Feeding Your Sugar Glider Part 2

This post is about what I call the Great Cat Food Debate, or Cat Food Wars, among suggie owners and breeders.

There is a great deal of debate about whether sugar gliders should ever be fed cat food. Some long-time sugar glider breeders feed high-quality (high protein) dry cat food as part of their gliders’ diet, while other breeders wouldn’t dream of giving cat food to their gliders. Caroline MacPherson, author of Sugar Gliders, A Complete Pet Owner’s Manual, says:

“The protein component of a glider’s diet is satisfied primarily by dry cat food although there is some concern amongst animal nutritionists that the use of cat food may impact negatively upon the long term health of gliders. However, I have been using a good quality dry cat food for 4 1/2 yrs now and have had very few problems and my gliders breed very well. I am presently using Science Diet…. Cat food manufacturers deliberately balance their feed so that the amount of calcium to phosphorus is roughly 1:1.” (She says this on her website.)

But other folks are adamant. They say, “NEVER, NEVER, NEVER use cat food for any reason. Ever.” They tie dry cat food to medical ailments such as intestinal blockage and lumpy jaw, both serious health issues.

How can a new sugar glider owner decide who is right? Remember, cats are carnivores, while sugar gliders are omnivores. So it makes sense that cat food might not be appropriate for sugar gliders. And remember, too, that there’s a lot of cheap, junky cat food on the market, filled with grain fillers, meat by-products and ash that aren’t very nutritious for sugar gliders (or cats, for that matter) and might actually cause digestive system impaction.

If you are new to sugar gliders, it is advisable to stay away from cat food until you are experienced enough and knowledgeable enough to make up your own mind about cat food. It’s my opinion that cat food does not belong in the sugar glider diet. Sugar gliders’ nutritional needs are now known to be way more complex than it was thought when MacPherson originally wrote her book.

But in all events, you definitely should avoid the temptation to feed your glider nothing but cat food, no matter how convenient it is. Feeding an all-cat-food diet to your sugar glider will lead to health problems down the road. Meanwhile, read all you can, and ask questions of other sugar glider owners.

(To be continued…)

© 2006 SugarGliderAuthority.com. Excerpted from Sugar Gliders: The Ultimate Guide. All rights reserved. No portion of this website may be reproduced in whole or in part without the express written consent of the copyright owner.