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If you have recently purchased a hamster and have a pet dog in your home, you may wonder if your dog and your new hamster can share the same food. The short answer is that while most dog foods are not outright toxic for hamsters, they aren’t appropriate for them as a long-term nutritional option. Keep reading to see if there are any exceptions to this rule and any specific brands you can use for both animals.
Is Dog Food Bad for My Hamster?
There are a few reasons that you shouldn’t feed your hamster dog food, and we’ll look at each of them now.
Natural Diet
The biggest reason to avoid feeding your hamster dog food is that dogs and hamsters have different natural diets. While hamsters are omnivores capable of eating plants and animals, dogs are much closer to the carnivorous side. Up to ⅔ of the dog’s diet can be animal meats and proteins, with vegetables and grains making up only a tiny part. In contrast, the hamster will eat very few animal proteins and spend most of their life happily consuming Timothy hay, grass, vegetables, and other grains supplemented with small fractions of proteins (often in the form of insects).
Protein
The protein content in dog food is typically a little higher than what you will find in hamster food. Hamster food should contain around 15–20% protein at most.
Conversely, the minimum amount of protein in dog food per feed guidelines is around 18% on a dry matter basis for a healthy adult dog in maintenance. This means that many dog foods may easily exceed the upper limit of safe protein levels for a hamster.
The minimum amount of protein recommended for a puppy is 22%, which means that any commercially available puppy food formulated to meet AAFCO guidelines will contain far too much protein for a hamster.
Keep in mind that the values presented above for dog food are minimum requirements; many dog foods may contain well over the minimum amount of protein required in their diet.
Fat
Dog food often contains much too much fat for a hamster, which is often not conducive for a hamster’s long-term health.
Fiber
Another difference between hamster food and dog food is that dog food does not contain nearly as much fiber as hamster food. Hamsters require plenty of fiber in their diet. There isn’t a published requirement for fiber in a dog’s diet per AAFCO or FEDIAF guidelines. As such, dog food often contains minimal amounts of fiber when compared to a hamster’s needs.
How Can I Feed My Hamster Dog Food?
As mentioned earlier, dog food isn’t suitable for a hamster in either wet or dry form because it contains too much fat and animal proteins.
If you do insist on offering your hamster dog food (something we don’t encourage), a singular piece of kibble should be more than enough for your hamster, offered no more than once or twice a week. Keep in mind that there isn’t any real justification for offering your hamster dog food on a regular basis. In terms of treats, options such as vegetables or a hamster chew are much more appropriate for them.
Final Thoughts
If you caught your hamster munching down on some of your dog’s food when you weren’t looking, they should be fine. However, you should not give your hamster dog food on purpose because it’s not in line with their nutritional needs, and it could quickly lead to health problems if provided regularly. You could give your hamster the occasional dog kibble, but it’s probably better to stick to food that hamsters are supposed to eat, like Timothy hay, grass, fruits, and vegetables.
Featured Image Credit: ariesa66, Pixabay
