Vegan Pet Food: Is It OK To Raise A Cat Vegan?

Vegan pet food -- and the decision to force one's pet to go vegan -- is suddenly very buzzy. ABC News reports that it's a bit easier for a dog to go vegetarian than it is for a cat, and one person they interviewed said she suspects that "vegan" cats are supplementing their diets by hunting.

But there are some strong proponents of the idea:

Now artists and activists (with one more feline in the family) in Ithaca, N.Y., Moore and her partner, Shira Golding, are part of a relatively small but deeply dedicated group of vegan pet owners who believe their cats' and dogs' diets should reflect their own beliefs about the treatment of animals and environmentally sustainable lifestyles.

Despite the anecdotal evidence the group has amassed that supports vegan pet diets, many veterinarians are reluctant to recommend the meatless option.

What do you think?

Quick Poll

Is it OK to give your pet a vegan diet?

No, it's not our decision to make

No, it's not healthy

Yes, it sounds fine

Yes, and I know someone who has

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Comments

[freethehens]

Spare me all the faux outrage. Be outraged over the billions of land animals and trillions of sea animals tortured and killed each YEAR in the U.S. alone for "food" to feed people and pets. Vegans, who have educated themselves on the issues, certainly are outraged, which is why they won't support animal industries by buying their "products" to feed to cats. Vegans care about ALL animals, not just the ones living in their homes. So they will rescue cats, give them love, medical care and make sure they have the proper nutrition that can successfully be derived from a supplemented plant diet - that just takes a little extra planning. Hardly animal abuse.

The cats aren't being deprived..­. please. They most likely would have been killed at the shelter and have now been given a chance to thrive on a tasty diet that doesn't happen to include meat .

This is such a non issue.

[samiam4285]

Actually, the point is that cats are by nature and instinct meat-eaters, and can have great difficulty health-wise if they don't get the proper nutrition they receive with such a diet. I feed my cat only the best (and most expensive) food with the highest concentration of meat-derived protein possible, supplementing her diet with raw meat, and she is much the better for it.

[moonflowerjewelry]

i'm a vegetarian, and have been for over 20 years. i did my research before i made the decision. if you look at the anatomy of carnivores and herbivores, the digestive tract for meat eaters is drastically different than that of herbivores and omnivores. our bodies are not designed to have meat be the bulk of our protein intake. cats, dogs, wolves, tigers are not designed to eat plant matter
all good intentions aside, if you arent comfortable feeding your little meat eater meat, GET A HAMSTER!
it irks me to no end when angry young peta vegetarians give the rest of us thoughtful people a bad name.

[aceholiday]

applause

[MissElaineous]

Good on you, kiddo. Don't forget rabbits, too. Rabbits are wonderful pets for vegans. They live on a diet of fruit, vegetables, socks, phone cords, books, letters, shoelaces.­... but never meat.

[Geisha92103]

I believe that only veterinarians with strong background in feline nutrition are able to provide a vegan diet for cats; there are reports that such vets exist. I would never recommend a vegan diet for a feline if intensive knowledge and ongoing determination of health are not continuously present to observe any occurring deficiencies.

I believe that as long as carnivore pets are kept as pets, they are generally best provided with a diet that contains animal products. However, I also believe that the used animal-derived ingredients should be better than those used in most commercial and even homemade pet diets.

I think that animal-derived ingredients should not only be certified organic (fewer toxins, more nutrients), but the animals should also be raised and handled in a humane way.
One of the few pet food companies that goes into this direction is Onesta Organics, http://www.onestaorganics.com. I bet this will become a (necessary) trend, although consumers may be scared off by the somewhat higher prices of such products. However, if consumers knew that 'conventionally' raised life stock is loaded with noxious stress hormones, they would probably be more open to support such products.

This would -- in my view -- be the ethical way if one already kills one animal to feed another.

[Checquoline]

My understanding is that if cats don't get the protein they need it can cause blindness. They need to eat their natural diet which is meat. I am sure cats who go outside catch plenty of mice, but many cats are indoor cats and cannot hunt. Humans can live without meat and should at least cut out beef and pork to save the planet from the pollution and disease they cause.

[MissElaineous]

Cats need Taurine. There was an episode on Animal Planet's "Animal Police" where an impoverished immigrant could not feed her cats and the result was that several of them went blind. It was very sad.

[aceholiday]

i'm vegetarian but take great delight in letting my cat eat meat, as she greatly enjoys it and it seems to be of greater nutritional value to her. i wouldn't feel right imposing my dietary obligations on my cat.

[kolorkin]

that's a chubby cat in the photo up there.

[DrJohnnySkeptic]

If I even gave a little vegan cat food to my two cats, it would only result in them scratching the floor, which shows that they think that the vegan cat food tastes like s**t.

Why waste your money on s**t?

[bootooyoo]

Grass fed cats are much tastier than the other kind.

[MikeyG]

As an experiment, I put down a bowl of raw steak and a bowl of carrots in front of my dog.

He wolfed down the steak, then picked up one of the carrots and brought it to me.

We spent the next half-hour playing fetch with the carrots.

A rather conclusive result. Woof.

[SFTor]

Funny!

Thank you.

