Do you own a cat and what do you feed it?

Question

I know a vegan is a vegetarian who omits all animal products from their diets.

I'm asking because I am curious since you don't believe in eating meat would you impose the same beliefs on your cat?

Every once in a while in the Pets section people ask how can I make my cat eat like a vegetarian/vegan.

Cats are obligate carnivores - that is, their digestive system is totally unsuited to break down the cell walls to release the nutrients in vegetable foods.
Food will only remain in their system for a couple of hours, as compared with about 24 hours for omnivores like ourselves or days as in most herbivores. They are adapted to eat relatively small amounts of highly digestible, energy-dense food, with an optimal level of vitamins, minerals and micronutrients. Proteins derived from vegetables are much less easily digested, lack many of the vitamins, minerals and micronutrients that are necessary for complete absorbtion and must be consumed in much greater quantities to obtain sufficient energy for healthy functioning.

Humans, whose need for high-quality protein is far less than those of cats, have a difficult time remaining optimally nourished on a solely vegetable-derived diet, and must pay particular care with food types, quantities and combinations, as well as take a variety of supplements, to avoid becoming malnourished or suffering from various deficiencies.

I find it highly unlikely that any vegan diet could supply all the nutrients a cat needs to thrive.
While I can appreciate the philosophical stance that can lead to a human's eschewing all animal-derived products, and recognise that they have a perfect right to opt for this for themselves, it can only be regarded as cruelty, and ultimately abusive, to force a cat to follow such practices. They need meat not just for the protein, but for all the other factors that are found in it, for its concentrated energy and for its speed of digestion. For a cat, plant-derived foods are simply not good enough.

Answer 1

It's a mixed question of morality and also of what is needed to survive. Humans no longer need to feed off animals to survive-that is, they are able to function quite nicely-and perhaps in better health-as vegitarians or vegans, and there is enough of a surplus of vegetarian foods to keep humans healthy and alive. With humans the only question whether or not to eat meat is a question of morality.
Cats, along with several other animals, are simply not created to function on vegetables and fruits alone. I feed my cats pet food that contains several meat products-in fact, it is flavored by chicken, and the flavor they had when they were kittens was a salmon flavor. When my parents have salmon at the table (yes, I am the only vegetarian in my house) I ask for the leftovers to be given to my cats. With them, the question is of survival rather than morality.
Also, cats do not abuse animals in order to eat them like humans do. The animal they eat will be perfectly healthy and happy and then-snap-it's somebody's dinner. They do not torture and raise them specifically to be eaten, they just find them and eat them. There is nothing morally wrong with them eating animals, then, because they can't function without meat, and they don't torture the meat.

Answer 2

You're right, it would be cruel and not right to make a cat switch to a vegetarian/vegan diet. In fact, I read somewhere from another answerer on here that cats can go blind if forced to switch to a vegetarian diet. I'm a vegan and do not own a cat because I can't really afford it and already have a dog. (Dogs can be healthy vegetarians though because they're omnivores) But if I were to ever own a cat, I'd give it the food it needs to be healthy. Any pet owner should give their pet what it needs to live a healthy life even if their pets diet isn't something that they'd eat themselves.

One positive thing that can be said, if you can consider this positive, is that most meat that goes in to pet food is the least wanted meat of the animal so the animal would have already been slaughtered anyway for human consumption.

Answer 3

I had a friend whos wife would not bring non kosher foods into the house and made all the food for their 2 cats, cats as stated cannot live on a veggie diet, but like dogs can digest certain vegetables, I made my own as it was easier when I made my weekly meals, there are supplements for cats at the Pet stores, not all they need, but even cod liver oil and halibut liver oil tablets added to a half and half diet will help them digest and not get the kidney problems that someone if they due to the ethical issues refused to serve there cat a meat diet, if that the case then let them out and forage the neighbourhood, but that is just cruel and dangerous, I never let mine out unless they are on a leash and with in viewing distance.

Dogs were first a herbivore before being domesticated, like bears they only add meat and fish to get ready for hibernation.

Answer 4

I live with a cat (nobody really "owns" a cat), and I feed her a premium brand cat food called Weruva that I discovered at a high-end pet store. She was 10 when I went veg (and I'd lived with her for 7 years), and I thought it was wrong to make such a radical change in an older cat. Plus, cats need meat to survive. Humans don't.

That said, she shows quite an interest in my food, especially potatoes. She likes bits of potatoes I give her and once gobbled a french fry I dropped on the floor. She also used to like licking the bowl I eat soy ice cream from.

Answer 5

I fed him Meow Mix Selects. He likes the beef a lot more then the chicken or fish. Buy the mix boxes to see which one you r cat likes. Remember, just because you feel you need to be a Vegan doesn't mean your cat has to be. You might as well get a bird or a hamster. MY cat also likes marshmellows. Feed him some veggies every now and then to see if he will eat them. I had a cat that LOVED green beans and rice. Go figure cats.

Answer 6

I have 3 dogs, and I don't impose my diet on them. They are animals, and they need meat in their diet in order to be healthy; I, on the other hand, do not need meat. It's as simple as that to me, but I respect that some people have different points of view.

I do, however, only feed my dogs food that is made by companies that do not test their products on animals. Iams is the biggest offender, but there are many others. For anyone who is interested, here's a link to a list of pet foods that are not tested on laboratory animals. http://www.iamscruelty.com/notTested.asp

Answer 7

I feed mine Friskies canned cat food sprinkled liberally with dry cat food on top. They seem to like it that way. I don't feed them the wet cat food without it as it seems to cause them to have diarrhea. They have the opposite problem if I feed them only the dry food. This way there is a balance. And Kitty143 is right. They are carnivores by nature. It would be crueler to the cat, and not healthy, for you not to feed it meat.

Answer 8

I feed mine Innova Evo. It doesn't have any fillers and all the meat comes from open range farmers and not large commercial factories. I've actually seen one of the farms for Purina and it's disgusting. It was a farm and slaughterhouse in one and the animals lived knee deep in feces and the building looked very unsanitary. The worst thing was they would ship steaks to a grocery store that distributed them but you could sit outside the fence and watch them fall from a conveyor belt on the second story window into a rusty old truck with the grocery store logo. No freezers or anything. In the mornings you could smell the defuring chemicals for miles and it would make me sick to my stomach. I have seen a few open range farmers in North Carolina and while I don't agree with killing them for our consumption they are the only ones I would allow my animals to eat meat from. The old man that I spoke with said they don't use bolts or shock techiques but simply sedate them with gas like they use in the dentists office and then immediately slaughter them. It was horrifying all the same but more humane that what goes on in commercial factories.

Answer 9

You are right, cats will go blind if fed a vegetarian diet. They will also go blind if fed dog food, which has a higher proportion of vegetables and grains to meat.

I have a cat who lives at home with my dad and grandma now, but we always fed him cat food even though we are a family of vegetarians. He would also eat tofu and morningstar chik patties, but only when we gave into his begging lol. He also enjoys bites of mac and cheese.

Answer 10

i am a vegan and i dont own a cat, but if i did i would buy it cat food that contains meat. cats need to have meat, and if your going to have an animal you would need to feed it properly. humans are able to live with out animal derived products but cats don't have that choice.