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- Mar 6, 2013
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I know this has been discussed before. Right now my cat is on Natural Balance Pork dog food as based on the nutritional analysis, most of his requirements are met with the exception of taurine.
Many of the requirements for dogs, are the same as for cats, as long as you pick a food for all life stages (not just for adults). With the exception of the following:
Protein (arginine, histidine, isoleucene, leucine, lysine etc)
Fat
Magnesium
Copper
manganese
vitamin A
vitamin D
thiamin
riboflavin
niacin
pyridoxine
folic aicd
and choline
So if anyone is interested feeding dog food to their, they can ask the company for the above list of nutrients. Most dog food companies will supplement more than the necessary amount of the above listed nutrients, making their foods suitable for cats.
This means, at least for some dog foods, they can be safely fed to cats with the addition of a taurine supplement.
That said, before choosing to feed a dog food to your cat, make sure you have done your homework and checked nutrient levels! Dogs do not have the same protein requirements as cats, so be sure to look for a high quality protein first. Then contact the company to see if the food can be safely fed with the addition of a taurine supplement.
Natures Variety instinct dog food (only instinct and not others) can be safely fed to cats as well.
I've heard but not confirmed that wild calling canned dog food can be fed to cats with a taurine supplement.
If anyone is interested in contacting other companies and sharing the results here? It would be interesting to see what other dog foods would be okay for cats.
Considering cat food is so much more expensive than dog food (especially when feeding canned), this could save some users money.
For me, this was a last ditch effort to try and cure my cat's terrible food allergies to just about everything. Apparently pork is an okay protein for him. It was either pork or start feeding him dead mice, and I just was not ready to try mice yet! Although I'm sure my cat would eat them, I just don't like the thought of it!
Many of the requirements for dogs, are the same as for cats, as long as you pick a food for all life stages (not just for adults). With the exception of the following:
Protein (arginine, histidine, isoleucene, leucine, lysine etc)
Fat
Magnesium
Copper
manganese
vitamin A
vitamin D
thiamin
riboflavin
niacin
pyridoxine
folic aicd
and choline
So if anyone is interested feeding dog food to their, they can ask the company for the above list of nutrients. Most dog food companies will supplement more than the necessary amount of the above listed nutrients, making their foods suitable for cats.
This means, at least for some dog foods, they can be safely fed to cats with the addition of a taurine supplement.
That said, before choosing to feed a dog food to your cat, make sure you have done your homework and checked nutrient levels! Dogs do not have the same protein requirements as cats, so be sure to look for a high quality protein first. Then contact the company to see if the food can be safely fed with the addition of a taurine supplement.
Natures Variety instinct dog food (only instinct and not others) can be safely fed to cats as well.
I've heard but not confirmed that wild calling canned dog food can be fed to cats with a taurine supplement.
If anyone is interested in contacting other companies and sharing the results here? It would be interesting to see what other dog foods would be okay for cats.
Considering cat food is so much more expensive than dog food (especially when feeding canned), this could save some users money.
For me, this was a last ditch effort to try and cure my cat's terrible food allergies to just about everything. Apparently pork is an okay protein for him. It was either pork or start feeding him dead mice, and I just was not ready to try mice yet! Although I'm sure my cat would eat them, I just don't like the thought of it!