Sardines for a treat - male cat

[cejhome]

Hello,

I wanted to see if adding oily fish to Buddy's diet might help with his constipation. It is under control with 1/4 tspn Miralax per day, but I would love to reduce the amount if possible (or eliminate it). I have tried probiotics and they made no difference.

Buddy gets mostly canned food - vension, lamb, pork (he is allergic to chicken). He gets a tiny bit (1 tablespoon) of dry food every other day or so - Bixbi Salmon.

I bought some Tiki Sardine cutlets in Sardine consomme to try. Buddy loves them! I have been giving him about 1/3 of a 2.8 oz can per day as a treat.

My question - I am wondering if this is safe for a male cat? He is the first boy cat we have had in many years. I recall that back then it wasn't recommended to feed male cats much fish - something to do with it possibly causing urinary tract issues? My memory is fuzzy on this - its probably been about 15 years or more. Opinions on if its safe to give him that little bit of sardine each day, or cut it back to every other day, or a smaller portion? He gets it 30 minutes after I give him his allergy serum (pollen allergies).

Here are the ingredients: Sardine, sardine broth, sunflower seed oil, locust bean gum, guar gum, xanthan gum, choline chloride, paprika, taurine, zinc sulfate, vitamin E supplement, niacin (vitamin B3), thiamine mononitrate (vitamin B1), calcium pantothenate, vitamin A supplement, iron sulfate, riboflavin supplement (vitamin B2), pyridoxine hydrochloride (vitamin B6), copper sulfate, folic acid, manganese sulfate, potassium iodide, vitamin D3 supplement, menadione sodium bisulfite complex (source of vitamin K activity), biotin, vitamin B12 supplement.

I have seen no evidence of any issues with this, and I do think his stool consistency is improving even more. Vet couldn't find anything to indicate the cause. We suspect it is because he was a stray cat about 1 year old, scrounging for food with ferals in a trailer park. He was definitely not feral. Thank goodness the rescue that trapped him figured that out. He will try anything and everything food wise if we aren't diligent. He has licked curried mustard off a plate, tried to pick up a celery stick, bit into a tomato, knocked avocados off a counter, peaches, etc.

 

[Furballsmom]

Hi, he sounds a bit like my Captain, who is a housecat that was found on the street as well. I'm more blaming his other humans for this particular habit but he'd kill for a certain brand of potato chip. As I imagine you are, you just have to be diligent about telling your boy No.

I personally don't like the synthetic vitamin K, and about the fish, I'd probably try and minimize giving it. The product has a lot of gums. Otherwise, you might double check with your vet if you haven't already about this product and whether it will help.

If this were me, I'd try tips in this article, to add more moisture to his system this way;

Tips To Increase Your Cat’s Water Intake - TheCatSite

 

[cejhome]

Thank you! Buddy won't drink much water. I do add water to his wet food and he pees good. I know he gets plenty of water/liquid in his diet. I have tried two types of fountains, multiple types of water dishes, even a dripping faucet. He rarely drinks water. I found he will drink every so often out of a small rectangular glass storage dish.

 

[Furballsmom]

know he gets plenty of water/liquid in his diet.

Take a look at the article if you haven't already, and try a tall drinking glass (my angel Poppycat loved that) ice cubes floating in the water, and filtered water. Not distilled or RO, but it's possible he doesn't like the taste it smell of the tap water. Plus, if you aren't using filtered water already, his system will benefit from not having to deal with all the contaminants (in this case fluoride, chlorine or chloramine etc).

 

[cejhome]

We have a whole house water filter, tried tall glasses, coffee mugs, short wide glasses, ice, no ice. Thank you though! I do juice up his wet food with water. He doesn't seem dehydrated at all.

 

[Furballsmom]

You're way ahead of me .

My concern is that the oil may be a bandaid although you said he's improving on it?

What about a different brand of food? Take a look at this post, regarding the constipation
Cheap canned food suggestions for big old cats.

 

[cejhome]

Thank you! Unfortunately Buddy is allergic to chicken. He is on high quality canned - venison, pork, lamb - rotated. He was constipated on day one we adopted him. The vet cleared him of any issues - even did an x-ray. He was on cheap dry and canned food at the rescue - similar to what he was fed by his previous owner. He is doing very well, I was just hoping to improve things even further. He was approximately 2+ years old when we adopted him. We have had him for a little over a year. He is very active and playful, and doesn't show any indications of any discomfort.

