Is all fish bad for all cats?

[Hazel06]

I don't tend to shy away from by-products as much as I used to in dry or canned foods. Lungs, spleen, and liver sound gross to us but if your cat catches a mouse, or when they catch fish from the river, they will more than likely consume those parts.

I'm not against any of those organs, but from what I've read they use all the sick birds in it. And after seeing photos of battery hens, even the healthy ones look rather sick.
Maybe I'm very wrong, but my impression was anything they thought was too nasty for people to eat, they put in dog and cat food.
Am I wrong? I would like to be!

 

[Kflowers]

Organ meat is fine, in fact when they catch and kill small things, like chipmunks, shrews, and voles, cats tend to eat the inner organs first, saving the muscle meat (that humans like) for next to last and the bones for last. After much discussion, we decided this is because the cat wants to eat the best/most nutritious part of the kill first in case someone else takes it from her. However, by products can sometimes mean feathers. I don't think there's much of any way to avoid by products.

Odds are at the price of salmon now; it won't be included in the pet food.

 

[yelloweyes]

Well, it looks like I've just opened a can of worms here, or maybe I should say - a kettle of fish.

My cats are used to chicken flavor for their main food, and only get fish flavor as one of a rotating menu for their canned food "snack" in the afternoon, or likely in a cat treat when they get those. My thought is that if it's not part of the dry food that is their main staple they're okay. I agree with the idea of holding off the "good stuff" for a day when getting them to eat may be more challenging. It's good to hold back a few tricks in case we need them. I do want to be alert to this if we are actually changing their dry food (which I'm currently considering).

 

[iPappy]

I'm not against any of those organs, but from what I've read they use all the sick birds in it. And after seeing photos of battery hens, even the healthy ones look rather sick.
Maybe I'm very wrong, but my impression was anything they thought was too nasty for people to eat, they put in dog and cat food.
Am I wrong? I would like to be!

The issue of 4-D meats is a big one as well as factory farms. I don't think you're wrong at all. Meat that is fit for human consumption is probably sold as such. Meat that is not probably goes into pet foods, however, IMHO "not fit for human consumption" can have a lot of different definitions that don't necessarily mean bad for pets. My cats will eat mice if they catch them, and I don't consider a raw mouse fit for human consumption but cats seem to think it's the perfect snack. My dog sometimes has meals of, or topped with, rinsed raw green tripe, the really smelly stuff that isn't bleached or cleaned well, but she thrives on it. Her sensitive canid GI tract does well with all those enzymes, but if I decided to eat it it would probably put me in the hospital. They eat a lot of things I wouldn't consider "fit for human consumption" but it's biologically appropriate for them (provided they actually eat it, and do well on it!)

 

[Mighty Orange]

You might want to look into Rawz.
Rawz

 

[maggie101]

The issue of 4-D meats is a big one as well as factory farms. I don't think you're wrong at all. Meat that is fit for human consumption is probably sold as such. Meat that is not probably goes into pet foods, however, IMHO "not fit for human consumption" can have a lot of different definitions that don't necessarily mean bad for pets. My cats will eat mice if they catch them, and I don't consider a raw mouse fit for human consumption but cats seem to think it's the perfect snack. My dog sometimes has meals of, or topped with, rinsed raw green tripe, the really smelly stuff that isn't bleached or cleaned well, but she thrives on it. Her sensitive canid GI tract does well with all those enzymes, but if I decided to eat it it would probably put me in the hospital. They eat a lot of things I wouldn't consider "fit for human consumption" but it's biologically appropriate for them (provided they actually eat it, and do well on it!)

Yummy !
No feathers in byproducts,only organs
Organs in a raw diet for cat — The Little Carnivore

A mouth watering delicacy for cats

 

[maggie101]

But since this is about fish, probably having some of both is better than just fish. Ff turkey&giblets is the one food my cat has never thrown up

 

[Purrfect Meow]

Oscar Wilde said "Everything in moderation, including moderation." Thats how I look at cat food and human food. Just my opinion of course.

 

[Haifa]

I feed my cat a mixture of ziwi peak air dried lamb and mackerel and instinct original chicken. Can the mackerel cause hyperthyroidism if fed daily ?

 

[BucDan]

I feed my cats tiki cat fish wet food cans and dr elsey chicken dry kibble. He loves it all. He takes in about 100cals of fish and 150cals of dry food every day. I even alternate with Applaws fish wet food.