If tuna is bad for cats,

noelphobic

GwylimT wrote: »

As has been said it is high in mercury, it also isn't a food you would naturally find in a cats diet.

I understand that - however a cat's natural diet is raw birds and mice - don't fancy feeding her that!:eek:

mtbbuxton

Tuna isn't bad for cats, rather it doesn't contain all the necessary nutrition - specifically Taurine - to be fed as a main source of food. Commercially produced cat foods are supplemented with Taurine to make them a complete diet. Fresh tuna is fine as a treat, but a cat can't survive on it.

M x

noelphobic

mtbbuxton wrote: »

Tuna isn't bad for cats, rather it doesn't contain all the necessary nutrition - specifically Taurine - to be fed as a main source of food. Commercially produced cat foods are supplemented with Taurine to make them a complete diet. Fresh tuna is fine as a treat, but a cat can't survive on it.

M x

It's not just that it's low in nutrients. It is also that it is bad for them, which is why I don't understand why cat food that contains 50% tuna is OK.

mtbbuxton

noelphobic wrote: »

It's not just that it's low in nutrients. It is also that it is bad for them, which is why I don't understand why cat food that contains 50% tuna is OK.

I've never heard that it is bad for them, just that it can't be fed exclusively. Any health problems I can find info on are due to the low levels of many nutrients in it, rather than the tuna having a toxic effect.
I'm happy to be educated otherwise - it's always good to have an open mind - so guess what I'll be asking my Vet about next time I see him

M x

paddypaws101

feline Nutritionists recommend that fish should only be fed a couple of times a week at most for various reasons, steatitis being one of them
http://www.cat-world.com.au/steatitis-yellow-fat-disease-in-cats

DandelionPatrol

Laurensalive wrote: »

I had a cat as a child. It was a bit partial to xmas cake. The cat ate quite a bit of the home cooked xmas cake whilst it was cooling over night. This cat lived to 14 years old. I cannot see how tuna would effect this cat as a treat once a week.

I think it is more remarkable that if you make your christmas cake with tuna that you have lasted to more than 14 years old.

Feral_Moon

Isn't canned tuna for human consumption too high in salt/sodium content for cats? This is what I've always been led to believe. I'm sure a little fresh tuna as a treat would be perfectly fine though.

Haffiana

If HiLife contains 50% tuna, then it is not an issue unless you only feed that flavour to your cat.

I wouldn't feed a cat the same variety of cat food all the time - would you? I wouldn't even feed my cat the same brand of cat food all the time, and in fact, I personally don't even feed my cat a diet of commercial cat foods only, although most people do so.

It would be exactly like a mother feeding her toddler one or two types of baby food from jars and cans only. Yes, those commercial baby foods are perfectly safe nutritionally, have all the necessary vitamins etc etc - but what mother would do that? What would be the result in a child who only ever ate say 'chicken and vegetable dinner' or whatever?

Cats utterly rely on us for their food, so it makes sense that we make the effort to study their nutritional needs, and not just rely on manufacturers to do this for us. Their priority is to make money, and not to look after our cats.

chucknorris

It is definitely bad for the tuna, all the tuna that have been fed to cats, have died!

jackieblack

noelphobic wrote: »

I understand that - however a cat's natural diet is raw birds and mice - don't fancy feeding her that!:eek:

This is something I've often wondered about, cat food often contains beef, chicken (ok, it's a bird I suppose), lamb, rabbit, salmon etc.
If people want to feed cats a 'natural' diet, shouldn't they really come in blackbird, daddy-long-legs, mouse and starling flavour?