Fun with MisGiving's Cats / shaved

[MsVada]

snip:
I heard that if you feed a cat tuna for a “long” period of time, then
it can kill them.  It has to do with something in the tuna destroying
their kidneys.  Can someone please research this and give me more
details?  What chemical in the tuna does this?  How long does the cat
have to eat tuna?  Is it all types of tuna?


Most cats love tuna, and an occasional tuna treat is fine for them,
but too much tuna can cause some serious medical problems. We're
speaking here of tuna that is marketed for human consumption:

http://answers.google.com/answers/threadview?id=450509


Thanks Louise for bringing this up.  I always thought it was a myth.  My cats don't care for tuna or even the juice from the can so I never give it to them.  

[Tibrogargan]

I needed a place to test my avatar and this seems like a good spot as long as Misgivings' razor is far enough away

Welcome Karo Love your avatar.
Also looking forward to your conversations with our Cat

[Karo]

Louise, MsVada- thanks for the info!

I eat tuna “commercially formulated as cat food"---a whole can most days.  I also eat Deli-cat.  I’ve read the page from the link and think I’ll be OK

San, Tibrogargan- thanks for the welcome

[LouiseVargas]

Hello Ms. DarthVada,

I've tried to do research but it becomes very complicated. The tuna concern has been around a long time ago. There is something in tuna that does not interact well with cats.

Also, ALL the grocery store brands -- any flavor, etc., are worse than tuna. I didn't want to believe it and fed my cats the bad stuff because it was within my means, not knowing how their future health would play out. As they aged, I switched to food from the vet but it was too late. Three of my four cats were diagnosed with lymphoma of the digestive tract.

The vet kept them alive with a good quality of life for as long as possible. I am still paying off a $5,000 vet bill.

Now I feed my eldest cat Romeo (age 14, the last of my four) and the young cat Guinevere, the most benign and non allergenic food possible which I get from the vet. It is expensive ... a 10 LB sack of dry food costs $40. (see below)

Guinevere is the only cat I've adopted at 2 months old. My vet gave her a clean bill of health. The only food she will be eating for the rest of her life is the z/d.

As I look back, I see six small cedar boxes in my wall unit with a pic on each. I wonder if it would have been better for all of us if I fed them high quality food from the start.

Yes, with love, Louise

Hills z/d® Low Allergen Feline.
For the Nutritional Management of Cats with Food Allergy and Intolerance
Food allergy and intolerance, also called adverse reactions to food, can cause serious skin and stomach problems in your cat. This condition is usually an abnormal response to a specific protein in food. Only Prescription Diet® z/d® pet food is formulated with Hill’s Hydrolyzed Protein System™, a process that eliminates animal intact proteins and significantly reduces the possibility of an adverse reaction to food. For cats, most allergic reactions occur as a result of beef, dairy products and fish. z/d® Low Allergen Feline cat food contains none of these allergens. The nutritional formulation of Prescription Diet® z/d® Low Allergen may also be useful for pets with a variety of conditions

[Seamonkey]

I have tried for two hours to post a reply to this thread. So if I am multi posting , I appologize.
 
 The cozy cat vet, has the answer to why tuna isn't good for cats. In fact , that site is great for all cat related problems and care.

 Cats can develop yellow fat disease from having too much tuna.
 
Tuna fish, and many other fish species, contain relatively large amounts of unsaturated fats. Although health-minded people eat fish to decrease their consumption of saturated fats, the excessive unsaturated fat in a cat's diet may be harmful.

Tuna and certain other fish possess very little vitamin E. Vitamin E is an important antioxidant. When a cat's diet consists mostly of tuna fish that is not commercially formulated as cat food, the cat becomes deficient in vitamin E. Dietary unsaturated fats from the fish are oxidized by a biochemical called peroxidase into a substance called ceroid. Since the affected cat has low vitamin E levels, this oxidation process is not restrained. Ceroid, an abnormal, pigmented, yellow-brown breakdown product of unsaturated fat oxidation, is formed and deposited in fat cells. The result is yellow fat disease (steatitis).

Ceroid triggers an inflammatory response by the immune system as if it were a foreign invader. The subcutaneous fat of cats affected with yellow fat disease causes pain; these cats become hypersensitive and will resist handling and petting. The muscles of affected cats will atrophy and become weak; these cats do not want to move. As the disease process progresses, the body fat degenerates and is replaced by fibrotic tissue, leaving the skin hard and nodular. Affected cats may also develop fevers unrelated to infection.

Yellow fat disease occurs most commonly in young, overweight male and female cats with inappropriate diets. Treatment includes discontinuing the inappropriate diet and administering therapeutic doses of vitamin E. Corticosteroids may also be prescribed to relieve the inflammatory response.

