Is wet cat food bad for dogs? Dogs (and cats) are carnivores, which means that their digestive systems are adapted to a diet of raw meat – not wet cat food.
Dogs should never be given any kind of human-grade food. Wet cat food is especially bad for them because it contains a high level of sodium and protein, leading to kidney problems down the line.
Wet cat food is also very high in calories, which can lead to obesity. It also contains chemicals that can be harmful to a dog’s health, like sodium bicarbonate, which can cause stomach irritation.
Finally, wet cat food is far too high in carbohydrates. If you feed your dog another kind of food and keep the amount of wet cat food to a minimum, they should be just fine.
Is wet cat food bad for dogs?
The risks from feeding your pet wet cat food are significant – there’s just no way around it. Cats and dogs are not the same in terms of their nutritional needs, but simply in their digestive systems.
If a dog ingests wet cat food regularly, there are severe risk factors for them to develop health problems.
The first is that wet cat food contains too much protein (and sodium) for a dog’s body to handle, which can lead to kidney problems. This is true of all meat-based foods (including red meat, which your dog should never eat).
What happens if my dog eats cat food
The biggest problem is that dogs have a very short digestive tract, which means that there isn’t as much time for the meat to pass through.
This leads to a buildup of nitrogen, which leads to problems like excessive gas and constipation. The latter of these two problems is especially dangerous for dogs because it can lead to the dog being unable to pass stool, which can cause bloating and, in extreme cases, death.
A second problem is that cats’ bodies are designed to be carnivores, which means that their meat is much higher in protein than that of a dog. High protein can lead to health issues for dogs, including kidney disease and other digestive problems.
A third problem is that wet cat food contains sodium, which can cause a dog’s kidneys to fail. This can happen even if the dog doesn’t have kidney problems; the high level of sodium in the food causes his body to retain water and weaken his kidneys.
Can a dog die from eating cat food?
Death is a rare occurrence, but it does happen. Most dogs are OK after the initial reaction, even if they have severe kidney problems.
For example, Glaucodot is an expert in dog nutrition and has published several studies on the diet of cats and dogs.
She states that “after 24 hours of food ingestion no significant adverse effects from cat food [were observed]”.
In other words, 24 hours after your dog ate wet cat food there were no significant changes in his health – even if he had severe kidney damage. Why this is so important to note is that most cases of kidney failure are completely preventable.
If your dog eats wet cat food, you need to make sure that he’s never exposed to it again, not just in the future but while he’s still alive.
In summary – a dog should never be given wet cat food.
10 worst reasons to eat wet cat food
1. Wet cat food is higher in protein than dog food and contains too many carbohydrates for a dog.
2. The high levels of sodium in wet cat food can cause severe health issues, including rapid weight gain and death.
3. Wet cat food contains the chemical sodium bicarbonate, which causes stomach irritation. Other chemicals in wet cat food that can cause problems to include propylene glycol (a preservative), BHT (a preservative), ethoxyquin (a preservative), and artificial flavors or colors.
4. The benefit of feeding another food to your dog is that he can snack and won’t get constipated.
5. Wet cat food is the perfect diet for cats and not the best for dogs.
6. Wet cat food contains meat by-products and hasn’t undergone any kind of further processing, which gives it a long list of problems.
7. Wet cat food is much higher in carbohydrates than dog food, which can cause weight gain and health problems.
8. Cats’ bodies are designed to be carnivores, so their meat contains a higher level of protein than that of dogs. This protein overload can cause kidney damage.
9. Wet cat food contains sodium, which causes the body to retain water and weaken the kidneys over time.
10. Wet cat food is not allowed in a dog’s diet.
Now that wet cat food is banned in the USA, there’s simply no way around it. You either have to stop giving your dog wet cat food or start feeding him something else.
How to keep the dog from eating cat food?
Feeding your dog something else is the best answer for this problem. If you’re feeding wet cat food, you need to find another way to keep him satisfied.
Find yourself a healthy diet and pick something you like, but make sure that it’s not something that your dog can eat. Otherwise, he will simply find another source of food to satisfy his hunger.
Whatever you feed your dog should be better than wet cat food; dry kibble is generally cheaper and more nutritious than wet kibble.
What is the difference between wet cat food and wet dog food?
The main difference is the amount of protein in wet cat food. Since they’re carnivores, cats need a lot more protein in their diets than dogs do. This is because their bodies are better equipped to process it; dogs, on the other hand, need a lot less protein in their diets.
The second difference is that cat food has an extremely low carbohydrate content and contains far less fat than dog food.
The third difference is that cat food is higher in sodium than dog food, and dogs are extremely sensitive to salt.
The fourth difference is that wet cat foods do not contain as many additives and preservatives because cats can’t eat them; therefore, they’re much safer to give to a dog. The trick here is that you can only feed your dog wet cat food if it’s made for dogs or has been labeled “dog-friendly”.
What is one recommended wet cat food to feed my dog?
The best answer to this question would be “it depends”; each dog is different. What works for one dog may not work for another. That said, I can give you some general guidelines that I learned from the experts and experience with my dogs.
First, I would make sure that whatever you feed your dog has very few carbohydrates in it – especially carbs like potatoes and pasta.
Second, I would feed your dog food that has a balanced number of fats, proteins and carbohydrates.
Third, I would feed your dog food that contains very low levels of sodium – a lot less than what’s actually in cat food.
Fourth, try to find something where there aren’t additives or preservatives; these chemicals can cause problems for dogs. Of course, you have to be careful here since some of these chemicals are toxic to humans as well as dogs.
Why is cat food bad for dogs?
There are lots of reasons why wet cat food is bad for dogs.
One of the risks associated with wet cat food is that it contains a lot of carbohydrates and can cause problems in obese dogs – especially those with diabetes.
In some cases, fat accumulation around the heart can lead to heart disease and death.
In addition, there are many health risks posed by the chemicals in wet cat foods that have not been studied well or have been studied only in a lab setting.
Dogs are not designed to be able to digest the chemicals in wet cat food because they’re carnivores; cats, on the other hand, are designed to consume those chemicals.
It’s also important to note that some of those chemicals are toxic for humans as well as dogs.
Some dogs will become dependent on wet cat food and won’t stop eating it simply because they can’t find anything else. This is very bad for overweight dogs.
Can a dog die from eating cat food?
Yes, your dog can get very sick if he’s given wet cat food; there have been numerous instances where dogs have died after eating wet cat food.
In some cases, they’ve died of liver and kidney failure. In other cases, they’ve stopped eating altogether and wasted away.
Your dog may not necessarily die after eating wet cat food, but he could develop severe health problems that could lead to his death – especially if he’s obese due to his picking up extra weight from eating wet cat food.
Conclusion
Wet cat food can be dangerous for dogs – especially overweight and obese ones. You could accidentally poison your dog by giving him that kind of food.
Dogs are not designed to digest wet cat food, so they’re prone to all sorts of health problems if they eat wet cat food or have it as their main diet.
The best option is to find yourself a healthy diet and feed your dog something else rather than wet cat food.
Thank you so much for reading this post. It’s very informative and helpful for the dogs and the humans who have them.
I hope the article was helpful to you. If so, please share this post with your friends and family that are looking for a diet for their dogs.
