---
title: "Can dogs and cats eat tuna?"
description: "Tuna and pets: fine in small amounts. What it does, whether the dose matters, and how dogs, cats, rabbits and birds differ."
url: https://atoneplace.net/can-pets-eat/tuna/
site: "At One Place"
---

# Can pets eat tuna?

**Tuna: Fine in small amounts**

Dogs: In moderation · Cats: In moderation

## By animal

| Animal | Verdict | Why |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Dogs | In moderation | Safe in small amounts; mercury is the reason not to make it routine. |
| Cats | In moderation | Fine occasionally. A tuna-only diet causes real problems. |

## What it actually does

Canned tuna is safe as an occasional treat and unsuitable as a diet. Tuna is low in taurine and vitamin E and high in unsaturated fat, and a cat eating mostly tuna can develop steatitis — painful inflammation of body fat — as well as thiamine deficiency. As a large predatory fish it also accumulates mercury. Tuna in brine adds salt; tuna in oil adds fat.

No reliable dose threshold has been published for this. Anything presenting a specific safe amount is extrapolating.

## The bit that is usually got wrong

> Cats being "addicted" to tuna is real in the sense that they will refuse other food after enough of it, which is a behavioural problem with a nutritional consequence.

> Body weight decides almost everything here, so what is trivial for a 40 kg dog can matter for a 4 kg one, and a bird is smaller again. Where a real published threshold exists this page gives it; where none does, it says so rather than inventing one.

## Meat, fish and eggs

| Food | Worst verdict | Dogs | Cats |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Cooked bones | Not safe | Not safe | Not safe |
| Bacon, ham and fatty meat | Risky | Risky | Risky |
| Raw fish | Risky | Risky | Risky |
| Raw egg | Risky | Risky | Risky |

## Common questions

### Can dogs eat tuna?

Fine in small amounts. Safe in small amounts; mercury is the reason not to make it routine.

### Can cats eat tuna?

Fine in small amounts. Fine occasionally. A tuna-only diet causes real problems.

### What does tuna actually do?

Canned tuna is safe as an occasional treat and unsuitable as a diet. Tuna is low in taurine and vitamin E and high in unsaturated fat, and a cat eating mostly tuna can develop steatitis — painful inflammation of body fat — as well as thiamine deficiency. As a large predatory fish it also accumulates mercury. Tuna in brine adds salt; tuna in oil adds fat.

## Related pages

- [Can pets eat cooked bones?](https://atoneplace.net/can-pets-eat/cooked-bones/)
- [Can pets eat bacon, ham and fatty meat?](https://atoneplace.net/can-pets-eat/bacon/)
- [Can pets eat raw fish?](https://atoneplace.net/can-pets-eat/raw-fish/)
- [Can pets eat raw egg?](https://atoneplace.net/can-pets-eat/raw-egg/)
- [Can pets eat chocolate?](https://atoneplace.net/can-pets-eat/chocolate/)
- [Can pets eat grapes, raisins, sultanas and currants?](https://atoneplace.net/can-pets-eat/grapes/)
- [Can pets eat onion, garlic, leek and chives?](https://atoneplace.net/can-pets-eat/onion-garlic/)
- [Can pets eat xylitol and birch sugar?](https://atoneplace.net/can-pets-eat/xylitol/)
- [Everything, for dogs](https://atoneplace.net/can-pets-eat/dog/)
- [Everything, for cats](https://atoneplace.net/can-pets-eat/cat/)

## Sources

- MSD/Merck Veterinary Manual — Merck & Co. (https://www.merckvetmanual.com/)