Feeding cats milk and tuna

I have a new neighbor up the road. I was at her house this am and she has a new kitty. Someone moved off and left their cat and so my friend has adopted this cat. She is going to take it to the vet's office for a check over.
I would say the cat is probably 5 to 6 years old (not sure). She told me she had fed it some milk and tuna. Now I have read on here that both of that is bad for cats so I told her. She says she has always given her cats both tuna and milk. I know the milk could be bad if the cat is lactose intolerant and could cause the runs when it poops. What about tuna? I told her I would try to find out for sure why not to feed it milk and tuna. Can someone give me the right answers?

Milk for the reson that you already know...and i`d imagine that the tuna has something to do with the murcery that is in the water where they are caught.
If there is another reason i`m sure someone will be along to tell you shortly.
Thanks you for your concern for your neighbors kitty!
Linda

It is really a fallacy that cats love fish. I have several cats that won't even touch tuna or any other type of fish. When was the last time your tabby brought you a dead fish? Unless they are island cats and forced to eat a fish only diet, fish is okay in moderation only.

The tuna in oil is quite rich for the cats, and there are concerns about the toxins in the ocean now including mercury. Talk to your friend and maybe drop off a bag of dry food of good quality and some canned cat food and see if she will make the switchover-

Thank you both for the prompt reply. I will advise my friend. She is really a very caring person and loves animals. She is very open to advice and will listen. I told her about this cat board and that there were some people with more knowledge than me who could give her the reasons why and she knows I am asking.

I think tuna in water is fine as a treat occasionally. But not to excess and it must be without salt or oil.

You have received some good advice here.

My kitties will not touch fish or seafood. I bought some really good quality canned food that had fish and seafood in it - I ended up throwing out a whole can that they refused to eat and now have to take the unopened ones back to the store.

If the cat isnt lactose-intolerant, the combination tuna and milk isnt so bad. As there is calcium in milk but not in tuna! - Same if a cat has a diet of much meat - he must also get extra calcium in some form.

But tuna too often is not good. As it is a sea-fish, it has more salts (magnesium jones and so on) then healthy. But hopefully there shall not be too much mercury - some lakes are more dangerous, but there is too much salts... And if much tuna/other fish - the cat must get extra E-vitamin.

Anyway, all in all: tuna sometimes is good - especielly with extra E-vitamin and a little extra calcium - but not too often.

Tuna contains excessive sodium, magnesium and phosphorus. And it is deficient in Taurine and some vitamins.

It may not hurt as rare treat, but it's very bad for cats as a steady diet.

Tuna is one of those things We all have heard of using tuna juice to get an off appetite kitty eating, there are cat treats out there that are shaved bonito (a kind of tuna) flakes which are extremely popular, there are canned cat food blends with tuna. The concerns are...if a cat has a daily intake over a tablespoon or two of tuna packed in oil, it can deplete their vitamin e, and lead to a painful condition called steatitis. Here is a great article on the topic of tuna:click here - a pdf file you will need adobe acrobat's free reader installed to read this

My feeling...a little taste sure won't hurt, better if it's a tuna cat food blend as then there is vitamin e supplement contained in the food, or for treats only, use the tuna flakes.

I was just at my vet's last night and found out that fish can also cause urine crystals in some cats.

First of all, is your neighbor feeding the cat milk and tuna as a steady diet or only as a treat? Just in case your friend is not aware of this and if she isn't then you need to tell her that a steady diet of milk and tuna is not a nutritionally balanced diet for a cat. Tuna fish is about as nutritious as McDonalds is for us. Can you imagine what might happen to us if all we ate was a big mac and fries at every meal? Tuna is very low in taurine, has no calcium, no vitamins and minerals, it's protein but other than that the cat is eating empty calories. An all fish diet will definitely cause nutritional deficiencies and health problems including vitamin E deficiency. Milk contains calcium and protein but still does not have most of the vitamins and minerals and nutrients cats need. Cats need about 60 something nutrients in the right proportions and ratios and messing with this necessity by not providing all required nutrients correctly is downright dangerous. Milk gives many cats diarrhea because of the lactose but lactose free milk or even better a special cat milk that contains taurine is fine to serve as a treat or supplement. Fish is not an ideal meat source for a cat but can be given as a once in a while treat. So if your friend is feeding tuna and milk only as a treat then there is no need to worry about it but if she is actually feeding this as a steady diet as in milk and tuna instead of a nutritionally balanced cat food then someone really needs to talk to her and fast before the cat gets ill. Normally I try not to interfere with how people feed their cats unless they ask, because generally it's none of my business. Some people feed their cats Meow Mix and I don't approve of it but it's not my place to tell people not to feed their cats Meow Mix but there is a line between opinions(or even facts) on food quality and abuse or neglect either knowingly or unknowingly. I hope your friend/neighbor is doing the right thing and that the cat is getting the right nutrition. I hope the milk and tuna is just a treat.