Even if a tuna-fed cat receives prophylactic or supplemental doses of vitamin E, there are other problems besides steatitis that make feeding tuna unwise. Some believe that tuna contains specific substances (allergens) that stimulate allergic-like disorders in cats. Cats should be fed a balanced, commercially prepared diet to avoid these problems.

http://www.cozycat.net/showpracfaq.cfm?FAQID=168&Private=0

[Cat]

I likes tuna and salmon and any fishes,but i also loves the turkey and chichy.Hey Karo,you look one my neighbors cats.Spartecus Cat

[Karo]

Spartecus, is your neighbor's cat arrogant and demanding, like I?  I'm so cute though  

You can have all the chicken and turkey.  But you have to share your tuna!

[Cat]

anytime with a queen like you.what is your favorite litter scent,i like tidy cat with charcol.I love the ground rats,to chase.i will share with you.My kittens are all grown up and the neighbors keep the calico up now.spartecus cat

[Karo]

anytime with a queen like you.

You are a VERY astute cat, indeed, Spartecus.  My given name is Cleopatra--Cleo for short  I'd love to have a mouse meal...because I really haven't ever had this delicacy...such a pity.  Oh--I like all kinds of litter.  When I was a tiny kitty Daddycat put catnip in my litter box because he thought I wouldn't use it otherwise!  He didn't know much about cats back then but I have taught him so much!  I usually succeed in keeping more litter on the floor than in the box...and my mom gets so mad.  That's why I continue to do it.

[MisGivings]

I have tried for two hours to post a reply to this thread. So if I am multi posting , I appologize.
 
 The cozy cat vet, has the answer to why tuna isn't good for cats. In fact , that site is great for all cat related problems and care.

 Cats can develop yellow fat disease from having too much tuna.
 
Tuna fish, and many other fish species, contain relatively large amounts of unsaturated fats. Although health-minded people eat fish to decrease their consumption of saturated fats, the excessive unsaturated fat in a cat's diet may be harmful.

Tuna and certain other fish possess very little vitamin E. Vitamin E is an important antioxidant. When a cat's diet consists mostly of tuna fish that is not commercially formulated as cat food, the cat becomes deficient in vitamin E. Dietary unsaturated fats from the fish are oxidized by a biochemical called peroxidase into a substance called ceroid. Since the affected cat has low vitamin E levels, this oxidation process is not restrained. Ceroid, an abnormal, pigmented, yellow-brown breakdown product of unsaturated fat oxidation, is formed and deposited in fat cells. The result is yellow fat disease (steatitis).

Ceroid triggers an inflammatory response by the immune system as if it were a foreign invader. The subcutaneous fat of cats affected with yellow fat disease causes pain; these cats become hypersensitive and will resist handling and petting. The muscles of affected cats will atrophy and become weak; these cats do not want to move. As the disease process progresses, the body fat degenerates and is replaced by fibrotic tissue, leaving the skin hard and nodular. Affected cats may also develop fevers unrelated to infection.

Yellow fat disease occurs most commonly in young, overweight male and female cats with inappropriate diets. Treatment includes discontinuing the inappropriate diet and administering therapeutic doses of vitamin E. Corticosteroids may also be prescribed to relieve the inflammatory response.

Even if a tuna-fed cat receives prophylactic or supplemental doses of vitamin E, there are other problems besides steatitis that make feeding tuna unwise. Some believe that tuna contains specific substances (allergens) that stimulate allergic-like disorders in cats. Cats should be fed a balanced, commercially prepared diet to avoid these problems.

http://www.cozycat.net/showpracfaq.cfm?FAQID=168&Private=0

***********************************************************
Angel says; "Dammit, not only do I get shaved and look like a mutant sewer rat, now these monkeys are telling my servant not to give me any more Tuna. And, gee, I thought it was better than eating Dolphin!"
Hisssssssssss.

[Seamonkey]

Awww I am sorry Angel, but you wanna live a VERY long life doncha?? Tell ya what, you go catch yaself a dolphin and I swear not to say a word.

[MsVada]

not only the yellow fat disease.  Tuna breaks down vitamin b1 in your system and can make your muscles deteriorate and harden.  Thats if you eat tuna almost exclusively and the kind of tuna that is made for us humans to eat.

so Cat and Karo,  please be cautious when eating Tuna,  eat it in moderation as part of a healthy diet.  We want you bootiful cats around to chat with for years to come  

[Cat]

They shave us and they take away the good food,Now they put us in chains to parade us around,what is there to live for,but REVENGE.CAT

[Cat]

I tried to eat Flipper,but Sea world said no.Cat Hsss,Rowww

[Cat]

oh my,I have forgotten to spread the litter lately