Cat Nutrition and Home-Made Food

Natural Diet Information, Cat Food Recipe and Health Risks of Tuna

May 16, 2008

Feeding cats the wrong foods can cause serious health problems. It is important to ensure that your cat's diet contains all the required vitamins and minerals.

In recent years, many people have become concerned that chemicals in a number of commercially available cat foods may have adverse health consequences for their pets. However, when seeking alternatives, it is important to understand the nutritional needs of your cat.

Feeding Cats Tuna

While there are a number of tuna-based cat foods, these usually contain additional vitamins and minerals that cats need to be healthy. Canned tuna created for humans is not fortified with these additional nutrients.

Veterinary technician Mindy Bough emphasizes that tuna does not contain enough vitamin E to maintain feline health. Thus, feeding a cat tuna exclusively can cause a vitamin E deficiency, which results in steatitis or yellow fat disease. The symptoms of this illness are fever, loss of appetite and excessive touch sensitivity because fat under the skin is inflamed or necrotic. Other nutrients that cats need which are lacking in tuna that is prepared for human consumption include sodium, iron, calcium and copper.

Tuna also contains mercury, and while this is not a problem at low levels, a cat that eats tuna exclusively might suffer adverse health consequences. Ultimately, foods prepared for human consumption (i.e., table scraps and human canned foods) should comprise less than 10% of a cat’s diet. Human tuna is fine as a treat from time to time, but shouldn't be a dietary staple.

Home-Made Diets

If you wish to implement a home-made natural diet for your cat, it is important that in addition to selecting foods that are free from hormones, chemicals and pesticides, you also ensure that the diet meets your cat’s particular nutritional requirements. Check with your veterinarian before implementing a home-made diet.

Raw Food Diets

Raw food diets carry the risk of infestation with parasites or bacterial contamination. All meats should either be cooked or frozen for at least a week and then thawed before feeding, and should be washed with clean water before you serve them to your cat.

Raw food diets are safe and nutritious when implemented properly, and many cats experience a variety of health benefits when switched to raw food. However, consulting a veterinarian before implementing a raw food diet is recommended to ensure proper nutrition and food safety.

Vitamins and Minerals

Veterinarian Shawn Messonnier offers advice for ensuring that cats receive the nutrients they need from home-made diets, including asking your veterinarian to recommend a nutritional supplement. Supplements should be tailored to the specific medical and nutritional needs of your cat.

Additional required nutrients such as calcium and phosphorus can be provided by adding bonemeal powder or tablets to a cat’s food. Omega-3 fatty acids can be added as flax seed oil or coldwater fish oil. A veterinarian-recommended multivitamin-and-mineral supplement and digestive enzymes should also be added. Additional antioxidants and phytonutrients can be included in the form of alfalfa, barley grass, spirulina and wheat grass.

Home-Made Cat Food Recipe

The following cat food recipe, which comes from Shawn Messonnier’s book, The Natural Health Bible for Dogs & Cats, provides approximately 33% more calories than most kittens and adult indoor cats require each day, and about 10% more than that required by outdoor cats, though caloric needs will vary based on a cat’s weight and activity level.

Most experts say that ground meats should be cooked to kill any bacterial contaminants, though others believe that feeding raw is alright if the meat is ground at home under sanitary conditions and frozen for at least a week before feeding. If considering implementing any new diet, particularly a raw diet, consult a veterinarian beforehand.

Benefits of a Natural Diet

Feeding your cat a natural diet may reduce the risk of diseases of the bowel and intestinal tract. Natural diets are free from additives, preservatives, food stabilizers, wheat and other ingredients commonly found in tinned foods that can cause digestive problems in some cats.

Anecdotal evidence suggests that cats consuming natural diets are often more active and have sleeker coats than those fed on regular commercial foods. However, there are a number of all-natural, organic, human-grade, holistic and hypoallergenic tinned cat foods commercially available for those who do not have the time to prepare daily meals for their cats.

Further Reading

The copyright of the article Cat Nutrition and Home-Made Food in Cat Care is owned by Jennifer Copley. Permission to republish Cat Nutrition and Home-Made Food in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.

Jul 18, 2009 7:06 PM

Guest :

I don't quite understand why raw meat would require freezing for a week. Cats are obligate carnivores. In the wild (or backyard), they encounter all kinds of bacteria on their prey; this is fine because the have the natural capability to destroy the harmful bacteria in their gut. I buy antibiotic/hormone-free chicken from Whole Foods ( it's actually not that expensive-- buying the dark thigh meat is better for them than buying the white and it's cheaper too)and I mix it in with their wet food just to ensure they get their raw food somehow. They are much much healthier and happier since I switched them to this diet.

Jul 18, 2009 7:21 PM

Jennifer Copley :

Freezing can kill many parasites that might be in the meat - it's true that wild cats eat meat without freezing it first, but they also regularly contract parasites. Freezing meat first reduces this risk.

Oct 28, 2009 11:26 AM

Guest :

Back in the 1950's, my mother occasionally fed our cat raw beef kidney's. We could never get it chopped up fast enough to suit him. His behavior was similar to a cat with catnip. Is there anything wrong with feeding a cat raw beef kidney's?