Cats and Salt (in the tuna liquid) - Okay?

My friend insists I shouldn't let my cat, Turtle, drink much of the liquid from the tuna because of the salt content. I don't do this on a regular basis, but when she's sick, like she is now, and I'm having a hard time getting her to drink water, I pull out the canned tuna and give her at least the liquid from one can a day, more if she'll drink it. Just trying to keep her from getting dehydrated. My friend thinks it's bad for them and can make them more dehydrated because the salt pulls water from the tissues, or something like that. (I'm also feeding her canned food mixed with a little water.) She's not drinking as much as she was, which might be because of the canned food with extra water (although she's not eating a lot of this). I was just trying to play if safe on the hydration thing.

So, is giving your cat "tuna juice" a bad thing because of the salt, even if they're sick and you're trying to get liquid in them? I usually use the low-sodium tuna, but the smell is stronger with the regular so she seems to like that better. Oh, it's canned in water not oil, if that makes a difference.

Thanks!!

Pam

Just bumping this up a bit (hope that's okay here) because if I shouldn't give it to her, I need to find something else. She's drinking a little water, but not much and the tuna juice helps. But again, if it's bad for her even drinking it short term, I don't want to continue it. (I'd never heard it was bad for cats before, and the vet didn't say anything when I mentioned her drinking some.)

Thanks!!

http://www.thecatsite.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=135733

Here's a link from this forum in 2007. Hope this helps.

Thank you so much! I did a search for it myself but somehow missed it...great information.



Pam