Can I feed my cat raw Tilapia?

[Sammiches]

Okay so not like a meal replacement but like a snack on the weekends. When I'm on my day off, usually I like giving her some of my food which I simplify it by instead of cooking her chicken or fish with seasoning, I just chop off a part of it and either boil it, bake it, or air fry it(not actually fry for those who don't know what an air fryer is).

So just today I was preparing her some air fried tilapia but noticed that ever since she remembers that she can jump on the counter, she was very interested in the thawed tilapia I left on the counter. The way the tilapia is stored from Costco is that it's vacuum sealed and frozen so I'm curious as to whether or not it's safe to feed my cat that straight up after thawing it out in the fridge for a day. It actually doesn't have any odor, doesn't smell fishy at all so mostly curious. I like mixing things up with her food when my weekends come up since I tend to feed her whenever I eat. I snack, she snacks lol.

 

[Maria Bayote]

I am not so sure with the raw. My cat Bourbon eats Tilapia, too, but I make sure it is well cooked to avoid bacteria. And I make sure I do not feed her too much.

 

[SpecterOhPossum]

At the very least, surface cook it. And not much of it, cats shouldn't be having fish to be frank with you; google that part if curious. anyhow though I would boil lightly it to get rid of bacteria

 

[Sammiches]

At the very least, surface cook it. And not much of it, cats shouldn't be having fish to be frank with you; google that part if curious. anyhow though I would boil lightly it to get rid of bacteria

Oh no, cats can have fish for sure even if it wasn't in their evolutionary diet(unless allergic of course). It isn't something you want to feed them on the daily as an actual meal though. In any case, looks like I'll be cooking it one way or another.

 

[Albus&minnie]

A

Okay so not like a meal replacement but like a snack on the weekends. When I'm on my day off, usually I like giving her some of my food which I simplify it by instead of cooking her chicken or fish with seasoning, I just chop off a part of it and either boil it, bake it, or air fry it(not actually fry for those who don't know what an air fryer is).

So just today I was preparing her some air fried tilapia but noticed that ever since she remembers that she can jump on the counter, she was very interested in the thawed tilapia I left on the counter. The way the tilapia is stored from Costco is that it's vacuum sealed and frozen so I'm curious as to whether or not it's safe to feed my cat that straight up after thawing it out in the fridge for a day. It actually doesn't have any odor, doesn't smell fishy at all so mostly curious. I like mixing things up with her food when my weekends come up since I tend to feed her whenever I eat. I snack, she snacks lol.

My dad's cat used to eat raw tilapia fish , so I think so

 

[Ardina]

Whenever I buy fish (for my own dinner!), my cats always get the eyes and a bit of tail to munch on. It's perfectly safe to feed it raw unless your cats are immunocompromised for some reason. Though I wouldn't feed fish on a regular basis. They also eat raw chicken, lamb, goat, and rabbit and have never had any issues.

 

[SpecterOhPossum]

Oh no, cats can have fish for sure even if it wasn't in their evolutionary diet(unless allergic of course). It isn't something you want to feed them on the daily as an actual meal though. In any case, looks like I'll be cooking it one way or another.

It's actually quite unhealthy, if you research it you'll understand

 

[lisahe]

I would definitely not feed raw fish to a cat! I think I'd be less concerned about potential bacteria (which cats can handle better than humans) than potential parasites. Freezing can kill parasites but there are usually guidelines for how cold the freezing needs to be.

I'm sure our cats would love to eat lots of fish but I'm with SpecterOhPossum about the downsides, which (unfortunately!) include an apparent connection to thyroid disease as well as various sorts of contamination by heavy metals. I used to feed our cats foods like Fancy Feast pates, which weren't fish flavors but have pretty small amounts of fish... but one of our cats was recently diagnosed with asthma, so (vet's orders!) out went the fish because fish can have histamines, which can be a problem for cats with allergies and/or asthma. Even before that I was cautious about fish because our previous cat was a total fish addict!

All that said, though, occasional small amounts of fish are probably fine!

 

[Albus&minnie]

It's actually quite unhealthy, if you research it you'll understand

I'm just too scared to feed raw fish , or any kind of fish to minnie ( albus hates it !)

 

[jen]

I give my cat tiny little bits of any raw meat I am about to cook for myself. Personally I love things like sashimi and rare meats but I don't eat them often. Whenever I am cutting up chicken breast, steak, fish, etc I give Nora little bits to gnaw on. She loves it. She has spent 3/4 of her life outside hunting all sorts of critters and consuming them raw. Now she is indoors and this gives her a little bit of her raw food fix. She is almost 17 years old. Her vets are shocked how healthy is and how good she looks. She had her first dental a couple years ago and had a dead tooth pulled, the rest were not even concerning at all. Maybe she just has good genes and I got lucky, who knows.

 

[furmonster mom]

for your amusement....


And this one has been around for a while... don't understand a word of it, but still amusing



As a raw feeder, I would have no problem feeding fish as an occasional treat... if my cats would actually eat it.
I have weird cats.

 

[Azazel]

I also don't see a problem with it as long as you're always ensuring the meat comes from a trustworthy source.

 

[Sammiches]

It's actually quite unhealthy, if you research it you'll understand

I'm under the impression that you researched for no more than an hour or two and drew your conclusion. If that's the case, get back to researching. I am actually quite sure about this is your case and the reason why I know because that's how I felt "at first". Though I did not make a post about it immediately since I was sort of on the fence about it being "maybe bad" to "it's fine as long as it's part of a balanced diet". If your cat or anyone's cat happens to be allergic to fish which is not uncommon, then what you said is correct. Cats will eat what they are allergic to without stop so it's cat parent's job to monitor their health carefully. Despite my stance on fish can be incorporated in a cat's healthy balanced diet, I still don't think putting canned tuna for humans as a meal replacement for cats should ever be done.

I also don't see a problem with it as long as you're always ensuring the meat comes from a trustworthy source.

Good point, I actually don't know the exact source other than it's at Costco, going to have to go the cooking route.

Thanks everyone for replying! Going to use the cooking route if I decide to feed my cat some fish which is once or twice a week.

 

[SpecterOhPossum]

I'm under the impression that you researched for no more than an hour or two and drew your conclusion.

Lol, you got any proof on that?

 

[kittyluv387]

I feed raw, so I have no problems with feeding costco raw fish to cats in small amounts as a treat. Sometimes we buy fish from costco and we divide up the fish and the cats get small pieces as treats. I have even given them some of my sushi (raw of course). All in very small amounts of course.

 

[Sammiches]

Lol, you got any proof on that?

I wouldn't call it proof but based on your conclusion, that's information that you can only find on the surface of searching for something. If you dove in deeper, there was more information that you neglected hence my conclusion was that you did not dive in deep.

Also, you are quite defensive about that, that's literally the only part you're replying to for the whole post. Considering that I stated that "I am under the impression" which means I was not stating it as a fact but that was the impression that was given off to me. Instead of seeing it that way, you took it as if I said "I know for sure that you researched for no more than an hour or two".

In any case, I got the answer that I was looking for. If you're looking to argue online or something, feel free to post some more.
I however am moving on.