On Sunday, we inherited a cat and even though she came with the essentials, on Monday I needed to go and purchase more things for her, including some cat food. I was confronted with meals consisting of "Succulent Salmon With Tender Chicken", "Tasty Tuna With Pilchard Steaks", etc. I didn't really feel that any of these sounded too yummy, but I thought my new inherited cat would probably think otherwise, so I bought them anyway. And she does - she licks the bowl clean after every meal and still meows for more!
However, being a vegan myself, the thought of feeding my cat these meaty meals somewhat irks me...but cats are naturally carnivorous so my first thoughts were that I shouldn't try to exclude animal products from her diet. Also, if I was to feed her a vegan diet, how would I know if she is getting adequate amounts of nutrients? What would I feed her? So I did some research, and was shocked at what I found...
Have you ever wondered why pet foods are labeled "PET FOOD ONLY"? I read the ingredients on the packets of food I was buying my cat and I couldn't see why. A typical packet would list salmon (or chicken or whatever the meat was), gelling agents, permitted food color, and vitamins and minerals, which all seem fairly reasonable...one can assume that these additives are human grade and similar to what is found in foods that we eat. However, the meat that goes into pet food may include slaughterhouse waste products, meat from diseased animals, spoiled supermarket meat, complete with a "delicious" soup of chicken entrails partly dissolved. I personally would not want to eat that, and definitely would not want to give anything like that to my pets!
As you would expect, there are many health risks associated with commercial pet food, including but not limited to liver, eye, kidney, neurologic, heart and skin diseases, birth defects, bleeding disorders, and infectious diseases. A number of veterinarians believe that so-called degenerative diseases like cancer and organ failure are too common, and are linked to the hazardous ingredients of standard meat-based cat and dog foods.
An alternative is to feed my cat a vegan diet. There are a few commercial vegan cat foods available in the US, but in other developed countries the choice is limited, if any. Without commercial vegan cat foods there is only one alternative, and that is to cook my own cat food. This would make it hard to provide a healthy diet for my cat as there are many issues which would need to be addressed. Cats need taurine, which is only found naturally in animals; however it can be synthetically made so a supplement can be included in the cat's diet. Cats also have evolved digestive systems which are only able to break down proteins from animal sources, and not plant proteins, so this would cause problems. There are issues concerning other vitamins and minerals which you would need to consider as well.
Feeding your cat a vegan diet, but also allowing it to go to outside where they would prey on birds and small mammals would enhance their diet naturally but some vegans may disapprove of their cat's carnivorous instincts.
If you are considering transitioning your cat into a vegan diet, you should take them to a vet regularly for check ups, even if your cat seems fine. There are many problems which you might not recognize yourself before your animal is into a progressed stage of such complications. But most of all, have fun preparing your cat's vegan food, work out their likes and dislikes and ensure they are obtaining all the essential nutrients a cat needs. Cats can be fussy eaters, and when you work out what they like stick with it.
Good luck with your vegan cat. We would be most interested in hearing stories about your vegan cats.
Suzette Austin
Cat owner & lover
http://www.vegancookingsecrets.com
