Fish Oil in Cat Food?

Today I tried Sheba.  They only had 3 pates so I got Chicken & Liver and Chicken.  I tried the Chicken & Liver first and the jury's still out.  She ate it okay, but then she was doing the scratching thing around her bowl.  I got 2 cans of each.  Since this had one of ickiest textures, I was reading the ingredients and saw that they have fish oil in both flavors.  I know I'm not the one eating it, but also have seen the warnings about fish..  What is the feeling about fish oil as an ingredient?

I'm not worried about 4 cans doing anything but I'd like to know before we would add it to the regular rotation.  (Really this was one of the most unappetizing looking flavors, lol!) I know liver isn't fun to handle but they usually mix it in so you don't see it.

Fish oil is generally a good thing. I add it to my cats' homemade raw food. It's not the same as feeding fish, and feeding fish occasionally is OK. In raw feeding we encourage people to feed sardines packed in water once or twice a week. The problems with feeding fish are generally found if fed as 100% of the diet, or they start refusing all other foods, etc. Hopefully people more experienced in problems due to feeding fish can elaborate on those issues, but as an overall fish oil is a good thing.

peaches08 said:

Fish oil is generally a good thing. I add it to my cats' homemade raw food. It's not the same as feeding fish, and feeding fish occasionally is OK. In raw feeding we encourage people to feed sardines packed in water once or twice a week. The problems with feeding fish are generally found if fed as 100% of the diet, or they start refusing all other foods, etc. Hopefully people more experienced in problems due to feeding fish can elaborate on those issues, but as an overall fish oil is a good thing.

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 Fish oil is an essential part of nutrition, especially in homemade raw meals. Sometimes cat food that contains fish can be damaging to their colon or even partially cause UTI problems. They can also cause inflammatory bowel disease and possibly skin allergies, and some people claim they cause crystal formation. However, I have heard of some people who feed their cats fish in their diet on a weekly-monthly basis and they do just fine. Depends on your kitty and the situation. 

I am just curious - if it's such a good thing, why isn't it in more canned foods? Maybe I've missed it (under some other name).  I assumed it was what made this so slimy but maybe not.  Again, I didn't have to eat it! After I thought about it, I realized that some people do add fish oil, but then they have control over the quality too.

We'll see how the chicken compares.  Thank you. This one is difficult to feed.

DianaMc said:

I am just curious - if it's such a good thing, why isn't it in more canned foods? Maybe I've missed it (under some other name).  I assumed it was what made this so slimy but maybe not.  Again, I didn't have to eat it! After I thought about it, I realized that some people do add fish oil, but then they have control over the quality too.

We'll see how the chicken compares.  Thank you. This one is difficult to feed.

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Cost, probably.

That's a great question- it seems like only a few brands of canned food contain fish oil, and most of them are just fish-flavored. I'm pretty sure it's about the cost, because fish oil can be pricey. 

Most cats that I've heard of like or love the flavor of chicken- good luck! 

I can't quite buy the cost thing because NVI is like what?  At least 2+ times what Sheba is.  I don't think the price of fish oil is what's stopping them.  Good grief, they've got an artichoke in there.

Even granting that NVI has somewhat atypical ingredients (I can skip the parsley garnish too), Sheba is much lower cost than many of the brands that don't include fish oil.  It's puzzling.  Thanks for reassuring me anyway.

(Since all that those fruits and veggies are at the very end of NVI ingredients, I believe they are a tiny part of the actual food. I can't ignore that my cat likes it and feels good on it.)

Meat quality and the amount of it in the food increases costs too. Flax seed in NVI is their source of omegas.

Yes, I think flax must be what Wellness uses too. Curious.

Note:  So far the cat has eaten 2 cans of that chicken & liver just fine.  I'm the one who finds it repulsive . My husband doesn't want to eat any of the brands.

I was just checking Wellness (I was curious as to what wasn't grain-free) and I see that their CORE Chicken, Turkey, Liver has flax and salmon oil. Also their CORE fish flavor is grain-free but their other fish flavors aren't. Dandy is chowing down on the regular turkey today. After finishing the Sheba and a can of FF Turkey & giblets.

peaches08 said:

Meat quality and the amount of it in the food increases costs too. Flax seed in NVI is their source of omegas.

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Yes NVI is really pricey. I tried my crew on the wet canned and then found out that it had clay in it And not the good kind (sodium something or other). The reality with flaxseed is that its not even a great source of omega-3 (despite all of the hype). Fish Oils are hands-down much higher in Omegas.

The thing with NVI is that Dandy likes and she seems to feel good on it.  Every time we try Hound & Gatos, she gets really dopey.  I still have 3 flavors but I'm beginning to think they have something in there that she's sensitive to which is whacky considering that NVI ingredient list.

Now she has loose stools and it's either Sheba or the 1/2 can of Weruva I gave her.

DianaMc said:

 
The thing with NVI is that Dandy likes and she seems to feel good on it.  Every time we try Hound & Gatos, she gets really dopey.  I still have 3 flavors but I'm beginning to think they have something in there that she's sensitive to which is whacky considering that NVI ingredient list.

Now she has loose stools and it's either Sheba or the 1/2 can of Weruva I gave her.

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How frequently are you rotating brands? It could be that Dandy is not tolerating something in one of them, or the switch is causing digestive upset. Marc99 was doing some switching between brands and Boo had a bout of diarrhea. He slowed things down to 1 or 2 favorites and the diarrhea cleared up last I heard.

The Weruva is a bit on the goopy side, so it could be that Dandy finds this one too rich.

If she really likes the NVI, it makes sense to try and stick with this, with maybe some FF for variety?

Thanks.  Some days I do quite a bit of "brand rotation" simply because I'm having trouble feeding her or trying something new and then needing to go back to a regular one.  I am going to quit the Weruva though.  I believe it seems to be an issue - probably that gravy.  I just hated to waste so much and she loves it.  I am out of the Sheba Chicken and Liver but hopefully the Chicken is close enough to tell if Sheba is an issue. I would guess if there's a problem, it might be that fish oil and it's in both of them.  It could well have been the half can of Weruva though.

I can't afford as much NVI as Dandy wants and FF adds up too with those little cans.  She has quite an appetite. If she doesn't quit tackling my leg, she's going to knock me down one of these days.