Dogs Eating the Cat Food
When my beloved dogs were old but still alive, we got our first cat. This was a new experience for the dogs, a miniature Schnauzer named Kiefer, and a tea cup Yorkie named Mikki. After a couple of weeks, the three of them became fast friends. The only problem was that our cat is a grazer, and he wouldn’t finish his food all at one sitting. Our K9′s soon figured that out, and they learned to wait patiently for the cat to leave his food bowl. Then it was a free-for-all rush to the food bowl to see which dog could scarf it down the fastest. My vets told me that it is NOT ok for dogs to eat cat food. The nutrients needed by cats is very different than the nutrients needed by dogs. Dogs and cats have different physiology, and their digestive systems and bodies require different kinds of nutrition. Ultimately, feeding cat food to a dog can cause health problems like kidney, bladder and liver damage, and the same is true for feeding dog food to a more »
Obesity in Cats
Almost every day, sometimes more than once, I hear people say, “Oh, my cat is fat!” Sometimes they tack on other statements to go along with the first: “…but he’s so cute that way!” or “…and there’s nothing I can do about it.” Inevitably, if there is another cat in the same house, they say, “…and my other cat is so skinny because the fat one steals his food.” I usually ask them if this is a problem for them, and most answer something like this: “Huge! It’s a huge problem, and I’m so frustrated. My vet tells me to separate them when they eat, and only feed them twice a day. But I can’t get my skinny cat to eat all his food at once. I’ve even tried starving him for several days, and he still will only nibble a little at a time. But when I leave the food down for him, the fat one eats it. Yes, it’s a very aggravating and huge problem for me. I don’t want to lock them away from each other all more »
