Is it bad to give your cats canned sardines? (packed in oil or water)?

Question

This question is very old and I no longer have cats. Thank you everyone for your valuable input!!! Hopefully this information will help other cat owners out there wondering the same thing.

Answer 1

Hi Ruby...many fish products made for human consumption interfere with the natural absorption of vitamins in a cat food diet. Additionally, it raises the phosphorous levels and urine pH to more alkaline which can contribute to urinary tract disorders. Furthermore, Sardines are very high in salt and over time this can cause an electrolyte disturbance.

Please consider reading the following answer regarding dangers of tuna which generally applies to most fish products as well: http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=AoXVsuWvWQwDt.PHCA2nQE7ty6IX;_ylv=3?qid=20070111170528AAiAKat

Answer 2

Sardines For Cats

Answer 3

Can Cats Eat Sardines

Answer 4

It's not too bad. A lot of breeders do this to help their cats coats be shiny and healthy. Also good if the cat has a cold. Don't give daily and don't use as main source of food. It would be fine for a treat 1 or 2 times a month. Use the ones with water and read to make sure it doesn't have onion or garlic in it. I can't stand the smell of sardines so I won't feed them.

Answer 5

This Site Might Help You.

RE:
Is it bad to give your cats canned sardines? (packed in oil or water)?

Answer 6

No, not at all. But check the salt content, and it's best to feed them sardines packed in water. Sardines have little bones in them, a nice source of calcium, and they make a decent substitute meal when you've run out of cat food, or a nice snack/treat.

There are some very, very inexpensive cat food sardines -- available around NYC for 25-30 cents a can -- that have no added salt, and that are packed in a kind of gelatin my cat just loved. Cat food sardines are just regular sardines -- less attractive than the kind you eat, and without added salt. The salt in tinned fish for human consumption is very dangerous for cats, who with their high protein diet and low fluid intake, have vulnerable kidneys anyway. Salt just makes this worse.

You can feed these cat food sardines once a week or so to your cats, and that would be okay. But if you read the content label on fish-flavored cat foods, you may see fish as a first or second ingredient, and chicken or turkey or some other meat a little further down the list. This is because a straight fish diet is not good for cats. Fish are rich in fat-soluble vitamins, which the body stores, and which your cat can OD on. I am not kidding about this. The resulting condition is called hypervitaminosis. I read this long ago when my cat was a kitten. I have long since forgotten the symptoms. I just paid attention to the warning, and always balanced out his meals, fed him those sardines occasionally (he particularly loved the gelatin they are packed in -- like a consomme), but made sure he got a little meat to balance the meal out.

For me, though, the thing of greatest concern about a diet that is heavy on the fish side is that, for some bodily chemical reason, this kind of diet contributes significantly to the formation of urinary crystals that can block the urethra, preventing the cat from peeing, and can lead to bladder rupture and death.

Neutered male cats are particularly prone to this, and if you have ever heard the terrible cries of pain of a little guy who can't pee but needs to and whose bladder is distended, you would be sure to feed your cats a very balanced diet so as not to put them at risk for this.

So the short answer is: Yes, sardines are okay. Water packed is better than oil packed, and if they are human sardines, give them a little, but watch it, because salt is dangerous for cats. And if you feed them cat food sardines, do it just maybe once a week, and try to mix a little rice and maybe a few tidbits of chicken in with it, for balance.

A long-winded answer, sorry. Hope this helps.

Answer 7

i think it's fine as an occasional treat ( maybe too salty for cats to eat them all the time). My cat loves them. Just be sure to get all of the bones out first (or buy the boneless kind),though.

Answer 8

What is the sardines are rinsed in water first to remove the oil & salt? dry food has salt in it.

Answer 9

Sort of, if you feed your cat too much it is bad because of all the salt and oils. If it is on occasion it is fine.

Answer 10

According to the vet, Yes. They contain too much salt for the cat's kidneys to process.

Sharing baked fish would be ok though.