Expert: Jessica - 1/27/2010

Question
Hi Jessica, I have just read some very good articles about the3 reason why a cat should not eat dog good for prolonged periods of time. However I have a situation they don´t seem to cover. I have a cat and cat sized dog and both seem to prefer the food the other one has. I put this down to a kind of sibling jealousy. At any rate I have taken to mixing both types of food together so that they are identical in the bowls and at the end of meal times both have eaten some of what they are supposed to eat. I do only purchase a good quality brand of each food so hope that the nutrition element is excellent for each animal, but I do understand that if for each of them the right nutrition is not present i might as well be feeding them scraps and nothing else.

As I have explained earlier I am managing to get them to eat a combination of both foods but what I would really like to know is, In doing so am I endangering the long term of both the animals?

If the answer is regrettably yes I was wondering if you have any suggestions as to how I might be able to correct this situation?

Yours with anticapation
Karl

Answer
Hi Karl.  I have the same problem!  How I have resolved mine is to keep the cats' food on an elevated platform that the cats can reach, but the dogs cannot (this is a designated "food table" in my house).  The cats are free-fed because of medical conditions such as diabetes.  This solves the problem of the dogs eating the cats' food.

Then, I feed the dogs structured meals twice daily.  This is recommended for dogs as a general rule anyway, since dogs tend to overeat more often than cats do.  Inevitably, the cats go straight for the dog food when I pour it into their bowls.  To solve this, I give the cats a very small handful of dog food while the dogs eat.  Because the dogs eat more quickly, they have usually finished their whole helping by the time the cats have finished their tiny portion.  This seems to keep all happy, and this treat-sized portion of dog food isn't going to cause the cats any harm.

The biggest threat I think you are facing by mixing the two foods equally is, as you probably have read, creating a taurine deficiency for your cat.  This essential amino acid is added to cat food but not dog food, and a deficiency can cause heart failure and blindness.  Although this is generally found is cats who receive almost NO taurine, over time, small defecits could do harm.

Additionally, because cats require a food much more dense in protein and fat than dogs do, you run the risk of causing a real obesity problem in your dog.

The real answer to your question is that chances are reasonable you would be okay to feed them both a mixture of the foods.  However, considering how severe the consequences would be if your cat didn't receive enough taurine, I can't say it's worth taking the risk.  If the plan I mentioned above doesn't seem to work for you, you might see about providing a dish for your cat that has more cat food with a little dog food, and a dish for your dog that has mostly dog food with a little cat food.  If that doesn't work either, consider feeding them both structured meals 2-3 times daily, in separate rooms.

Best of luck!

Jessica