Can I feed the dogs the old cat food we can't use?

[Gracie85]

We got the bad news about Lamborghini just after we had started a new bag of Purina UR dry food for the two cats. So, we have about 13 pounds of very expensive cat food that we now cannot use (we are almost done switching them off of it).

Is there anything in the cat food that dogs shouldn't be fed? I'm not talking about feeding them JUST the cat food. We would just blend a little bit of it in with their usual diet to use it up (replacing just a little of their usual kibble with the cat food) or tossing it to them as treats.

Is this okay to do? Hate to toss out nearly $50 of cat kibble. (okay, we would actually donate it to a shelter, but still, that's $50 gone for us....)

 

[Veronica & Babu-chiri]

Cat food usually contains more fat than what the dog needs so if your dog is overweight it may not be a good idea, also cat food is usually more smelly ( because cats are hard to please regarding food ) and after getting this food your dog may not want his normal food again or he would want to always have the mixture, maybe as treats could be ok

 

[LexaJoy]

My dog sometimes sneaks the cat food and it leads to (sorry, this is going to sound yucky) incredibly bad gas and, if she gets enough, upset stomach. I wouldn't recommend it.

 

[Lisa and Witn (GA)]

Is it a prescription food? If so, you should be able to return it to the vet's office for a refund even if it is open.

 

[Gracie85]

We bought it from Chewy.com. And I'd hate to take advantage of them, since they are so good when there are problems with orders. Plus, we've been buying it from them for quite a while, so why all of a sudden would it be a problem?

 

[Ana & Frosty (GA)]

No. Cat food is high in protein and dogs do not need that much protein. It can hurt their kidneys.

Call chewy, tell them what happened and they will refund you and tell you to donate the bag to a local shelter. You will be doing a good thing for homeless cats and get your money back.

 

[Maggies Mom Debby]

Chewy is VERY good about things like this.

I once ordered cat food and feliaway diffuser refills and clicked on the wrong address. They sent the package to my niece’s old address. I called to reorder and I was ready to pay again. But they didn’t charge me, even though it was totally my mistake. They said if I received the package to give it to a shelter.

If the shelter won’t take an open bag, maybe contact your vet and offer it to another client. (I did this with Maggie’s insulin and syringes.)

 

[Noah & me (GA)]

Cat food is high in protein

And some is way too high.

 

[Larry and Kitties]

No. Cat food is high in protein and dogs do not need that much protein. It can hurt their kidneys.

High protein does NOT "hurt" animals with good kidney function.
Adding a little at food to dog food is fine. The concern with only feeding cat food is that it is very high (compared to dog food) in fat. A high fat content can cause pancreatitis is dogs (not so for cats)

 

[Beck and Philly]

We bought it from Chewy.com. And I'd hate to take advantage of them, since they are so good when there are problems with orders. Plus, we've been buying it from them for quite a while, so why all of a sudden would it be a problem?

If you call Chewy and tell them what is going on, they will credit your account and tell you to donate the food to a rescue. I just did that last week.

 

[Ana & Frosty (GA)]

High protein does NOT "hurt" animals with good kidney function.
Adding a little at food to dog food is fine. The concern with only feeding cat food is that it is very high (compared to dog food) in fat. A high fat content can cause pancreatitis is dogs (not so for cats)

It can. Just like too much protein can eventually cause harm to a human. Ive seen it in patients who take high amounts of protein supplements. at some point kidneys won’t be able to clear all of the nitrogen and it will start building up.