Originally Posted by Pat & Alix

better if it's a tuna cat food blend as then there is vitamin e supplement contained in the food,.

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In theory yes. But not always in practice! I did get know the other day the big swedish mark Kattuna - doesnt contain extra E-vitamin! I was shocked, I mailed to them and begged them to add E-vitamin. No way, Sir! Thay said Kattuna is a additional food, not whole food...

Remember. When Tuna - give additional E-vitamin if you arent 100% e-vitamin IS added, if you give tuna more often then say once a week.

Steatitis (yellow-fat sickedness) is not a nice disease.

Originally Posted by Tari

I was just at my vet's last night and found out that fish can also cause urine crystals in some cats.

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Yes, it is because sea-fish has excessive magnesium, sodium and phospor as several has mentioned.

Lake fish has less of the magnesium and sodium and phospor - but may have extra mercury...

Originally Posted by StefanZ

In theory yes. But not always in practice! I did get know the other day the big swedish mark Kattuna - doesnt contain extra E-vitamin! I was shocked, I mailed to them and begged them to add E-vitamin. No way, Sir! Thay said Kattuna is a additional food, not whole food...

Remember. When Tuna - give additional E-vitamin if you arent 100% e-vitamin IS added, if you give tuna more often then say once a week.

Steatitis (yellow-fat sickedness) is not a nice disease.

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Good point, never assume - always read that label!

A bit of tuna or a small amount of milk as a treat is okay. Tuna instead of cat food and milk instead of water would most certainly not be okay!

There are commercially available tuna and milk products designed for cats. Cat Sip and Cat Milk (available at PETsMART, Petco, and many grocery stores) are good milk based treats. As for tuna, Solid Gold makes a tuna based canned cat food that is very good. It is available at high end pet supply stores. Figaro is another brand of tuna cat food that is readily available at major pet retailers like PETsMART. Trader Joe's (the grocery chain) also makes tuna for cats, which is on the shelf near the rest of the cat food.

At the All Care Cat Hospital in San Diego, if a cat has crystals in his urinary tract the vets tell the cat owner not to feed any fish based cat foods.

Fish is in a lot of cat foods. Fish has a very strong smell and cats rely highly on their sense of smell to be attracted to food. Their sense of taste is relatively poor compared to their smell. The strong stinky smell of tuna can be addicting to cats. Although you can buy commercially available tuna cans that meed AAFCO standards for complete and balanced nutrition and is all right to feed to a cat I would still treat it like a regular can of tuna because it's really just tuna marinated in vitamins. It can be fed occasionally but alternating the tuna cans with other cans such as turkey, chicken, beef, or lamb is wise. Be adventurous. I just ordered 6 cans of hormone free, antibiotic free eagle pack duck and oatmeal formula. You see cats can be spoiled with a lot of flavors and varieties besides fish. And if you rotate the occasional fish with a variety of all possible meats in cat foods your cat will be eating well. And it helps to prevent cats from becoming tuna junkies. I also feed my cats rabbit and venizon. You can really have a ball spoiling your cat with all this variety.

This probably has no foundation in modern science but I occassionally find that old wives tales have some basis in common sense that we have lost over the years. Anyway...

My grandfather was a fisherman (professionally). Well, he would never let anyone in the family eat milk and fish together. He said that it poisoned the system or something like that. But we have eaten tons of fish over the years and no one drinks milk with it because maybe he knew something that we didn't.

Just a thought...

Originally Posted by Aries

This probably has no foundation in modern science but I occassionally find that old wives tales have some basis in common sense that we have lost over the years. Anyway...

My grandfather was a fisherman (professionally). Well, he would never let anyone in the family eat milk and fish together. He said that it poisoned the system or something like that. But we have eaten tons of fish over the years and no one drinks milk with it because maybe he knew something that we didn't.

Just a thought...

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We were told as youngsters not to drink milk with lobster. Not sure why but sounds similar to your story.

Originally Posted by Yosemite

We were told as youngsters not to drink milk with lobster. Not sure why but sounds similar to your story.

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But don't most people put butter on lobster?

(sorry, totally OT)

Originally Posted by semiferal

But don't most people put butter on lobster?

(sorry, totally OT)

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Ah but it is clarified butter...where the milk solids have been seperated out