Won't eat canned food but gobbles up tuna...

[Sundance]

One of our cats has problems digesting cat food (severe diarrhea) so our vet recommended that we give her boneless chicken breast. I have to add 1/8 tsp of bone meal (available at the drug store) twice a day and 1/2 of a Felo-form vitamin (available at the vet's office) once a day. I just crush the vitamin and mix it right in with the food. She's been on this diet for almost a year now and is doing well, despite being 14 years old, diabetic, and hyperthyroid. Good luck with your kitty!

[columbine]

Dick Van Patten's Natural Balance now has a Salmon & Green Pea flavor that my little fishaholic quite enjoys! He even prefers it to chicken, and he's usually OK with chicken.

Love, Columbine

[Catty1]

I also wonder - if Clyde is getting a lot of benefit from the tuna and oil, he might be really wolfing it down because his body needs it to balance out. I wonder if his appetite for it will slow down a bit when he recovers some more?

Glad to hear he is getting so shiny and gaining weight!

[emo]

So I picked up some Royal Canin Green Peas and Venison canned food last night to try it out. He loved it!! He gobbled it up faster than tuna!! I guess he was just bored with the Duck version. I suppose that I would get tired of eating the same food every day too.

I'm going to have him eat that exclusively for a little while before I try giving him tuna again. Yes the tuna is cheaper but I don't necessarily think it has all the nutrients he needs. What do you think? Should I do tuna as a treat instead? Sort of a bedtime in your room bribe?

I'm so relieved that a flavor change worked! It's taken me quite a while to get him gi system better with diet that I hated to have to start all over again with the food trials. Since the Venison is the same formula of Limited Ingredients as the Duck all I had to do was mix them together.

Thanks for all the tips and keep them coming! I'm always happy to get advice from fellow cat lovers!

[krazyaboutkatz]

I've read that feeding cats real tuna is very bad for their health because it's high in polyunsaturated fat which cats have trouble metabolizing. Tuna can rob a cat's body of vitamin E, leading to a painful disease called steatitis, or Yellow Fat Disease, in which the skin becomes unbearably tender. I copied this from a book that I have about cats. My parents learned the hard way because they fed their cat real tuna and also real chicken liver every day because she was a very picky eater. She didn't live as long as she could have.

If your vet thinks that your cat needs the extra oils then I'd just supplement his diet with some omega 3 fish oil instead. Good luck.

[emo]

I've read that feeding cats real tuna is very bad for their health because it's high in polyunsaturated fat which cats have trouble metabolizing. Tuna can rob a cat's body of vitamin E, leading to a painful disease called steatitis, or Yellow Fat Disease, in which the skin becomes unbearably tender. I copied this from a book that I have about cats. My parents learned the hard way because they fed their cat real tuna and also real chicken liver every day because she was a very picky eater. She didn't live as long as she could have.

If your vet thinks that your cat needs the extra oils then I'd just supplement his diet with some omega 3 fish oil instead. Good luck.

Thanks for that info... I knew there was some reason for it but I couldn't remember the details. The reason he wanted me to give him tuna in oil or some meats in his food is to fatten him up since he had lost some weight. I've been trying to give him extra treats too!!

[Catty1]

Woohoo! Now that he is gobbling up his new food, he'll put on a bit more weight yet!

After he is off the tuna, if that happens - I wonder if some canned salmon would be ok? It comes packed in water, and is a very oily fish anyway.

Or there is Omega 3-6 oil in a pump form for dogs. I use it for my two cats as capsules every morning would be a hassle. But you could use half a pump mixed in with some wet food. See what your vet thinks.