Tuna for kittens + Can you feed kitten food to an old cat?

aroominyork

We have a Maine Coon kitten who likes chicken kibble but only nibbles at chicken wet food. However she loves tuna wet food. Do the dangers of tuna (mercury poisoning) only relate to tuna sold for humans or are there any dangers in daily feeding her cat-prepared tuna? Also, this means I now have a couple of dozen pouches of kitten wet chicken pouches (HiLife brand) - is there any danger in feeding them to our 19 year old cat?

Mrs_Z

Hi, I would only comment that for your senior cat at 19yrs - at that age, I would let them have whichever catfood they liked.  Kitten food tend to be higher in fat and calories but 19yrs they are already on the 'bonus time' so would not pay too much attention to that.  (But that's just my personal opinion)

donnac2558

Tuna in small amounts as a treat.   Cats are land hunters and a vet on a TV documentary the other year stated thinking is the high rate of kidney disease in cats could be down to too much fish fed by owners.  Mercury is a poison you think they will keep it in human food but make sure over pet food?  No.

In the summer my breeder said kittens prefer to eat dried food, I feed James Wellbeloved Turkey.   My 4-month-old Burmese is refusing to eat pouch food at the moment.  I treat with fresh chicken a few times a week.

The brands insist that senior cat food as extra for their joints etc.    I was told off by my vet for not feeding the senior version to my 17-year-old Burmese I just fed the normal version.  So changed to senior.

He

We've got a 10 year old Maine Coon x - his preferred food is a mixture of dry and wet, and stupid as it sounds, he prefers the way that I prepare it rather than my wife!

I usually go for Sainsburys senior (7+) dry with whatever wet food is on offer at the time. I also (you'll probably shudder) sometimes mix it with small dog food (Cesar or similar). Tuna in brine he loves but doesn't get it very often. If kitten food was on offer, I might give him a change, but not permanently.

Silvertabby

Kitten food isn't suitable for an oldie.  However, I doubt it will go to waste as your kitten will (hopefully) almost certainly go off tuna and want something else soon.

Alternatively, if you have a garden, hedgehogs will appreciate chicken cat/kitten food.

I agree with the others about tuna - too much isn't good, which is why I've never given any of my cats tuna food in case they got a taste for it !  

aroominyork

Is the concern with tuna about feeding tuna sold for human consumption, or cat food tuna? If the latter, how come there is so much of it about such as this? 

Silvertabby

aroominyork said:

Is the concern with tuna about feeding tuna sold for human consumption, or cat food tuna? If the latter, how come there is so much of it about such as this? 

To meet (human) customer demand ?  So many people mistakenly believe that fish is a natural food for cats.  It isn't.  Think about it, cats normally hate water - so how could they evolve to fish for their food?  I believe this dates back to when people first took cats into their homes as pets/ mouse catchers.  They needed to feed the cats to encourage them to stay - but meat was expensive.  Fish, however, was as cheap as chips.  

I'm also amazed at the number of people who still believe that cats drink milk, when the reality is that adult cats are lactose intolerant.

aroominyork

I asked about tuna because of the 'mercury poisoning' issue - you're widening the issue to all fish. On that basis, humans evolved on land, not in the sea, but we eat fish. And I don't know about your ancestors but mine did not suckle milk from cows' teats (so far as I know!). So what is the basis for saying all fish must necessarily be bad for cats?

RobM99

Cats like milk, so buy "cat milk", it's lactose-free. 

Silvertabby

aroominyork said:

I asked about tuna because of the 'mercury poisoning' issue - you're widening the issue to all fish. On that basis, humans evolved on land, not in the sea, but we eat fish. And I don't know about your ancestors but mine did not suckle milk from cows' teats (so far as I know!). So what is the basis for saying all fish must necessarily be bad for cats?

I'm not saying that all fish is bad for cats.  Like anything else, it's fine in moderation - but in your first post you seemed to be rightly concerned that your puss would only eat tuna kitten food.

Yes, land based humans eat fish - but we have other means of catching it rather than just paws and teeth.  And I very rarely eat tuna.

Not sure what you mean about the milk !

Silvertabby

RobM99 said:

Cats like milk, so buy "cat milk", it's lactose-free. 

Again, marketed to human customers because of the mistaken belief that cats drink milk.  Water is far better.