What vets want you to know about feeding dog food to cats
When you've run out of cat food and have a can or bag of dog tucker in the cupboard, it can be tempting to give your kitty what's on hand.
It's also tempting for cats when they come across food and treats left out for a dog.
But can you really switch one pet's food for another's without causing harm?
Dog food isn't a good idea for cats. Getty
According to vets Dr James McGregor and Dr Kass from Lort Smith Animal Hospital, it's not something that's recommended.
"Cats should not be fed dog food long-term," Dr McGregor tells nine.com.au.
"A small amount is unlikely to cause health issues but dog and cat feeds are formulated with specific needs for their species and therefore long-term feeding of an inappropriate diet will result in dietary deficiencies."
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Dog biscuits are another treat that won't likely harm cats but shouldn't be fed to them. Getty
Dr Kass explains that cats are obligate carnivores, which is a diet consisting primarily of meat.
"Please note, this does not mean [cats] don't need vegetable matter and a balanced amount of carbohydrates in their diets, but they have to have animal proteins," she says.
"This is due to their diets needing to have taurine, an amino acid that they cannot produce themselves. A lack of this amino acid can lead to heart failure – which I have personally seen in a vegan cat."
In contrast, dogs are omnivores so they can eat both plants and meat foods.
"Often dog diets are balanced differently in the macro nutrients (protein, carbohydrates, and fats) compared to cat diets as they amounts they need are different," Dr Kass says.
"It is not dangerous if cats accidentally eat a small amount, but we do need to provide them with a cat specific long-term option to ensure they have a balanced diet throughout their life.
A specific type of dog food that pops up frequently in searches for what cats can eat is dog biscuits.
The same advice applies in that dog biscuits won't cause an issue in small amounts but they shouldn't be eaten as part of a regular diet.
However, one issue is that dog biscuits can be too hard for cats' teeth and potentially cause dental issues, so that's another reason to give it a miss.
Cats need a diet mostly of meat to meet their nutritional needs. Getty Images/iStockphoto
According to US vet Dr Megan Keller, your cat probably won't even want dog food if you give it to them because their sense of taste is different.
"Cats, unlike dogs, lack of the ability to sense sweetness, and even the number of taste receptors are different between the two species. Cats have a measly 470 taste buds, while dogs have 1700—for reference, humans have over 9000," she wrote in an article for PetMD.
"Cat foods are specifically engineered to be highly palatable in order to entice our occasionally picky (and taste-bud lacking) feline friends to eat."