can you feed goldfish dog or cat food

[jeffeve]

hi

not sure if this has been brought up before but was just wondering if any of you fed your fish dog or cat food as over here in the u.k a lot of (dare I say the word anglers use this for fish bait for carpdue to the protein in the food}

I have a dog and feed him on hi life mince morsal type food and last night decided to try a couple of pieces chopped up and gave them to my fish,

they could not get enough.

question is it good or bad for them also would you just use this once a week

thanks jeff

[blackmoors]

Im not sure as ive never used it. But my thoughts are that the fish would eat it once but would it survive on it? It may jot have the essential nutrients fish need.

After all they use it as a 'bait' u said so the fish only eat it once.

[motherredcap]

Dog food contains too much grain and cat food too much meat to be a regular part of a goldfish diet. I would think they could have it for a special treat, but once a week might be pushing it.

My cat, on the other hand, adores fish food.

[Narny105]

I wouldn't think so. A lot of commercial foods contain plenty of unwanted fatty products that we don't want our animals to eat (partly because they're not digested well and store as fat) such as grains, so we definitely do not want our fish to have it.

Secondly, if we look at the mineral and vitamin content for a lot of animal foods, particularly prescription brand foods, there are weight recommendations for each formula. A goldfish will not weigh near to that of a small cat or dog. Although you won't feed nearly as much on a daily basis, I still don't see how it is a good idea.

You can then go into preservatives used and other ingredients, and I do not think you'll find much there that is good for fish.

You will probably find a lot of brands are safe to feed, but nutritionally, they will probably lack that of a goldfish.

Pet foods will also break down foul very quickly in the water

[Moucho+Moncho]

I wouldn't risk your goldfish getting sick.

[GoldenSpoiledRotten]

I know plenty of people who use dog food as a way to lure their koi to the surface. Just seeing how large it expands in my dog's water dish at home, I don't want to think of what it might do if it expands in the tummy of a smaller fish. Same with cat food. And soaking it in water disintegrates it fairly quickly, fouling up the water.

I don't think it's a practical or safe idea.

[bodoba]

I know koi keepers as well that feed their fish dog food.

I think the salt content, fat content, and vitamin ratios are off for goldfish who normally don't make the same weight as a dog. (Some koi however do make that weight)

Remember that goldfish can store fat in between their internal organs causing fatty deposits. Too much fat and the organs are squished causing internal issues that may not be apparent.

Start right with a good food based for goldfish and supplement with veggies and appropriate protein sources (bloodworms, mosquito larvae etc)

[shakaho]

There is a woman on a pond forum who has been feeding her goldfish and koi nothing but cat food for 20 years. Of course, as pond fish, they get a wide variety of natural food as well. Lots of people feed cat/dog food to their koi, particularly when they have a big pond with lots of fish. Koi food is expensive and koi eat a lot. The only objection I've seen to feeding cat food is that it contains more oil than fish food and can leave an oily film on the surface. (It does, I've tried it.)

If you had asked about feeding cat food exclusively to aquarium fish, I would say that it's a bad idea. However, as a weekly treat, cat food is far closer to a complete diet for goldfish than the other "supplementary foods" that people give their fish and recommend, and highly unlikely to cause any problems.

[haley_tichonuk22]

Wow I have never heard of that before.... it seems so strange!!

[pawsplus]

Heck, I don't feed dog/cat food to my dogs and cats! I sure wouldn't feed it to the fish!

[jeffeve]

thanks for the replies

as I say the reason I asked as it is used for a bait,so will not be using.i stick to my hikari,bloodworms and peas fresh shrimp.

thanks jeff