Can Dogs Eat Cat Food? Can Cats Eat Dog Food?

It is accepted that cats can in no case eat kibble or dog food, otherwise they will be poisoned. This is not exactly true. In reality, dog food is not toxic to cats. The problem is that it does not contain the nutrients essential to the good health of felines. Explanations.

• Different needs

Cats are purely carnivorous animals, unlike dogs that are rather omnivorous. Their diet therefore contains more protein and fat than that of dogs, which contains more cereals. However, cereals are difficult to digest for the cat and fat is just as good for the dog.


In addition, cats absolutely need taurine in their diet because their body does not synthesize enough, unlike dogs. A deficiency in taurine could therefore lead to serious heart problems and blindness in our feline friends.

Thus, it can be seen that these two species have absolutely no similar food needs. It is therefore unthinkable to feed her cat with dog food, and vice versa. The shortcomings that they could develop would, in the medium term, have serious consequences on their health, which could go as far as the death of the animal.

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• My cat has eaten the dog's bowl, should I worry?

If one day your cat eats dog food, do not panic. As we said above, dog food is not toxic to cats, it is simply not suited to their nutritional needs. The bottom line is that it does not happen every day.

If it's your dog who has devoured what was in your cat's bowl, it's the same thing. If it happens only occasionally, it does not matter. On the other hand, make sure that this happens as often as possible, as cat food is too fat for dogs and your dog could quickly become obese.