies. Im also not going to push her to change foods right now because she WILL starve herself and walk around meowing pitifully. I tried it before and she went 5 days without touching the high brand cat food I got her and dropped 3 pounds. And of course Guardian won't eat if she doesn't so he was losing weight as well. And as for feeding the dog at a certain time he gets his food in the morning and eats it throughout the day, he doesn't wolf it down like most dogs and I don't want him going hungry either. but if I do see her eating alot of it I shoo her away and give her some of her dry food. As for mixing the foods same goes here for cali, she will pick out the stuff she likes and leave the rest.