An Upsetting Possibility?

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H.M. Victor (GA)

H.M. Victor (GA)

Member Since 2018
As if losing Victor wasn't hard enough...

I happened to come across a channel on YouTube that posts videos of their cat, who had recently been diagnosed with diabetes, and someone mentioned in the comments that they shouldn't feed their cat tuna because it could cause mercury poisoning, which instantly resonated with me because tuna was pretty much the only thing Victor would eat in the few weeks leading up to when he got sick and we had to make the decision to put him to sleep on the 22nd of December. So I looked up mercury poisoning in cats and felt like I'd just been punched in the chest when it said symptoms were "loss of coordination and balance, and difficulty walking," which describes Victor's condition exactly when we took him into the vet on the 22nd.

It also said that mercury poisoning isn't common in cats so it may not be something a veterinarian suspects.
I know there's no way to know for sure at this point, but just felt like it was something I wanted to get your guys' opinions on, as the thought that we might have unintentionally caused what happened to him absolutely kills me inside.
 
I live in a country were we have strict fish food regulations due to several in-country rivers are contaminated with more than one thing and we simply shouldn't use fish from them, the same goes for all fish in our East Ocean which is the worst contaminated. The Ice Ocean, North Atlantic and North Ocean and West Ocean are also contaminated, and other pollution is in all waters.
Place of place origin have to be labelled on all food products in my country, even on fish.

Do you know from were the tuna fish you fed came from?
If you knew you could research better.
 
Hi Heather,

How upsetting for you.

Can I ask how long you were feeding just Tuna to Victor for?
I'm a marine biologist, and have done some research on this many years ago. I can say that it not something that happens quickly, it has to be a high level concentration and consumed over quite some time. If there are other issues going on, such as kidney problems this could expedite the process as they would not be filtering the toxins as efficiently. As Ann said, if you know the source of the tuna it might help a bit, but my opinion for what its worth is that you would have to be feeding high volumes of highly contaminated tuna over a reasonable time for this to be the cause of Victors symptoms. And for what it's worth, I feed my cats tuna, mackerel etc fairly regularly.

Best wishes xx
 
Kate & Toby said:
Hi Heather,

How upsetting for you.

Can I ask how long you were feeding just Tuna to Victor for?
I'm a marine biologist, and have done some research on this many years ago. I can say that it not something that happens quickly, it has to be a high level concentration and consumed over quite some time. If there are other issues going on, such as kidney problems this could expedite the process as they would not be filtering the toxins as efficiently. As Ann said, if you know the source of the tuna it might help a bit, but my opinion for what its worth is that you would have to be feeding high volumes of highly contaminated tuna over a reasonable time for this to be the cause of Victors symptoms. And for what it's worth, I feed my cats tuna, mackerel etc fairly regularly.

Best wishes xx
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Very interesting info thank you for sharing it.

Ann you are doing a marvelous job on health. thank you
 
When we lose one of our beloved cats, we always start to question ourselves. What if I had done...... What if I fed this particular food or this different one instead? What if I had .........................................

Those "what if" questions are part of the grieving process. We doubt our decisions and choices. But remember, you did your very, very best for Victor that you knew how to do. :bighug::bighug::bighug:

He was an important part of you life and you miss him terribly. This path of grief is a difficult one to walk. Instead of thinking about those "what if" type questions, maybe share a memory with us of something Victor did that makes you smile.

Would you do that? Share a loving memory of Victor?
 
Yes Deb. Exactly that. Of course we question everything. Sometimes, we just don't get the answers though. And that can hurt just as much. Heather, Victor was loved, so loved and your love for him lives on, that we know for certain and I hope gives you peace. Xx
 
I'm so sorry you lost your Victor. Many hugs. It sounds to me like Victor was nearing the end of his life, and you fed him what he would eat, which surely helped him feel better in those last days. Mercury poisoning takes time. I doubt feeding Victor tuna for a few weeks is what caused the trouble. Loss of balance and coordination are symptoms of many issues, including neuropathy and stroke. Try to remind yourself that you took awesome care of Victor, and because of that, he had a long happy life with you.
 
I think you would have had to be feeding tuna exclusively for several years to see any effects. Some cats may have a reaction and some may not. Just like people that smoke; some smoke all their lives and nothing happens. Some people don't smoke at all and develop lung cancer. Don't try to second guess anything, it doesn't do any good. You know you did all you could for Victor and he knows it too, focus on all the good memories.
 
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