# Cat & dog food?



## Sky14 (Aug 18, 2006)

Is it good or bad for them? And what are you absalutily NOT soposed to give them? 

My mom needs to know this not me. :wink:


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## Rodere (Feb 26, 2007)

Cat food is too high in protein for rats. It can actually cause problems with weight gain, their kidneys, liver, and bladder. It does in dogs quite often. Cat food is one of those things that should only be fed to cats.

Dog food on the other hand is usually alright for ratties. It is recommended usually above all those fatty seed mixes you can buy in petstores. I use Nutro Lite for my ratties and make my own mix. Using low calorie dog food is ideal, but others like beneful and iams are alright as well. The lower in fat the better.

I feed my ratties Nutro Lite dog food, some seeds like sunflower, pumpkin, etc. They also get Total bran cereal flakes, dry oats, organic puffed rice (no sugar added), organic puffed wheat (no sugar added), organic puffed corn (very little and only occasionally as corn isn't the best for ratties), vegetables (fresh and frozen), some fruit, Kashi Go Lean cereal, and a few other things here or there.

They can also eat yogurt as a treat. And yogurt drops. On rare occasion they can have a little chocolate. They really like soy milk. I will even buy baby food and baby cereal and mix it with soy milk. And soy milk has seemed to make their coat so much shinier and smooth.

http://ratguide.com/care/nutrition/diet.php
http://www.petratscanada.com/forbidden_foods.htm (Printed and on my fridge)


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## lilspaz68 (Feb 24, 2007)

With dog food, low fat and low protein are key in feeding it to your rats. Just remember that with dog kibble your rats won't be getting enough Vitamin K (which is in the good quality lab blocks) so you will need to supplement their diet with foods that will give that to them.

Cat food is a resounding No.


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## Sara_C (Mar 10, 2007)

I'm feeding my baby on Nature's Diet puppy (chicken and rice) at the moment, as well as him normal dry mix. My older rat has some as a treat but otherwise i find that a dry mix made of similar things to Rodere's in it is more than enough.


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## linz_04 (Mar 5, 2007)

Puppy mix may be a little high in fat and protein since it's for growing pups. I've found that senior dog food is often the right amount of fat and protein... Inova senior has like 18% protein and 8% fat... but I might add that they're changing the formula to a higher fat, higher protein formula, so that kind won't be around much longer. I've heard a lot of people like the Nutro Lite


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## Sara_C (Mar 10, 2007)

I know, my older rat has Senior Nature's Diet as a treat every now and then, i meant that i'm feeding my _kitten_ on puppy food, not my adult.


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## twitch (Jan 4, 2007)

kitten? you mean the ritten? er, baby rat? or did you mean a baby cat?

you know IS there one word for baby rats? i like ritten myself but i've also heard them called pups, kitts and kittens.


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## Sara_C (Mar 10, 2007)

Ritten...kitten...i meant a baby rat lol. I think kitten's correct, or kitt.


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## cyrescaer (Mar 4, 2007)

kittens and pups, are the main names for baby rats, as far as i know. =]


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## Sky14 (Aug 18, 2006)

Ok NO cat food.

low fat dog food's ok.

What foods are you NOT soposed to give a rat under ANY cercomstances?You know people food stuff. :?


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## cyrescaer (Mar 4, 2007)

this might be helpful. 
http://www.quite.co.uk/rats/#Food


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## Scarekrow (Mar 13, 2007)

Well...rats are like living garbage disposals. Admitedly, some foods can be the rattie version of "junk food", but there's very few foods they can't eat. There's a list--but it's not very long. I feed Yuki & Choco scraps from the dinner table, ESPECIALLY chicken bones.


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## Sky14 (Aug 18, 2006)

Thanks cyrescaer.


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## lizzydeztic (Mar 15, 2007)

is the kaytee forti diet blocks good for rats? i didn't save the bag, it ripped so i just put their food in a tubber ware container.


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## JennieLove (Jan 2, 2007)

I use Kaytee forti diet...some people say its horrible some people say its great. Personally, I have never had a problem with it and my rats love it!


