Hey y’all! I have a kitten who is pretty picky with food. Today I was trying canned sardines for the first time. She started going crazy over them. I was like “omg you want these” and I looked up if I could give her some. Long answer short, no cause they’re in olive oil. So, I was wondering if what I could give my kitten instead of that? I know applaws has a full mackerel at my petco but idk if that’s ok to give my kitten.
(She’s 10 weeks old ish) Thanks in advance!
Welcome to r/Kitten, u/Sassymisscassy!
Please be respectful to everyone on the subreddit. We have a few resources for that may help you out:
I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.
Cats love sardines, you will just have to share!
She can’t have the ones with oil 😔
You can one's packed in water without any added salt
My husband looked it up, apparently there is nothing wrong with giving cats olive oil. Can you explain what you read or post a link?
I mean... I literally just Googled "can kittens consume olive oil" and it advises against it, because they're young. Not saying its true or anything but if you actually did the "research" you'd find similar results.
Which is why its great to ask in subs like these where there are people with hands on life experience and aren't an AI, or a bot (hopefully) lol.
It’s not wrong but for a kitten it can be too much because olive oil is a natural laxative. Some cats are more tolerant to it than others, but I would at least wait to try until they are adults.
Fish is general is best given only once a week for cats.
What's wrong with olive oil?
It’ll upset their tummies, especially so young
Don't give them ridiculous amounts, but olive oil is safe for cats. Mine get some every evening. You can always get some for her that are packed in water or rinse off the oily ones you give her.
Can you check if there are any fresh sardines or preserved in any way that doesn't contain olive oil?
Some stores carry sardines canned in water although I don't know if she's old enough for any type of sardines.
Give the sardine a good hot water rinse to get off most of the oil and give her a treat. I wouldn’t do it every day but once in a while should be fine
Dehydrated sardines, you can get them from Chewy. They are a bit on the pricey side, but my cats go bat shit for them.
I will order some for sure
The brand I get
Thank you!!!
Also recommend Icelandic+ brand whole dehydrated Caplin. It’s marketed as dog treats but is fine for cats.
Cool, I’ll look into it! Thank you so much
I want your sardines
Tiki cat (pretty sure that's the brand. My brain is mush forgive me) makes a sardine food. It's actual bits of sardines. I have to chop it up for my toothless girl.
I love tiki cat, I had no idea they made that. I’ll look into it
I get my cats the sardines in water. They LOVEE
Buy dried sardines for her or sardines in water just for her. For that age/size I would only give her 1 sardine and once a week (you want it as a special treat not everyday food.)
That or put her in a room with her food/water/litter box.some toys and eat your meals in peace until she is 4 months old and you can start training her not to be a nuisance during meal time.
How do you train them to not be a nuisance while I’m eating?
Well you can’t really train them until they are at least 4 months old. Under 4 months they are babies or toddlers, you just focus on them learning their name but not feeding them from your plate helps in the long run. Once they are old enough you start by if it is cat safe you can feed them a little where you normally feed them.
If possible feed them their food in their food place when you sit to have a meal (preferably in the cat room.)
If they try to get on the table or on the counters while you are cooking or swipe at your food or what you judge to close to your food, calmly place them in the cat room while you eat. The cat room should have: food, water, litter box and a couple toys. Let the cat out after dinner. Repeat as necessary until your cat learns.
If there is a forbidden food (not good for cat) that your cat really wants, you can try offering a substitute of a high value treat (like instead of ham you give them a lickable treat.) My cat loves Pringles so I give him some dairy temptations (a rare treat for him) & refuse to give him any of my Pringles.
It is probably best to not let your cat on your lap while you eat.
My cats loved sardines for a while now they won’t touch them.
My cats love the cat foods with chunks of mackerel, salmon, tilapia, shrimp, etc in them. They can have sardines, in moderation, if they are packed in spring water, not oil.
Go get some Weruva sardine wet food! She'll go crazy for it
Do they have it for kittens?
Weruva food is very low ingredient and hardly processed, so it's appropriate for all cats and kittens as far as I'm aware. I do believe they have a kitten line, but I don't know if it has a sardine version
Oh ok, cool! Thank you!
Dry the oil off with a paper towel.
I have that problem with my 5 mo old kittens when I’m eating smoked oysters! They too are in oil. Love to know if I can share
Sardines?
You can order freeze dried minnows & sardines from Amazon. My girl is obsessed with freeze dried minnows
You can check what is okay for kittens to have on some good forums about Bones and Raw food (barf) and go to the local market and get some fresh fish or chicken. At some places they sell whole chicks, frozen. You can defrost them and give that too once a week. Some cats also like raw egg (it’s messy though).
I wouldn’t give fish in olive oil because it can cause diarrhoea and mess up the gut long term. Waterbased canned fish is okay, tuna, salmon etc. Fresh is the most fun for them though because they can play with their prey first.
You can rinse off the oil
I give my cats sardines as a high value treat. They love sardines. IMO way better than any extruded highly processed treat you can buy on the shelf.
10 weeks is so young for her to be without her mum. Species appropriate food only. Fish is too high in mercury content to feed cats daily.
Drain the sardines and blot them well with paper towel. A kitten probably shouldn’t eat too much of anything new so their digestion doesn’t get messed up.
A sardine. You give it a sardine.