Is it OK to feed my cats a mainly fish based diet?

I was just looking for dealz on cat food online (which apparently do not exist) and ran across a poor review on Soulistic (which my cats love) due to its having Menadione Sodium Bisulfite Complex in it. I googled a bit and found that any fish-based food is going to have this in it. I stopped feeding poultry formulas on sharky's advice that it may be causing their vomiting, and the vomiting has improved a LOT. They've been eating Taste of the Wild Canyon River formula dry and various wet foods, all grain-free and chicken free. Now I ran across this statement while researching

"The first thing I can tell you is that fish is NOT a correct daily protein source for a cat. Cats can have fish once in a while but chicken or turkey-based foods are the most natural meat for them (youâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]ll find many of my Blog postings about this, and Q&As on The Cat Bible part of the website.) However, it has been determined that fish-based formulas that do not contain menadione may expose cats to serious health risks. So the bottom line is that you should feed your cat fish-based foods only infrequently, at which point the amount of menadione she is taking in will be minuscule."

There are very few beef, rabbit, venison, etc formulas and it really does seem that getting rid of the poultry has helped with the vomiting. So now I don't know what to do!

Fish is kinda a double edged sword... It is HIGH in mineral levels , high amount of cats with allergy issues... One the FLIP side you can have it be the ONLY meat protein that is digested well and not causing an allergy( Carolina's got a kitty like this)


Rabbit is a good one ( IMHO I would rotate if possible)...

I have cats that THRIVE on beef but it too is a high one on the digestive issue front... plus most beef based drys have lots of grain

I avoid Lamb and venison since by themselves they can cause and or trigger any inflammation already present

As for the Menadione Sodium Bisulfite Complex ... I use foods with it and have run it by a number of vets ( a few with extensive training in nutrition) NOT one has issues with it .... I try not to feed all thing s having it and prefer the foods using it have it low( ie the last 5 ingrediants on a dry)

Any suggestions for rabbit foods? I don't recall running across very many of them!

Maybe I will try adding some chicken back in on an occasional basis and see what happens.

Not sure about where to find the rabbit foods, but would it be possible to find an online place to order frozen rabbit meat and then read on making a homemade diet for the cat (adding in the other ingredients?

My cats only get a bite or two of the tilipia fish we eat for supper - I won't feed mine any fish based canned or dry foods.

Natures Instinct makes a rabbit in dry and canned

Wysong make rabbit canned

Wellness has a 95% rabbit

Evangers has rabbit in their line if memory serves

Rabbit is a trickier one for homemade as it naturally is deficient in some things... Not hard but not as easy as chicken , beef or fish

Thanks so much Sharky. I checked the website of a local store and they carry most of those brands so I will go check them out.

After reading some more threads here I am now concerned about UTI with my grain-free diet. The more I read the more issues I find, LOL. I see in another thread you said Orijen was good for UTI...the fish formula too you think? I think maybe I'll mix some of that in with the TOTW they're getting now. And add in some of the rabbit too so they're not eating all fish. Thankfully they don't seem to be picky about dry foods. Wet is another matter...they usually turn their nose up at pate, though after giving them foods in gravy for a couple days they did eat up all the Wellness CORE pate I put out last night.

Thank you again so much for all your advice!

At this pt NO grain free is UTI friendly some are within the majority of minerals safe zone( I likely was commenting on the Magnesium on the Orijen)

With orijen I believe the fish has the same % as the chicken( they are deboning alot of the fish)

Fish and grain free I would be VERY careful if anyone has had a uti ....

No problems with UTIs yet--I was just concerned about it potentially being an issue in the future. I picked up a bag of the origijen fish dry food today, and a bunch of different kinds of wet food, some rabbit, and a beef or venison or two in addition to the fish. I'm feeling like maybe I should add in some grains here and there just in case, even though there have not been any UTI issues with any of my kitties. Problem is my boy will eat little to no wet food, and I know they are more likely to have urinary issues than the girls. I may have to mix in a little dry food w/ grains in it since that is 99.99% of his diet.

The EPA already cautions against humans consuming too much fish, particularly large predator fish, as mercury, lead, and other industrial contaminants will be concentrated into them.

The same would apply to felines, with the magnesium/crystals issue to boot, although the risk is dependent on the type of fish protein used.

As a part of a diet, I don't see an issue, but as a primary protein source, everything I have read cautions against it, allergy or no.