Should Cats Eat a Vegan Diet?
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As their guardian, I want the cats I live with to have the best life possible. But as a vegan, I struggle with their diet. Should cats eat a vegan diet?
In this article
Editors Note: This article was written in 2009 when I was newly vegan. Since then, my worldview on veganism and cats has changed considerably. I’ve come to understand that veganism is an ethical lifestyle for humans, not non-humans. Animals who would not be vegan in natural settings should not be vegan in domesticated ones.
Obviously, I’m an animal lover. As a result, six rescue cats currently live with me.
As their guardian, I want them to have the best life possible. But as a vegan, I struggle with their diet.
I’ve done extensive research about what cats would eat without human intervention. As far as the proper diet for domesticated cats, the research is mixed. I’ve found studies to support feeding cats a vegan diet, but I’ve also found studies that explicitly state that cats cannot be vegan.
It goes without saying that I would prefer that the cats living with me eat a vegan. But I haven’t found enough evidence that a vegan diet is appropriate for them. So, for now, they eat a non-vegan one. One that is as close to what they would eat in a natural setting as possible.
Have any of you been thinking about your cats being vegan? Does anyone have a vegan cat? What do you think? Can cats eat a vegan diet and still be healthy?
Photo: Image by freestocks-photos from Pixabay
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HELLO! I'm KD Angle-Traegner.
Writer, activist, and founder of Four Urban Paws Sanctuary. I’m on a mission to help people live a vegan life. Read more about KD…
Should Cats Eat a Vegan Diet?
This post may contain affiliate links. Please read our disclosure policy.
As their guardian, I want the cats I live with to have the best life possible. But as a vegan, I struggle with their diet. Should cats eat a vegan diet?
In this article
Editors Note: This article was written in 2009 when I was newly vegan. Since then, my worldview on veganism and cats has changed considerably. I’ve come to understand that veganism is an ethical lifestyle for humans, not non-humans. Animals who would not be vegan in natural settings should not be vegan in domesticated ones.
Obviously, I’m an animal lover. As a result, six rescue cats currently live with me.
As their guardian, I want them to have the best life possible. But as a vegan, I struggle with their diet.
I’ve done extensive research about what cats would eat without human intervention. As far as the proper diet for domesticated cats, the research is mixed. I’ve found studies to support feeding cats a vegan diet, but I’ve also found studies that explicitly state that cats cannot be vegan.
It goes without saying that I would prefer that the cats living with me eat a vegan. But I haven’t found enough evidence that a vegan diet is appropriate for them. So, for now, they eat a non-vegan one. One that is as close to what they would eat in a natural setting as possible.
Have any of you been thinking about your cats being vegan? Does anyone have a vegan cat? What do you think? Can cats eat a vegan diet and still be healthy?
Photo: Image by freestocks-photos from Pixabay
You might also like
Leave a reply
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Late to this party… but…
The absolute ONLY “evidence” supporting vegan food for obligate carnivore species such as domesticated house cats are sourced directly by the manufacturers, or LLC’s, subsidiaries, shell companies, funded by those manufacturers, to ensure you buy their products. Because the industry is making billions off of your extraordinary ignorance and incredible religious zealotry to what isn’t even healthy for humans. And I say this as an anthropologist studying human diets across thousands of years.
One of the worst things in America per nutritional study is the lies by big agra on the false food pyramid to reinforce the great depression and dust bowl subsidies to save small farmers that built the behemoth Monsanto. Big agra bought every small farm, purchased the FDA more or less, sit on the board, and in the 70s forced their version of the food pyramid, for everyone to keep buying nothing but wheat and corn for 6 to 11 servings a day. That pyramid is upside down. Very unhealthy. And now we have rampant obesity, or malnourished folk.
Understand that what you as vegans are doing to yourselves is not… healthy. But it is your choice. To say it is moral, ignoring sustainability, ethics, free range, pasture, ethical raising, good life practices, etc, but ignoring that plants demonstrate preference, musical preference, and neural synaptic response to being cut and harvested as well, essentially a scream when being torn. The moral argument is that humans shouldn’t exist because eating is murder, the saying our pets shouldn’t exist because eating is murder. It’s bizarre. Everything is harm. Because it is. The obligation is to be the best caregiver and custodian you can be until you take that chicken, that turkey, that cow’s life. And I say this as someone who has lovingly raised these cow’s, hugged them, pet them, had them lick me. Nestled these chickens in my lap, helped them out of their coops, and tossed mice to them that my cats wouldn’t finish. Cried over my cats that owls killed, or ducks that eagles killed. I have raised everything from rats for snakes and for cuddling, to rabbits, to cats, and dogs, strays taken in, to horses and turkeys, goats and parrots and more. I train my dogs, and I have never seen a healthy long lived dog or cat on a vegan diet.
If the diet is too rich, they will have problems. It needs to ve varied. Sometimes poor, sometimes rich, sometimes rough, sometimes quality. It can’t be monotonous or their immune systems and digestion don’t get hardy. Dogs are scavengers, opportunists. My dogs always live 4 to 6 years longer than the average of their breeds.
Cats are obligate carnivores. When you see them eating grass, they are not doing so for nutrition. It is to clear their digestion. Catnip is not for nutrition. It is for euphoria. Mint is for flavor. My folks grow herb gardens and vegetable gardens, at least an acre on 35 acres of farm, 30 being pasture for the animals. We grow a lot of vegetables and herbs. We do a lot of research into our pets, the ins and outs, which further motivated my degree into Anthropology. Rather than a religious furvor.
