When we say “tuna” we think of what comes in a can or pouch for people or we think of the enormous fish that are sold at auction for $500,000 to high end sushi restaurants in Japan and elsewhere. Experts have recommended people to consume tuna no more than three times a week - and that is because of the mercury and other possible toxins in the red part of the tuna meat. We have all been cautioned to limit the amount of tuna that we eat (as sushi, sashimi or tuna salad) or that we feed our human children as tuna fish sandwiches. Where it gets “fishy” is when tuna is involved - it jumps off the chart with 50 mg of magnesium - but hang on because all tuna is not the same (as Charlie knows in the tuna commercial).īig Tuna is on a “Watch List” for People as Well as Cats Salmon and cod are about 25 mg, which is lower than light meat turkey (27 mg) while dark meat turkey is lower at 22 mg. Here are some examples: trout (22 mg) and catfish (23 mg) have lower magnesium levels than chicken thigh meat (24 mg) while chicken breast is exactly the same as mackerel, 28 mg. Magnesium content is measured per 100 grams of raw weight. While it’s true that fish - especially saltwater fish - is higher in magnesium than other kinds of proteins, it’s all relative. Other Foods Can Have More Magnesium than Fish Magnesium oxide encourages a more alkaline urine, which is the ideal environment for struvite stones to form. To make it even more confusing, there are two kinds of magnesium! Magnesium chloride acidifies a cat’s urine, which is exactly what you want to achieve in a cat who is prone to crystal formation. People concerned about feeding fish to their cat need to understand that two very different kinds of crystals can form in a cat’s urinary tract: struvite or calcium oxalate. They will have high cholesterol anyway, just as those cats will tend to have crystals in their urine.īut wait! What Kind of Crystals Does a Cat Have? You can think of it like high cholesterol levels in some people, regardless of whether they vigorously reduce the fats in their diet. Crystal formation is at least partly a genetic tendency. Many kinds of fish are actually low in magnesium - some cats will get crystals regardless of their diet - and anyway, there are two “opposite” kinds of crystals and urinary stones anyway.įirst of all, research shows that you cannot prevent crystals from forming just because a cat is fed a diet low in magnesium. There are several things completely wrong with this belief (and it is a belief, not a science-based fact). The short answer is No! You might hear people say that fish is not good for cats because of the amount of magnesium it contains - believing that it contributes to urinary crystals and eventually urinary tract stones. In fact, cats have a highly developed sense of smell so letting them know that “breakfast is on the table” does not require bombarding their sensitive noses.ĭoes Magnesium in Fish Cause Urinary Crystals in Cats? Also, cat foods historically used fish when it was once a plentiful and inexpensive ingredient - unlike now when fish has become a costly luxury, at least for us! Those “old fashioned” cat foods (some of which you might still find in the supermarket) often had a very strong fishy odor, which people were led to believe was what cats wanted, or what was needed to draw them to their food bowls. Many of us make a positive association between cats and “fish for dinner,” possibly because of cartoons we’ve seen that depict cats licking their whiskers with the skeleton of a fish they have completely consumed.
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