It is every pond owners desire to find foods that can make their catfish grow bigger. There are so many advantages of raising large sized catfish in private ponds. At the top of the list is the commercial value of large-sized catfish. They can be sold for remarkably higher than other smaller fish.
Also, healthy adult catfish can spawn thousands of eggs that will hatch into more catfish. It is therefore not surprising to know some pond owners interested in raising catfish for commercial purposes will consider feeding their fish dog or cat food.
Foods for pets are generally high in protein and oils; these pet foods are also enriched with essential vitamins that can keep the pet healthy. This is why farmers may consider feeding their catfish pet food for dogs and cats.
Another food considered by owners of catfish ponds is corn. Corn is rich in fiber, carbohydrates, and vitamins. A meal of corn can also be fattening. However, will catfish eat corn? Yes, they will, but let’s talk about pet food first.
Will Catfish Eat Dog Food, Cat Food, and Corn?
Feeding your catfish dog or cat food
We all know catfish have a large appetite, they will eat almost anything. So don’t be surprised to find out that your catfish will gobble all the dog food you throw at them. However, there are some things to consider.
Food for pets such as dogs and cats were not made for fish; this means your catfish may experience some difficulty in digesting these foods. Also, there are risks in feeding your catfish food made for pets because these foods may contain chemical components that are not harmful to the dog or cat but may endanger the catfish.
You should also note that pet food can be wet or dry. The dry foods do not seem appropriate for catfish; the greasy meats in the dog food have a strong scent and will attract all the catfish in your pond if you throw the food into the water.
While your catfish will eat the food made for dogs and cats, considering the risks, you may want to consider avoiding this option, instead, buy quality feeds for your catfish, and they will grow to the expected size.
Feeding your catfish corn
Regarding the use of corn as food for catfish, you should note that there are different types of corn. Of all the varieties, it will be best if you used sweet corn to feed your catfish. The kernels of sweet corn are big enough to be hooked and cast with a fishing line to lure catfish. Anglers have reported good results, so you should expect your corn lure to get some bites.
Sweet corn is the best choice because the kernels are softer than other corn species and you won’t need to go through a lengthy process to get the kernels ready for use as lures.
You can also use sweet corn as regular food for the catfish instead of baiting them. This is the practice in commercial ponds; the corn is fed to catfish in large quantity to ensure the fish get enough to eat during the scramble for food.
In conclusion, corn is a good choice for feeding your catfish; however, you should consider the risks when feeding catfish food made for dogs and cats.
Related:
Sweet Corn contains calories and starch/carbohydrate nutrition. Catfish do not require a high-protein diet, but sweet corn contains only a small amount of protein (as % of weight), and would not contain complete and balanced protein with all the essential amino acids required by Catfish. Yes, Catfish will eat sweet corn, but will be severely malnourished if corn is their primary feed. ****** I disagree with the author of this article. Dry cat food or Dry dog food (aka: “kibble”) would be far superior nutrition compared to a steady and primary diet of sweet corn.