A 2nd major problem with our agricultural industry is a super pasteurization of everything. They do this so everything last months. This eliminates probiotics from our diets. Causing prebiotics issues (fodmaps) as we have no probiotics to eat our prebiotics, causing gas and bloating. You get temporary relief from juice cleansing and diet changes, but that isn’t long term correction, just causes new sensitivities from extended exclusions. Going FODMAP for 2 years causes more severe sensitivity to prebiotics. So… maybe be a bit less religious about food and more scientific.
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You could feed your cat Soylent Green.
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Dear vegan cat owners
I am trying to convert to vegan and want to feed my cats vegan food as well. I am looking for owners who have been feeding their cats vegan food for a while.
Could you please email me at [email protected].
I truly appreciate any help on this topic, I hate feeding my cats chicken meat
Niti -
Making a cat or dog vegan is as absurd as a human being a carnivore. I am vegan but it’s ridiculous and shear stupid to make a carnivorous animal vegan. Ultimately it will severly compromise their immune system and cats can go blind. Unfortunately while there are domestic pets, they have to be fed properly.
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Vets disagree about this question too. I talked with three for Cats: Can they be vegan?, the latest episode of The Vegan Option internet radio show.
The guests include Lorelei Wakefield, the only person to publish peer-reviewed research on the topic. (So no, Copper, it’s not all anecdotal.)
It’s only 23 minutes, and it might be of interest.
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Sure, cats MIGHT be okay on a vegan diet.
I also MIGHT be okay eating only cabbage for a year, but I’m not about to try it and find out.
There is no scientific evidence that cats can thrive on a vegan diet. The only “evidence” I have seen consists of anecdotes from pet owners confirming that they have fed their cat this stuff for X number of years and said cat is still alive, and testimonials from the same websites that are trying to sell you vegan cat food. The plain fact is that we simply don’t KNOW if forcing a cat to eat vegan is safe, and gambling with your animal’s health like that is irresponsible.
If you don’t want to support the meat industry, get organic free-range meat and feed your cat a raw diet. This is as close as you will get to what cats eat in the wild, and will avoid all the nasty additives in commercial pet food. Feeding them a vegan diet is not a viable solution.
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Furthermore, what kind of protein a cat eats in nature is irrelevant. They certainly don’t go around eating plants in nature.
And actually, I believe a lion or a tiger probably would eat a cow if given a chance. The domesticated cat wouldn’t, but only because they are too small to take one down. If they were big enough, bet your bottom dollar they would.
They definitely enjoy birds and mice, though. Which, as you know, is meat. I hope none of you have outdoor cats. They probably survive because they’re sneaking mice when you let them out. I can’t say I’d blame them. I would if I were a vegan cat. I’d probably find a new home that feeds me meat.
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All these people bringing up what’s “in” commercial pet food… you DO realize there ARE options available that don’t get their meat from euthanized pets, right? It’s all about shopping around. You don’t want to shop around for quality food… so instead, you feed your CARNIVORE a diet that isn’t species appropriate? Being a vegan/vegetarian, would YOU like it if someone forced you to eat MEAT? No, right? Because you survive off a vegan/vegetarian diet and being a human, made the conscious choice to do so. Your cat should survive off a MEAT based diet and cannot make the conscious choice to not do so. It’s funny that one person mentioned us talking about nutrition that makes no sense. Of course it doesn’t to you. If you actually knew a lick about the cats digestive track, you wouldn’t feed your cat vegan.
First of all, cats need taurine. Yes, many cat food brands use synthetic stuff. But that isn’t healthy, either! (Hence why I mentioned high quality food up there ^ ) Cats, also, don’t make ANY use of fake proteins (soy, corn, any of it) as their digestive track is not made to produce it. (Remember science class in middle school, when you learned about the digestive track of a carnivore… yes, theirs IS different from ours) So, basically, feed your cat all the soy you want, he’s not getting the protein he needs. I don’t agree with a dog being fed vegan, but at least dogs are opportunistic carnivores (meaning they’ll eat plant based food if they need to, even in the wild). Cats are obligate carnivores. Think back to that science class: that means they NEED meat. Your cat lacks a certain enzymatic path that makes him unable to even utilize plant based proteins. Cats cannot make the protein themselves. In short, they NEED meat. Otherwise, they will die young (please know, ten is VERY young for a cat. cats should live to at least 16 if kept inside and healthy, many of them make it to 20), will have health problems that you “never understand” (but can really be linked back to a vegan diet), and may even go BLIND. All because you neglect them their PROPER diet. A cat “surviving” is not proof that a diet is working. A cat could “survive” on table scraps (I’ve seen many of them do so), would you agree that the diet is healthy? Of course not. THRIVING is an indicator of a good diet. And I have not seen ONE vegan fed cat (or vegetarian, for that matter) that THRIVES. Many owners claim they do, but until you see my meat fed cat, you probably don’t know what “thriving is”. (Hint: It’s not just being alive)
Someone who TRULY loves animals would not force an improper diet on a carnivore. That would be like taking a lion and feeding him lettuce. (Yes, that is a good example as cats haven’t been domesticated long at all) If you want a vegan pet, may I suggest a guinea pig or a rabbit? They’re so vegan they even eat hay!
I realize this is an old blog, but I came across it and HAD to say something. Never know when someone considering a vegan diet will stumble along.
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well, if you really want to be healthy, i believe that veggan foods are the best `*:
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Your cats are not consenting to what you are feeding them either, and most people feed their cats a swill of factory farm by-products and other junk. The cats to whom I belong eat nutritionally complete organic vegan food using Vegepet supplements, and I know exactly what’s in it because I make it from scratch. I believe that this is the most responsible and loving choice all the way around.
