If you have a cat alongside a guinea pig, is no surprise that you may have wondered whether guinea pigs can eat cat food. But Can guinea pigs eat cat food? Well, the answer is yes, guinea pigs can eat cat food but only dry ones, and in small quantity.
A guinea pig will able to safely ingest a small amount of dry cat food without falling sick, however, you should never try feeding wet cat food to your guinea pig.
Dry cat food can be fed to guinea pigs only because the meat in dry food is usually more processed than the one in the soft.
What Is Dry Cat Food?
Commercial cat foods are usually known as dry cat food. They are available in dry and wet form. Cat food is called kibble in the US.
These are usually made for cat’s consumption because they have special dietary nutrients requirements, such as vitamins, amino acids.
Meat is usually a vital part of a cat’s food as they require protein. Feeding meat to cats helps to make their heart stronger.
Read Also: Can Guinea Pigs Eat Dog Food?
Can Guinea Pigs Eat Cat Food?
Yes, your piggy can eat cat food, but it should not be on a regular basis. If you have a cat alongside your guinea pig and you happen to suddenly run out of food for your guinea pig, you can offer some cat food to your piggy while you restock their food.
Because although cat food isn’t harmful to your piggy it won’t give them the proper nutrition that a Guinea pig requires.
Feeding your guinea pig cat food regularly can make your pet sick because cat food contains lots of protein.
Guinea pig’s stomach was designed to digest only plant-based products this makes it hard for them to digest protein. Feeding guinea pigs with too much protein can cause diarrhea.
Also, cat food contains about 40% fat and guinea pig should not eat that much fat, as it could lead to obesity and heart disease.
Guinea pigs need to eat vitamin C rich food every day as they can not produce it themselves.
Deficiency of vitamin C can cause ulceration of the oral cavity and even scurvy in guinea pigs. But most cat foods do not contain many water-soluble vitamins.
Hence it is not recommended that you do not feed cat food to your piggy on a regular basis; you should only feed them only on needed occasions.
Difference Between Cat And Guinea Pig Food
A cat’s food should contain 50% calories, 40% fat, 1-2% carbohydrate, and water. A guinea pig food, on the other hand, should contain 40-50% carbohydrate, vitamins, especially vitamin C, carbs, and other vegetables.
So there is a lot of differences between guinea pig food and cat food. Cat food is mainly protein-based, while guinea pig food is mainly carbohydrate-based.
Feeding Baby Guinea Pigs Cat Food
Baby guinea pigs should not be fed anything except guinea pig food for the first few weeks of their life. And if you decide to introduce cat food to your guinea pig, it should be done slowly not suddenly.
You should try to feed them some vegetables and fresh fruits and When they get used to it, you can then slowly introduce other foods to your pet.
If you notice any abnormal behavior in your baby pig, you should immediately stop feeding your guinea pig cat food.
This is due to the different requirements of cat and guinea pig food; the nutrients present in cat food is not beneficial for guinea pigs.
So, when you feed your baby guinea pig too much cat food, it may suffer from digestive system depression, diarrhea, irritation, vomiting, etc.
Can Your Guinea Pig Get Sick From Eating Cat Food?
Guinea pigs are herbivores, so feeding them excessive amounts of meat whether processed or unprocessed will mess up your guinea pig’s stomach up.
It may cause diarrhea, vomiting, and other health complications that may require a vet’s intervention.
Depending on the type of cat food you feed your guinea pigs it may have high levels of protein and/or fat. Guinea pigs when fed too much fat or protein, will become overweight and even suffer from obesity if the diet continues.
Nutritional Benefits Of Feeding Guinea Pigs Cat Food
A guinea pig receives no nutritional benefits from being fed a cat’s food, whether dried or wet. This is because guinea pigs and cats have different nutritional requirements and eat two different diets.
Guinea pigs need to eat forage (hay), vitamin C, and a completely different nutrient and vitamin breakdown compared to a cat. So do not feed your guinea pigs cat food, even if it doesn’t have any health complications.
Can Cats Eat Guinea Pig Food?
In an alternate universe, can cats eat guinea pig food? Yes, they can. cats have a better and strong digestive system compared to guinea pigs. S
o, when cats are fed guinea pig’s food, there are usually no health complications but It isn’t recommended to feed guinea pig food to your cats regularly.
Cats require a high amount of protein and fat content in their diet. So when you feed your cat only guinea pig food, they may suffer from protein-energy malnutrition and deficiency of fat.
But you can feed your cats guinea pig food occasionally because although they have different nutritional requirements, you can feed them sometimes to make a change of their food or to experiment with other foods.
What Else Can Guinea Pigs Eat?
If you are looking for more information, walkthroughs and troubleshooting about Guinea Pigs and their diet, here are some additional posts you can check out:
Conclusion | Can Guinea Pigs Eat Dry Cat Food?
If you have leftover cat food and you are wondering can guinea pigs eat cat food? Well yes, they can! However, they can only eat dry cat food and not wet.
Even though guinea pigs can eat dried cat food, it does not replace hay, pellet, and other main parts of a guinea pig’s diet.
Cat food should also not be fed to your guinea pig regularly as it does not contain the nutrients a guinea pig needs, cat food also has too much fat, protein, and no supplemental vitamin C.
