Can I feed my kittens fresh cooked fish occasionally?

[rainia]

so I have a VERY picky kitten that doesn't like any type of dry or wet cat food except dry meow mix which is TERRIBLE.I'm out of options and I just discovered that she likes to eat boiled chicken which I give her as one meal everyday, and cooked fish fillet. I know canned fish like sardines and tuna aren't healthy due to a high level of mercury and preservatives. but I'm guessing fresh fish should be fine if cooked well as it's high in protein and yummy? will it be okay if I give her two or three fish meals per week? is it good for her and will it help her gain a little weight?

 

[cinqchats]

Occasionally as a treat I don't think you'll have a problem. I do know that raw fish has an enzyme (thiaminase) that destroys thiamine in the body, and if fed too often can result in a nutrient deficiency. Not sure if this applies to cooked fish.

If she likes chicken like that, have you tried giving her raw food? Stella and Chewys makes little raw food nuggets that are easy to serve up.

 

[lisahe]

I agree that it's not good to feed a lot of fish, be it fresh or canned. Our vet's very anti-fish, largely because of mercury.

Rainia, it's great that you're feeding your cat boiled chicken -- fresh food can be very good for cats, especially young ones who need a lot of protein to grow! -- but are you feeding plain chicken or are you adding nutrients to it so it's a balanced meal for your kitten? If you mean you're feeding her a full meal every day, it would definitely need to have vitamins and minerals added so it's a complete food that can help her grow.

There are lots of ways to make sure the chicken you're cooking is balanced: by coincidence, there's discussion of a similar situation on another thread today, where I included some links to get suggestions. It's this thread.

I feed our cats poached chicken that I mix with EZcomplete supplement: it really does make things easy and the cats love it even more than plain chicken!

 

[rainia]

the problem is I live in Egypt, where I cant feed my cats raw chicken because I can never no matter what I do guarantee the source also a diet of only chicken meat and supplements doesnt work because I also cant find all the supplements I need to add to the food anywhere here, and ordering online would cost me more than double the price for shipping alone, that's why I'm always in a pickle when it comes to feeding the young ones! (not to mention being a med student with terrible juggling skills and no time and very picky kittehs )

 

[rainia]

I always have a supply of dryfood but she rarely eats that! (to be honest she has a jaw deformity that makes it hard for her to eat hard foods, but she doesn't even try :/) and she doesn't eat any of the good wet foods, all she wants is meow mix or plain chicken which is stressing me out

 

[rainia]

I'm sorry I'm whining alot but I just dont know what to do at this point all cat food is crappy in here. I jist want her to fatten up a bit and I dont know if fish would do any damage because that's the one thing I still haven't tried and she LOVES fish. so maybe it'll at least pump up her appetite a little?

 

[catpack]

If more than 10% of her overall diet is simply cooked meat, she will develop nutrient deficiencies.

Do you have access to organ meat like hearts, liver, etc...? If so, you can make a balanced diet. If this is something you are interested in, posting in the raw/home cooked thread will get you better replies.

 

[lisahe]

If more than 10% of her overall diet is simply cooked meat, she will develop nutrient deficiencies.

Do you have access to organ meat like hearts, liver, etc...? If so, you can make a balanced diet. If this is something you are interested in, posting in the raw/home cooked thread will get you better replies.

I was going to make the same suggestion about posting in the raw/homecooked food thread! Maybe there's a way you could piece something together that's cooked rather than raw: I understand your concern about food safety.

It's too bad all you can buy in Egypt are bad (crappy!) cat foods. Since nutrients are so important for a growing cat, Meow Mix supplemented by that 10% of a diet as cooked meat might be your best option if you can't find a way to "complete" the boiled chicken with organ meats.