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I wrote a blog on vegan cats have done a lot of research and take on most of the issues concerns and philosophical points brought up here in detail on my site. I have tried to make my cats vegan but with not full success though I have reasons (not good ones) for not trying harder. I do believe it’s perfectly possible and know people who have done it for years. The one vegan cat food that mine do love is “Ami Cat” made in Italy but sold in the u.s. They love it and don’t get sick of it, but wet vegan food I have not found one they will eat. Click on my name to get to my blog and then click on the vegan cats blog.
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Yeah, because in NATURE, cats eat COWS, right???
*rolls eyes*
Did you know a lot of the cat and dog food you buy contains “protein” from other euthanized cats and dogs? That sounds real “natural” too.
*double roll*
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Michelle Rivera (The Vegan Grandmother on PETA Prime) explains it in her recently published book, The Simple Little Vegan Dog Book.
Taurine is an amino acid that is only produced by animals. A synthetic taurine substitute is used in energy drinks and contact lens solution. Humans can synthesize the artificial compound but cats cannot. The absence of taurnie in a cat’s diet causes deterioration of the retina and can lead to irreversible blindness. Lack of taurine also causes hair loss, tooth decay and heart problems for cats. The Association of American Feed Control Officials requires natural taurine to be added to all cat food products, wet and dry.
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I’ve been a vegan for 25 years, and healthy.
My two dogs lived vegan for 15 years and were healthy.
My cat has been vegan for 10 years. (Mostly Evolution and Ami).
All my pets are/were quite happy with their diets. Would they prefer to eat meat? Probably. Would my dogs have wanted to eat cat/horse/human shit regularly? Yes. Does this indicate a nutritional deficiency? No, it’s natural to animals. At the same time, would I prefer to live on a diet of pumpkin pie and ice cream? Yes, but it’s not healthy.
1. No pet can be said to choose its diet, unless it’s an outdoor cat. Even then, living in/near a human setting cannot be said to replicate it’s “natural” existence. Of course, domestic cats no longer have a natural niche.
2. Those suggesting free range flesh in order not to support the meat industry confuse me. I’m against KILLING animals. Animals who are treated well during their life, but are then killed for food are just as dead as factory farmed animals.
3. In short – cats and dogs can be quite happy and healthy as vegans. This allows their owners to maintain their perfectly rational philosophy while keeping pets. Vegans tend to really care about animals, and make good owners. And they’re more likely to take on shelter pets that would otherwise be killed.
I don’t understand the hostile tone apparent in some of the posts above. Vegan pet owners generally love their animals, and want to do right by them. They’re not ‘forcing’ pets to eat vegan food any more than non-vegans ‘force’ their pets to eat meat.
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There’s a difference between thriving and surviving, I could survive with water and a sandwich once every three weeks. Cats are very good at surviving but they cannot be vegan in the long term, they do not have the right enzymes in their body to break down long chain of amino acids a carbs which means they aren’t getting vitamin E and A, ask your vet to check their liver and kidneys, they will not be in good health. Cats are very tough and won’t show signs of pain unless they physically have a wound, if you don’t want to harm animals then fine give your cat up because that’s what you are doing, that or let them be outdoor cats so they can hunt for themselves and take away the moral judgement for you. Dogs can actually live on a VEGETARIAN diet (however not recommended) due to them evolving over many years alongside us so they have slowly been eating our scraps, again this isn’t thriving and you should take your dog to hunt rabbits or something if you don’t wanna feed them yourself, and what you are doing is animal cruelty. I understand your love for animals, I do but you have under stand that for balance in this world there needs to be death otherwise we’ll have a surplus of prey animals which will just as easily cause extinction like the number of hunters there are now. I agree that the current farming methods are appalling but start shopping local, get in contact with farms in you area and ask to see if you can visit to see the treatment of the animals and if they have a happy life. Most slaughter techniques are either painless, for example when chicks get put in an argon tank where they slowly fall asleep and pass away (study shows that there is no signs of distressed breathing using this method) or they will be in a split second of pain for example the macerating machine where chicks are crushed (this has to go at a specific speed, be regularly maintained and replaced and the chicks have to fall in it at a certain rate to prevent a blockage leading to unnecessary pain) or the way cows are killed with a bolt to the brain ( it commonly misinterpreted that they die from the slit to the throat where they are drained, the bolt makes them brain dead so they can’t feel pain even from it hurting it’s skull because that’s how fast it happens) .
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I’m vegan and so are both of my rescue cats. I got them when they were stray kittens and they have been eating Vegan Pet Cat Food their whole lives. They are very happy and healthy girls :)
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I’m no vegan, but have been vegetarian for just over 3 months. I’m struggling with the idea of why you vegetarians/vegans feel it’s right to force a pet (whom cannot make a choice on its own) to eat a certain way just because you do. It might work for some of you, but how long did it take to get your cat/dog to accept this lifestyle? You can’t just start feeding an animal this way and expect them to accept it immediately. Maybe long-term it would work, but short-term? Honestly, I feel it’s blatant animal-abuse, forcing them to eat food that is uncharacteristic to their diet.
Have some respect for your pet, for God’s sake!
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Unlike with dogs, there is no scientific evidence that can show that cats can have a healthy existence w/o meat. Please read this: http://www.animalvoices.ca/node/77
Many cats have died as a result of eating Evolution food.
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Me = vegan
My cats = organic cat food without by-products and some fish every now and again.
But the funny thing? My one cat hounds me for tofurkey and the like. I feed her little tastes and laugh because these faux meats even trick her!
