Pet Nutrition Q & A: Vegan Diet for Cats
A friend of mine who is vegan feeds her cats a vegan diet. Is this safe?―Barbara
At the ASPCA we recognize that there are many quality dietary options for pet parents to choose from, Barbara. However, we do not recommend vegetarian or vegan diets for cats. Cats are true carnivores with unique nutritional needs. They require nutrients that are not available from plant sources. At first, they may appear to be doing satisfactorily on vegetarian or vegan diets, but over time nutritional deficiencies may occur. Even the Vegetarian Society cautions against these diets for cats. When it comes to felines, it really is best to provide a diet that includes meat.
Read more Nutrition Q & As.
At the ASPCA we recognize that there are many quality dietary options for pet parents to choose from, Barbara. However, we do not recommend vegetarian or vegan diets for cats. Cats are true carnivores with unique nutritional needs. They require nutrients that are not available from plant sources. At first, they may appear to be doing satisfactorily on vegetarian or vegan diets, but over time nutritional deficiencies may occur. Even the Vegetarian Society cautions against these diets for cats. When it comes to felines, it really is best to provide a diet that includes meat.
Read more Nutrition Q & As.
posted by ASPCA at 2:58 PM PERMALINK
5 Comments:
Well when it comes to dog or cats .They should be feed very well .And they need alot of vitamins.And they need water chang every day .And also clean food .but i keep my babies food and water chang every day.So every one should. Thank you And God bless you all
I thought that it was ok to feed them the special vegetarian cat food with the added taurine. I was told that it is the taurine which cats get from meat which causes the problems when not fed, but the new vegetarian cat food has this added.
Whether it is ok or not is irrelevant a cat is a carnivore feeding it a vegan diet is stupid. Animals eat other animals it is nature, humans by nature are omnivores. The cat probably catches birds etc anyway So you friend is wasting her time forcing her beleives on a cat.
This person is not forcing their beliefs on their cat, the concept is that if this person would not support the meat industry in his or her own diet why would the person support the meat industry in another creatures diet. There isn't anything inherently wrong with a cat eating a bird but it also would be utter hypocrisy if a person didn't eat meat for themselves but had no qualms purchasing it for others.
If a person's beliefs and conscience dictate not supporting the meat industry in any way, I would then recommend they give their cats to someone who is willing to feed them the diet they need to stay healthy. While there are vets that will work with pet owners to keep their cats on vegan or vegetarian diets I have to wonder if it isn't somewhat motivated by the repeat visits and the supplements they sell in order to keep the cat as healthy as it would be when eating a normal cat's diet.
Post a Comment
<< Home