Weruva is coming out with a less expensive but still really good cat called Best Friends Feline (BFF) but it is tuna-based. Since I recommend using fish based cat food infrequently – and thought tuna was the big no-no in fish – I asked David Forman who owns Weruva to bring me up to speed on his thinking. And here it is:
We too preach a rotational protein diet and would not recommend it for everyday feeding because it is fish. And yes, you are correct . . . the red meat cut from tuna is the only raw material we have access to out of all our protein cuts that can be deemed “inexpensive”. However, tuna is not tuna is not tuna . . .
There are half dozen or so species of popular tuna with some falling under the category of large bodied and some falling under the category of small bodied. The same thing holds true for mackerel. Albacore tuna is the primary canned tuna item that has received scrutiny about mercury. Albacore weigh in at about 20-45 pounds. Bluefin is the species of tuna that recently got scrutinized when reports indicated that the tuna at sushi restaurants contained high levels of mercury. Bluefin weigh in at about 15 pounds on average. Tongol and Bigeye tuna weigh about 30-40 lbs. The general rule of thumb on mercury and toxins is that the higher the fish on the food chain and the larger and older the fish, the more mercury it will have. Albacore and Bluefin live to about 5-7 years old while Bigeye can live to 25.
We do not use any of these tunas. We use primarily Skipjack and occasionally Bonito. These average 5-6 lbs. and average lifespan is 1-2 years for bonito and 3 years max for skipjack. In addition, our fish are caught in Pacific waters. Pacific waters are known to contain less toxins.
All in all, we catch the fish in the best waters and we chose the best species available from a mercury standpoint. In fact, the FDA puts forth a list of those fish that are “lower in mercury”. Our species of tuna make this list as does our sardines and mackerel. In addition, all fish are tested for heavy metals, including mercury, and only those fish at acceptable international human food levels are processed. King Mackerel and Spanish Mackerel, as well as some of the tuna species mentioned above are on the FDA list of those fish higher in mercury. They are very different than what we are using.
