Guess the bottom line is just like it is for human--eat a bit of everything & balance your diet. Of course, for a couple of mine, "little bit" is a challenge! I have, however, tried to eliminate corn, wheat & soy cause my Tucson seems to be a bit allergic to one of those (& she really doesn't need fillers--all 17 lbs of her!)
-----Original Message----- From: felvtalk-boun...@felineleukemia.org [mailto:felvtalk-boun...@felineleukemia.org] On Behalf Of Natalie Sent: Tuesday, March 29, 2011 12:19 PM To: felvtalk@felineleukemia.org Subject: [Felvtalk] Fish for cats I have always wondered why cats like fish.it's not a natural food for them, they don't fish... Tuna: Mindy Bough, veterinary technician for the ASPCA Pet Nutrition and Science Advisory Service, dishes out the facts on this savory feline fave: "An occasional tuna treat for your cat is generally harmless," says Bough. "However, if a large part of the cat's diet consists of tuna--or if the cat is fed tuna exclusively--some problems are likely to arise." Tuna does not contain significant amounts of vitamin E, for example, so too much of the fish can lead to vitamin E deficiency, resulting in yellow fat disease, or steatitis. Symptoms include loss of appetite, fever and hypersensitivity to touch, due to inflammation and necrosis of fat under the skin. Felines who are fed too much tuna can develop other nutrient deficiencies, too, because most de-boned fish are lacking in calcium, sodium, iron, copper and several other vitamins. Mercury, frequently present in tuna, also presents a potential danger. "At low levels, this may not be a concern," explains Bough, "but if tuna is fed nearly exclusively, it could pose significant problems." The bottom line? "I recommend premium commercial food for domestic cats," Bough says. "These foods are formulated to meet all of a cat's dietary needs. http://www.provet.co.uk/petfacts/healthtips/rawfish.htm Many owners consider fish to be the staple diet of cats - and they believe that it is beneficial to feed them an exclusively fish ration. Fish is a good raw ingredient to incorporate into cat foods, but it has certain draw backs. Firstly it does not contain all the nutrients that a cat requires and, like meat, it is deficient in calcium with an inverse calcium:phosphorus ratio. Coley (or Saithe) a popular fish with cat owners in the UK and the fillet cut contains 15-20 mg calcium per 100g but over 200 mg phosphorus per 100g, a Ca:P ratio of 1:10. Cod and other white fish are similar. If owners are feeding fish bones should be removed to avoid complications. Fish should be cooked to avoid the possibility of disease transmission. "Salmon poisoning" has been recorded in cats which contracted the disease caused by Neorickettsiae spp from eating raw salmon or trout. This disease occurs within 2 weeks of the ingestion of infected food and causes the following signs : * Depression * Fever * Lymphadenopathy - swelling of the lymph nodes * Oculonasal discharge * Haematemesis - vomiting blood * Diarrhoea * Death - 90% in untreated cases. Diagnosis is confirmed by finding trematode eggs in faeces samples, or rickettsiae in lymph node samples. Clinical cases of thiamine deficiency are periodically seen by veterinarians due to cats being fed fish - as commercially prepared canned food, or as raw fish. Thiamin (vitamin B1) is an essential dietary nutrient for cats. Processing can destroy thiamine in a food, and so reduce the initial concentrations present at canning, and some fish (including herring and carp) contain the thiaminase which will destroy thiamine. Clinical signs of thiamine deficiency include : * Anorexia * Ataxia - 2-3 days later * Vomiting * Convulsions - short * Dilation of the pupils * Ventroflexion of the neck (Chastek's paralysis) Affected patients will die unless treatment is administered (100-250 mg thiamine IV or SC twice daily). In most cases a complete recovery can be expected in treated cases unless severe central nervous system has occurred. Confirmation of diagnosis is not readily available : * Increased plasma pyruvate * Increased plasma lactate * Reduced erythrocyte trans-ketolase activity (a thiamine-dependant enzyme) Some fish are particularly high in oil content, and pansteatitis or "yellow fat disease" is caused by the intake of too much fat in the absence of adequate antioxidant. Red-meat tuna has been reported to be particularly involved as a cause of this in cats. The cause of the disease is accumulation of peroxides - the end product of rancidification of fat - in the cats adipose tissue causing yellow-brown discolouration. Clinical signs of pansteatitis include : * Abdominal Pain * Anorexia * Fever * Lethargy * Hardening of subcutaneous and intra-abdominal fat depots * Occasionally ascites (low in protein content; compare with FIP - high in protein content) The condition is treated with dietary management (a complete and balanced diet), Vitamin E supplementation (30mg alpha-tocopherol/day ) , and some authors recommend the use of corticosteroids. _______________________________________________ Felvtalk mailing list Felvtalk@felineleukemia.org http://felineleukemia.org/mailman/listinfo/felvtalk_felineleukemia.org _______________________________________________ Felvtalk mailing list Felvtalk@felineleukemia.org http://felineleukemia.org/mailman/listinfo/felvtalk_felineleukemia.org
