I heard from a few people that they feed there koi cat food. I'm starting to wonder if that would work. Does anyone here feed there large koi cat food, if so why?
I'm not planning to feed my koi cat food.
I heard from a few people that they feed there koi cat food. I'm starting to wonder if that would work. Does anyone here feed there large koi cat food, if so why?
I'm not planning to feed my koi cat food.
I know of people that do too. I'm not sure that cat food is good for the cats, why feed it to the koi
I'm glad i'm not the only one who heard that. Is cat food better for koi?
Why not feed koi food to cats..
My sister's cat sits at the edge of the pond while the koi are being fed, begging. The cat would actually eat out of one side of the hand while one of her koi was eating out the other side of the same time. Koi and cat were nose to nose more times than you could count.
Zone 7 A/B
Keep your words sweet. You never know when you may have to eat them.
Richard
Our pets resemble that remark At fish feeding time the dogs INSIST on getting some (we even have a miniature dachsund that will swim around the pond eating floating pellets ). We have to put a few handsfull on the rocks for the dogs so they'll leave us alone while we feed the fishies (don't tell the dogs, but they get cheap catfish food , the Koi get the good stuff )
The cats are a different story... Our old tomcat has an aversion to the pond. One evening we were sitting pondside after feeding our babies, and Velcro the cat decided to get a drink from the pond. It was getting dark and apparantly his tongue lapping the water looked like a bug so our biggest male came up, mouth wide open to have a snack . Interspecies french kissing , and velcro the cat... no longer drinks from the pond
Science Diet Light:
http://www.hillspet.com/products/sd-...-food-dry.html
It's a cat food formulated to be easy on the digestive tract of cats. It has fat content half of that seen in normal cat food, and closer in content to koi food. Also has similar values for fiber, phosphorous, vitamins.
Lastly, the pellets are small. It looks exactly like koi food in terms of size and shape, so even small fish can swallow it.
What do you guys think?
Last edited by mpd210; 08-15-2011 at 02:29 PM. Reason: forgot to add website link
As my mother used to say, "If you're hungry enough, you'll eat anything." (This in response to our moans of displeasure over something, usually green, on our plate.)
I believe a hungry koi will eat anything and while cat food may keep them "fed", in the wild they would not normally have access to the beef or chicken in pet food. (Cheap cat food also has dyes that come out the other end the same color as it went in. Do I want red and green koi poop?) Maybe if you used a high-quality cat food in addition to a koi food to make sure of koi-specific vitamins. (Of course cat and dog food is now toxic from the contaminated Chinese wheat... )
One other point : What would the Cat Food do to the Water Quality of the pond ? I would think most/if not all Fish food is maded to go in water , I don't believe Cat Food would be . All that I see from this (Feeding Koi , Cat Food) is a BIG future problem in the pond/koi .
Bless your heart sweetpea.....I think you've put your finger on the crux of the matter...each pet has ingredients specific to their need....I don't think our koi need any tainted wheat glutten from china.
back in the day when I first got started folks tried to beat the High cost of koi food with trout chow....wow did they learn the hardway in our cool NW waters. Lots of indigestion and tumors.
stick with koi food. learn to read the ingredients and % of protein. Learn ehat to feed in what temperature range. While a penny saved in food may end up costing you more in health problems for you babies....
and fatty livers. One of the first things I ask on a pond call if I see fish with beer bellys, is what do you feed.
I think the issue with cat and dog food is that it has too high a fat content, and ends up long term causing liver issues.
Koiphen member since 05-13-2004
I was talking to the dealer where I buy my koi. He's Japanese and said he went to a club meeting in South Georgia at a member's house. He said that the owner of the home/pond was throwing in this special food to their koi. Not knowing what it was , he asked the owner what she was feeding her koi, she replied cat food, that's what everyone here uses. He was impressed as to how much the koi seemed to like it. So, he went back to try it as a treat and sure enough, the koi loved it. But it left a oil slick on the surface of the water. He discontinued it immediately. I would think that you'd be better off using a cheap koi food than a food designed for a cat. Their systems are so different.
All food is definitely not created equal, and without a very detailed ingredient lisitng as well as proccessing information it would seem to be an unacceptable risk. Typical cat feed is heavy on cornmeal (cheap fodder that Koi don't digest it well at all), high in animal fats (there's your oilslick in the making), and many have high ash content as well. Why risk saving a dime on food when you'll likely spend it ten times over on health issues and pond maintenence problems?
This is very interesting, I thought it was just a few people who feed there koi cat food. This is making me wonder what other stuff people feed their koi. I believe cheap koi food is about the same price as cheap koi food. Why risk saving a few bucks to get cat food and possible losing your koi that you raise from a fry to twenty inches or so.
Does anyone here feed there Koi cat food?
I don't feed my koi cat food; I buy bulk koi food and split them with a few of my friends.
Oh yea, if anyone feed there koi cat food please post a picture of your koi.