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What's the "beef" (haha) with seafood?

post #1 of 8
5/17/11 at 11:16pm
Thread Starter 
I've never read about avoiding seafood-flavored food for cats. Can someone elaborate on why this is harmful or undesirable?
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post #2 of 8
5/18/11 at 12:34am
Fish is high in omega 3s and very palatable to cats, but unfortunately it also tends to be high in mercury, magnesium, phosphorous, and other heavy metals/minerals/pollutants (like PDBEs) to where consuming too much can cause a vitamin imbalance and is likely to result in urinary tract issues in predisposed cats. For most cats, its not a bad idea to throw in a couple fish meals a week, but for UTI prone cats you'd probably just want to skip it all together. And speaking of beef, while again beef is not bad, its also not a great idea to make red meat their primary protein source.
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post #3 of 8
5/18/11 at 11:09pm
Thread Starter 
Thanks for your help! I'm transitioning to wet food -- I have Blue Buffalo Wilderness in chicken & duck stocked up right now. They are still eating Blue Buffalo kitten formula dry, which I believe is tuna-flavored. I'll need to do some more research into varieties so that they're not always eating chicken
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post #4 of 8
5/18/11 at 11:27pm
When tuna is like the fifth or sixth ingredient, that means there's really not that much in there, so no worries.

Its just when tuna is in the top three and its eaten every single day that I'd be concerned.

Its pretty much the same w/ what is recommended for people. Fish is great, but try not to eat sushi everyday.
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post #5 of 8
5/19/11 at 7:00am
Quote:
Originally Posted by parsleysage View Post
Thanks for your help! I'm transitioning to wet food -- I have Blue Buffalo Wilderness in chicken & duck stocked up right now. They are still eating Blue Buffalo kitten formula dry, which I believe is tuna-flavored. I'll need to do some more research into varieties so that they're not always eating chicken
I am not sure of the wet varieties Blue has out there but I'm sure there are several of them. You might want to mix it up with another brand. Mine eat both Nutro Max and Nutro Natural Choice wet, and they all love most of them. Nutro Max has a Venison, Lamb and Duck variety as well as a chicken and fish. Natural Choice also has several varieties.

Fish is great for cats but beware the mercury (as Ducman69). Great for the skin and coat.
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post #6 of 8
5/19/11 at 4:16pm
I have a chronic FLUTD boy (Muddy). The last time he ate a can of food that was primarily fish, he blocked and landed in the ER at 1AM, then remained in intensive care for 2 days. That was the most expensive can of cat food that I ever bought.

We don't serve fish at my house anymore. They might get a smidgeon of it, as you can't avoid fish oils in most brands, but it has to be listed lower on the list of ingredients.
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post #7 of 8
5/19/11 at 6:32pm
My cats get fish a couple times a week. Mostly it's mixed with chicken, or something else in the can. Once every 10 days (approximately) they get tuna (Solid Gold brand). But all mine are in perfect health, and fish is a small portion of their diet. I don't feed my cats beef at all.

Robin
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post #8 of 8
5/19/11 at 9:34pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ducman69 View Post
Fish is high in omega 3s and very palatable to cats, but unfortunately it also tends to be high in mercury, magnesium, phosphorous, and other heavy metals/minerals/pollutants (like PDBEs) to where consuming too much can cause a vitamin imbalance and is likely to result in urinary tract issues in predisposed cats. For most cats, its not a bad idea to throw in a couple fish meals a week, but for UTI prone cats you'd probably just want to skip it all together. And speaking of beef, while again beef is not bad, its also not a great idea to make red meat their primary protein source.
... Though I have some cats that do awesome on beef as it is a neutral to warm meat vs lamb , venison being hot red meats...

I try not to feed fish based more than a few times a week to month ... right now ave is once a week..

If we look at nature : mice ( red meat dont ask yes I looked it up ) , rabbit and quail / pigeon /chicken and squirrel would be on the menu ... here FD mouse is on menu the others come raw or canned at times
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