2006-08-20 17:24:32 · 9 answers · asked by ? 1 in Pets ➔ Cats
Cats need taurine or they will go blind and cats are also carnivores (meat eaters) and need protein to be healthy and to prevent other health problems.
2006-08-20 17:29:21 · answer #1 · answered by Turtle 7 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Hi Miller...their vision would be greatly affected as well as their overall health if they are lacking a nutrient called Taurine found in most cat diets. Additionally, felines require a high protein (meat not soy) diet in order to maintain long-term overall health. Cats are obligate carnivores and to deprive them of the nutrients they require would increase the odds of them becoming life threateningly ill, which is quite costly to treat.
You've asked a very good question as some wonder if cats could safely eat a vegetarian diet, which the answer would be a definate and resounding no. Any veterinarian could confirm this fact as well. Proper nutrition is essential for good health and long life for every creature. Like humans we need to eat more whole grains, vegetables and fruit and to avoid processed foods in order to sustain a healthy long life. Cats must eat a high protein diet in order to do the same.
Cats, despite thousands of years of domestication, remain strictly carnivorous. They are incapable of digesting and receiving nutrition from the majority of vegetable proteins. Cats in the wild devour the whole of their prey: muscles, organs, viscera, bones, offal, skin, etc. In this manner, cats ingest not only the flesh and organs of their prey but also the partially and wholly digested vegetable foods the prey had eaten. The cat then is able to derive nutrition from various vegetable sources thanks to the prey's digestive processes.
I've included a couple websites that discusses as to why felines must eat this type of diet.
2006-08-21 01:53:19 · answer #2 · answered by ♪ Seattle ♫ 7 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Yes, grains and veggies do not supply a cat with taurine. Lack of taurine can lead to blindness and heart failure.
It took vets fifteen years to figure this out. Now taurine is added to all commercial cat foods.
Cooking meat destroys the taurine. Cats cannot produce this amino acid in their bodies. Dogs and humans can. That's why cats should not have a diet of dog food. Taurine is not added to commercial dog food because dogs don't need it added.
Cats get very sick on a diet that does not include meat protein. Please respect the process of evolution, whether you feel God has anything to do with it or not. Even if you are a creationist, God created predators to balance out the animal population of His world. Predators cull herds of their prey animals, weeding out the sick and/or diseased, the very old. They also take out newborns and the herd is able to maintain its viability because they are still many healthy adults who can reproduce.
2006-08-21 01:38:03 · answer #3 · answered by old cat lady 7 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Cats can NOT be on a strict diet like that. Although it is POSSIBLE for them to be healthy on a veggie or vegan diet it is very hard and usually very expensive. Cats are carnivores and need meat..... if not meat, lots of protein. They are in no way omnivorous and they desperately need meat. If you are considering (or are already) feeding a diet devoid of protein you will have a very sick cat indeed (although I don't know about blindness exactly)... like I said, veggie or vegan diets are possible for cats, but truley are not recommended. If your cats were out hunting for food, they would be eating birds and rodents, not fruits and veggies.
http://cats.about.com/mpboards.htm
http://www.thecatsite.com/forums/
http://www.catchat.org/forum.html
2006-08-21 00:32:22 · answer #4 · answered by moosh_moosh_smoosh 2 · 3⤊ 0⤋
Cats (unlike dogs) are TRUE carnivours - they need a good meat source...
unfortunatly most food sold in grocery stores and wal marts do not have an adequate meat source so the pets have to eat alot of food to get nutrition.. I dont know how much would make the difference for blindness but there are other problems like obesity from eating fillers and not proper nutrition...
2006-08-21 00:30:50 · answer #5 · answered by CF_ 7 · 3⤊ 0⤋
I don't know about blindness, but cats are carnivores and will get sick if their diet is mostly grains and vegetables.
2006-08-21 00:30:39 · answer #6 · answered by The First Dragon 7 · 3⤊ 0⤋
Cats can go blind no matter what the diet.
2006-08-21 00:29:47 · answer #7 · answered by haha 4 · 1⤊ 2⤋
Yes.
2006-08-21 00:43:43 · answer #8 · answered by Flea© 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Hold on now! PLEASE tell me you're joking! Cats don't have those claws and fangs to eat vegetables! They are natural MEAT eaters.
2006-08-21 00:30:49 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 3⤊ 0⤋