Today I found an interesting article that claims that feeding fish to cat is not a good idea:
Fish should be avoided, except for occasional use, for many reasons including: heavy metal contamination, vitamin E depletion and the fact that cats get addicted to it because of its strong taste.
I've never seen such claims before. I've never noticed any difference in behavior in the cats I have owned or known when I was feeding them with fish or meat. (Once my cat refused to eat his meal until I gave him some fish I was eating, but that happened only once in 15 years.)
It seems that the claim originated in "Histamines in Fish, State Government of Victoria Department of Health, Australia, 2000", but the document is not available from the source indicated there.
It is true that cats get addicted to fish?
Update: Thanks to Oddthinking we now have the source on the claim by the article.
I also managed to find more information about the addiction caused by fish, as stated here :
- Fish tends to be “addictive” to cats. They love it, and will often stage a “hunger strike” by refusing their regular food in favor of fish. Tuna or other fish should be reserved as a rare and special treat. Feed fish no more than once a week, and even then in very small amounts only.
