Can Dogs Eat Cat Food and Cats Eat Dog Food Answered.

So many of my readers have asked the following question I just had to do a post on it. One of the most common question asked is: Can cats eat dog food? And, Can dogs eat cat food? The answer to that is Yes and No. Yeah, I know you were either looking for a straight yes or no but things get a bit more complicated when it comes on to switching meals between cat and dog.  Let's first take a look at can foods and do a bit of comparison to see if both cat and dog can eat the same canned food.

What is in Canned Pet Food

Dog Canned Food Content	Cat Canned Food Content
Meats - Poultry, Beef, Lamb	Meats - Fish and Poultry
Omega Fatty Acids and Fats	Omega Fatty Acids and fats
Meat By Products	Meat by Products
Vitamins	Vitamins
Minerals	Minerals
10% Moister	78% Moister
More Grains	Less Grains

What Really Is Meat By Products?
When animals which produce the meat many of us consume, certain area of the animal (rejected meat or offal) is basically set aside for other purposes.  The offal of the animal consist of intestines, liver, kidneys, head, heart, feet etc.  Pet food makers will use a mix of these meats to create wet pet foods or as we know them as tinned pet foods.  Although these areas of the animal are rejected, there is nothing wrong in consuming theses meat areas as they are indeed rich in protein. Some even richer than other cuts of meat consumed by humans.

Pet food makers will by these meat by products and transport them to their processing factory where they are processed according to certain pet food standards. Most meat by products are either broken down into bite sized chunks or basically grounded out into much smaller pieces. After processing, these meats are separated for different pet groups and canned. This means that the same meat which goes inside a dog canned food is basically the same meat which goes into cat canned food with little difference.

So, Can cats eat dog canned foods and can dogs eat cat canned foods? Yes.
So when it comes onto your dog eating your cat’s canned food, there is nothing wrong as the cat food is enriched with much more protein than the dog food. As a matter of fact, dogs just can't get enough of the cat’s food. But it should never be fed to your dog on a continuous basis as these foods are processed specifically for cats.
Cats can also indulge in dog canned food but should never be a habit as cats need rich protein foods. Cats also get most of their moister from the foods they eat and will require food with enough water content to prevent urinary tract infections.

Dry Pet Food Kibble
Kibble or dried pet food is the worst thing you can give a dog or cat. Most kibble or dried pet food is made from meat by products such as beef, chicken and eggs, as well as grains, cereals, vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants.  The ingredients are squished together and backed to make to make kibble.  The thing about kibble is that it has to be packed with preservatives.  Kibble also contains synthetic taurine. Dogs and cats normally get taurine from eating fresh meats, but the process of creating the dried and died pet food kills the natural taurine, hence the fake taurine is added.  The lack of taurine may lead to blindness and heart disease in cats as well as dogs.

Dogs will be able to manage dry pet foods much better than cats. Since dogs will consume water readily and much easier than cats. Cats do not drink as much water and will suffer urinary problems if fed kibble alone.  Kibble for cats many times are consumed by dogs as it goes through the same processing and uses the same set of ingredients to make.  Cats will also have a few chews on kibble for dogs and will be quite fine also.

But remember, I recommend that you always feed your cat much more wet food than kibble.  My ration would be 90% wet and 10% dry for cats. For dogs, 70% wet and 30% dry should be OK.  And don't worry, you dog will not be meowing any time soon after eating cat food and your cat will not be barking after eating dog food!