Do cats need salt in their diet?

kazy

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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...
 

Willowy

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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.
 

ducman69

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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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kazy

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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.
 

ducman69

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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.
 

carolina

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Originally Posted by Ducman69

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
 

minka

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Originally Posted by Carolina

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... <__<..
 

kittykuddler

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I have a cat Cosmo, when ever I have crackers,chips or anything containing salt when hes around he always comes up smells it then tries to eat it should I be worried or am I just beinv parinoid,

Thank You!
KittyKuddler
 

orientalslave

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Pet food straight out of the tin or pouch should be sterile - if it wasn't it would go off.  I have heard that pet food makers in the UK have human as well as animal testers, as it's the owner who buys the food, not the pet so they want the food to appeal to humans as well.
 

emilymaywilcha

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Pet food straight out of the tin or pouch should be sterile - if it wasn't it would go off.  I have heard that pet food makers in the UK have human as well as animal testers, as it's the owner who buys the food, not the pet so they want the food to appeal to humans as well.
I think at least one American company does that too, but can't remember who.
 

just mike

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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...
Yes, salt is necessary in small doses.  "Doses" being the key word
  It is very hard to determine the sodium count sometimes in different cat foods/treats.  Salt can also make a cat thristier and drink more water.  As in anything else, too much is not good either.   I was freaked out by what I *thought* was added sugar in a dog treat a couple of weeks ago. After a lot of research and several communications with the company I discovered sugar was not added to the treat, sugar was present do to the dehydrated fruit in the treat.  Learn something new every day ;)
 

aeros

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What are you talking about? Dog and cat food are fine for consumption for humans.  Though im sure it is not a very desirable treat or flavor for most...but it is still fine.
 

peaches08

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What are you talking about? Dog and cat food are fine for consumption for humans.  Though im sure it is not a very desirable treat or flavor for most...but it is still fine.
Since when?
 

Willowy

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Well, when you get right down to it, some people DO eat canned pet food. The old stereotype of the elderly cat lady who can't afford human food, homeless people, etc. And they don't die. So it is obviously "fine" for human consumption in that sense. Not that I would say it's very advisable. . .but hey, lots of vitamins added ;).
 

aprilprey

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Ha...years ago, I would work all day...then hit the gym for some hard weight training.  I was a competitive lifter at the time.  Also starved myself a bit to stay in a low weight class.

I would get home around 8:00 pm after being gone all day...the FIRST thing I did when I got home was pop open a can of cat food (Tiki Cat at the time) for Houdini (RIP).  I was starving and oh so hungry myself...but the critter got fed first.

My mouth would water like crazy at the smell of that cat food - I was so hungry at that time.  I mean...REALLY water...like I'd have a little saliva drooling on my chin by the time I got the cat food into the dish.

Never did take the plunge though!
 

Willowy

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Heh, well, Tiki Cat would have better ingredients than 9 Lives, that's for sure :tongue2:.

EVO 95% smells so good that I want to spread it on crackers :lol3:.
 

aprilprey

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Heh, well, Tiki Cat would have better ingredients than 9 Lives, that's for sure
.

EVO 95% smells so good that I want to spread it on crackers
.
It was at the time Tiki Cat had just come out....the guy at the pet store told me that the owner of the company was eating cans of the stuff at a recent trade show.  That was the selling point and the beginning of the trend towards making pet foods in human grade facilities.

Do tell me if you take the plunge with EVO!  Sometimes...in those quiet moments when I let "Evil April" out of her cage...

I think "Oh HOW FUNNY would it be to have a party and try and pass off cat food as a cracker spread?"  You'd have to have some really clueless, hipster foodies as your 'marks'.  You could play up how expensive the stuff costs...and when anyone complains about the taste, you just tell them that's how they roll in Europe..."What are you, some kind of unsophisticated boob? How American and provincial!"

If my acting skills were on that day, and I kept a straight face..there is no telling HOW MUCH cat food would be consumed at April's Evil Party.
 
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peaches08

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Well, when you get right down to it, some people DO eat canned pet food. The old stereotype of the elderly cat lady who can't afford human food, homeless people, etc. And they don't die. So it is obviously "fine" for human consumption in that sense. Not that I would say it's very advisable. . .but hey, lots of vitamins added ;).
I'm familiar with the elderly and homeless eating canned cat food. It's so sad.

When I questioned whether or not it was "fine" for human consumption, I meant according to bodies such as the FDA. I've had patients eat all sorts of things and not die, LOL!
 
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