Read About Harmful Tuna

Is tuna harmful to your cat? Contrary to popular belief, cats must have a lot more in their diets than tuna. In fact, a diet consisting of tuna alone can be detrimental to your cat's health. Please take a minute to read the following information on tuna and your cat.

1. Tuna, or any fish that has been de-boned, does not have the nutritional value necessary for your cat's diet when used as its main source of food. De-boned fish are lacking one or more of the following nutrients: iron, calcium, sodium, copper, and several other vitamins and minerals.

2. If your cat's diet is deficient in minerals, he can be susceptible to bone disease. If he doesn't get the right amount of vitamins, his coat will not remain shiny and healthy. Iron, calcium, sodium, and copper are necessary to keep his metabolism and other bodily functions running smoothly. Vitamin E is vital to your cat's health and not found in any significant quantity in tuna. Without this vitamin, cats can develop a disease called cystitis, also known a "yellow fat" disease. This disease is painful and deadly to a cat.

3. Taurine is not found in tuna. Taurine is essential to a cat's health since his body cannot produce it on its own. Your cat can suffer from various ailments when his diet does not provide sufficient amounts of Taurine. The most dangerous diseases he could be susceptible to are blindness and heart disease.

All of these potential problems can be avoided if you do not make tuna the main staple of your cat's diet. It is ok to use tuna as an occasional treat, but you should not feed it to your cat more than once or twice a week.