The funnier thing? Her cat brother LOVES LOVES LOVES mangoes, raspberries, tofu and rice. I was eating a mango popsicle the other day and took a break, only to look over to see him licking it. I think it’s a nice behavior to encourage – letting my kitties try my vegan food. :)
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I’m tired of people saying cats “cannot” be vegetarian or vegan and when you ask why, they talk in vague terms of nutrients that they try to blab about, without researching, and INSIST, do not come from vegan sources. Everything does. Even taurine and vegetarian sources are far superior. No one can ever say what mystical nutrient only comes from meat. The reason is that a full panel of everything is available from vegan sources.
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C’mon, really? Humans are omnivores, and they can make the conscious decision to eat a vegan or vegetarian diet. Maybe you do it for health reasons or because you feel guilty about contributing to the pain and suffering of animals.
But your cat is a true CARNIVORE (who like to chew on grass every time they go outside, and then puke on my carpet) and wants to eat meat. Your cat is not concerned about the feelings of other animals, because it wants to eat them. Cats require a high protein diet which includes taurine.
If you don’t want to support THE meat industry, buy free range meat and feed that to your cat. I’m not 100% sure on this, but you may be able to find a high quality cat food made with organic ingredients – this may or may not mean the meat in the food came from free ranging farms, you’d have to find this out.
And if you are not willing to feed a carnivore meat, then maybe you shouldn’t own a cat. You people wouldn’t support someone feeding a herbivore meat, would you?
If you’ll excuse me now, I have to go chop up some celery and radishes for my piranhas…
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Check out Uncle Irving. I’m not sure if he’s vegan, but he loves his greens!
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I researched what is in commercially prepared pet food and it is horrifying. Did a post on vegan cats and took a poll on my blog. This is a difficult subject. I bought some VegeCat and tried the homemade route, so I would at least know what I was feeding my feline friend. She turned up her nose at it. Right now I am getting fish and chicken scraps from my neighbors, food that would otherwise be thrown away, to augment her diet. But I must admit, I still do not know what is ethical. I do NOT want to support the slaughter industry in any way, shape, or form. But my cat is getting old and unlikely to change. What is a vegan to do?
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Please tell me what vegan diet you are feeding your cats, since you are a veterinarian and know the nutrients necessary for a cats well being, I would trust what you are feeing them. I have three cats, one is 21 and the other two are 14 years old.
Many thanks,
Ella
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My cats are carnivores and I feed them accordingly. They cannot consent to a vegan diet, so I can’t force it on them. I control where they live and who they live with already – more than enough.
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Being vegan myself, I would not feed my animals a vegan diet. After working at a specialty animal hospital I’ve seen a few animals extremely ill due to their owners feeding them a vegan diet. Whether it was a balanced diet I do not know, but if an animal is naturally a carnivore I do not believe its right to do this. It would be different if they had the choice and the ability to make the decision on their own, but alas.. they do not! But I have an idea! It does bother me about what is in pet food these days, so how about free-range pet food. Is it already being made I wonder..?
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I have 3 vegans cats that I feed “Vegan Pet”.
Yes cats can be vegan but it is very important to give them commercially produced vegan cat food to ensure that their diet is nutritionally balanced.
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Yes, it does sound absurd to feed an animal a vegan diet when they are carnivore by nature.
And somehow it comes under ‘natural’ to feed a cat a ground up horse from a can.
And look at what we feed the cows raised for meat consumption. Somehow it’s ok to feed a cow ground up dead animals even though a cow is strictly a herbivore.
Why the double standard?
Deciding not to feed your cat the usual catfood is not about making your cat conform to your own vegan diet beliefs, but about not supporting the meat industry – which in nature, your cat wouldn’t be supporting anyway.
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Even though cats are true carnivores, some of them can be maintained in good health on a vegan diet. As an aside, I wanted to correct a mistake in the previous post regarding dogs. Dogs are true omnivores, not carnivores, and can very easily maintain good health on a vegan diet. I have a vegan cat (9 years old, no health issues) and a vegan dog (7 years old, no health issues). I am also vegan, and a veterinarian in practice for over 20 years.
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Absurd. Feline digestive system like the dog’s, is made to handle meat-based diet.
Of course a cat does not fish in nature, as someone ridiculously, needlessly pointed out above, but they do hunt and scavenge. Most cats’ diet in nature would consist of bugs, rodents, some dirt and soil-related nutrients, as well as any plants they knew to be safe.
I applaud you as humans making a choice to be vegans. But I find you to be hypocrites for forcing a lifestyle change on an animal who has no concept of such a change. If you don’t want to feed your pets a proper diet then perhaps you should consider something other than that cats or dogs for your pets.
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I have dealing with the same issue. I decided at one point to try to at least mix the food, half vegan/half meat based, so the meat consumption would at least be cut in half.
That plan did not work too well. My cat would not touch the food. Even meat based food she doesn’t like I could always get her to eat by mixing it with food she does. But, the veg. kind I bought she literally picked around every kibble and only ate the stuff she liked. Now that took effort for her to pick around.
Most people argue about the issue of taurine being necessary in a cats diet, which it is, but even in meat based cat foods the taurine is not supplied to them from the meat in the food. It is added in as an additional supplement, otherwise even the meat based ones would be lacking.
I hope you let us know your progress!
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that is some seriously F$^%ed up shit!
the cat hasn’t made a concious decision to be vegan, you have.
Its not healthy or fair to the cat.
if you can’t afford fee range meat (if factory farming is your wedge) or cant handle the dead – dont have a cat.
seriously!