[DrJohnnySkeptic]

Animals, including cats, hunt in the wild. They do eat vegetation, but that's for purposes of fiber, which can be found in non-vegetarian dry cat food. Just because there is a culinary lifestyle concept for cats doesn't mean it's a good one. It might be good for a human, since that human can get a multivitamin to compensate for the vitamins and minerals that they are not getting, but this doesn't work for cats.

They are born hunters of animals, not wheat gluten. This is a diet that will make them malnourished and they will lose energy, causing loss of muscle tone.

This concept is ludicrous.

[kolorkin]

despite all reports, i can't believe people still recommmend multivitam­ins...they do NOTHING for your body.

[Beowolf741]

I bought vegan cat treats for my cat. It may as well have been plaster for as much attention he gave it.
I don't think it works for cats much. It is not in their biology.
I have been eating more vegan lately because I'm disturbed at what I've seen the way we have developed to "harvest" animals for consumption. It looks too much like a concentration camp for our fellow mammals, birds, etc. They say we can feed a lot more people with the grain we use to fatten up the livestock than we can the fattened livestock who have eaten all the grain.

[Marilyn Narine]

Hmmmm, vegan cats, yoga for cats, clothes for pets, dogs as handbag accessories, seems like we humans are really a disturbed breed of animal! Why don't we stop trying to change the natural order of things and focus on making ourselves better? Just a thought!

[sparkandy]

Aw, come on now. You're right, But it's so much fun to dress up my Chihuahua and she loves it, too. Sad to say, she's probably better dressed than some people in the refugee camps of Gaza or the disaster that's Darfur. Do I feel guilty? A little, maybe, but will I stop dressing her? No.

[Anastasia]

Because they are unable to voice an opinion about their vegan diets to their owners, it seems especially cruel to keep an animal that is a carnivore and deny them what they crave and thrive on, all in oder to coincide with human belief system.

[bootooyoo]

someone has no sense of humor tonight.

[yannb]

Vegetarianism is the ultimate disgrace invented by our artificial consumerist "modern" society. While millions of children die every year of hunger around the earth, us westerners afford the luxury of refusing to eat certain kinds of food. Meat, no less. For thousands of years, our ancestors have fought, often to their death, to provide a diverse diet to their children, so that eventually the human race could thrive and survive. Being a vegetarian in the hope of getting healthier is a moronic myth. Our digestive system isn't made for grains and nuts only. Our muscles need the high proteins found in meat to function properly. Being a vegetarian because you're against animal cruelty is a bit more sensible. But it is the wrong answer to the right question. I am a mad defender of animal rights, but I never would stop eating meat (I know where the meat I eat comes from: the Amish farm down the road). Finally, vegetarians are a threat to the planet. Their lack of variety in their green diets pushes them into seeking more "exotic" products. Strawberries in december, lichees that have travelled half way across the world making it into their plate, etc... all of which to an incredible energetic and human cost. Come on, people, let's get serious. It's not what we eat or how much we eat that matters. It's HOW we eat it.

[AngelaQuattrano]

Modern Americans consider insisting on a picky diet to be a point of pride and a means of expressing their individuality. It comes from the rather unnatural stability of our agricultural system. People who refuse to eat whatever is available during a famine die. It is not a survival characteristic.

My cats never go outside. There is no way they could supplement their diet by hunting. Cats are pure carnivores. They are not even evolved to eat a mixed diet.

[MissElaineous]

BZZT., Wrong. One billion Hindus are lacto vegetarians and have been for thousands of years. Try another straw man to flog for us.

[ggrzw]

This argument is just really dumb. How exactly is it disgraceful if I choose not to order meat at a restaurant or buy it in a grocery store? Would you say the same about Catholics who refuse to eat meat on Fridays, Jews who don't eat shellfish, or Muslims who don't eat pork?

Seriously, get over yourself.

[Gubernatrix]

I understand people's extreme concern about vegan cats, but it's not as simple to dismiss as some posters may think. Firstly, of course, cats do need taurine which is naturally available only from animal sources - luckily for vegan cats though (of which I have none, btw), taurine is always supplemented in vegan cat food.

Before everyone bashes this idea, they ought to think about what is really a "natural" diet for cats - is it the non-suitab­le-for-hum­an-consump­tion grade cow/pig/etc meats? No, they would naturally be eating mice, small birds, etc ... and until people start feeding their cats those things, I don't think they have any moral authority to diss vegans for not feeding their animal companions "naturally­."

Also, some of you may believe that making cats (or dogs) go vegan amounts to animal abuse - and it's your right to believe that - but why be so passionate against this kind of animal abuse, and then continue to support (and ignore in your posts) the mass animal abuse in slaughterhouses? All vegans I know would prefer to feed their animals cruelty free to avoid supporting the meat industry, but I don't know ANY who would compromise the health of their cats if such a diet weren't working out.

[Snice]

Non human carnivores don't turn up their noses at "strange meats". While pigs and cows are not kitty cats prey, they will eat any meat that smells OK to them. I would eat "tofuna" if I was really hungry too.

[dozaa]

Very eloquent and insightful post.

[Choicelady]

Then why not go to the veldt and stop lions and other large cats from hunting prey? Part of what makes this disgusting is the rabid need some humans have to control the world and impose absolutes based on human reasoning on everything around us. We do NOT run the world, and deciding you can change the nature of an animal to meet your own needs is revolting. The disgusting abuses of the slaughterhouse (not essential and therefore equally a part of human decision making) do not justify abusing cats and forcing them to be what YOU want them to be.