Because rats are omnivores we feed them as such. They receive a base dry mix that contains dog food, lab block, various other things such as dry pasta, large flake oatmeal, raisins, etc. Other than the base of dog food and lab block the other dry mix items change percentages as I pick this or that up. They have this available to them daily to free feed from and there's very little wasted.

They also receive 2 to 3 times a week, kitchen scraps which might include chicken bones, steak bones, cooked meat scraps, cooked pasta, vegetables both cooked and raw....basically things that would end up in my garbage can but instead are put to good use by the rats. I consider this an excellent use for our human leftovers and basically free rat food.

We've been feeding this way for a couple of years now. I don't see protein issues with their coats, they are fit rats that are producing consistently large litters, they are producing litters for a very good useful breeding lifespan and are healthy and vibrant when they go into retirement from the breeding pool. I think it's best to feed an animal specific to that animal so for me a pure dog food diet just doesn't work for rats.