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I know, right? BUTT…………………….. So is feeding them euthanized cats and dogs. Dude Watch Pet Fooled. Its on Netflix. You think its unnatural to feed pets veggies? Well how about flea collars? styrofoam? Plastic? Rubber? hormones? dead, sick, and dying factory farm stock? roadkill? Vets throw the dead pets into a dumpster n its picked up by companies that deliver it to the pet food companies. Collars and all.(Oh you thought they were shovel buried out back? Seriously?) Get educated and stop rambling off bs based on misinformation.
Guiness Book World Record: Bramble, a 27-year-old border
collie whose vegan diet of rice, lentils and organic vegetables earned her
consideration by the Guinness Book of World Records as the world’s oldest
living dog in 2002.My dog just died. She was 10. 10 F’N YEARS!!!! (On aPedigreeBagged food.) THAT is quite a bit more messed up than feeding my dog veggies.
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We’ve been working on this for a long time also. The biggest concern is having taurine in their diet. We are unable to find it made synthetic, although I know it does exist.
They already munch on the vegan dinner that Natalie makes for our dog, Jersey, so I think she will know what to cook for them.
That would cover the wet food, but we’d be left without any dry food. We feed our cats both. We like them to eat dry food to keep their teeth and gums healthy, so I couldn’t keep them without it.
Let us know if you make any progress. I’ll show the site you posted to Natalie when I get the chance.
HELLO! I'm KD Angle-Traegner.
Writer, activist, and founder of Four Urban Paws Sanctuary. I’m on a mission to help people live a vegan life. Read more about KD…
Late to this party… but…
The absolute ONLY “evidence” supporting vegan food for obligate carnivore species such as domesticated house cats are sourced directly by the manufacturers, or LLC’s, subsidiaries, shell companies, funded by those manufacturers, to ensure you buy their products. Because the industry is making billions off of your extraordinary ignorance and incredible religious zealotry to what isn’t even healthy for humans. And I say this as an anthropologist studying human diets across thousands of years.
One of the worst things in America per nutritional study is the lies by big agra on the false food pyramid to reinforce the great depression and dust bowl subsidies to save small farmers that built the behemoth Monsanto. Big agra bought every small farm, purchased the FDA more or less, sit on the board, and in the 70s forced their version of the food pyramid, for everyone to keep buying nothing but wheat and corn for 6 to 11 servings a day. That pyramid is upside down. Very unhealthy. And now we have rampant obesity, or malnourished folk.
Understand that what you as vegans are doing to yourselves is not… healthy. But it is your choice. To say it is moral, ignoring sustainability, ethics, free range, pasture, ethical raising, good life practices, etc, but ignoring that plants demonstrate preference, musical preference, and neural synaptic response to being cut and harvested as well, essentially a scream when being torn. The moral argument is that humans shouldn’t exist because eating is murder, the saying our pets shouldn’t exist because eating is murder. It’s bizarre. Everything is harm. Because it is. The obligation is to be the best caregiver and custodian you can be until you take that chicken, that turkey, that cow’s life. And I say this as someone who has lovingly raised these cow’s, hugged them, pet them, had them lick me. Nestled these chickens in my lap, helped them out of their coops, and tossed mice to them that my cats wouldn’t finish. Cried over my cats that owls killed, or ducks that eagles killed. I have raised everything from rats for snakes and for cuddling, to rabbits, to cats, and dogs, strays taken in, to horses and turkeys, goats and parrots and more. I train my dogs, and I have never seen a healthy long lived dog or cat on a vegan diet.
If the diet is too rich, they will have problems. It needs to ve varied. Sometimes poor, sometimes rich, sometimes rough, sometimes quality. It can’t be monotonous or their immune systems and digestion don’t get hardy. Dogs are scavengers, opportunists. My dogs always live 4 to 6 years longer than the average of their breeds.
Cats are obligate carnivores. When you see them eating grass, they are not doing so for nutrition. It is to clear their digestion. Catnip is not for nutrition. It is for euphoria. Mint is for flavor. My folks grow herb gardens and vegetable gardens, at least an acre on 35 acres of farm, 30 being pasture for the animals. We grow a lot of vegetables and herbs. We do a lot of research into our pets, the ins and outs, which further motivated my degree into Anthropology. Rather than a religious furvor.
A 2nd major problem with our agricultural industry is a super pasteurization of everything. They do this so everything last months. This eliminates probiotics from our diets. Causing prebiotics issues (fodmaps) as we have no probiotics to eat our prebiotics, causing gas and bloating. You get temporary relief from juice cleansing and diet changes, but that isn’t long term correction, just causes new sensitivities from extended exclusions. Going FODMAP for 2 years causes more severe sensitivity to prebiotics. So… maybe be a bit less religious about food and more scientific.
You could feed your cat Soylent Green.
Dear vegan cat owners
I am trying to convert to vegan and want to feed my cats vegan food as well. I am looking for owners who have been feeding their cats vegan food for a while.
Could you please email me at [email protected].
I truly appreciate any help on this topic, I hate feeding my cats chicken meat
Niti
Making a cat or dog vegan is as absurd as a human being a carnivore. I am vegan but it’s ridiculous and shear stupid to make a carnivorous animal vegan. Ultimately it will severly compromise their immune system and cats can go blind. Unfortunately while there are domestic pets, they have to be fed properly.
Vets disagree about this question too. I talked with three for Cats: Can they be vegan?, the latest episode of The Vegan Option internet radio show.
The guests include Lorelei Wakefield, the only person to publish peer-reviewed research on the topic. (So no, Copper, it’s not all anecdotal.)
It’s only 23 minutes, and it might be of interest.
