Question/opinions about feeding fish

[zoocat]

I've seen many posts advising to only feed fish (commercial canned cat food) once or twice a week. I'm assuming that means fish would be the majority of their food for that one or two days a week. I'm trying to find the easiest way to get my cats to take fish oil and have found that if I add it to a fish cat food, they will eat it but not if it's added to chicken, Turkey, etc.

What I'm doing is feeding them just one spoonful of tuna or sardine cat food with the fish oil mixed in....this is before their regular evening meal that is chicken, Turkey beef, duck, etc. So if they just get one spoonful of fish every day is this okay/equivalent impact of total fish meals one day a week.

Sometimes it's a real pain trying to do what's good for them!

 

[emandjee]

If you're feeding mainly canned cat food (and minimal amount of kibble), I personally do not see the need to add fish oil to their diet. Fish oil is added if you're making a home-made or feeding a raw diet. Canned cat foods with sardines and salmon should already have enough omega-3 to give your cat a healthy coat.

Folks who avoid feeding fish (like me) is because there are just too many downsides of it: 

http://www.littlebigcat.com/nutrition/why-fish-is-dangerous-for-cats/

http://healthypets.mercola.com/sites/healthypets/archive/2012/01/03/fish-as-a-protein-source.aspx

And in general, just to clarify some things: http://www.catbehaviorassociates.com/ten-common-mistakes-when-feeding-cats/

 

[chloe92us]

That sounds fine to me.

I don't buy into the whole anti-fish agenda. The fish I feed (and daily some weeks) has low phosphorus and the fish are filleted before production which lowers the ash content. The company I feed also uses the smaller species of tuna and wild caught salmon. (Weruva/Soulistic/BFF/Cats in the Kitchen). So none of "why you shouldn't" arguments hold true.

The "cheap" foods like Friskies, fancy feast, etc, have very high phosphorus levels due to using the entire fish, including bones. This increases ash and phosphorus and I don't feed these. If I'm feeding fish, I feed the good stuff. If I'm feeding cheap stuff, I stick to fur and feathers.

 

[zoocat]

That sounds fine to me.

I don't buy into the whole anti-fish agenda. The fish I feed (and daily some weeks) has low phosphorus and the fish are filleted before production which lowers the ash content. The company I feed also uses the smaller species of tuna and wild caught salmon. (Weruva/Soulistic/BFF/Cats in the Kitchen). So none of "why you shouldn't" arguments hold true.

The "cheap" foods like Friskies, fancy feast, etc, have very high phosphorus levels due to using the entire fish, including bones. This increases ash and phosphorus and I don't feed these. If I'm feeding fish, I feed the good stuff. If I'm feeding cheap stuff, I stick to fur and feathers.

Those are the exact brands (plus Tiki) that I use when feeding any fish. And I was kinda thinking along the same lines....that the "why you shouldn't" arguments didn't seem as valid with those brands ----assuming one can believe what the company says about their food;-)

I'm wanting to add fish oil to one cat's food because he's an overwhelmed---chews/licks his fur off...And I've seen fish oil can maybe help with that.

Thanks for the replies!