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Do cats need salt in their diet?

post #1 of 7
10/18/11 at 8:37pm
Thread Starter 
I bought cat treat at Trader Joe's today.

It's called "BENCH & FIELD Holistic Natural Feline Treats".

I have opened it to see how it smells like and found some salt crystals in there. Sure enough salt was part of ingredient!!
Does cat need salt in their diet? Shall I stop feeding them? Kitties seem to like it though...
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post #2 of 7
10/18/11 at 8:44pm
All living beings need a certain amount of salt, the "certain amount" is the tricky part. Too much isn't good, neither is too little. Personally, I think that if you're seeing salt crystals that's probably too much. Are you sure that what you're seeing is salt? If so, see if you can return the treats. Too much salt isn't healthy for anyone.
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post #3 of 7
10/18/11 at 9:49pm
Yes, all mammals wild or domestic require salt in their diets.

That is why salty foods are, within reason, so very tasty for human, cats, and dogs alike. Wesley and Buttercup are kinda gross in that they can't resist licking me after I run, since I'm not only stinky but a little satly! Yuck! African elephants for example have been traveling hundreds of miles and visiting a particular cave in Kenya for countless generations to get their salt intake.

However, its typically a very difficult mineral to gain access to, and so intake is regulated by nature to be very small. Thanks to man, salt is easy to gain access to now, and so overfeeding is generally the problem, as salt is used to make generally unappetizing food taste good.

So a liiiiittle salt is fine, and it can even encourage the cat to drink more which is a good thing, but it all depends on how much they put in there.
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post #4 of 7
10/19/11 at 7:52am
Thread Starter 
Thanks for your response.
I have licked the treat and crystals.

It didn't tast salty at all. Since this treat has bunch of vitamins and minerals, it may be one of the minerals.
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post #5 of 7
10/20/11 at 8:31am
Ahh! Don't lick the treat!

Pet foods can make humans very sick, and its highly recommended to wash your hands after handling any dry food/treats before eating as they can often contain bacteria that while harmless to fluffy can send you rushing to the restroom faster than drinking a glass of mexican tap water.
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post #6 of 7
10/20/11 at 11:20am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ducman69 View Post
Ahh! Don't lick the treat!

Pet foods can make humans very sick, and its highly recommended to wash your hands after handling any dry food/treats before eating as they can often contain bacteria that while harmless to fluffy can send you rushing to the restroom faster than drinking a glass of mexican tap water.
I must have a tough gut - I have tried just about all my kitties food, except for the wet - that looks pretty nasty to me
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post #7 of 7
10/20/11 at 8:19pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Carolina View Post
I must have a tough gut - I have tried just about all my kitties food, except for the wet - that looks pretty nasty to me
Ew... <__<..
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