IS TUNA IN SPRING WATER an OK food for my cats?

Question

My cats love tuna. My question is whether it supplies necessary ingredients for their health. Can they be healthy eating only tuna?

TX Mom

OK, people tuna isn't good for cats. I get it. How about cat food--like whitefish & tuna, or tuna feast, with nutrients added?

Answer 1

Hi Debbie....tuna in fact isn't good for cats, but tuna juice is fine if only to entice a cat.

Cats with urinary problems should avoid any seafoods as they are high in phosphorous and changes the urinary pH which can contribute to the lower urinary disorders. Please see the following article: http://us.iams.com/iams/en_US/jsp/IAMS_Page.jsp?pageID=A&articleID=352#4

Here's an article on why tuna is dangerous:

Here's a web article about Tuna and how it is toxic to cats (again any vet can confirm this fact as well): http://www.lenhumanesoc.org/Tips/ASPCA-Tuna.htm

"TUNA FOR CATS? NO!
Tuna can be fatal to cats and is not something to be fed to them...The human variety of tuna fish contains an enzyme that destroys vitamin B1 (thiamine). Cats who regularly eat tuna can develop a vitamin B1 deficiency, which results in neurological symptoms like dilated eyes, loss of equilibrium, seizures and death if this vitamin is not replaced. The scientific name of this disease is polioencephlomalacia.

Clearwater veterinarian Richard Brancato said that though most domestic cats do enjoy fish, feeding them a diet of only tuna can cause serious disorders.

Although it is high in protein, tuna lacks sufficient amounts of certain amino acids, mainly taurine, to maintain feline health. There is insufficient calcium to balance the phosphorus; the ratio in canned tuna is 1-to-14.8. This results in bone disease.

Many essential vitamins such as A and most B vitamins are also lacking, Brancato said. A common disease in cats fed a mainstay of canned tuna is steatitis, or yellow fat disease, an inflammation of the fat tissue in the body due to a deficiency of vitamin E.

Source: St. Petersburg Times, published May 14, 2000"

Here's another answer by a veterinarian just recently about the dangers of tuna: http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=AnXV7g3jq309q2QXly7n9WLsy6IX?qid=20061018194725AAzYqfz


A Veterinarian Answered:
... Actually, it is.

I've had to treat numerous cats over the years for pretty severe enteritis resulting from eating tuna meat. One of my own babies got so ill from it when someone else left it sitting out on the counter for 5 minutes while he turned his back to take a phone call, that I had to put her on IV fluids for 2 days, in addition to intestinal medications.

How many cats do you know who go swimming in the ocean to catch tuna and eat it as part of their natural diet???

Tuna-FLAVORED food....okay. Tuna meat.....bad.

I 'love' brownies....but that doesn't mean they're good for me. Cats also 'love' antifreeze....but we all know what it will do to them. :-/

The most you should do is to use the water that is drained off from the can of tuna (not the oil...for another reason), and drizzle it over their dry cat food once or twice a month. They'll think they died and went to cat heaven!....but without the danger.

Save the tuna meat for your sandwiches.
Source(s):
I'm a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine with 20 yrs exp in private practice (27 total years in the profession.)
11 months ago

Answer 2

Tuna Water For Cats

Answer 3

Tuna Juice For Cats

Answer 4

While I understand your kitties love the tuna it is not recommended and could cause health problems for them. Heres why...

Tuna Fish meant for human consumption lacks Vitamin E making this an unhealthy and sometimes dangerous food choice. Vitamin E deficiency can cause serious health conditions such as Yellow Fat Disease in cats.

Even if dietary supplements are given to counteract the negative nutritional value, Tuna Fish is still a poor choice because of the Mercury that it contains. Tuna is also believed to cause allergic conditions and reactions in cats

Ive written an article you might like to look over. Hope this helps out.

Five Foods You Should Never Feed Your Cat
http://decenturl.com/associatedcontent/five-foods-you-should-never

Answer 5

This Site Might Help You.

RE:
IS TUNA IN SPRING WATER an OK food for my cats?
My cats love tuna. My question is whether it supplies necessary ingredients for their health. Can they be healthy eating only tuna?

TX Mom

Answer 6

Tuna is not good for cats at all actually and should not be given to them. If anything, you can use the tuna juice to get the cat to eat it's food, but this shouldn't be done on a regular basis.
So no, a cat cannot live healthy only on tuna. It needs to eat a high quality cat food. I use Felidae which they sell at Pet Supplies plus- it's a great quality cat food (they also make Canidae for dogs which I use for my dogs).

Answer 7

Other than possibly making your cat not want its normal cat food, not sure why you couldn't give it any tuna? What were the reasons? Our cats have eaten things such as: tuna, dog food, house plants, avocados, chips, crackers, cheese, lettuce, raw chicken, things from the table they weren't offered, and more I can't remember. By the way, for those who might be wondering - they are NOT overweight. They only eat little scraps of these things.

Answer 8

wow I think the person (Seattle) has helped a lot of us cat lovers that feed our pets tuna once in a while. I think I will stop all together. Good answer and its nice to have someone so knowledgeable on answers.

Answer 9

tuna is not good for cats. it not only is not proper for their nutrition but will cause illness. please feed your cat a canned food based on human grade meat. this food should not have any grains. cats are carnivores. you will have a lot of trouble becuase your cats are tuna junkies. it may seem liek you are helping them by feedign them food they like but you are only hurting them by feedign them tuna. try Wellness or Instinct. i personally feed a raw diet called Aunt Jeni's homemade for life. this is the best way to feed cats but it is taking along time for people to catch on. dry food is horrible. and tuna is not okay for your cats

Answer 10

HEY. So when you feed your kitty TUNA, give the little genius some MILK, for calcium, DD. Give WATER, at all times.

BEEF isn't digestible, without calcium. Oddly, kosher pikers won't do the obvious nutrition, to save their posture, but when it's time to invade somebody, look out! Drink milk, mellow out, don't invade other people, EVEN IF YOU ARE AN IDIOT TRYING TO CALL HIMSELF, "KING DAVE."

Know any idiots who do THAT? (Israel)