Tuna Cat Food

[PinkSparklyPussyCat]

I know cats shouldn't have human tuna every day but it it OK for them to have complete tuna cat food every day? Harry loves the Hi Life tuna in jelly selection and I'm going to push my luck and try the ones in sauce as well.

He has all his food on rotation but I was wondering if he could have a tuna pouch every day with a Country Hunter as the second pouch but I don't want to cause him more problems.

Thanks.

All of my cats have/have had human tuna at lunch time most days and have all lived long lives. I didn't know it wasn't right giving it to them. They do have normal cat food and prescription food every day as well. I think if they have a balanced diet, that's the best thing for them.

Thanks, I go on too many other cat forums and scare myself - I should really stick to the Litter Tray! If he wants it he can have it, the poor little bugger's got enough problems without me restricting his food.

Blimey, our cat would go on strike if she didn't get her third can of 'human' tuna a day!

She looks very well and healthy and gets a balanced diet (often some poor little creature meets their end in servicing her needs).

Is the idea that human tuna is bad for cats a ploy from cat food manufacturers to sell more of their processed garbage, I wonder?

Probably! Providing it's part of a balanced diet with complete cat food I can't see a problem.

I'm too scared to post on other forums to ask though! I lurked for a long time before posting on the Litter Tray for the first time as I'd been told by posters on another forum I was killing Harry as I was feeding him bicuits - they really had a go and I never went back!

The idea that tuna is bad long term is the same for humans - high levels of mercury that are found. I don't think feeding tuna flavoured cat food every day is a problem as there won't actually be that much tuna in it however I don't think a can of tuna should be fed everyday.
If you do want to then make sure it's tuna in spring water as brine is too salty.
Not from pet food manufactures and their 'processed garbage' is undoubtly better to feed everyday than a can of tuna, it will be thoroughly tested for nutritional compliance to ensure cats get all the correct nutrients they need.

The food Harry has is 50% tuna. To be honest, everything is bad for us these days if you listen to the so called experts. I really don't think a third of a can of tuna a day will hurt a cat, I was worried about tuna cat food being his main food.

I wouldn't feed Harry the crap that passes for most cat foods as it is processed garbage. I wouldn't want to eat chicken that was only 4% chicken so why should he. I'm not doubting it's got all the correct nutrients but it's the lack of named meat that concerns me. Even the 50% tuna is low compared to what he's used to!

4% is the amount of the named flavour yes but most of the food will be made up from meat - although as derivatives. I'm not saying it's perfect but it is certainly better to feed something that will at least be regulated and tested than something where you have no idea if it is correct or not! The pet food industry is very highly regulated.
I didn't say that a third of a tuna can would harm a cat, nor did I said there was an issue with feeding tuna flavoured cat food every day! Feeding a whole can of tuna everyday most likely would cause an issue. Even tuna not in brine has high levels of salt that can cause kidney issues, cats aren't designed to take in much salt.
I'm not a cat food warrior like some on other pet forums are but I work in pet nutrition and I think there are a lot of common misconceptions.

For me the main problem with the cheaper food it it doesn't fill them up and doesn't actually work out cheaper as they need more of it. Harry has either Hi Life or Natures Menu with James Wellbeloved biscuits for lunch and supper, although he doesn't always need the biscuits. I tried him on raw at one point and he wasn't keen, which I was quite pleased about as I didn't like it!

I know what you mean about cat food warriors, some of them are really scary!

As you're in the pet food industry, can I ask you a question? Why is it so hard to find food that doesn't contain chicken? Is it because it's easy to digest? My reason for asking is that I have a cat who doesn't like chicken! He'll eat it if it's with another stronger flavour meat, e.g. goose, but not on its own.

Welcome to the litter tray! I've only been posting here a while and really enjoy it.

Yes I get that and the main difference between cheaper and more expensive pet foods is mainly down to the quality of the protein used, so something like Felix uses 4% chicken plus the rest from offal and small amounts of muscle meat (plus some plant protein) whereas Natures menu will use all muscle meat. However looking at the analytical constituents the Felix is 14% protein and Natures menu is 10.5% - it's just where the protein comes from that is different. I know that many people choose to feed the higher quality foods but cats can live perfectly fine on cheaper foods plus (not saying you do this!) Many people over feed too so may think they need more.
Also as not all people are happy spending lots of money on quality food at least the cheaper brands are nutritionally complete so the cats will be healthy I don't want to go on but I think sometimes an idea takes hold and everyone runs with it!

