# Can my cat eat tinned tuna made for people??



## demaya (May 3, 2011)

Hi everyone!

I have been reading this forum for while and I find it very good and helpful, especially for people like me, who just start life with a cat. 
I have got 8 months old kitten, I got her when she was 3 months. She was on a dry food. We changed her diet slowly and now she eats wet and dry food ( she likes both). I try to get for her the best I can, cos I want her to live as long as possible. Anyway, I was wondering if I can give her tuna in brine, the same which I eat. She already tried it and she loves it, but I'm not sure if it's good for her. Could you please help me with that?


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## kerfuffle (Nov 23, 2010)

Brine has a bit too much salt in it to be healthy for the cat, try tuna in spring water or a small portion of tuna in sunflower oil (too much of the sunflower oil can cause diarrhoea... extra lube for the intestines!) and feed as treat only, not as main diet.


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## demaya (May 3, 2011)

Thanks for a quick answer. I thought that tuna in brine is better than in oil, but I was worried about that salt in it. Luckily she didn't have that very often.
Is it better then to buy cat food with tuna?


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## kerfuffle (Nov 23, 2010)

Cats needs a bit of fat in their diet anyway, moreso than salt.  The best type of human-food canned tuna is the ones in spring water though, but some supermarkets don't sell them.

But yes, tuna catfood is best if you want to feed tuna at all, it's not necessary for a cat to eat fish but it's great as an occasional treat if she likes it. Just be aware if you feed fish-flavoured cat food too often, she may become a fussy fish-fiend that won't eat anything else!

My cat gets tuna approximately once a week for one of his feeds, and the tuna he gets is Smilla Tuna, which is a complete cat food from zooplus and contains 80% tuna.

Link: Cat Food deals at zooplus: Smilla Fish Pot 6 x 185 g

It's as close to a whole can of tuna as you can get and still have all the necessary nutrition the cat needs as part of his daily diet.


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## demaya (May 3, 2011)

My little one gets fish once or twice a week. She eats more of Bozita, Animonda, and Almo, Applaws between them. We only gave her that tuna with salt because we thought that, if it's good for people it has to be good for her as well. The other thing is; I am still very suspicious about all that cat food, you just never know...


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## Sacrechat (Feb 27, 2011)

My sister used to feed her cat tinned tuna but then he developed an enlarged heart. Vet said it was due to the tuna. Something to do with high levels of mercury. Tuna feeds on the bottom of the ocean apparently, where there is a high concentration of mercury.


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## kerfuffle (Nov 23, 2010)

demaya said:


> My little one gets fish once or twice a week. She eats more of Bozita, Animonda, and Almo, Applaws between them. We only gave her that tuna with salt because we thought that, *if it's good for people it has to be good for her as well*. The other thing is; I am still very suspicious about all that cat food, you just never know...


Please don't apply that to everything!  A lot of human food can be upsetting for a cat's GI tract, some are toxic. I'm sure you know this already anyway considering the numerous threads here about feeding human food to cats. Some are okay for treats, but most are not nutritionally complete, and there are a lot of flavourings (like onion powder) that will not agree with cats.

What about cat food are you suspicious of? I think my cat eat a better diet than I do...


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## Mollie M (May 3, 2011)

*Maybe this will help. Cats love milk, but they are lactose intolerant and I only give mine sterilised milk as a treat, but this link will provide more information. :001_smile:*

HUMAN FOODSTUFFS BAD FOR CATS


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## demaya (May 3, 2011)

For example that case with Applaws dry food made me very suspicious, because I thought it's a very good quality food and now I am not that sure. I've heard it's been sorted out but still that breeder who lost the cat blames Applaws dry food.


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## Sacrechat (Feb 27, 2011)

You will have to fill me in. I haven't heard about the breeder you mention or what happened to her cat. Can you explain?


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## demaya (May 3, 2011)

Here is more about it;Applaws, Applaws Dry Cat Food - Mycotoxins and Melamine found in Applaws dry cat food - please be aware if you are feeding this to your cats.


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## kerfuffle (Nov 23, 2010)

Sacremist said:


> You will have to fill me in. I haven't heard about the breeder you mention or what happened to her cat. Can you explain?


I believe the OP is referring to this one: Applaws, Applaws Dry Cat Food - Mycotoxins and Melamine found in Applaws dry cat food - please be aware if you are feeding this to your cats.

