When Hermosu my cat got home, I was worried about how protective my dog Duke is with his food; my first thought was that he’d bite me and it would end in disaster, because everyone in the house has had bad experiences with this.
I, for example, have a scar on my leg from a nasty bite Duke gave me, simply because I tried to take away his bowl, which was empty and had no food in it; this happened years ago, and we’ve managed to correct this bad behaviour somewhat; however, it has never been tested with another animal. But animals are wise, and I imagine Duke sees the cat as a baby, because he’s never had any issues with the cat being near his food; in fact, he lets the cat eat alongside him, and that’s good, on the one hand.
What isn’t good, and ends up being very bad, is the cat eating the dog’s food, because it’s food that can make him ill, and although I always kept them separate, the little one would end up eating the odd kibble from Duke’s food, and afterwards I noticed he was struggling to urinate, so now I have to put their food in very separate places and wait for each of them to finish their own portion.
As life would have it, the cat likes the dog’s food and the dog likes the cat’s food 🙃. This pair of companions is driving me mad; they’re the animals that keep the family company. The dog is Duke and the cat is Hermosú, my latest little one who I’m head over heels for, and I also think he’s stolen Grandma’s heart—she keeps chicken, sardines and meat for him; definitely, their preferences are becoming apparent at home. 😅😁.
Well, friends, getting back to the subject of food, it’s not healthy for a cat to eat dog food, as for some reason it makes them ill. Hermosú, my cat, spent two days struggling to urinate and also to defecate, and I know this because I saw him digging a hole in the ground, standing over it, and nothing coming out; a few minutes later he’d try again in another spot, and so on—he tried many times. On some occasions, a little urine would come out, just a few drops, and he wouldn’t even cover it with soil. He really needed to urinate and couldn’t; it’s heartbreaking to see a situation like that in any living creature.
I never saw him defecate as he normally would, and that made me even more nervous; in total, he had this problem for a day and a half after eating a bit of dog food. I was on edge, desperately trying to find money I didn’t have to take him to the vet, without success, until, after this time had passed, he began to urinate normally and, as he still had an appetite, that put my mind at rest.
Being a cat mum is exhausting, and the worst part is that I’m only just getting started 😅, so my advice is to keep your pets apart at mealtimes and, for heaven’s sake, never let your cat eat dog food – it’s very harmful.
