How much fish can I feed my cat?

Twilla

TCS Member
Thread starter
Kitten
Joined
Jul 11, 2021
Messages
9
Purraise
0
I recently found out that my cat ADORES eating fish like tuna and salmon. I know its not as nutritious as cat food, but i love seeing her happy. How much fish can a cat be treated, while staying super healthy?

If this information helps at all: she is 16 weeks (4.5 pounds ish), and i have an older cat who is 17 pounds. Im sure she wont need to eat as much as him haha
 

Beholder

TCS Member
Alpha Cat
Joined
Jan 10, 2021
Messages
515
Purraise
701
Most people recommend that no more than 10% of the cat's diet comes from treats. But be weary, some cats love fish so much they'll hold out and ignore their regular food. Cats weren't really meant to eat fish in the wild (as desert animals) so I personally don't consider it a healthy snack, but then again there's a lot of treats that fall into this same ballpark.
 

Maurey

Maine Coon Madness
Top Cat
Joined
Jan 21, 2021
Messages
1,592
Purraise
1,822
Tuna and salmon are generally both no-no’s — reserve them as toppers only for when your cats are unwell and need the motivator to eat.

They’re both predators so mercury and heavy metals are a big concern. With your older cat, the thiaminase and phosphorous content are both concerns as well, but not good for the younger cat, either. If you really want to offer fish, find some low sodium sardines in water, wash them, and offer each cat around half a sardine a week, depending on the size of the fish. It’s a good source of omega and less harmful than salmon or tuna.
 

daftcat75

TCS Member
Top Cat
Joined
Sep 7, 2018
Messages
12,642
Purraise
25,128
Besides not being an ideal protein and addictive (cats may hold out for it at the expense of their regular meals), the other reason to not feed fish is because it can be a powerful ally in getting a sick cat to take medicine or eat when she doesn't feel much like eating. Exceptional times require exceptional measures. If you feed fish on the regular, you lose this nuclear option.
 

fionasmom

Moderator
Staff Member
Moderator
Joined
Jun 21, 2014
Messages
13,125
Purraise
17,371
Location
Los Angeles
When I rescued Jamie, I felt so sorry about the condition in which I found him that I started to give him deli salmon. It was a nice, plain piece of salmon without spices, flavorings, and was not smoked and he loved it. It was a real pain to get him off of it to fish flavored cat food, which was at least one step up from what he was eating, but we are still fighting the battle over the fact that fish is his favorite type of cat food. At 16 weeks, I would definitely start to introduce her to non fish flavored food, and to quality cat food of some sort.
 

luca79

Aprikos and Mela
Young Cat
Joined
Apr 17, 2021
Messages
21
Purraise
24
Location
Norway
Is cooked cod ok to be given to the cats once per week or so?
 

fionasmom

Moderator
Staff Member
Moderator
Joined
Jun 21, 2014
Messages
13,125
Purraise
17,371
Location
Los Angeles
I would limit it to a treat and if you encounter any resistance to regular food, stop giving the cod.
 

Maggiez

TCS Member
Young Cat
Joined
Nov 22, 2020
Messages
88
Purraise
89
It's a bummer to read this because my little girl LOVES her fish treat... She goes insane whenever I gave her benito flakes.
I just cooked some salmon for them and plan to give them small amount, but I guess that's a bad idea.
 

daftcat75

TCS Member
Top Cat
Joined
Sep 7, 2018
Messages
12,642
Purraise
25,128
It's a bummer to read this because my little girl LOVES her fish treat... She goes insane whenever I gave her benito flakes.
I just cooked some salmon for them and plan to give them small amount, but I guess that's a bad idea.
As long as it is a treat, it's probably alright. I recommend against fish-flavored foods and fish on the regular. But the occasional and possibly rare treat should keep the appeal high (exceptional times require exceptional measures) while also maintaining the boundary between food and treats. If your girl starts refusing her regular food holding out for the fish, you're offering it too frequently. As long as she still eats healthy amounts of non-fish-flavored food, you're probably alright rewarding her with an occasional fish treat.
 

n1111z

TCS Member
Kitten
Joined
Oct 9, 2021
Messages
1
Purraise
0
Tuna and salmon on a regular basis are no-no's for the above stated reasons. We give our raw fed cats 1/2 tin each of Season sardines in water, bought from Amazon. Good for variety.
 
Top