Do you have to cook canned tuna for cats?

Freestyle Cat & Kitten Yellowfin Tuna & Shrimp Recipe in Broth

Our smooth pâtés are crafted with Yellowfin tuna, chicken, and shrimp and other wholesome ingredients so your cat or kitten can enjoy delicious, high-quality nutrition in every bite.

AVAILABLE IN 2.8 OZ CANS.

Retailer’s stock may vary, contact retailer for their inventory

About Freestyle for Cats

Nulo FreeStyle offers a wide range of dry, wet, freeze-dried raw, treat, and topper recipes to fuel your cat’s adventures. On average, 83-90% of the protein in our FreeStyle diets for cats comes from animal sources, which provides your cat with the ideal amino acid profile! FreeStyle’s formulas are grain-free, using ingredients like sweet potatoes and chickpeas as low-glycemic, whole-food carbohydrate sources. Find Nulo FreeStyle at your local independent pet specialty retailer or through select online retailers.

Key Benefits

COMPLETE & BALANCED NUTRITION

Provides essential nutrients for cats and kittens.

PROTEIN-RICH

Made with Yellowfin tuna, chicken, and shrimp.

SOFT PATE TEXTURE

Finely blended for a taste and texture cats love.

Ingredients & Analysis

INGREDIENTS

Yellowfin Tuna, Chicken, Tuna Broth, Chickpeas, Shrimp, Pumpkin, Coconut Oil, Tricalcium Phosphate, Potassium Chloride, Inulin, Guar Gum, Salt, Choline Chloride, Magnesium Sulfate, Taurine, Salmon Oil, Iron Amino Acid Chelate, Zinc Amino Acid Chelate, Vitamin E Supplement, L-Ascorbyl-2-Polyphosphate (source of Vitamin C), Thiamine Mononitrate (source of Vitamin B1), Vitamin A Supplement, Nicotinic Acid (Vitamin B3), Manganese Amino Acid Chelate, Calcium Iodate, Copper Amino Acid Chelate, Calcium d-Pantothenate (source of Vitamin B5), Riboflavin (Vitamin B2), Sodium Selenite, Cyanocobalamin (source of Vitamin B12), Pyridoxine Hydrochloride (source of Vitamin B6), Folic Acid, Cholecalciferol (source of Vitamin D3), Biotin, Menadione Sodium Bisulfite Complex (source of Vitamin K activity).

CALORIE CONTENT

(ME calculated) 1,117 kcal/kg, 89 kcal/can

NUTRITION STATEMENT

Nulo MedalSeries™ Yellowfin Tuna & Shrimp Recipe in Broth Cat & Kitten Food is formulated to meet the nutritional levels established by the AAFCO Cat Food Nutrient Profiles for all life stages. Click here for full nutrient profile

Guaranteed Analysis

Ingredient	Amount
Crude Protein (Min)	12.0%
Crude Fat (Min)	4.0%
Crude Fiber (Max)	1.0%
Moisture (Max)	80.0%
Taurine (Min)	0.10%

Feeding Guidelines

Feeding guidelines

Feed according to the age, size, and activity of your cat. Feed at room temperature and refrigerate unused portion. Your cat should always have access to clean, fresh water at all times.

Adult Cats: Feed 1.5 cans per 7 lbs. of body weight per day

Kittens: Feed up to twice the adult amount to kittens.

Pregnant and Nursing Moms: Feed up to 3 times the normal adult amount.

The nulo guarantee

If you or your cat are not completely satisfied with your Nulo purchase, simply bring the unused portion, packaging and receipt back to the place of purchase for a full refund.

Nulo Best Sellers

Tuna Water For Cats (Is It Safe Or Dangerous?)

My first impression of cats as a kid was that they love eating fish. Almost every animated series or Disney cartoon portray cats as big fish eaters.

Heathcliff comes to mind and Garfield but he’s more of a lasagna kinda cat (which is just bad for cats in real life).

I know of many cat owners that give their cats tuna and tuna water on a regular basis.

But how healthy is it for our cats?

Cats are obligate carnivores that require a high-protein diet from a meat source.

Is fish considered to be a good source?

Table of Contents

Tuna For Cats

Can cats eat tuna?

Technically yes since it is classified as a meat source.

A little fish treat for your cat every now and then helps to add some variety to their diet and provide some healthy Omega-3 fatty acids.

It is better to choose fatty fishes that are high in monosaturated fat like salmon, tuna, sardine or mackerel.

Do Not Feed Raw Tuna

One thing to note is that the tuna that is given to your cat must not be raw. Even though we are advocates for a raw food diet for cats, raw tuna can be bad for cats.

Raw fish contains an enzyme (Thiaminase) that interferes with the absorption of Vitamin B in your cat. This is a very essential vitamin for your cat as it supports the following health functions:

Immune system
Nervous system
Digestive tract

Cats that are suffering from a vitamin B deficiency will show signs of weight loss, lethargicness, diarrhea or vomiting.

The kind of ailments we don’t ever want our cats to suffer from.

Ensure that the tuna is properly cooked before feeding some to your cat.

Is Canned Tuna Water Good For Cats?

Yes, it is in moderate amounts. In fact, tuna water is a good way to help cats with poorer appetites. The way to your cat’s stomach is through its noise.

They have a great sense of smell and can ‘taste’ food just by smelling it.

By adding Tuna juice or water to cat food, you are making the cat’s food more appetizing which can stimulate your cat to eat more.

This is a useful technique for cats who are recovering from surgery or for older cats.