Sure, cats MIGHT be okay on a vegan diet.
I also MIGHT be okay eating only cabbage for a year, but I’m not about to try it and find out.
There is no scientific evidence that cats can thrive on a vegan diet. The only “evidence” I have seen consists of anecdotes from pet owners confirming that they have fed their cat this stuff for X number of years and said cat is still alive, and testimonials from the same websites that are trying to sell you vegan cat food. The plain fact is that we simply don’t KNOW if forcing a cat to eat vegan is safe, and gambling with your animal’s health like that is irresponsible.
If you don’t want to support the meat industry, get organic free-range meat and feed your cat a raw diet. This is as close as you will get to what cats eat in the wild, and will avoid all the nasty additives in commercial pet food. Feeding them a vegan diet is not a viable solution.
Furthermore, what kind of protein a cat eats in nature is irrelevant. They certainly don’t go around eating plants in nature.
And actually, I believe a lion or a tiger probably would eat a cow if given a chance. The domesticated cat wouldn’t, but only because they are too small to take one down. If they were big enough, bet your bottom dollar they would.
They definitely enjoy birds and mice, though. Which, as you know, is meat. I hope none of you have outdoor cats. They probably survive because they’re sneaking mice when you let them out. I can’t say I’d blame them. I would if I were a vegan cat. I’d probably find a new home that feeds me meat.
All these people bringing up what’s “in” commercial pet food… you DO realize there ARE options available that don’t get their meat from euthanized pets, right? It’s all about shopping around. You don’t want to shop around for quality food… so instead, you feed your CARNIVORE a diet that isn’t species appropriate? Being a vegan/vegetarian, would YOU like it if someone forced you to eat MEAT? No, right? Because you survive off a vegan/vegetarian diet and being a human, made the conscious choice to do so. Your cat should survive off a MEAT based diet and cannot make the conscious choice to not do so. It’s funny that one person mentioned us talking about nutrition that makes no sense. Of course it doesn’t to you. If you actually knew a lick about the cats digestive track, you wouldn’t feed your cat vegan.
First of all, cats need taurine. Yes, many cat food brands use synthetic stuff. But that isn’t healthy, either! (Hence why I mentioned high quality food up there ^ ) Cats, also, don’t make ANY use of fake proteins (soy, corn, any of it) as their digestive track is not made to produce it. (Remember science class in middle school, when you learned about the digestive track of a carnivore… yes, theirs IS different from ours) So, basically, feed your cat all the soy you want, he’s not getting the protein he needs. I don’t agree with a dog being fed vegan, but at least dogs are opportunistic carnivores (meaning they’ll eat plant based food if they need to, even in the wild). Cats are obligate carnivores. Think back to that science class: that means they NEED meat. Your cat lacks a certain enzymatic path that makes him unable to even utilize plant based proteins. Cats cannot make the protein themselves. In short, they NEED meat. Otherwise, they will die young (please know, ten is VERY young for a cat. cats should live to at least 16 if kept inside and healthy, many of them make it to 20), will have health problems that you “never understand” (but can really be linked back to a vegan diet), and may even go BLIND. All because you neglect them their PROPER diet. A cat “surviving” is not proof that a diet is working. A cat could “survive” on table scraps (I’ve seen many of them do so), would you agree that the diet is healthy? Of course not. THRIVING is an indicator of a good diet. And I have not seen ONE vegan fed cat (or vegetarian, for that matter) that THRIVES. Many owners claim they do, but until you see my meat fed cat, you probably don’t know what “thriving is”. (Hint: It’s not just being alive)
Someone who TRULY loves animals would not force an improper diet on a carnivore. That would be like taking a lion and feeding him lettuce. (Yes, that is a good example as cats haven’t been domesticated long at all) If you want a vegan pet, may I suggest a guinea pig or a rabbit? They’re so vegan they even eat hay!
I realize this is an old blog, but I came across it and HAD to say something. Never know when someone considering a vegan diet will stumble along.
well, if you really want to be healthy, i believe that veggan foods are the best `*:
Your cats are not consenting to what you are feeding them either, and most people feed their cats a swill of factory farm by-products and other junk. The cats to whom I belong eat nutritionally complete organic vegan food using Vegepet supplements, and I know exactly what’s in it because I make it from scratch. I believe that this is the most responsible and loving choice all the way around.
I wrote a blog on vegan cats have done a lot of research and take on most of the issues concerns and philosophical points brought up here in detail on my site. I have tried to make my cats vegan but with not full success though I have reasons (not good ones) for not trying harder. I do believe it’s perfectly possible and know people who have done it for years. The one vegan cat food that mine do love is “Ami Cat” made in Italy but sold in the u.s. They love it and don’t get sick of it, but wet vegan food I have not found one they will eat. Click on my name to get to my blog and then click on the vegan cats blog.
Yeah, because in NATURE, cats eat COWS, right???
*rolls eyes*
Did you know a lot of the cat and dog food you buy contains “protein” from other euthanized cats and dogs? That sounds real “natural” too.
*double roll*
Michelle Rivera (The Vegan Grandmother on PETA Prime) explains it in her recently published book, The Simple Little Vegan Dog Book.
Taurine is an amino acid that is only produced by animals. A synthetic taurine substitute is used in energy drinks and contact lens solution. Humans can synthesize the artificial compound but cats cannot. The absence of taurnie in a cat’s diet causes deterioration of the retina and can lead to irreversible blindness. Lack of taurine also causes hair loss, tooth decay and heart problems for cats. The Association of American Feed Control Officials requires natural taurine to be added to all cat food products, wet and dry.