Regarding the chicken, I'm not too sure but it could that chicken is a less expensive meat as well as being more easily digested. I feel your pain though as when my cat was younger any chicken flavoured food would give him the runs it was hard to find something without chicken! Luckily he's fine with it now. As you're feeding the higher quality food it should be easier to avoid have a look at zooplus or The Happy Kitty company as they have lots of random flavoured food on there without chicken!

Thanks! I should say I'd never judge anyone who does use cheaper foods (unless it's Go Cat but that's another story!) in case I sound like one of those cat food warriors!

I'm particularly keen on Harry having the more expensive food as he's had a lot of dental problems so I try and avoid extra sugars. Unfortunately Natures Menu all contains chicken so I have to buy the beef, goose, duck and tuna ones to hide the flavour!

Thanks for your help!

No problem tbf I would probably judge if someone fed Go Cat too, it's not the best! Cat food warriors scare me, especially the raw feeding one's
Definitely a good idea to stick to food with less sugar if your cat has dental issues, unfortunately dental issues have a genetic element too so even on the best of diets there can be problems! Always good to not exacerbate though :-)

Does he tolerate tuna ok? Mine loves
It but unfortunately it doesn't love her

He's lost 12 teeth so I want to try and preserve what he's got left!

I completely agree about the raw feeders! I honestly don't have the time or money to cook his food, making sure I've added all the correct nutrients to it. It would be far too stressful as well as I'd worry in case I missed something out!

Luckily he tolerates tuna very well, although it does seem to make him sleep a bit more, if that's possible. We were lucky with him when he broke his jaw as he had to move from wet to dry with no transition period and his stomach was fine.

I had a cat who died of feline kidney disease and I had to do a lot of research about diet in cats, etc when he was sick. I gathered that fish really isn't all that good for cats. Mercury levels, etc and it can cause kidney issues. It may be okay once in a while as a treat, but I wouldn't make fish a staple in their diet.

Our girl cat loves 'human' tuna. We ended up giving it to her in desperation when she wouldn't eat anything else after being very ill with a gastric upset,2 years ago.The vet said she had to have a very plain diet for 2 weeks after the illness,so we were giving her plain,white steamed fish like coley or meat from a chicken leg or thigh. She loved this but when we tried to wean her back onto commercial cat food,she turned her nose up at it. So we gave her some tuna,which she devoured. Thankfully she has gradually accepted cat food back into her diet,but she still has a couple of tins of 'human tuna' a week. I understand the reasons that it is not advisable to give your cat too much tuna as it can cause a vitamin E deficiency,causing something called (I think) 'yellow
fat disease',also it can be toxic in high quantities due to the mercury content. Tuna has a very strong smell and taste (don't I know it!) and apparently cats can become'addicted' to it,becoming 'tuna junkies' to the exclusion of all other foods.

I just don't know how you can possibly know that you are feeding your cat the correct nutrients with raw feeding, it can all go so wrong so quickly. You can feed too little nutrients and have a detrimental effect but also over load and cause toxicity!

Aw bless him, my mum's cat had to have all her teeth out bar 2 but she's still happily munching away (and still loves a dreamie!)

My cat hates fish! And won't eat posh cat foods. Have tried & tried, but whiskers it is (plus better quality biscuits)

It should be fine if it's complete. The problem with human tuna as a sole diet is partly the heavy metals and partly that it doesn't contain the correct balance of micronutrients ( bits, minerals, amino-acids etc).
I have been in pet food factories and I think you would be quite surprised by the quality of he meat used. It's category 3 animal by products - fit for but not intended for, human consumption. In practice this means perfectly good bits of animals that we are too picky to eat. Lots of chicken wings, legs, necks, livers, front ends if lambs, pig liver, Salmonella ends. Next time you buy a pack of chicken breasts or lamb chops, spare a moment to wonder what happened to the rest of the animal that we don't seem perfect enough, or conveniently bone free, or nasty brown leg, not lovely white breast meat!

Salmon, not Salmonella, spot the food technologist's autocorrect!

I would never feed my cat a raw food diet because I would be too afraid I'd be missing something in their diet. Cats need taurine in order to live! Just a couple decades ago, major pet food companies didn't add taurine in the cat food and cats started dying. If you're going to make a raw food diet and feed it to your cat, you have to make sure it has taurine and you have to add that in as well as other supplements. If you google about the taurine thing, you will see what I mean.

My cat has an Applaws tuna pouch once a week but he's not really into fish otherwise. He also doesn't like chicken cat food though he will happily eat bits of roast chicken.