It's been going around for a couple of years, and Applaws has said they've been independently-tested by trading standards and was found to be okay, but the breeder in question put the page up again with more information and still accusing Applaws on toxic substances in their dry food. On and on it goes... the truth? I doubt any of us have distinctive idea of who is telling the truth without actually getting a lab to do independent testing for us.

OP: Please be aware that there is no such thing as a perfect food, all food has its pros and cons. Dry food are never the ideal cat food anyway because of the lack of moisture and most cats just swallow the kibble whole so there is no teeth-cleaning going on and grain fillers used in a lot of dry may aggravate GI. Wet food comes in different grades, but most commercial cat food are sold cooked and doesn't have the consistency to clean teeth or encourage chewing, and taurine is actually quite low in some of them (even the complete ones!). Raw food are good if made or sourced properly, but there are fears in regards to bacteria, parasites, etc etc etc.

So no food is 100%, you just have to do your research on what you a) can afford to feed and b) is healthy for your cat.


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## demaya (May 3, 2011)

you are absolutely right Kerfuffle, that's why I love this forum. I always come here when I want to get some informations. I really appreciate any good advice from more experienced cat's owners.


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## hobbs2004 (Mar 12, 2010)

Just to add to Kerfuffle's excellent posts, feeding tinned oily (human-grade) fish, such as Markerel and Sardines, is an excellent way of getting some omega fatty acids (particularly omega 3) into your cat's diet. 

But as Sacremist has pointed out, this shouldn't be fed more often than just an occasional treat (once a week at the most) because of concerns of the heavy metal load but also because it is not a balanced meal (too little calcium, lacking certain vitamins and including too many of others). 

Mine absolutely love sardines in oil but the oil can lead to explosive diarrhoea on some cats (luckily not with mine :tongue_smilie. So, if you are not going to feed the oil then you are better off finding oily fish in spring water for the simple reason that the precious omega fatty acids are fat-soluble. So, they will leak into the oil if fish is cooked in oil but doesn't leak into cooking water; hence the advice to get oily fish in water. 

Anyhoo, just my 2 cents...


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## demaya (May 3, 2011)

Thank you for all your answers:001_smile:. I will try to get that oily fish in spring water for my cat.


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## KittehNom (Apr 26, 2011)

I was wondering about this as I got a few cat books quite recently, most notably a "Birman cat" book and it said there quite firmly never to feed your cat tuna made for human consumption, both because of the high mercury content but also because the tuna has a VERY strong taste and can be addictive for cats.

They can start to refuse to eat anything else? 

I found that a bit weird when I first read it, but would be intrigued to hear others thoughts? I would have thought it would be okay as the occasional treat?

x


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## Sacrechat (Feb 27, 2011)

KittehNom said:


> I was wondering about this as I got a few cat books quite recently, most notably a "Birman cat" book and it said there quite firmly never to feed your cat tuna made for human consumption, both because of the high mercury content but also because the tuna has a VERY strong taste and can be addictive for cats.
> 
> They can start to refuse to eat anything else?
> 
> ...


Like Hobbs said, an occasional treat is fine, but in the case of my sister, she fed her cat tuna far more than she should have done. To be fair, she didn't know she was doing wrong and had to learn the hard way.

I have had cats in the past who have refused to eat, due to illness usually, and I have given them tuna just to encourage them to eat something, anything, rather than nothing.


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## demaya (May 3, 2011)

KittehNom said:


> I was wondering about this as I got a few cat books quite recently, most notably a "Birman cat" book and it said there quite http://www.petforums.co.uk/images/smilies/tongue.giffirmly never to feed your cat tuna made for human consumption, both because of the high mercury content but also because the tuna has a VERY strong taste and can be addictive for cats.
> 
> They can start to refuse to eat anything else?
> 
> x


_I fed my cat tuna only once a week. I can say that was one of hers favorite food, but I don't think she was addicted. She eats Bozita, Carny,Applaws and Almo now, sometimes she is a little bit fussy, but I can't complain really. _


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## demaya (May 3, 2011)

Sacremist said:


> Like Hobbs said, an occasional treat is fine, but in the case of my sister, she fed her cat tuna far more than she should have done. To be fair, she didn't know she was doing wrong and had to learn the hard way.
> 
> What happened to your sister cat? And how often did she feed her cat tuna? Was that tuna in brine?


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