That being said, there are a couple of things that you should be aware of before feeding your cat tuna water.

Tuna Water As A Means Of Hydration

Cats are notorious for not drinking enough water over their lifetime and this can lead to chronic kidney disease (CKD) as they get older. In fact, 1 out of 3 cats will get CKD.

It is hard to just place a bowl of water in front of your cat and tell it to drink. You will probably get ignored unless you have a Siberian or Maine Coon which are cat breeds that are naturally attracted to water.

One good way to entice them to increase their water intake is to give them some tuna water or homemade tuna broth. I have some cat owners who ask me if feeding Gatorade to cats can help with hydration?

This isn’t something I would recommend due to some ingredients in Gatorade which are fine for humans but not for pets in general.

Is Too Much Tuna Water Bad For Cats?

As crazy as it may seem, some cats can get addicted to tuna. Just like how some cats can get addicted to catnip.

It is ok to give your cat a couple of tablespoons of tuna water every now and then but don’t overdo it.

You don’t want your cat to ignore its regular food and just drink tuna water which hardly contains any nutrients.

Choosing The Right Kind Of Tuna For Your Cat

Not all canned tunas are made equal. It is important that you know what you are buying before you feed it to your cat.

Here are some tips you can use when choosing the right type of tuna to make tuna-flavored water.

Read The Ingredients Label

It is fine for cat lovers to feed their cat human-grade tuna or tuna juice from the supermarket. But please read the ingredients label before deciding which canned tuna to get for your cat.

You only want to get tuna in water or mineral water. This makes it easy for you to drain off the tuna water or juice for your cat.

Avoid any canned tuna that comes in sauces, chili, oil or preservatives. All these additional ingredients can cause a bad reaction like diarrhea or vomiting when consumed by your cat.

Any canned tuna fish that contains artificial flavoring is also a big no-no for cats. A study has shown that artificial flavoring in cat food can cause hyperthyroidism

A cat that has hyperthyroidism can show the following systems:

Weight loss
Increased appetite
Increased thirst and urination
Anxiety
Poor grooming

Always be sure to know what is in the tuna juice before feeding it to your precious cat.

Sodium Levels In Tuna Water

Having sodium in our food isn’t a bad thing. It plays a part in helping to maintain a healthy body in both humans and cats.

Sodium itself helps ensure proper nerve and muscle cell functions and the key is to ensure that the sodium levels in your cat is balanced out with other nutrients and minerals.

Don’t forget that your cat is already getting a fair level of sodium from its regular diet. If your cat is on a good and proper diet like raw meat diet or wet food, chances are it is already getting the required sodium levels.

If you are feeding your cat dry cat food or kibbles, be careful of your cat’s total sodium intake as such cat food can be laden with sodium.

Buying tuna juice that is high in sodium won’t be too good for your cat. Too much sodium in a cat’s diet can cause high blood pressure and water retention.

To err on the safe side, get tuna that is lower in sodium levels.

BPA-Free

BPA stands for bisphenol and it is a chemical that has been used to make certain plastics and resins for industrial use.

BPA is commonly found in plastic packaging for our food and water. It is also found in epoxy resin that is used in the production of food cans.

Why BPA is bad for us because there is a possible link between BPA and increased blood pressure, heart disease and diabetes.

BPA can also damage the liver, kidneys and reproduction organs in both humans and animals.

If possible, get canned tuna or tuna water that is stored in BPA-free packaging.

How To Make Tuna Water For Cats?

I will be sharing with you two very simple ways that I use to make tuna water or tuna broth for my cat. It is fast, simple and can last a long time.

Can get a can of tuna in water and empty the contents in a small bowl or pot
Mash up the tuna into smaller pieces
Pour 3-4 cups of hot water into the tuna
You can also heat up the mixture over a small flame and let it simmer for a few minutes
Once cooled, drain the tuna water away from the tuna meat
Store the tuna water in an air-tight container in the fridge

One method I use that can really maintain the freshness of the tuna water is to freeze it into ice cubes. Just pour the cooled tuna water into an ice cube tray and melt one or two cubes when you want to feed your cat.

The next method that I use is pretty similar to the first. But instead of using canned tuna, I will use dried bonito flakes.

It is possible to get a packet of flakes from your pet store that is grain-free and also without any sodium or preservatives.

It’s basically dried skipjack tuna which I like as it has the lowest level of mercury among all the tuna varieties.

Just add a handful of dried bonito flakes to a boiling pot of water and let it cook for a few minutes. Once cooled you can also freeze it up as cubes for later use.

Can Cats Eat Tuna?

It is ok to feed your cat some cooked tuna fish as a treat occasionally. The weird thing is my cat is more attracted to the tuna broth and completely ignores the tuna meat.

Do not use cooked tuna meat as staple meat for your cat. Even though cooked tuna is safer than raw tuna, it still contains some levels of mercury in its flesh.

Mercury is an element that doesn’t break down and is found in rocks, water and soil. This element finds its way into wildlife when they eat plants and animals that already contain mercury.

The higher up the food chain the animal is, the higher the mercury levels in the body.

Tuna is high in the aquatic food chain hence it is known to have higher levels of mercury than most fishes.

Too much tuna in your cat’s diet can lead to mercury poisoning if ingested in large quantities.

Conclusion

As mentioned, it is totally fine for your cat to drink tuna water and in many cats, drinking more water is always a good thing.

Just remember to offer your cat tuna water or tuna fish as a treat and not part of its regular diet.

Start feeding your feline friend some today!