Tuna for a snack.

Last night i went out and brought canned 'natural sea' tuna for Bindi. He's my baby and gets spoiled rotten http://www.thecatsite.com/forums/ima...lies/agree.gif. He loves eating tuna as a snack. I dont give him it more then one can a month or so because I heard that its not all that great for cats. But I do it for a few reasons 1 he really likes it, 2 I want to have him get somewhat bigger, 3 its cheaper then the healthy treats at petco and I know tuna is better then some of their treats.http://www.thecatsite.com/forums/ima...lies/agree.gif Do any of you give canned tuna from time to time?

One of our cats Tom seems to still crave the lower quality foods( friskies ,meowmix,) even though we now give solid gold dry and wet innova evo. Is this because of the things they put in these foods and his addicted, exam- mc donalds food addiction in humans, or is this just a sign that he's lonely and wants compaionship, my dad was in the kitchen and noticed Tom meowing loudly at him.

I do feel like the nasty cheap foods can be more palatable than the premiums...it is similiar to McDonald's addiction.

Tuna can be a good occassional treat for cats, and canned mackeral too. Just use it sparingly, and all will be well!

Great wookie130, this proves cats have memories and that Tuna is okayhttp://www.thecatsite.com/forums/images/smilies/smile.gif I'm happy to hear it. Bindi is almost 8 months will be at the end of feb, is he over half grown, I heard it can take three years for a male cat to reach full weight/size. He is a moogie all black, not a maine coon or another large breed. Is this three years only true for maine coons

Nothing wrong with tuna just as a snack
Everytime my ex would make a tuna sandwich he'd give Zoey and Saki one piece each. Zoey gobbles it right up and Saki licks it to death first before finally eating it

I do NOT like giving any cat tuna or mostly tuna food because they can get hooked on it and not want to eat anything else! I try to limit the amount of fish food - mainly use chicken, beef, lamb or turkey.

They may get a little of the talipia fish we cook up for ourselves to add to dinner (even the dog likes it) but not tuna.

"Human" tuna isn't good for cats because it can interfere with Vitamin E absorption. There are tuna foods that are formulated specifically for cats, though, and these are fine. Trader Joe's, Solid Gold, Figaro, and Nine Lives all make cat foods that are pretty much pure tuna and cats really like them as a treat.

While I do agree with tuna in large amounts being harmful, a bit now and again is really fine, as long as it's used sparingly. I've never had a cat become "hooked" to it, to the point where they will eat nothing else. I only give a sliver of it to my kitties about once every 3 months. It's basically a very infrequent treat, and not viewed as any part of their daily staple diet.

If only given a little and sparingly I guess its fine. I just never liked the idea of giving them tuna. Salmon and some other types of fish are better in my opinion to be mixed in the foods.

Since my rexes were never really fed fish as kittens, many of them grew up not eating fish as adults....

Believe it or not, my cats won't hardly touch tuna. Blows me away. But I think it's ok to give as a snack once in awhile.

Wow I had no idea tuna isn't great for cats. Every time I have some tuna (every few weeks or so) we'll split a can between the three of us. And they just love it. As soon as I open a can they get all excited, a whole lot more excited then with their "normal" food.

I guess we'll have to lay off the tuna a little bit from now on....

Originally Posted by Pekoe & Nigel

Wow I had no idea tuna isn't great for cats. Every time I have some tuna (every few weeks or so) we'll split a can between the three of us. And they just love it. As soon as I open a can they get all excited, a whole lot more excited then with their "normal" food.

I guess we'll have to lay off the tuna a little bit from now on....

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same here - I had no idea it was bad for them :/ Wonton's been getting tuna for dinner once a week - R and I usually eat out on Sunday nights, so Sunday nights Wonton got tuna so he could 'eat out' too.. hmm. Guess I'll have to find something else to spoil him with.

would canned salmon or mackerel be ok to give once a week?

You had asked a question earlier about a male cat taking up to three years to reach full size. It probably depends on his build and what is in his genetic background. My male cat will be four in May and he has the long lean oriental type build. In the past year he has gotten a more muscular filled out look. He still has the long lean look but he no longer has that skin and bones almost starved look about him. I was concerned enough to ask the vet about it when I had him in for one of his checkups and she said that he was healthy and it was his natural build.

Originally Posted by mzjazz2u

Believe it or not, my cats won't hardly touch tuna. Blows me away. But I think it's ok to give as a snack once in awhile.

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My Sho doesn't really like tuna either this means he isn't exactly fond of the meow mix pouches too, since they're mostly tuna no matter what the flavor.

Originally Posted by mzjazz2u

Believe it or not, my cats won't hardly touch tuna. Blows me away. But I think it's ok to give as a snack once in awhile.

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same here Miss Moofs is totally disinterested and Dino throws the flakes about like a toy
As long as its only a snack then I dont see the problem - Dino & Pepsi have an olive to share about once a month, they love em

I've never given any of my cats canned tuna because it's bad for them.

I just seen on the Today Show something about the acids in Tuna can hurt a cats heart. A vet was on there talking about how to keep your pets healthy.

Thank you guys for the warning I will only use high quality tuna as a treat. He loves it to death but I dont want any vitamen E troubles or heart issues. Another question if your going to have a cat walking outside on a harness does he need Hartworm meds too along with Frontline?http://www.thecatsite.com/forums/ima...s/confused.gif

Originally Posted by Panther pride

Thank you guys for the warning I will only use high quality tuna as a treat. He loves it to death but I dont want any vitamen E troubles or heart issues. Another question if your going to have a cat walking outside on a harness does he need Hartworm meds too along with Frontline?http://www.thecatsite.com/forums/ima...s/confused.gif

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find out if Heartworm is a concern in your area ... In mine it is not as all cases were in dogs and only 3 in 10 yrs ....

Solid gold make a great tuna cat food I have been using this instead of reg tuna

I don't know how much of a concern heartworm is in this area. I know a friend of mine in Dayton which isn't too far from here had a dog that got them. My vet started selling Revolution instead of Frontline. It's about the same price, is put on the same way, and takes care of heartworm and intestinal parasites as well as fleas.

My Sweetie has been scratching, but does not have fleas or any evidence of fleas. The vet said dry skin just like humans and to give the cats oil from tuna on their dry food. It supposedly gives them the required oil in their system for healthy skin. I also heard that too much tuna is no good because the cats get addicted and the nutrition they need is not supplied from tuna alone. You notice she said on "dry food" vets seem to like dry food better than canned. Mine get both.