Someone posted in a thread about cat treats that they had learned not to feed tuna to cats because of mercury contamination. I learned years ago that tuna for cats, that is, canned tuna, was not good because there was something in the way it was packed that would rob the cat's system of taurine and that that could even be fatal.
Then, I started to see catfood with tuna that had taurine specifically added. Recently I made friends with a gal who has numerous cats and has taken care of many others, and she does a "tuna night" for her resident FeLions every few weeks or so, where they all get tuna for dinner as a treat.
So I guess there is a wide range of opinion about tuna for cats! I'd like to hear from some others what you know about this and what some more recent information is if anyone has access to it. Googling is all well and good but, as we all know, just because something is online doesn't mean it's accurate. So sharing experience and information sources is a good thing to do I believe, especially where our pets' health is concerned.
Giving your cats only tuna made for humans is a bad idea because of two things, firstly the high mercury content can give the cats mercury poisoning over time, and secondly the lack of taurine means you will actually be damaging your cat, by not giving it the nutrients its body needs. Cats cannot make their own taurine and require it, all cat food must contain it.
When my cat was sick, we bought him Carlyle's Just tuna for Cats. This was different tuna from human grade, it was the dark meat, and so was not in brine or oil, and had less mercury than other tuna. It also had nutrients added to make it for cats, including Taurine. We fed this exclusively to my cat for about 2 months until his stomach settled. It was the only thing that would spark is appetite, it has a very strong tuna smell and as soon as I opened the can he got exciteed!
We got his weight back up using this, and once he was healthy we switched back to a regular balanced cat food and haven't looked back!
Carlyle's is only around 70c a can, and cats love it! I totally recommend this Tuna only cat food option for anyone who has problems with a cat who has an upset stomach, or wont eat. Tuna is like crack for cats they cannot resist it, so it is a cheap, safe and easy way to get a sick cat to eat, and get their weight up whilst you work out a long term food / healthcare plan.
Oh mine too, mine too! They started meowing for Tuna every morning when I switched them to the Tuna for cats. We got the Tuna from Global Pet Foods, but I am not sure if a regular pet store might just stock it as well. Trust me, they will go WILD for it if they are anything like mine!
First off, I never give my cat people food because I really rather stay on the safe side because I would be heartbroken if she got sick.
Another thing to keep in mind is that every cat is different and might have a different reaction if they eat tuna intended for humans in an excessive amount.
I feel that in this situation it is better to be safe than sorry so I would just stick to store bought cat food brands.
9 Lives Essentials makes a tuna just for cats that you can buy at the supermarket.
There are also several brands of tuna cat food and tuna cat treats containing real tuna on Amazon. There are so many options now for giving cats safe pet grade tuna that there's no excuse to buy human grade tuna for your cats. The only human food I give my cat is a little piece of chicken or turkey if I happen to be having some for dinner.
For the most part Boots refuses to eat people food, but the other day a bit of tuna ended up on the floor and he gobbled it up. I had remember something about canned tuna not being good for cats and could not remember why, so thanks for the update.
One other reason to limit feeding tuna to cats is because it makes their poo extra smelly and messy. I figured well it is fish and protein, and maybe lubes them up kind of like humans eating fiber. We generally feed dry indoor cat food to Boots, because he has in the past refused any type of canned cat food.
I'd never heard this before, so I'm extra glad that I read this thread! I don't feed a lot of tuna, but once in a while she'll have a can of grain-free tuna flavor (has to eat all or mostly grain-free.) I've not heard of the tuna specifically for cats, but I'll check into that. It's unnerving how there are so many things that can hurt our babies and if we wouldn't do the research, we'd never even know it. :-(
Does the same go for salmon? I mean would it be the same issue with the taurine that tuna has? We've never given her "people tuna" or any kind of people food for that matter... although if I could find some good and healthy recipes, I wouldn't mind trying some homemade cat food.
(02-15-2013, 02:16 AM)scotty Wrote: Cats cannot make their own taurine and require it, all cat food must contain it.
Even if cats are unable to make their own taurine, it does not mean that every single thing they eat has to contain it. If they are fed some foods, which do not contain taurine it should do them no harm so long as they are taking in sufficient amounts from other foods.
Everyone in this thread seems to be under the impression that foods aimed at cats are in some way better than foods intended for humans. This is completely incorrect. Pet foods are always of a lower quality than human foods. By law, human food has to meet certain standards to ensure that it is safe for consumption. There are simply no such laws for pet foods. You might say that, "I'm sure it should be illegal," but it simply is not. As a result, pet food companies can and do put anything they want into their products. They normally use meat, which is not good enough to be given to humans legally. In fact, pet foods have been found to contain levels of various toxic metals such as lead, which would be regarded as too high for childrens' food. Considering that most pets would be smaller than a human child, the effect on them would be even larger. You have to bear in mind that pet food companies do not care at all about your pets' health. All they are interested in is making money so they can and will use the cheapest ingredients available. Have you never wondered what happens to the meat they mention on the news is "not fit for human consumption"? It is destined to be put into pet food.
Regarding the original topic of this post: I have read that fish in general should only be fed to cats in limited quantites due to the possibility of high levels of mercury and other toxins. The same advice applies to people in fact. A certain amount is apparently beneficial but eating it in large quantities regularly should be avoided.
Let me share with you an anecdote: We used to give my cat tuna all the time. She loved it. My dad moved his shop to work out of home, and began feeding it to her more and more often. This was the canned, for people tuna.
Well, about 3 months ago she started getting really sick. She seemed weaker. She was losing a lot of weight. She wouldn't run, wouldn't go play outside, wouldn't do anything but lay around. Her meows seemed quieter and raspy, and was a little shakey. I found out she had rectal bleeding, and as my mom was cleaning her up and wiping her butt there was a bit of blood. We didn't have the money or the time to take her to the vet. To be honest, I thought she had reached the point of no return, she was just too damn old and her body was shutting down because of age. I thought she was going to die.
My dad did some researching, and we stopped feeding her tuna, and she started getting much better. Now she's stronger, healthy, and completely fine. She's playing again, "fairy-chasing" again, and at the ripe old age of 12 she's still acting like a kitten sometimes. She lays around a bit more often nowadays, but I attribute that to old age now and not so much because of sickness. I don't know what tuna did to her, or even if it's what did something to her. All I know is that feeding her that much seemed to almost kill her.
Now, that being said, I'm not a scientist. I have no idea if tuna really did that, I just saw some correlation. I'm just some random asshole on the internet. Don't just trust my word and anecdotes.
Considering what stray cats eat when they are foraging on their own, I'm sure there's worse things they are ingesting than a can of tuna - and they still survive.
I've tried giving our cats tuna though, but they wont even touch it. I guess perhaps its a texture thing for them, maybe they like it more finely processed.
I am going to check out the tuna fish for cats because I just enjoy giving my cat a treat once in awhile and she LOVES tuna.
