I live in Norway, we are able to buy minkie whale meat in some shops. My cat loves whale meat and I feed her around 50 grams once a week. How many grams is it safe to feed in a week? I have asked five vets about this and they have not the faintest clue about an answer to this question. This question is about raw whale meat, please put your feelings about whale hunting aside and give me a real answer.
asked Apr 11, 2017 at 11:48
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2Related Can cats safely eat raw meat? I don't think these are duplicates, as there may be concerns specific to whale meat that are not addressed in the related question.– James JenkinsCommented Apr 11, 2017 at 12:17
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1The only thing I could really find is this rather bias source. Bias as it may be, they do provide references on their findings. They state that whale meat contains toxins like many other creatures in the sea due to pollution. One such is Mercury, which can have an impact of the nervous system. Although the page is about human use, it also mentions it for pet food for dogs and cats as well.– Timmy JimCommented Apr 11, 2017 at 12:40
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my queston is more about the contents of a and d vitamins and of heavy metals,not of raw meat in general.i do feed my cat raw meat of cows pork deer and fish somtimes,and she do hunt mice rats and somtmes birds,but the main diet is dry food,i have had cats for a long time 40 y plus.and all of them loves whale meat,they are indoor/outdoor cats when they want.raw meat is what cats eat so to say it is bad for tem is realy stupid to say.cats dont eat spoiled meat not even prey that has a fever and might be ill..– trond hansenCommented Apr 11, 2017 at 13:15
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1 Answer
I would limit the intake of whale meat due to possible contamination of whales killed in Norway, according to Japanese findings. They tested for organochloride pesticides (dieldrin and aldrin) and bacterial contamination (not specified). Both dieldrin and aldrin have been banned. Dieldrin stays in the body a long time if ingested, and aldrin is converted to dieldrin. So it's easy to see where animals higher up the food chain (such as sharks & fish-eating whales) will concentrate dieldrin as it eats contaminated animals. Minke sometimes eat small fish and crustaceans which feed on other sea life. Mercury similarly can become concentrated in ocean animals from the same effect, although it is more concentrated in the liver.
An older Japanese study considers whale meat consumption of .1 grams per person per day as low consumption and presumably low risk of mercury and organochlorine. You'd have to convert the size of your cat and scale down, but 50g a week seems to be on the high end.
If you do continue to feed whale meat, avoid organ meats and tails which have more fat, and do so less often or at lower quantity.
Sources: https://eia-international.org/wp-content/uploads/Recent-Cases-of-Violation-of-the-Food-Sanitation-Laws-Whale-Meat-.pdf (Pesticides & bacterial contamination) https://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/phs/phs.asp?id=315&tid=56 (Health risks of specific organochloride pesticides) http://palumbi.stanford.edu/manuscripts/Simmonds%20et%20al%202002.pdf (Consumption of whale meat)
