Good fish - Bad fish ?

It seems the common thought is that feeding a mostly fish-based diet isn't a good thing, generally speaking, and may be worse for males than females.

However - if the cat will only eat fish-based foods, are there some choices that are smarter (health-wise) than others? I'm thinking about species of fish, not the specific brands of food.

For example, would trout-based or salmon-based food be less bad than tuna-based or the standard "ocean whitefish" stuff?

Thanks for your ideas ...

Maybe, but in the long run your cat could suffer a painful disease from eating fish based diet. I think its called "stetis" or something like that. So I would do my best to get your cat to eat beef or chicken or lamb rather then fish.

Some cats do get hooked on fish and refuse all other meats and become sick. Have you tried getting the cat to eat any raw beef or chicken?

I worry about it with my fosters... Fish is the go-to when they are picking at their food... I have one who will now only eat fishy stuff, Fancy Feast or chunky/gravy foods.... I guess I ruined them, eh?

ETA: here is an article on the liver condition from eating too much tuna.
http://www.gorbzilla.com/all_about_tuna.htm

It's an easy thing to do, AddieBee.

Have either of you tried sprinkling freeze-dried 100% meat treats over the foods you'd like them to eat? Cats seem to find these fairly irresistible and since they kinda soak up the moisture from the food, they're hard to lick off.

Maybe if you list of some of the tricks you've tried, we can come up with some new ones for you?

Small fish OVER big fish... like Sardines over Tuna .... Salmon over Tuna... Whitefish can be too many to figure out big vs small... NON farmed vs farmed

UTI prone cats NONE is best

Originally Posted by sharky

Small fish OVER big fish... like Sardines over Tuna .... Salmon over Tuna... Whitefish can be too many to figure out big vs small... NON farmed vs farmed

UTI prone cats NONE is best

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Thanks Sharky - that's what I'm trying to determine - the lesser of evils when it comes to fish!

And I would guess, then that you think that shrimp, crab, and herring would also all fall into the "better than tuna or whitefish" category?

Are there any non-farmed Sardine / Salmon / Trout / Shrimp/ Crab/ Herring brands you can identify? I can do the research, but thought you might already know!

Also - is it correct that "whitefish" is just a sortof generic term that may refer to many different fishes?

Originally Posted by Auntie Crazy

Have either of you tried sprinkling freeze-dried 100% meat treats over the foods you'd like them to eat?

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This sounds like a good idea, and I haven't tried it - so I will!

Thanks again!

Originally Posted by Auntie Crazy

It's an easy thing to do, AddieBee.

Have either of you tried sprinkling freeze-dried 100% meat treats over the foods you'd like them to eat? Cats seem to find these fairly irresistible and since they kinda soak up the moisture from the food, they're hard to lick off.

Maybe if you list of some of the tricks you've tried, we can come up with some new ones for you?

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No tricks, really. There is no fooling a cat who doesn't want to eat what is in front of him. However, the freeze-dried stuff sounds good. Where can I get that?

I know that my sense of smell and theirs --- big difference... but what I don't understand is why they don't seem to want to eat things like Wellness, Instinct or EVO? That stuff smells like MEAT... I would go get a cracker and smear some on... and.... well.. you get the idea. These are pate style, yet.. .they WILL gobble up FF classic chicken or salmon pate. I know ... FF is "kitty crack"... but what is in there that is soooooo appealing?

Originally Posted by AddieBee

No tricks, really. There is no fooling a cat who doesn't want to eat what is in front of him. However, the freeze-dried stuff sounds good. Where can I get that?

I know that my sense of smell and theirs --- big difference... but what I don't understand is why they don't seem to want to eat things like Wellness, Instinct or EVO? That stuff smells like MEAT... I would go get a cracker and smear some on... and.... well.. you get the idea. These are pate style, yet.. .they WILL gobble up FF classic chicken or salmon pate. I know ... FF is "kitty crack"... but what is in there that is soooooo appealing?

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my favorite is Stella and chewy s ... just Google and then look for freeze dried

Originally Posted by AddieBee

I know that my sense of smell and theirs --- big difference... but what I don't understand is why they don't seem to want to eat things like Wellness, Instinct or EVO? That stuff smells like MEAT... I would go get a cracker and smear some on... and.... well.. you get the idea. These are pate style, yet.. .they WILL gobble up FF classic chicken or salmon pate. I know ... FF is "kitty crack"... but what is in there that is soooooo appealing?

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Well at least fancy feast IS wet food Now if we could figure out why cats LOVE fancy feast that would be awesome

Originally Posted by AddieBee

No tricks, really. There is no fooling a cat who doesn't want to eat what is in front of him. However, the freeze-dried stuff sounds good. Where can I get that?

I know that my sense of smell and theirs --- big difference... but what I don't understand is why they don't seem to want to eat things like Wellness, Instinct or EVO? That stuff smells like MEAT... I would go get a cracker and smear some on... and.... well.. you get the idea. These are pate style, yet.. .they WILL gobble up FF classic chicken or salmon pate. I know ... FF is "kitty crack"... but what is in there that is soooooo appealing?

