cat food

[Lukask]

I know this has been asked before but the 'search' feature would allow 'cat' in my search, only food. I was wondering if it's bad for a bird to eat cat food? Whenever my cat eats my bird has to join her. I am unsure on whether she is just breaking the pieces apart or actually ingesting them. Should I shoo her away from the cat food every time? She is a GCC, btw.

On the bright side, Luna wont have to worry about hair balls.

 

[Spiritbird]

Cat food is for cats and dog food is for dogs. Birds should not eat their food as it can be toxic to them. Best to keep your little guy away from other critters food.

 

[BillsBirds]

Of course, (as always), I agree with Spiritbird. But, another "red flag" is the bird being near an eating cat! I know cats & birds can get along, but, with food in the equation, I'd be worried about the cat becoming possessive of her food. And resenting the birds presence. Obviously, you know your animals best. But, this sounds like a potential disaster to me.

 

[Lukask]

I understand where you both are coming from. Luna and my cat are buddies. They both are happiest together. They pretty much go everywhere and do everything together. I'm not worried about an attack from this particular cat. I dont think she's wanna hurt her friend. As stated in one of my other posts, Luna grooms her all the time and they have even napped cuddling together. I know some foods are highly toxic to birds, even in tiny amounts. I wasnt sure if cat food was one of those. She eats Harrisons pellets and gets fresh fruit every morning. She's not a veggie girl but she will eat the occasional pepper. I think she just grabs a cat food piece so that she is "eating with the cat". She doesnt even eat one pellet of cat food. I doubt she even eats half of one pellet. I have thought of maybe putting some of her food down so she eats hers and the cat eats her own, I doubt that would work.

 

[roxynoodle]

It might work. My cat will always get interested in the bird food as I'm filling their dishes, but she sniffs it and doesn't want to eat it. So apparently bird pellets don't appeal to cats, even though my cat is very weird and would rather eat bread than meat.

 

[usamimi]

I have to agree with roxy, My cats LEAP for the chicken food I toss out and eat it happily. But my cats are fattys and will eat anything.

 

[Irissama]

Cats are mostly carnivores, so they'll rarely go for seeds and veggies or such. Dogs are another story though. While they prefer meat, they still go for *anything*.

I've been wondering where my nutri-berries have been going lately... Until I caught my dog eating them out of the playgym.

 

[Lukask]

Thanks everyone. I will put down some of her food too. Hopefully she will eat it and not the cat.

 

[mygirl]

in my eclectus book it says you can feed them high quality dog pellets? i have never done this but its in the handbook

 

[BillsBirds]

In limited moderation, probably any pet food would be okay. In the jungle, they eat all sorts of things. Even bits of dead animals that they come across. Don't many of us feed them a bit of chicken or turkey? Or the occasional chicken bone? Or dog biscuit, kibble, or a rawhide chew?

 

[Spiritbird]

One FYI from a parrot care seminar I attended recently. The instructor said not to give our birds rawhide. He said when pieces of rawhide end up in the crop they can lodge there and not go through the gizzard. Thus you have a blockage.

 

[roxynoodle]

Just bear in mind cat food has a very high protein content (30-45%). I think if the bird eats just a little here and there it would probably be ok, but you don't want that happening all the time. Dog food would actually be more in line with their protein needs, but I wouldn't encourage it. Pet foods are designed to meet the nutritional needs of the animals that are supposed to eat it.

 

[aussie_wings]

I was going to ask about this, because I caught my Kakariki doing this once, and was absolutely flabbergasted, because I'd never seen a parrot do this before. Then, I did some research and found out that Kakarikis are omnivorous and can eat meat. I still haven't allowed him to eat any more of it, though. I think meal-worms might be more appropriate, although I think I might try unseasoned chicken, first.

 

[SailBoat]

Cat Food is a big No-No for Parrots as the additives are all wrong for a Parrot!
Near all and likely all Birds will digest some form of meat from grubs to higher forms meat. The goal it to minimize their intake.

 

[HeatherG]

In the 90s my vet recommended making a veggies rice beans and (soaked) dog food mix for my parrots. I also used monkey chow sometimes. I think this was before there were as many good pelleted diets.

Then a decade later I read that quality control is less in dog food than bird food so the dog food (kibble) is more likely to have bacterial overgrowth. So I kept out the dog food. It always made the mash get stinky faster so that was fine with me.

I’m guessing the OP means dry cat food and not the squishy meat in cans.

I’m still nervous about a cat and bird together. What if bird preens the cat while it’s sleeping, and the cat snaps at the bird while half awake? That would be so sad.

P.s. my softbills and gcc used to love mealworms. I’m glad they could eat them but I think it’s disgusting. No kissing me with a bug beak. Yuck.

 

[clark_conure]

this post is from a decade ago.......

 

[HeatherG]

Yup. Thank you Clark.

 

[HeatherG]

I was going to ask about this, because I caught my Kakariki doing this once, and was absolutely flabbergasted, because I'd never seen a parrot do this before. Then, I did some research and found out that Kakarikis are omnivorous and can eat meat. I still haven't allowed him to eat any more of it, though. I think meal-worms might be more appropriate, although I think I might try unseasoned chicken, first.

Mealworms are very easy to feed though…they come dried and baked in a bag and it’s disturbing how much your bird will like them.

 

[clark_conure]

Conures can eat most things....things that are healthy.