Is it ok for cats to eat dog food?

[Glossolalia]

We have recently welconee a lovely rescue cat into our home. DDog is still trying to make sense of this hideous injustice.

DDog is a grazer, so her food bowl is always left down.

DCat loves DDogs food and goes over to eat it all the time (Royal Canin breed specific food). I try to stop DCat but he is quite persistent. DDog isn't bothered about the the cat eating her dry food (they are much more precious if it's roast chicken!)

Is is damaging? Will he get ill?

If he will, I will obviously have to try and do something different.

I'd say it's not a good idea for DCat to eat DDog's food, even though DCat has her own food as well - it's all to do with lack of nutrients in DDogs food and vice versa. I don't know if it'd cause long term damage. It's probably best to ask your vet.

I know what you mean though, as one of my DCat's eats the other DCat's prescription food, but vet said it won't do her any harm, but obviously they're both cats eating cat specific food.

Cats good has taurine in it which cars need and I don't think dogs good does. So obviously the odd eating if dig good won't hurt however if it's taking the place of her getting all the actual cat food she needs then yes it will harm her long tee. The formulations are different

Sorry about typos

Yes cats need taurine in their diet or they can get life threatening ill

As long as the cat still eats it's own food too, a bit of dog food as a snack won't do much harm

But if the cat is eating the dog food and turning it's nose up at its own, then you need to change it up and only allow the dog food at dinner time

It's more of a problem for a dog to eat cat food because cats need much more protein than dogs do. So there wouldn't be enough proteins for his nutritional needs if that was all he was getting, but as he's only picking at what the dog leaves behind, it shouldn't cause any damage. But check with your vet. I'm not sure about the nutritional content of royal canin or the ingredients so it's always worth double checking.

Oh DCat is pretty greedy so he still eats his food, but likes to nibble on DDogs food, too.

I'll ask the vet what they think, too.

My big girl likes to eat the dog's food. Been going on for a few years now and she's fine. It's not a problem so long as they're eating their own food too.

I think it's got too much taurine in it. I put our cats food in the microwave when he mooches off, next doors cat will eat it if I leave it down.

I think you need to shut the door to where the food is or get the dog out of the habit of grazing.
Hmm. Cats and dog food? Could be worse. You could have a Tortie that does this...