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Artificial COLORS , Flavors

I don't feed fish to my cats at all. I know it's not a good protein source for cats with renal failure (Cleo & Maggie) and it can cause problems for cats with FLUTD (Lola).

Here's an article about Yellow Fat Disease in cats, which is caused by feeding a diet of fish.
http://www.cat-world.com.au/steatiti...isease-in-cats

You might try sprinkling dry BONITO flakes on canned food, to entice your cats to eat, without actually feeding a tuna food. Many people on the CRF support site recommend using KITTY KAVIAR sprinkled on regular canned foods to help with inappetence issues.

Originally Posted by Pookie-poo

IYou might try sprinkling dry BONITO flakes on canned food, to entice your cats to eat, without actually feeding a tuna food. Many people on the CRF support site recommend using KITTY KAVIAR sprinkled on regular canned foods to help with inappetence issues.

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But ... isn't Bonito a fish? Or does the drying process remove all the "bad" stuff from the fish?

Originally Posted by Pookie-poo

I don't feed fish to my cats at all. I know it's not a good protein source for cats with renal failure (Cleo & Maggie) and it can cause problems for cats with FLUTD (Lola).

Here's an article about Yellow Fat Disease in cats, which is caused by feeding a diet of fish.
http://www.cat-world.com.au/steatiti...isease-in-cats

You might try sprinkling dry BONITO flakes on canned food, to entice your cats to eat, without actually feeding a tuna food. Many people on the CRF support site recommend using KITTY KAVIAR sprinkled on regular canned foods to help with inappetence issues.

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Ah, yes. Bonito flake. It's a bit $$$$$ but you can also buy in the Asian food section of some of the local groceries. We have a large Japanese population around here b/c of the auto business.

ETA: I did find a winning combo this morning.... Merricks Ocean Breeze with FF savory salmon.. they cleaned their plates. The Merrick had quite a lot of chicken in it, but just enough fishy stuff to make the boys happy. The whole meal was grain-free, too.

Originally Posted by MoonPie

But ... isn't Bonito a fish? Or does the drying process remove all the "bad" stuff from the fish?

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Yes, you are right...bonito is a fish, and drying it really doesn't change the amount of protein in it, although it may have some small effect on the amount of oils. I guess that I really didn't explain myself clearly. Putting a small amount of bonito on regular cat food (beef or chicken flavor) may give enough of a fish taste to it that the cat will eat it.

Bonito is FLAKED tuna... which is flaked meat thus has no bones / cartilage and thus NONE of the ph and mineral issues regular fish has

Originally Posted by sharky

Bonito is FLAKED tuna... which is flaked meat thus has no bones / cartilage and thus NONE of the ph and mineral issues regular fish has

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So what you are saying is Bonito is good??? I will have to get some.

Originally Posted by AddieBee

So what you are saying is Bonito is good??? I will have to get some.

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In small amount s it is fine for most cats

Originally Posted by GoldenKitty45

Maybe, but in the long run your cat could suffer a painful disease from eating fish based diet. I think its called "stetis" or something like that. So I would do my best to get your cat to eat beef or chicken or lamb rather then fish.

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Originally Posted by Pookie-poo

Here's an article about Yellow Fat Disease in cats, which is caused by feeding a diet of fish.
http://www.cat-world.com.au/steatiti...isease-in-cats

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Please note that what causes this disease is feeding a diet made of HUMAN GRADE fish, more commonly tuna... This is not a disease caused by fish flavored cat food AT ALL.
We are talking about here going to the supermarket getting the brand of tuna YOU would eat, and regularly making that part of your cat's diet.
Let's not get that confused...

Originally Posted by sharky

Bonito is FLAKED tuna... which is flaked meat thus has no bones / cartilage and thus NONE of the ph and mineral issues regular fish has

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The problem with bonito would not be for UTI or anything related to that...

The problem with bonito would be more pollution related, as it is a big fish, and you need to be concerned with mercury contamination issues depending where it comes from... But you feed so little of the flakes, you really shouldn't have a problem.

Sharky already gave the basics about feeding fish.

But here is the thing - NOT ALL FISH IS BAD, the biggest problem with fish is really the processing more than anything. Want to feed fish? Feed high quality food, and use the parameters Sharky said in her posts... and be ready to pay the price. It is not cheap.
For a healthy cat, it should not be a problem... I do have a male cat, his diet is mainly fish based as he is allergic to chicken... actually the diet here for all is mainly fish, except the wet food - Bugsy barely eats any wet (yes yes YES I try). But I feed VERY high quality food, and I never feed bad quality fish. Never...

I do agree to keep adding different flavors into the diet - I do that to Bugsy... But I also say do your research... carefully. A big misunderstanding is this Yellow fat disease in cats - it is not simply caused by fish.

Thanks for all the input, everyone.

I have been trying to get my cats to eat non-fish flavors, but it's so difficult. At least I can make sure they're getting the fish that is least likely to cause health issues down the road!