Feeding fish products to kittens

[SusanS]

My kitten's breeder told me not to feed my Aby kitten any fish cat food. I was wondering what the reasoning is behind this request. Most of my friends who have cats feed them a variety of foods, including fish. Is this a valid request?

[SusanS]

Just wanted to add that my kitten is almost one year old, if age makes a difference.

[Tina B and crew]

I can't remember all the details on why fish is not good for cats...but you can take a look at this site:

http://www.felinefuture.com/nutrition/fish.php

I do tend to avoid feeding my cats food with fish in it...and only rarely do the get a treat of a bit of tuna juice (when I say rarely I mean every couple of months)....hopefully some others can give better answers...I just haven't kept up with the whys on the "fish is bad for cats" theory

I do know that excessive tuna in a cats diet can cause what is known as yellow fat disease...

I guess the bottom line is that fish is really not necessary in a cat's diet.

[Traci]

In addition to Tina's mention of yellow fat disease, feeding a fish-only diet can also cause the following problems...thiamine deficiency, vitamin K deficiencies, excess fat and magnesium, and lastly, current research suggests some fish types in canned food (also includes liver and giblets-based) may pose a risk of hyperthyroidism. Whether this is due to heat processing or a combination therof of heat and ingredients, has yet to be determined.

Feeding a high quality fish-based canned food sporadically shouldn't cause a problem , but should be done in moderation, not soley feed a fish-based food only. Alternating with the same brand, only using different varieties (i.e., chicken, beef, etc) should suffice.