Cat Food - does anyone make their own?

r.a.i.n.b.o.w

Fire_Fox wrote: »

Tinned tuna intended for human consumption doesn't contain essential fatty acids or minerals, and is too high in salt for a small animal! Cats have no requirement for carbohydrates in their diet, so rice adds little in the way of quality nutrition. Sorry but that mix is fine for an occasional treat but is not healthy long term.

Am I right in thinking that the occasional tin of sardines or mackeral would be OK?

Claire_Bear

A small amount of fish is good for a cat as an occasional treat, I just think what Fire Fox is trying to say is that it's no good to feed it to your cat everyday with nothing else, it would be like us eating nothing but bread everyday - we would get certain things from it, but it's not 'balanced', and things that are essential for wellbeing are being excluded from the diet. They contain certain fats and Omega and other things which are beneficial, but giving your cat nothing but this could lead to them being unwell as they aren't getting other nutrients and good stuff that the fish doesn't have. As for prawns, maybe rinse them under the tap before feeding? I just bought some prawns and was going to give some to Pepsi, glad you brought that up!

Fire_Fox

r.a.i.n.b.o.w wrote: »

I was looking at prawns - cooked and uncooked - on the Sainsburys website...they contain salt I thought maybe it was cos they're from the sea, but the scallops and crayfish don't contain salt...

Am I right in thinking that the occasional tin of sardines or mackeral would be OK?

The occasional tin of any fish (or indeed shellfish) are fine as part of a balanced diet, as long as you view it as a treat. I use frozen prawns with Noah when I am clicker training as they are his very favourite thing barring raw meat! I bought him some fresh sprats on offer, but they didn't go down so well. :rolleyes:

If your cats are particularly fond of fish try the Feline Fayre or Pets at Home Purely, both of which contain large lumps of identifiable fish. :T Oily fish does provide essential fats to cats same as to us, unfortunately tinned tuna doesn't contain any bones or fish body oils. Just checked and the large tins of Feline Fayre are around half the price of Basics human tuna weight for weight.

Buttonmoons

I gave my cats prawns and smoked salmon over Xmas. They loooooved it, but caused a lot of stress for me, as it made the older cat drink more, because it was salty, and then she obv didn't drink enough and ended up dehydrated and didn't wee for almost a day.I stayed up until she went for a wee :rotfl:

Back to normal now, but I'd say a few prawns are okay, just don't give them half a pack of fresh ones *whistle*

r.a.i.n.b.o.w

Buttonmoons wrote: »

I gave my cats prawns and smoked salmon over Xmas. They loooooved it, but caused a lot of stress for me, as it made the older cat drink more, because it was salty, and then she obv didn't drink enough and ended up dehydrated and didn't wee for almost a day.I stayed up until she went for a wee :rotfl:

Back to normal now, but I'd say a few prawns are okay, just don't give them half a pack of fresh ones *whistle*

My Moggsy LURVES smoked salmon