Help! My cat has diarrhea after eating tuna in oil. Is this common?

Question

We gave her just a bit of tuna in oil yesterday and she's had diarrhea twice today and she's a long haired cat so it's gotten all over her.

Is this common? Does anyone have experience in this? I'm a very concerned mom.

Answer 1

I'd suggest you not give your cat tuna in oil anymore.  

Answer 2

I would think it's the oil in the tuna that's affecting the cat. You might try tuna in water next time.

Answer 3

It you feed animals people food it is likely to upsets their stomach. They are not people. Buy your cat 'cat food' and keep their diet consistent for their sake.

Be a responsible pet owner and do what is best for the animal, not what makes you feel good.

Answer 4

Like humans, different cats are sensitive to different foods.  For many cats, a little tuna is fine as an occasional treat (especially to get them to eat medication), but for others it causes stomach upsets and for a few it is related to yellow fat disease (a painful inflammation of the fat cells).  

The oil may be the culprit.  Oils can have a laxative effect on some cats. In the early 20th century, olive oil was sometimes used as a laxative.   I avoided tuna in oil and only gave tuna in brine or in spring water (and only as a treat or when medicating).  There is also a potential problem of contaminants turning up in fish due to sea pollution or faults in the canning process.

Give her plain food till her bowel settles.  Boiled chicken is useful for many cats with upset stomachs.  Just giving her water for 24 hours can help settle things by giving the digestive system a rest while it eliminates whatever has triggered the diarrhoea.  If it hasn't resolved after 24 hours or it's getting worse or other symptoms occur then take her to see the vet.

If your main reason for giving tuna is a tasty treat, I'd suggest switching to something such as boiled chicken which is less likely to upset a sensitive cat's digestion.  

If you want a safe oil supplement for the skin and coat, Evening Primrose Oil is best (Efamol, Efavet etc from health food stores and drugstores) - about 5 drops daily, either from a dropper bottle of squeezed out of a gel capsule onto food.  One of my longhairs was on corticosteroids for skin problems until the vet suggested Evening Primrose Oil.  The daily dose completely stopped the skin problems without any side effects.

Answer 5

yes the oil itself did it not the tuna as a matter of a fact did you know that you are supposed to brush your cats teeth and one of the things they suggest is the juice from tuna?? sounds strange i know  

Answer 6

It's not unexpected.  Any time a cat eats something new it could suffer a digestive upset.  She could also have a sensitivity to it.

I would do the obvious - stop the tuna and see if things improve.  There's always a chance something else is going on.  If it does continue, a vet visit is in order because diarrhea is very dehydrating and should be treated as quickly as possible.

It would be a good idea to cut out the tuna completely in any case.  There's so much c**p in fish, even fish for human consumption, that is bad for cats.  The link below can explain more.

If you're using tuna as a treat, switch to something else.  If you were doing it for her skin/coat, there's a better option - fish oil.  

Fish oil:

Only Natural Pet Icelandic Salmon Oil (pump) (http://www.onlynaturalpet.com/products/O...

Good for hairballs, good for skin and coat.

Selection: You typically won't use human fish oils - at least not the ones in liquid form - because they have added citrus flavors to many of them. You don't want to use cod liver oil - at least not on a very regular basis - because it has too much vitamin a. Plain old fish oil or salmon oil is best. I prefer it in liquid form as opposed to capsules for ease of dispensing. You want it to say that they've done everything possible to remove mercury. I prefer one with the fewest additives, especially not rosemary. Or propyllgallate.

For ease of use, I prefer to buy it in liquid form in a squeeze bottle or pump.

Dosage: I give a squirt every day. It's not measured but probably comes to somewhere around 1/4 tsp.