# Feeding rats dog food



## defuseability

Ive heard that it can be beneficial to mix some dry dog food with a rats normal diet. And I was thinking of doing that, but I wanted to get your opinions on that. Also, what would be the best kind of dog food to get? I was thinking dry food specifically made for puppies.


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## Jaguar

if any dog food, DEFINITELY not puppy food. waaaay too high in meaty proteins lol. poor quality senior/diet dog food is the best - more grains and carbs. bad for dogs, somewhat good for rats. but dog food is called dog food and not rat food for a good reason. 



Sorraia said:


> Dog food really is NOT appropriate for rats at all. I know people all over the Internet advocate feeding it, but when you really get down to the nitty gritty and examine the nutritional content (fat, protein, carbs, are NOT the only part of nutrition that's important!) and the nutritional requirements of the rat (see the link posted in previous reply), dog food is awful stuff for rats. The mineral content is all wrong, as are the vitamins. Even "vegetarian", senior, and low fat formulas are too high in protein and fat, and pretty much ALL of them are WAY WAY WAY too high in Vitamin A.
> 
> Just a quick summary of SOME of the nutritional content (though you really should check out that link)
> Average 400 g female requires 2.85g protein, 2.85g fat, 131.10IU Vitamin A, 57IU Vitamin D, and a Calciumhosphorus ratio of 1.67.
> Average 550g male requires 2.23g protein, 2.23g fat, 102.35IU Vitamin A, 44.50IU Vitamin D, and a Calciumhosphorus ratio of 1.67.
> 
> In the amount of dog food these rats would consume to meet their daily caloric needs, they will have received between 10.34-50.66g protein, 0.52-19.70g fat, 671.97-6,000+IU Vitamin A, 100-63,000+IU Vitamin D, and a Calciumhosphorus ratio of 1.06-1.57. Other nutrients are equally dangerously high, and others are low. This imbalance of nutrients, and incorrect ratio of nutrients, can potentially cause SERIOUS health issues for the rat.


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## wheeljack

If you're already feeding a good lab block as a base, it's not necessary but if you are going to do it, I 'personally' would look for a high quality* senior mix. Ideally you want less than 18% protein and as low a fat as possible. Solid Gold Holistique, Wellness and Natural Balance are some of the ones I've used in the past when I did the dog food/grain mix thing.

*Even though low quality dog foods have more grains and fillers, those grains/fillers are not necessarily ones that are good for rats. You run the risk of alfalfa, wheat middlings, corn, the dreaded 'meat byproducts' and ethoxyquin amongst other things.
I know you didn't mean for the OP to buy any old bag of crap food Jaguar, just wanted to point out that going too low quality could be a problem


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