can cats eat tuna

The sound of a tuna tin opening will summon a cat from three houses away. Cats adore the stuff, and a little now and then will not hurt a healthy cat. But tuna is one of those treats that is easy to get wrong, and wrong can mean a genuinely unhealthy cat. Here is how to give tuna safely, and why it must stay a treat and never a habit.

Let us be clear about the good part first. A small amount of plain tuna, offered occasionally, is fine for most healthy adult cats, and few things will make a cat happier. The problems all come from quantity and from what the tuna is packed in, not from the odd flake as a treat. So the tuna itself is not the enemy. The tuna habit is.

why tuna cannot be a staple

Tuna made for humans is not a complete or balanced food for a cat, and a cat fed too much of it can run into real trouble. It lacks the full range of nutrients a cat needs, so a cat eating a lot of tuna instead of proper food can end up deficient in important things, and it is unbalanced in ways that matter. Tuna is high in unsaturated fats, and a diet heavy in them without enough vitamin E to match can lead to a painful inflammatory condition of the body fat. It also carries mercury, which builds up over time, so frequent tuna feeding raises a slow, cumulative risk that the occasional treat does not.

Then there is the addiction problem, which is very real. Cats can become so fond of tuna that they start refusing their normal, balanced food and holding out for the good stuff, a stand-off that ends with an underfed cat and a stressed owner. A cat that has learned tuna is on the menu will lobby hard for it, and giving in trains the behaviour. The kindest thing is to keep tuna rare enough that it never becomes the expectation.

how to serve tuna safely

If you want to treat your cat to tuna, a few rules keep it on the right side of harmless. Choose tuna canned in spring water, not in brine or oil. Brine is far too salty for a cat, and oil adds needless fat, while plain water leaves you with just the fish. Drain it well, and offer only a small amount, a flake or two, as an occasional treat rather than a meal. Plain is essential, so no seasoning, no added salt, and nothing from a flavoured or dressed tuna product aimed at humans.

Keep it genuinely occasional, a treat measured in flakes and days, not a regular fixture. And remember there are better everyday options if what you want is to spoil your cat with protein: a little plain cooked fish, or the same principle applied to plain cooked chicken, gives a cat something it loves without the particular baggage tuna carries. There are also cat foods and treats made with properly balanced fish, formulated for cats, which are a safer way to scratch the fish itch than a human tin.

Take extra care with kittens, older cats, and any cat with a health condition, and check with your vet if you are unsure. For a healthy adult cat, though, a small flake of water-packed tuna as a rare indulgence is a fine bit of joy to hand over, so long as you hold firm when the cat, inevitably, requests a second career living entirely on fish.

Related reading from my desk: can cats eat chicken, a safer everyday treat, and can cats drink milk, another thing cats want more than they should have.

This is general guidance, not veterinary advice. If your cat refuses balanced food in favour of tuna, or has any health condition, talk to your vet. I am a cat with opinions, not a veterinarian.