Salmon Meal in dog and cat food
Salmon meal is fish meal made from salmon: salmon or salmon parts turned into a dry, protein-rich meal by heating, pressing and drying. Pet foods use it as a concentrated animal protein that also carries salmon fat. Because it is dry, its place on an ingredient list is not directly comparable with fresh 'salmon'. In one review of food-allergic pets, fish was reported as a trigger far more often in cats than in dogs.
Is it OK for dogs and cats?
- Dogs
- The sources cited here do not show harm from salmon meal in complete dog foods. In one study, dogs ate a diet with 10% salmon meal in similar amounts to a chicken-based diet. The main exception is dogs known to be allergic to fish.
- Cats
- The sources cited here do not show harm from salmon meal in complete cat foods, but fish is one of the most commonly reported food allergens in cats. Merck also reports yellow fat disease (pansteatitis) from vitamin E deficiency in cats given large quantities of canned tuna.
How settled this is: No known concern at the amounts used in complete foods
What salmon meal is
The EU Catalogue of feed materials has no separate entry for salmon meal. It falls under fish meal: the product obtained by heating, pressing and drying whole fish or parts of fish, to which fish solubles may be added back before drying. The Catalogue says the name of fish meal must be supplemented by the animal species. Salmon meal can include bone; one study tested a salmon meal with crushed bones.
Why it is in pet food
It supplies dry animal protein from a single named fish species. In a study of fish ingredients for pet food, a salmon meal with crushed bones showed high protein quality in a chick growth test. Dogs ate a diet containing 10% of it in similar amounts to a chicken-based control diet.
What it does in the food
Salmon meal provides protein, fat and minerals. Folador and colleagues found the salmon meal they tested was among the fish ingredients highest in total polyunsaturated fatty acids. It had an essential amino acid index of 1.0 when whole egg was used as the reference protein. Merck lists oily fish among the best food sources of EPA and DHA, omega-3 fatty acids now counted as essential during growth and reproduction in dogs and cats. The sources here do not give EPA and DHA levels for salmon meal itself.
Safety and limits
Allergy: in a review of food-challenge studies, fish was a confirmed trigger in 17% of food-allergic cats and 2% of food-allergic dogs. The authors say these figures do not show true prevalence. Contaminants: EU limits for fish-derived feed materials cover salmon meal as they do other fish meals. They include total mercury of 1.0 mg/kg in material used to make dog and cat food and 0.3 mg/kg in finished dog and cat compound feed. Cats: Merck reports pansteatitis (yellow fat disease) caused by vitamin E deficiency in cats given large quantities of canned tuna. Merck also notes that thiaminases, enzymes in some raw fish that destroy thiamine (vitamin B1), are destroyed by cooking. Salmon meal is made by heating.
What depends on the amount and the recipe
Which salmon parts are used, for example whether bone is included, because composition varies with the fish parts used; contaminant levels in the source fish, which EU law caps; and, for cats, how much of the whole diet is fish.
Not the same as
- Salmon (fresh or deboned) — Weighed with its water, while salmon meal is dried. Merck uses chicken versus chicken meal to show how a wet first ingredient can supply less of the food's dry matter.
- Salmon oil — The fat taken from salmon rather than the protein meal. It has its own page.
- Fish meal — The general name for meal made from fish. Salmon meal is fish meal made from salmon only.
- Hydrolysed salmon (salmon protein hydrolysate) — Salmon protein broken down by hydrolysis. In one study it scored lower than salmon meal in a chick growth test, though both had good essential amino acid profiles, and dogs ate more of a diet containing it than of a chicken-based control.
Related
Sources
- Commission Regulation (EU) No 68/2013 on the Catalogue of feed materials, consolidated text of 24 July 2022 (entry 10.4.2 Fish meal) — Publications Office of the European Union, 2022. Definition of fish meal (heating, pressing and drying whole fish or parts; fish solubles may be re-added) and the rule that the name shall be supplemented by the animal species; no separate salmon entry.
- Folador JF et al. Fish meals, fish components, and fish protein hydrolysates as potential ingredients in pet foods. Journal of Animal Science 84(10):2752-2765 (PubMed abstract) — National Library of Medicine (PubMed), 2006. Salmon meal with crushed bones: among the highest in total PUFA, chick PER 3.5 (high protein quality), essential amino acid index 1.0 against whole egg; dogs ate similar amounts of a 10% salmon meal diet and the chicken control; the salmon hydrolysate had a low PER but an EAA index of 0.9 and was especially palatable to dogs; composition depends on the fish parts used.
- Dog and Cat Foods, Merck Veterinary Manual, professional version — Merck & Co. (Merck Veterinary Manual), 2025. Ingredients are listed by weight on an as-fed basis; a wet ingredient such as chicken (75% moisture) listed first can supply less dry matter than the same ingredient in dry form (chicken meal).
- Nutritional Requirements of Small Animals, Merck Veterinary Manual, professional version — Merck & Co. (Merck Veterinary Manual), 2024. Oily fish are among the best dietary sources of EPA and DHA, which are essential during growth and reproduction in dogs and cats; pansteatitis from vitamin E deficiency in cats given large quantities of canned tuna; thiaminases in raw fish are destroyed by cooking.
- Mueller RS, Olivry T, Prélaud P. Critically appraised topic on adverse food reactions of companion animals (2): common food allergen sources in dogs and cats. BMC Veterinary Research 12:9 — BMC Veterinary Research (via PubMed Central), 2016. Fish was an offending allergen in 17% of cats and 2% of dogs with confirmed food reactions; fish is among the most common in cats; figures do not show true prevalence.
- Directive 2002/32/EC on undesirable substances in animal feed, consolidated text of 28 November 2019, Annex I — Publications Office of the European Union, 2019. Total mercury limits for fish-derived feed materials used for dog and cat food (1.0 mg/kg) and for dog and cat compound feed (0.3 mg/kg).
Checked against these sources on . Definitions are in our own words. This is a reading aid, not veterinary advice: a vet who knows your animal comes first.