Vegan Cat Food?

[joelbct]

Hello,

 

The house I live in has a cat, and I have decided that although my housemates can feed her whatever they want and I can't stop them, I don't want to have to feed her cat food that contains animal meat or "byproducts."

 

Can anyone recommend a vegan cat food, and where to buy? I realize cats are omnivores or carnivores, and if she catches mice, I suppose that is part of nature, but the element of humans raising billions of animals in factory farms and using their byproducts to feed pets strikes me as totally unnatural and abhorrent.

 

Thanks,

Joel

[Guest]

vegancats.com

 

Its hard to get them on it but I've seen old vegan cats that have looked very healthy and active...my friends with vegan cats have blended it with regular cat food then slowly lowered the amount of regular catfood then completely eliminated it

[Kathryn]

Some cats do very poorly on a vegan diet, and can develop life-threatening bladder problems, so any attempt at transitioning to a vegan diet should be accompanied by close veterinarian monitoring. Some companies that used to recommend vegan diets for cats (and sold/sell vegan cat food) have posted warnings about health risks, and recommend that most cats do better on a partial-vegan diet. One gender (I forget if it's males or females?) tends to have more problems than the other.

[joelbct]

Thanks for the info, (apparently it is females who do better than males on vegan diets, according to this Vegan Cat Faq)

 

 

We probably could feed her only vegan food with no problems, because she catches a steady fare of mice having several acres to roam on. My goal, however, isn't to transition her to a vegan diet (she isn't mine anyway)- I feed her about 1/4 of the time, seeing as I get home from work first, and she rushes inside to greet me, and proceeds to whine until I feed her . I just don't want to have to feed her factory farmed animal meat myself-

 

Call me cold, but I simply would not go out and get a pet that I had to sustain with animals that were factory farmed and slaughtered or fished by humans.

 

On that note, according to the website above, at least Dogs can be healthy on a plant-based diet, very cool...

[Guest]

I feel the same way...its not cold since you'd otherwise be feeding a cat numberous animals every year...no different than eating them yourself in my eyes

[Rawj]

The sites say if you follow their directions exactly even males can be Vegan. THey suggested some meat becuase they realized people were not following all the steps. If all steps are followed being Vegan isn't a problem. Cats do not need meat. They need what is in meat. Taurine, a usable source of vitamin A, and some other things. They can get all of that in fortified foods and supplements. Same as humans getting stuff (especially B12) from fortification/supplementations.

Edited June 28, 2007 by Rawj

[VeganEssentials]

Since I recently took over all business affairs for VeganCats.com, I can certainly help with any questions you might have!

 

It is possible to make cats vegan, both male and female, but every cat is different - some will adapt easily and live many long years in excellent health, while others may have difficulty adapting and suffer health consequences from it. Not every cat will be a success story for going vegan, much as the previous owner of VeganCats.com has stated in the past year after much consideration. A change to a vegan diet should be accompanied by monitoring by the cat's veterinarian, and if any changes for the worse are noticed then the cat should be taken in to be checked immediately. Male cats are more prone to health issues in the way of urinary tract problems, so if the cat is male then be sure to pay extra-close attention to their behavior in and out of the litterbox. Severe blockage can kill a male cat in 1-2 days, so if you see the cat straining to urinate with little or nothing coming out, overly-frequent trips to the litterbox or blood in the cat's urine then take them to the vet immediately. Female cats are less likely to suffer problems and they are not as life threatening as with male cats, but they should still be watched closely. In any case, the key is to make sure to follow the instructions on the foods closely, make sure the cat either gets some kibble that is watered down or that the cat also gets wet food regularly (cats are inefficient drinkers and are best to get a fair amount of moist food in their diet, definitely not a diet comprised entirely of dry food), and hopefully the cat will do well on the diet and be healthy.

 

I, much like Jed Gillen (previous owner of VeganCats.com), have taken the approach that the cat's health must come first and foremost - it is irresponsible to force a cat who cannot exist in good health on a vegan diet to keep eating completely vegan if their life will be greatly shortened. For cats that have problems with health issues on a vegan diet, a diet of 50% vegan food is still better than an all-meat diet, so I urge anyone who is transitioning their cats to vegan food to keep this in mind. In a perfect world all cats would eat vegan without any problems, but this simply isn't true. Just as eating meat is not ethically correct, neither is it to force an animal to continue on a diet that is harming its health simply because of our own stance on the issue of animal by-products. A cat will not ever be vegan naturally without human intervention, so this is why we must pay extra-close attention to a change in diet as we are forcing something on them that is not what they are naturally going to be eating. Just be sure to monitor the cat's health during the transition and afterward, and if something seems wrong, be sure to have the cat checked right away. Hopefully the transition will be a smooth one and the cat you're looking to convert to a vegan diet will be another great success story!

 

Ryan

[Rawj]

The sites say if you follow their directions exactly even males can be Vegan. THey suggested some meat becuase they realized people were not following all the steps. If all steps are followed being Vegan isn't a problem. Cats do not need meat. They need what is in meat. Taurine, a usable source of vitamin A, and some other things. They can get all of that in fortified foods and supplements. Same as humans getting stuff (especially B12) from fortification/supplementations.