I’ve been a vegan for 25 years, and healthy.
My two dogs lived vegan for 15 years and were healthy.
My cat has been vegan for 10 years. (Mostly Evolution and Ami).
All my pets are/were quite happy with their diets. Would they prefer to eat meat? Probably. Would my dogs have wanted to eat cat/horse/human shit regularly? Yes. Does this indicate a nutritional deficiency? No, it’s natural to animals. At the same time, would I prefer to live on a diet of pumpkin pie and ice cream? Yes, but it’s not healthy.
1. No pet can be said to choose its diet, unless it’s an outdoor cat. Even then, living in/near a human setting cannot be said to replicate it’s “natural” existence. Of course, domestic cats no longer have a natural niche.
2. Those suggesting free range flesh in order not to support the meat industry confuse me. I’m against KILLING animals. Animals who are treated well during their life, but are then killed for food are just as dead as factory farmed animals.
3. In short – cats and dogs can be quite happy and healthy as vegans. This allows their owners to maintain their perfectly rational philosophy while keeping pets. Vegans tend to really care about animals, and make good owners. And they’re more likely to take on shelter pets that would otherwise be killed.
I don’t understand the hostile tone apparent in some of the posts above. Vegan pet owners generally love their animals, and want to do right by them. They’re not ‘forcing’ pets to eat vegan food any more than non-vegans ‘force’ their pets to eat meat.
There’s a difference between thriving and surviving, I could survive with water and a sandwich once every three weeks. Cats are very good at surviving but they cannot be vegan in the long term, they do not have the right enzymes in their body to break down long chain of amino acids a carbs which means they aren’t getting vitamin E and A, ask your vet to check their liver and kidneys, they will not be in good health. Cats are very tough and won’t show signs of pain unless they physically have a wound, if you don’t want to harm animals then fine give your cat up because that’s what you are doing, that or let them be outdoor cats so they can hunt for themselves and take away the moral judgement for you. Dogs can actually live on a VEGETARIAN diet (however not recommended) due to them evolving over many years alongside us so they have slowly been eating our scraps, again this isn’t thriving and you should take your dog to hunt rabbits or something if you don’t wanna feed them yourself, and what you are doing is animal cruelty. I understand your love for animals, I do but you have under stand that for balance in this world there needs to be death otherwise we’ll have a surplus of prey animals which will just as easily cause extinction like the number of hunters there are now. I agree that the current farming methods are appalling but start shopping local, get in contact with farms in you area and ask to see if you can visit to see the treatment of the animals and if they have a happy life. Most slaughter techniques are either painless, for example when chicks get put in an argon tank where they slowly fall asleep and pass away (study shows that there is no signs of distressed breathing using this method) or they will be in a split second of pain for example the macerating machine where chicks are crushed (this has to go at a specific speed, be regularly maintained and replaced and the chicks have to fall in it at a certain rate to prevent a blockage leading to unnecessary pain) or the way cows are killed with a bolt to the brain ( it commonly misinterpreted that they die from the slit to the throat where they are drained, the bolt makes them brain dead so they can’t feel pain even from it hurting it’s skull because that’s how fast it happens) .
I’m vegan and so are both of my rescue cats. I got them when they were stray kittens and they have been eating Vegan Pet Cat Food their whole lives. They are very happy and healthy girls :)
http://www.veganpet.com.au/
I’m no vegan, but have been vegetarian for just over 3 months. I’m struggling with the idea of why you vegetarians/vegans feel it’s right to force a pet (whom cannot make a choice on its own) to eat a certain way just because you do. It might work for some of you, but how long did it take to get your cat/dog to accept this lifestyle? You can’t just start feeding an animal this way and expect them to accept it immediately. Maybe long-term it would work, but short-term? Honestly, I feel it’s blatant animal-abuse, forcing them to eat food that is uncharacteristic to their diet.
Have some respect for your pet, for God’s sake!
Unlike with dogs, there is no scientific evidence that can show that cats can have a healthy existence w/o meat. Please read this: http://www.animalvoices.ca/node/77
Many cats have died as a result of eating Evolution food.
Me = vegan
My cats = organic cat food without by-products and some fish every now and again.
But the funny thing? My one cat hounds me for tofurkey and the like. I feed her little tastes and laugh because these faux meats even trick her!
The funnier thing? Her cat brother LOVES LOVES LOVES mangoes, raspberries, tofu and rice. I was eating a mango popsicle the other day and took a break, only to look over to see him licking it. I think it’s a nice behavior to encourage – letting my kitties try my vegan food. :)
I’m tired of people saying cats “cannot” be vegetarian or vegan and when you ask why, they talk in vague terms of nutrients that they try to blab about, without researching, and INSIST, do not come from vegan sources. Everything does. Even taurine and vegetarian sources are far superior. No one can ever say what mystical nutrient only comes from meat. The reason is that a full panel of everything is available from vegan sources.
C’mon, really? Humans are omnivores, and they can make the conscious decision to eat a vegan or vegetarian diet. Maybe you do it for health reasons or because you feel guilty about contributing to the pain and suffering of animals.
But your cat is a true CARNIVORE (who like to chew on grass every time they go outside, and then puke on my carpet) and wants to eat meat. Your cat is not concerned about the feelings of other animals, because it wants to eat them. Cats require a high protein diet which includes taurine.
If you don’t want to support THE meat industry, buy free range meat and feed that to your cat. I’m not 100% sure on this, but you may be able to find a high quality cat food made with organic ingredients – this may or may not mean the meat in the food came from free ranging farms, you’d have to find this out.
