Reptile & Amphibian Forums

My neutered male is 7 years old. For the first 3 years I had him, he ate a half can of tuna each night, except the 2 nights a week he snubbed it. And only tuna, nothing else.

All of a sudden about 4 years ago, he snubbed canned food altogether, but picked up on grazing on dry food. He seemed fine and kept up his weight, so the vet said not to worry.

A couple of weeks ago, he started "asking" for canned food when I get home from work (you've all seen the routine!), and scarfs it down with gusto. What is all this about?

Who knows? The only real concern I would have is perhaps he has some errosions on his teeth. At seven years old this is very possible and errosions into the enamel for kitties are very similar to cavities in humans -- they can be painful if they get deep.

Otherwise, if your vet can't find anything, I wouldn't be too concerned about this. As long as he is getting proper nutrition from a properly made cat food (not just tuna alone!!) then he should be okay. If he is getting canned and dry both, you might just keep an eye on his weight.

Martissimo brings out a very good point here. Your cat should not eat tuna meant for human consumption except as an occasional treat. The reason is that a crucial nutrient called taurine is missing from it because when meat/poulty/fish are cooked this naturally-occurring substances disappears. Commercial catfood add this back in after cooking the food prior to canning.
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Smile, it will make them wonder what you are up to!

Oh no---I meant CAT tuna, not people tuna. So it's all kosher.