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## lizzydeztic (Mar 15, 2007)

yea my girls love it as well. i made the mistake at first of buying a huge bag of seed mix, when i found out it was bad for them i got them the blocks. they had no problem switching to the blocks.


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## Rodere (Feb 26, 2007)

This is the best chart I have found for the forbidden foods for ratties. Hope it helps. I have mine posted on my fridge.

http://www.petratscanada.com/forbidden_foods.htm


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## stha4 (Mar 15, 2007)

orange juice contains d-limonene which can cause kidney cancer in male rats 


I happened to notice this. why wouldnt it cause it in females also? ofcourse im not gunna go doing it or anything but i was jsut wondering.


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## Rodere (Feb 26, 2007)

Male rats react badly to citrus apparently. I just avoid giving them citrus in general, not just orange juice.


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## stha4 (Mar 15, 2007)

I never knew males reacted worse. I avoid citrus as well.


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## twitch (Jan 4, 2007)

the males (rat/human or otherwise) chemical (hormonal) make up is different then females. what ever it is that is different for male rats reacts horrbily with oranges and they get sick. i've never heard a problem with females and citrus. as a general rule i don't give my males anything that has a citrus in it that i don't know. but i will give them other fruits that aren't oranges.


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## Sky14 (Aug 18, 2006)

This just goes to prove how we girls are supeirer to boys. 8) :wink: LOL


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## linz_04 (Mar 5, 2007)

haha I agree Sky14. anyways, isn't it just the peel of the orange? That's what I was told anyway. I very RARELY give my girls small pieces of orange but I make sure all the peel is cut off. they LOVE it, but I don't want to hurt them


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## Sky14 (Aug 18, 2006)

...good question.


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## Poppyseed (Feb 1, 2007)

It's just the peel, if you cut it out and leave no trace of rind what so ever it is fine.

I think it has something to do with cancer in their testicles? Can't remember where I read that >_>

But orange juice is squeezed and peel juice gets in there. That is why orange juice is a HUGE no no as well as other citrus juices. But I believe the orange fruit itself, with no trace of rind is fine.


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## Sky14 (Aug 18, 2006)

.......Interesting.......


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## twitch (Jan 4, 2007)

the problem though becomes getting all the rind off. except for those really small oranges i've never really been able to do it. there's always a few hairs of it left on the orange. though, i could just suck at peeling oranges...


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## Sky14 (Aug 18, 2006)

Use a knife.?:wink:


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## reachthestars (Feb 27, 2007)

Personally to me it's not worth the risk of feeding males orange, I don't care how careful you are. My boys lived 2+ years without ever having any and never knew what they were missing. 

When I had a mixed colony none of my rats were allowed orange, even the females. I wouldn't take the risk of my male licking any off the girls. Paranoid? Yes, but why play with fire? It's like putting your rats on pine because 'nothing bad has happened yet'. even still I rarely every give my girls any orange products. Occasionally they get a sip of OJ or a nibble of my orange slice.


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## Sky14 (Aug 18, 2006)

Yeah I wont give it to my babys.


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## fallinstar (Nov 26, 2006)

as a treat and a fun game i get a jay cloath and put some cat biscits inside then tie the top up they have so much fun distoryin the cloath 2 get 2 the cat biscuits hehe


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## Night (Feb 23, 2007)

Cat treats are quite high in protein. You should look into getting some high-quality, premium dog treats


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## fallinstar (Nov 26, 2006)

they only have them errm once every 3 to 4 months so they have had them 1ce they are more interested in ripping the cloth 2 peices


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## KayRatz (Apr 5, 2007)

Kaytee has cancer-causing preservatives. Look up 'ethoxyquin'. :]

I feed, as a staple diet: http://petco.com/Shop/petco_Product...merch_1.aspx?cm_re=469-_-TopSellers0-_-899046

Innova no longer has 18% protein. It now has over 24% protein. I would NOT reccomend it for rats. The stuff I feed has only 16.5% protein and can be bought from PetCo.


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## Poppyseed (Feb 1, 2007)

I've read somewhere hairless rats need higher protein levels? Does anyone have any literature that states exactly HOW high they need?


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