i HAVE ALSO HEARD THAT FISH IN THEIR FOOD CAN BE A POSSIBLE CAUSE OF URINARY TRACT PROBLEMS. My Homey was having problems and was not esponding to treatment. I got a Chinese herb thing from All Natural online and it did the trick. At the same time I read online about fish being a possible contributor to the problem and pulled the treats which were loaded with fish. So far, no more problems. ---- Natalie <at...@optonline.net> wrote: > I have always wondered why cats like fish.it's not a natural food for them, > they don't fish... > > > > Tuna: > > Mindy Bough, veterinary technician for the ASPCA Pet Nutrition and Science > Advisory Service, dishes out the facts on this savory feline fave: > > "An occasional tuna treat for your cat is generally harmless," says Bough. > "However, if a large part of the cat's diet consists of tuna--or if the cat > is fed tuna exclusively--some problems are likely to arise." > > Tuna does not contain significant amounts of vitamin E, for example, so too > much of the fish can lead to vitamin E deficiency, resulting in yellow fat > disease, or steatitis. Symptoms include loss of appetite, fever and > hypersensitivity to touch, due to inflammation and necrosis of fat under the > skin. Felines who are fed too much tuna can develop other nutrient > deficiencies, too, because most de-boned fish are lacking in calcium, > sodium, iron, copper and several other vitamins. > > Mercury, frequently present in tuna, also presents a potential danger. "At > low levels, this may not be a concern," explains Bough, "but if tuna is fed > nearly exclusively, it could pose significant problems." > > The bottom line? "I recommend premium commercial food for domestic cats," > Bough says. "These foods are formulated to meet all of a cat's dietary > needs. > > > > > > http://www.provet.co.uk/petfacts/healthtips/rawfish.htm > > Many owners consider fish to be the staple diet of cats - and they believe > that it is beneficial to feed them an exclusively fish ration. > > Fish is a good raw ingredient to incorporate into cat foods, but it has > certain draw backs. Firstly it does not contain all the nutrients that a cat > requires and, like meat, it is deficient in calcium with an inverse > calcium:phosphorus ratio. Coley (or Saithe) a popular fish with cat owners > in the UK and the fillet cut contains 15-20 mg calcium per 100g but over 200 > mg phosphorus per 100g, a Ca:P ratio of 1:10. Cod and other white fish are > similar. > > If owners are feeding fish bones should be removed to avoid complications. > Fish should be cooked to avoid the possibility of disease transmission. > > "Salmon poisoning" has been recorded in cats which contracted the disease > caused by Neorickettsiae spp from eating raw salmon or trout. This disease > occurs within 2 weeks of the ingestion of infected food and causes the > following signs : > > * Depression > * Fever > * Lymphadenopathy - swelling of the lymph nodes > * Oculonasal discharge > * Haematemesis - vomiting blood > * Diarrhoea > * Death - 90% in untreated cases. > > Diagnosis is confirmed by finding trematode eggs in faeces samples, or > rickettsiae in lymph node samples. > > Clinical cases of thiamine deficiency are periodically seen by veterinarians > due to cats being fed fish - as commercially prepared canned food, or as > raw fish. Thiamin (vitamin B1) is an essential dietary nutrient for cats. > Processing can destroy thiamine in a food, and so reduce the initial > concentrations present at canning, and some fish (including herring and > carp) contain the thiaminase which will destroy thiamine. > > Clinical signs of thiamine deficiency include : > > * Anorexia > * Ataxia - 2-3 days later > * Vomiting > * Convulsions - short > * Dilation of the pupils > * Ventroflexion of the neck (Chastek's paralysis) > > Affected patients will die unless treatment is administered (100-250 mg > thiamine IV or SC twice daily). In most cases a complete recovery can be > expected in treated cases unless severe central nervous system has occurred. > > > Confirmation of diagnosis is not readily available : > > * Increased plasma pyruvate > * Increased plasma lactate > * Reduced erythrocyte trans-ketolase activity (a thiamine-dependant > enzyme) > > Some fish are particularly high in oil content, and pansteatitis or "yellow > fat disease" is caused by the intake of too much fat in the absence of > adequate antioxidant. Red-meat tuna has been reported to be particularly > involved as a cause of this in cats. The cause of the disease is > accumulation of peroxides - the end product of rancidification of fat - in > the cats adipose tissue causing yellow-brown discolouration. > > Clinical signs of pansteatitis include : > > * Abdominal Pain > * Anorexia > * Fever > * Lethargy > * Hardening of subcutaneous and intra-abdominal fat depots > * Occasionally ascites (low in protein content; compare with FIP - > high in protein content) > > The condition is treated with dietary management (a complete and balanced > diet), Vitamin E supplementation (30mg alpha-tocopherol/day ) , and some > authors recommend the use of corticosteroids. > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > Felvtalk mailing list > Felvtalk@felineleukemia.org > http://felineleukemia.org/mailman/listinfo/felvtalk_felineleukemia.org
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