Mom doesn't make tuna too often, but when she does she always drains the can into a dish for me and my BKF Cleo to share. Now that I'm learning all this stuff about toxic chemicals, I wondered if we should be worried about mercury coming from our little tuna treats. After all, the pet tests we took part in showed that cats have high levels of mercury in their systems.

Dr. Barchus to the rescue! In a recent post on the Dogster Vet Blog, he says that tuna is safe for cats as an occasional treat. Tuna does contain mercury, which is bad for pets and people, but most fish-based cat food will contain mercury anyway. The important thing is not to feed any one kind of food every single day -- and that's especially true for tuna, which isn't a balanced kitty diet.

So, tuna: a good occasional treat, but not an everyday meal. How's that sound to you, Cleo?

Photo: Mine, by Ab8wn.