Having a cat and a dog in the house, pet owners sometimes feed the dog with cat food. As a rule, dog food is eaten faster and ends at the most inopportune moment. Cat food is always perceived by dogs with great pleasure.
When several animals live in the house, the owners begin to feed them the same food. Small dog owners prefer to buy portions of cat food. Moreover, the taste preferences of pets can be surprising: having tasted a product intended for cats, a four-legged barking friend will demand it for breakfast. But veterinarians urge you to carefully and carefully consider the formation of the diet of your pets.
The specifics of food for four-legged friends
Food of different brands, intended for cats, differs in composition, but has a number of common features that radically distinguish it from food for dogs.
The protein component is more significant, since the need of the feline body for amino acids is higher (often the addition of taurine sulfonic acid follows, which does not at all correspond to the needs of the dog).
The mass fraction of fats is higher, since in the process of metabolism in cats (unlike in dogs) arachidonic acid is not synthesized, and triglyceride acids are an additional source of energy for the cat.
If your dog continually consumes cat food, he runs the risk of gaining excess weight.
Fewer cereals and carbohydrates (their high content causes disruptions in the digestion of cats), the dog's diet suggests a higher content of the energy-valuable carbohydrate component.
Enriched with B vitamins (for dogs, a slightly different fortification scheme has been developed), participating in the processes of energy metabolism, synthesis and breakdown of amino acids obtained with protein.
Should you feed your dog cat food?
Both graceful cats and loyal dogs have long lived next to humans and seem to be very similar in many ways. But their lifestyle and physiological processes have significant differences.
Cat food always has a high fat content and nutritional value, which is why dogs love it.
The comfortable diet of animals differs: for optimal well-being, dogs need two meals a day, and the cat should eat more often, but little by little, due to the high blood glucose content, its food is more high in calories. Consistently consuming energy-rich feline foods can lead to canine obesity.
In addition, a high proportion of the protein component increases the risk of kidney ketonization, can affect the ears (threat of otitis media), eyes (redness and discomfort), skin (rash). And among the most frequent consumers of cat food - small dogs - allergic reactions of various kinds are possible.
You can feed your dog a little cat food, but in exceptional cases.
Thus, for constant feeding, it is better to use a profile food, adding freshly prepared dishes to the pet's diet. At the same time, veterinarians note that only regular and constant consumption of foreign food can cause serious health problems.