 

[daftcat75]

I don't have an issue with the synthetic vitamin K. I have looked into it and it seems to be another case of non-scientists raising the alarm bells on something they don't understand. The risks come down to conflating industrial exposure with pet consumption. Not only are they totally different scales, but also completely different methods of exposure. It makes sense that a feedlot powder would come with a respiratory warning, and an safety datasheet detailing inhalation and ingestion risks on an industrial scale. Cats are not slinging around bags of this stuff. Not a valid comparison.

I like Tiki Cat and most of the time their recipes are pretty good. It seems odd that they would add oil to an oily fish. My objections to those ingredients would be the sunflower oil and the xanthan gum. I'm not sure why that is there. Xanthan gum makes smooth foods smooth. And for those cats (and people) who are sensitive to it, it makes their stools smooth too. Mousse in, mousse out. So that xanthan gum and sunflower oil may be acting as a mild laxative.

Can you find sardines (for people) packed in water with no oil added? You won't be able to offer as much (no more than 10% of his calories) as it is not a balanced and complete cat food. But you will be able to eliminate the added oil and gums. You could also try adding fish oil or salmon oil to his diet. Freeze-dried liver treats could help increase the fat content in his diet too. More fat in the diet can "grease the chute" in a manner of speaking. If he's prone to hairballs, though, more fat can lead to more hairballs.

 

[Furballsmom]

Cats are not slinging around bags of this stuff. Not a valid comparison.

Perhaps not, although over a cat's typical lifetime, from multiple sources on an often daily basis, since it isn't water soluble I would, and do, have concerns. In any case, this is my opinion, as other members have similar concerns about gums, carageenan etc. I mentioned it because the OP asked, but since the OP has already tried many of the things I've mentioned and/or found that other things I've suggested not only don't work but cause issues, this also was probably of no help to or use in this particular situation.

 

[cejhome]

hmmm. I'll have to try to find sardines in water. Buddy does not any trouble with hairballs. He has weird downy fur and doesn't shed at all for the most part. Its pretty short. The vet says its like "bunny rabbit fur"

 

[iPappy]

I have given my cats, both male and female, sardines (ground) from Hare-today. No issues, but I don't feed them often (2-3 times a week max) and other days, they get fish oil.

 

[cejhome]

Oh my gosh! I used to use Hare Today years ago - we had a kitty (Puddin) that had stomatitis. She was allergic to chicken and fish. At that time there were no novel protein foods available. I couldn't get rabbit locally (we lived outside of Atlanta), or anything else. I had to mail order frozen rabbit from Hare Today. They were so great to deal with and I never had a bad batch - it always got to our house fully frozen. I can't imagine the cost of shipping these days from Pennsylvania to Florida (where we live now). Puddin had no teeth (all had to be removed except for her fangs), but would not eat ground, I had to dice her rabbit and rabbit guts, then add the supplements. It would take me about 2 hours a week to make her food up for the next week. Even though at that time there were no holistic vets in the area, our vet was great and fully endorsed us feeding Puddin raw. She knew I would be very diligent in preparing it correctly. Puddin did great on this diet for many years.

I can get sardines in water at the Publix grocery store close to us, I am going to try that for Buddy. Big duh on my part not to think of that, and a big thanks for the suggestions to try them!

 

[iPappy]

Oh my gosh! I used to use Hare Today years ago - we had a kitty (Puddin) that had stomatitis. She was allergic to chicken and fish. At that time there were no novel protein foods available. I couldn't get rabbit locally (we lived outside of Atlanta), or anything else. I had to mail order frozen rabbit from Hare Today. They were so great to deal with and I never had a bad batch - it always got to our house fully frozen. I can't imagine the cost of shipping these days from Pennsylvania to Florida (where we live now). Puddin had no teeth (all had to be removed except for her fangs), but would not eat ground, I had to dice her rabbit and rabbit guts, then add the supplements. It would take me about 2 hours a week to make her food up for the next week. Even though at that time there were no holistic vets in the area, our vet was great and fully endorsed us feeding Puddin raw. She knew I would be very diligent in preparing it correctly. Puddin did great on this diet for many years.

I can get sardines in water at the Publix grocery store close to us, I am going to try that for Buddy. Big duh on my part not to think of that, and a big thanks for the suggestions to try them!

I am in Ohio, and have it shipped to me and the shipping is quite pricey. But the company is great. I've been ordering from them for over 10 years and have never had anything but good to say about them.
There's a raw feeding place in Florida called Raw Feeding Miami that I have really wanted to try, but the probable shipping costs have scared me away.
I hope Buddy likes the sardines! I only feed mine 1/2 to 1 teaspoon per meal, 3 times a week maximum but often it's less often. It's more of a "topper" than a meal but they seem to like them well. But wow, they are smelly.