Twice recently, I have heard the rumor that salt is dangerous for cats.
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And I wondered why cats would be viewed as so special that they can’t have salt… a mineral critical to the health of any other species. But mostly I wondered, “What in the world is somebody putting out there to confuse cat owners like this?”
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Where are cat owners hearing this rumor?
“Online somewhere,” of course.
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So let’s talk about salt.
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First, what is it? Well. It’s a combination of minerals that the body uses to regulate water. (Sodium is most common, but potassium is next most common, and there are a lot of others minerals that exist on our food as salts.)
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Why would we need salt to regulate water? That’s just how the kidneys work. Every cell in the body needs to know how much water they have in it and all of this takes salt. The heart sends an electric charge to create a coordinated, rhythmic heartbeat. This does not happen without salt.
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Nerves send their electric charge to the next nerve using an electric potential, much like your car battery. Your car battery does not work without salt.
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We must have salt.
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We will literally die without it. (We might also die with too much salt.) So there’s your need for a happy balance. Lightly salted food is exactly what everybody needs.
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Let’s get back to salt for cats. For a minute, take a look at those conventional pet foods on the shelf that I NEVER recommend. They have more salt in them then vitamins and minerals. There’s a bologna-looking product that has exorbitant amounts of salt. Because salt is also a food preservative.
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There’s nothing wrong with salted sardines. As a snack. If it’s the entire meal, that might be a little bit too much salt, especially if that’s every day.
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But if you wanna share your hamburger or your fish or your chicken and it’s lightly salted. Great, let the baby have it. No one is dying.
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If you want to make food at home, beautiful. Don’t be afraid to add a little bit of salt. (I’m supposed to caution you here, and make sure that you’re feeding a relatively balanced diet.)
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What kind of salt would you add to a homemade cat diet? Answer: use the salt that you have. Celtic? Himalayan? Sea? Plain old iodized? They are all fine (the last one is eh, but better than nothing.)
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There is a thing called salt poisoning – comes from eating excessive salt and not having access to water. It’s more of a puppy who ate playdoh thing – cats are usually better mannered than that! =)
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Still seeing patients in Clearwater, Tampa, and virtually.