is cat food and cat milk (both whiskas) bad for dogs.  mt dog got to the kitten food on saturday before we could stop him and hungrily ate it.  there was not much, but he has been suffering from the runs since.  is this a coincidence, or could the cat food have caused it?

normally the dog has naturediet, with the occasional egg and bonio.

not sure if he could have eaten something else dodgy in the garden, on a walk.

alternately, could his runs be due to the cats only turning up in the house in the last few days and the fact that he seems a little jealous/put out that there are others taking up some of the attention that has always been only for him?

Dogs don't generally metabolise milk very well being lactose intolerant; the cat food may have upset him if the ingredients are very different from his normal food.

Really anything could be the fault; he may even have been eating cat poo!

Or he could have picked up a bug.

If it is just the cat food at fault there is nothing to worry about.

if his runs are really bad and persistant, try starving him for 24 hours then feeding him chicken and rice (actual, not kibble), this should clear it up.

i reckon the cat food just disgreed with him :)

dont bother starving your little dog
just feed him some mashed potato
ive always found that mashed potato is good for the runs
ive always used it wehenever my dogs have the trots and it works just fine

it also works for constipation just as well

dont ask me how or why
all i know is that it works just fine for either complaint :D

Z

I have found pumpkin is the best remedy for diareah,tinned if you can get it,this seems to work better than fresh.

Tohme not ALL dogs are lactose intolerant,my dogs enjoy a bowl of milk daily,sometimes mixed with egg or oats,not for any other reason except that they enjoy it and look forward to it :)

I think kymythy went a tad overboard when she discussed this and grains in her book!

Nige i know some people who add a spoon or two of cat food to their dogs dinner to encourage a fussy eater.
The runs can be caused by a myriad of things,probaly the cat food,milk and stress all at the same time.

Christine :)

It is not whether or not dogs are intolerant of lactose or not but whether they possess the enzyme lactase to metabolise it sufficiently.

The fact that animals eat and enjoy certain foods does not necessarily mean that it is good for them, or that their systems are not being overstretched trying to digest foods for which they are not equippied.

As in all books, one reads, digests :D and takes some of it away and not others.  All the raw feeding authors Lonsdale, Schulze, Billingshurst et al all have differing views and I have views that differ in some respects from theirs as I have conducted my own research as well.

It is always wise to remember that just because it appears in print, does not make it fact; it may be only opinion.  That is what we are all here for to share them :)

I thought it was just cows milk that wasn't good , I thought goats milk was ok ..any info Tohme?

All milks contain lactose; each species milk will, of course, be composed slightly differently mothers milk is vastly different from seal milk for example; generally it is the fat content that differs.

processing also has an effect on the digestibility of the milk and so for example some people may tolerate green milk better than that which has been pasteurised/sterilised/homogonised etc.

Milk generally is broken down in the dog's gut by bacteria rather than enzymatic action which may result in diarrhoea and/or wind.

Of course you could supplement your dog's diet with lactase enzymes the same way affected dogs are given pancreatin...................

Personally I see little point in providing any adult species with milk (apart from humans) as all the nutrients that are in the milk are provided in a much more species specific and appropriate form else where.

Presumably the lack of lactase in adult animals is not a design fault..............................

Inca, it seems alot more dogs can handle goats milk but cant handle cow's milk.I would reccomend goat over cow.

My family dog when I was younger used to eat cat food all the time on vets recommendation.  I am not sure what was wrong with him but I know it was a digestive problem.  I hope your dog is ok now.

Michelle:)

protein in cat food is much higher than dog food  any sudden change of diet can cause the runs as the gut wall of a dog stomach can be irratated and i cant realy understand why a vet would recomend feeding cat food to a dog
too much protien in older dog can  affect the kidneys. Prolonged feeding of cat food to a dog would cause problems.best to let your dog go without for a day so his system can clear out and then put him back on his old diet