no fish for male cats??

[jill1234]

I'm going to adopt a male kitten tonight and when I went to visit him I was told that I shouldn't feed him anything with fish in it because it can make male cats sick. Is this true? I just bought some kitten food today and it says it has fish meat in it so I guess I have to go buy something else. If it's true that you shouldn't feed boy kittens fish then why is there no warning on the kitten food bag?

[RedHedd]

Cats are carnivores - MEAT eaters. I never give my cats, male or female, fish. I've read that it's just not healthy for them. There are plenty of other foods for them that are healthier, so avioding fish isn't a big deal. They need protein.

[jill1234]

yea I wouldn't give my cat like a real piece of fish. I mean like a lot of cat foods are fish flavored and are those ok for cats? and the kitten food I bought was just regular kitten food not fish flavored or anything but on the ingredients it said it had fish in it so is that ok for my male kitten?

[heidiv]

I have read in many places that tuna and fresh fish isn't good for them. I have bought Iams canned fish flavored food and I guess I didn't even put a thought with it. I should ask my vet I don't want to hurt my babies. Thanks for bringing this to my attension.

[Catty1]

Decades ago, it was thought that something in fish caused crystals in male cats. Something to do with the ash content or something. I think some fish in the food is okay.


A phone call to your vet can answer that, or a talk with a well-trained pet store staff member.

[kuhio98]

Hmmm, I had never heard this before. My sister quit feeding Seymour any kind of kitty seafood because it gave him horrible gas. The poor boy used to bloat up like a football. But he's never had crystals.

[smokey the elder]

My rescue group recommends feeding kittens under 6 months poultry-based kitten food. I'm not even sure where this comes from; it may be that it is easier to digest. I don't think fish is great because it's probably fish by-products. Some as a treat probably won't hurt.

[lizbud]

Gosh, I've been feeding my 5 male cats ocean whitefish & tuna
canned foods for years. It's one of their many favorites.I don't feed
them the same thing everyday.

I could understand cats shouldn' t have tuna fish (neither should people)
bacause of the mercury found in tuna fish.

[carole]

Hmm well i never knew this either, i feed both my cats a small piece of fresh fish once a week and fish canned foods, which seem to be ok,so far no problems, so maybe it is not true who knows.

[Glacier]

My vet told me that for most cats a bit of fish or fish flavored canned food isnt' going to harm them at all. However, Pete is not allowed to have any fish. My vet said there wasn't much research that it would cause more crystals and aggravate his FLUTD, but it was one of the things we elminated during the course of his treatment. Since the disease is currently under control, I"m not messing with anything!

[solares412]

Some cats can get away with eating fish, others can't. I don't know anyone who would want to be in the percentage who feed their cats fish and UTIs and blockages are the result. Fish, it doesn't matter if it's fresh or canned , for human consumption or in pet food, can cause some cats to block in less than 24 hours. I guess that's why in nature, it's a rare cat who can catch a fish. Birds are the equivalent of chicken, and rodents are the equivalent of beef but fish are in water and cats have an aversion to water, maybe for good reason. It works to keep feline and fish that much farther apart.

[Uabassoon]

I've heard this so, so I don't feed my cats and fish flavored canned foods.