When treats turn sour

Q Is tinned tuna safe for adult cats to eat occasionally, or is fresh tuna better for them?

AThe important word in your question is “occasionally”. If it really is occasional, for example every other week in small quantities, it is unlikely to cause any harm.

This would be either tinned tuna in water, or fresh, but not tinned tuna in brine because there would be a danger of ingesting too much sodium. Tuna in oil is too rich and risks causing a stomach upset. Generally I am not in favour of feeding tuna to cats.

If you are feeding your mog with a good quality brand of cat food then that will be supplying the cat with all its nutritional needs. For this reason alone, if your cat enjoys its food, I question whether there is any need for a treat that may cause problems.

Some of the reported risks of feeding tuna are due to the mercury found in fish. I have never knowingly seen mercury poisoning in cats, although it is theoretically possible.

Descriptions of actual clinical cases are hard to find in veterinary literature. Most authors quote general nervous system signs that could be caused by many diseases, without clinical backup of mercury poisoning.

My main reservation is that cats can easily become addicted to treats such as tuna (raw liver is another example) and thus you run the risk of gradually giving them too much.

This results in an unbalanced diet, and I have seen cats refusing to eat anything else until their owners cave in.

Q

We have a playful, mischievous six-month-old labrador. She has a habit of jumping up and biting our arms, legs, hands and even bottoms as we’re walking away. How can we stop her?

A

I can suggest some basic principles as to why this has developed into a serious behavioural problem, plus some thoughts on what you can do to help in the short term.

You have said in your email that the bites are now causing bruises and cuts. Therefore I suggest the help of a qualified behaviourist as soon as possible before things get worse.

Mouthing is a normal part of a puppy’s development and they do this to explore their environment and to have fun.

However, you may have inadvertently encouraged her by allowing her to bite your hands when playing.

The jumping up and biting as you walk away is simply her desire to get your attention and play.

Unfortunately as you are finding out there is a fine line between play biting and bites that actually hurt and do damage.

And there is also a risk the dog could escalate the biting to straightforward aggression.

If, as seems likely, she wants your attention, you need to ensure she doesn’t get it when biting.

If she jumps up, ignore her or distract her with a favourite toy. For the walking away you could try giving her a “time out” in another room for a minute at a time when she does it.

But don’t shout at her as this is giving her attention, and always reward non-biting with a treat.