Canned Food

[ragdollmommy]

I should have said in the original question that our cat eats NUTRO NATURAL CHOICE COMPLETE CARE INDOOR FORMULA dry food solely. Occasionally we give her boneless chicken or turkey if that is what we had for dinner as a treat and maybe once every 10-12 days a tablespoon of tuna in water as a treat.

I am not looking to feed her canned tuna entirely.

I felt guilty that she only eats dry food so that is why I let her have the "human" food once in a while. She turns her nose up at any soft/moist cat treats and every can of cat food that I have thus tried. I was hoping to find a high quality canned food to give to her daily in addition to the dry food.

She gave us a scare last weekend thinking that she had a UTI or crystals but all was a false alarm. I thought that if this scare was a sign of future problems, I wanted to get her to eat canned food on a regular basis.

 

[sharky]

Originally Posted by Ragdollmommy

I should have said in the original question that our cat eats NUTRO NATURAL CHOICE COMPLETE CARE INDOOR FORMULA dry food solely. Occasionally we give her boneless chicken or turkey if that is what we had for dinner as a treat and maybe once every 10-12 days a tablespoon of tuna in water as a treat.

I am not looking to feed her canned tuna entirely.

I felt guilty that she only eats dry food so that is why I let her have the "human" food once in a while. She turns her nose up at any soft/moist cat treats and every can of cat food that I have thus tried. I was hoping to find a high quality canned food to give to her daily in addition to the dry food.

She gave us a scare last weekend thinking that she had a UTI or crystals but all was a false alarm. I thought that if this scare was a sign of future problems, I wanted to get her to eat canned food on a regular basis.

ymmv with these but they work at my house.. merricks canned, meow mix (some), nutros NC slamon and shrimp chowder , felidea the chn and rice one some of these are $$$ others are 25 cents on sale

 

[sharky]

Originally Posted by bengalbabe

Yes like trader Joes sells canned tuna for pets and it is 100% tuna.

I found the following info at http://www.felinefuture.com/nutrition/fish.php
Although a diet including or consisting of fish is not natural for the domestic cat, could a diet of fish nonetheless meet the nutritional needs of the cat?

Canned Tuna is among the most popular food stuff to feed to companion cats, because cats are very fond of it. It is not uncommon for cats, that regularly receive tuna, to refuse all other foods. Cats displaying this addiction-like behaviour are often refered to by Veterinarians as "tuna junkies".
Feeding a mainstay of canned tuna is long known to cause diseases of dietary origin. One of the most prevailing diseases afflicting "tuna junkies" is Steatitis or Yellow Fat Disease - an inflammation of the fat tissue in the body due to a deficiency of vitamin E. A vitamin E deficiency is usually the result of feeding tuna, or any canned fish, packed in vegetable oil. These products are high in polyunsaturated fatty acids which oxidate vitamin E, besides being a poor source of vitamin E to begin with. Currently, a diet consisting of large amount of any type of fish is considered the most common cause of this syndrome, [1.]
Canned fish - tuna or other, packed in water or oil - is not a complete diet for cats. Although it is high in protein, it does not supply the cat with sufficient amounts of certain amino acids, mainly taurine, to maintain health. The Calcium to Phosphorus ratio in canned tuna is 1:14.8 [2.] - providing the cat with too little Calcium to balance Phosphorus, resulting in bone disease caused by a loss of Calcium in the bone due to a deficiency of this mineral in the diet. [3.] The only canned fish providing sufficient Calcium is salmon with bones.
Also, many essential vitamins are not provided in sufficient amounts through a diet of canned fish, such as vitamin A and most B vitamins, like Thiamin, Riboflavin. Pantothenic Acid, Folic Acid, and Vitamin B-12 [4.] Last but not least, canned fish is high in sodium, possibly providing the cat with too much of this mineral.


The Cornell Book of Cats, by the Faculty, Staff, and Associates of the Cornell Feline Health Centre, College of Veterinary Medicine, Cornell University, second edition 1997, page 93
USDA Nutritional database for standard Reference, release 13
The Cornell Book of Cats, page 79
USDA Nutritional database
Nutrient requirement of Cats, National Research Council, revised edition

Raw, whole fish: Much of the nutritional deficient nature of canned fish can be contributed to the way it was processed. Many nutrients are sensitive to heat, and cooking or canning reduces levels of or even eliminates some nutrients in foods. Also, many nutrients are concentrated in various organs and body parts - like vitamin A in liver and Calcium in bone - and carnivores are provided with a complete diet by consuming the entire prey. Therefore, would a diet consisting of whole, raw fish be adequate for cats? Many feral cats in the Mediterranean do indeed supplement their diet considerably with whole, raw fish, but unfortunately, no statistics are available about their health status. The population appear to be thriving, which may be contributed to the fact that these cats mainly hunt rodents despite the generous availability of fish. [1]
It seems that the idea of raw, whole fish is not entirely without problems. An enzyme found in all raw fish, called thiaminase, can destroy vitamin B-1 (Thiamin), leading to neurological disorders accompanied by a general physical wasting due to loss of appetite. [2] This enzyme can be destroyed by cooking the food, which however reduces overall nutritional density of the food itself as well.


Cats in the Sun, Hans Silvester, 1995
The Cornell Book of Cats, page 93

Fish, cooked or raw, as part of a supplemented diet:
Initially, when evaluating fish meat as a base for a feline diet, species like saltwater halibut and freshwater rainbow trout appear to be nutritionally adequate in all the essential amino acids and fatty acids - when raw or cooked [1]. Supplementation could provide for correct amounts of Calcium within the right ratio with Phosphorus, and could bring levels of vitamins - such as vitamin A, D, E, and complex B, to optimal levels. However, fish meat seems to contain insufficient amounts of the trace minerals iron, zinc, copper, and manganese, making fish meat in the end an unsuitable choice as a base for a staple feline diet, because it would require unreasonable supplementation [2].


USDA Nutritional data Base
Nutrient requirement of Cats, National Research Council, revised edition

very informative... thank you... now if they would explain why only raw habuger gets eaten by mine..lmao.. all fish isnt touched till cooked..

 

[semiferal]

Tuna sold for humans to eat isn't good for cats (it can cause vitamin E deficiency), but you can get cat food that's pretty much 100% tuna. Trader Joe's sells it, and 9 Lives has an all-tuna food as well. Flaked fish flavors of Fancy Feast are also usually well liked by cats who like fish.