And if you are not willing to feed a carnivore meat, then maybe you shouldn’t own a cat. You people wouldn’t support someone feeding a herbivore meat, would you?
If you’ll excuse me now, I have to go chop up some celery and radishes for my piranhas…
Check out Uncle Irving. I’m not sure if he’s vegan, but he loves his greens!
http://uncleirving.wordpress.com/
I researched what is in commercially prepared pet food and it is horrifying. Did a post on vegan cats and took a poll on my blog. This is a difficult subject. I bought some VegeCat and tried the homemade route, so I would at least know what I was feeding my feline friend. She turned up her nose at it. Right now I am getting fish and chicken scraps from my neighbors, food that would otherwise be thrown away, to augment her diet. But I must admit, I still do not know what is ethical. I do NOT want to support the slaughter industry in any way, shape, or form. But my cat is getting old and unlikely to change. What is a vegan to do?
Please tell me what vegan diet you are feeding your cats, since you are a veterinarian and know the nutrients necessary for a cats well being, I would trust what you are feeing them. I have three cats, one is 21 and the other two are 14 years old.
Many thanks,
Ella
My cats are carnivores and I feed them accordingly. They cannot consent to a vegan diet, so I can’t force it on them. I control where they live and who they live with already – more than enough.
Being vegan myself, I would not feed my animals a vegan diet. After working at a specialty animal hospital I’ve seen a few animals extremely ill due to their owners feeding them a vegan diet. Whether it was a balanced diet I do not know, but if an animal is naturally a carnivore I do not believe its right to do this. It would be different if they had the choice and the ability to make the decision on their own, but alas.. they do not! But I have an idea! It does bother me about what is in pet food these days, so how about free-range pet food. Is it already being made I wonder..?
I have 3 vegans cats that I feed “Vegan Pet”.
Yes cats can be vegan but it is very important to give them commercially produced vegan cat food to ensure that their diet is nutritionally balanced.
Yes, it does sound absurd to feed an animal a vegan diet when they are carnivore by nature.
And somehow it comes under ‘natural’ to feed a cat a ground up horse from a can.
And look at what we feed the cows raised for meat consumption. Somehow it’s ok to feed a cow ground up dead animals even though a cow is strictly a herbivore.
Why the double standard?
Deciding not to feed your cat the usual catfood is not about making your cat conform to your own vegan diet beliefs, but about not supporting the meat industry – which in nature, your cat wouldn’t be supporting anyway.
Even though cats are true carnivores, some of them can be maintained in good health on a vegan diet. As an aside, I wanted to correct a mistake in the previous post regarding dogs. Dogs are true omnivores, not carnivores, and can very easily maintain good health on a vegan diet. I have a vegan cat (9 years old, no health issues) and a vegan dog (7 years old, no health issues). I am also vegan, and a veterinarian in practice for over 20 years.
Absurd. Feline digestive system like the dog’s, is made to handle meat-based diet.
Of course a cat does not fish in nature, as someone ridiculously, needlessly pointed out above, but they do hunt and scavenge. Most cats’ diet in nature would consist of bugs, rodents, some dirt and soil-related nutrients, as well as any plants they knew to be safe.
I applaud you as humans making a choice to be vegans. But I find you to be hypocrites for forcing a lifestyle change on an animal who has no concept of such a change. If you don’t want to feed your pets a proper diet then perhaps you should consider something other than that cats or dogs for your pets.
I have dealing with the same issue. I decided at one point to try to at least mix the food, half vegan/half meat based, so the meat consumption would at least be cut in half.
That plan did not work too well. My cat would not touch the food. Even meat based food she doesn’t like I could always get her to eat by mixing it with food she does. But, the veg. kind I bought she literally picked around every kibble and only ate the stuff she liked. Now that took effort for her to pick around.
Most people argue about the issue of taurine being necessary in a cats diet, which it is, but even in meat based cat foods the taurine is not supplied to them from the meat in the food. It is added in as an additional supplement, otherwise even the meat based ones would be lacking.
I hope you let us know your progress!
that is some seriously F$^%ed up shit!
the cat hasn’t made a concious decision to be vegan, you have.
Its not healthy or fair to the cat.
if you can’t afford fee range meat (if factory farming is your wedge) or cant handle the dead – dont have a cat.
seriously!
I know, right? BUTT…………………….. So is feeding them euthanized cats and dogs. Dude Watch Pet Fooled. Its on Netflix. You think its unnatural to feed pets veggies? Well how about flea collars? styrofoam? Plastic? Rubber? hormones? dead, sick, and dying factory farm stock? roadkill? Vets throw the dead pets into a dumpster n its picked up by companies that deliver it to the pet food companies. Collars and all.(Oh you thought they were shovel buried out back? Seriously?) Get educated and stop rambling off bs based on misinformation.
Guiness Book World Record: Bramble, a 27-year-old border
collie whose vegan diet of rice, lentils and organic vegetables earned her
consideration by the Guinness Book of World Records as the world’s oldest
living dog in 2002.
My dog just died. She was 10. 10 F’N YEARS!!!! (On aPedigreeBagged food.) THAT is quite a bit more messed up than feeding my dog veggies.
We’ve been working on this for a long time also. The biggest concern is having taurine in their diet. We are unable to find it made synthetic, although I know it does exist.
They already munch on the vegan dinner that Natalie makes for our dog, Jersey, so I think she will know what to cook for them.
That would cover the wet food, but we’d be left without any dry food. We feed our cats both. We like them to eat dry food to keep their teeth and gums healthy, so I couldn’t keep them without it.
Let us know if you make any progress. I’ll show the site you posted to Natalie when I get the chance.