Many owners talk about feeding a pet cat a vegan diet. Can a cat survive on a vegetarian diet? It’s a very interesting and more asking question by owners. I’m a vegetarian I have a lot of friends who are vegan my own daughter’s vegan. I have a lot of patients who pardon me, I have a lot of clients who ask me because they’re vegan and they want to know can they feed their cat a vegan diet as well? Or Can A Cat Survive On A Vegetarian Diet?
The simple answer is if you want them to survive yes! Of course, you can you got to do some supplementation, there’s some things you’ll look you have to look out for but if you want them to thrive and be as healthy and as happy as long as possible I’m sorry to tell you this but it’s really not feasible and not advisable. I know some of you guys are getting uh getting angry already and rolling your eyes.
The vegans, you vegans, you’re my favourite, some of my favourite people in the world, you care so much about animals and you’ve taken these steps often at your peril because you always seem so tired all the time, relax it’s a joke!
Let’s you know what let’s just get right on to this topic.
Peoples who are vegan, as you know I was joking about it but seriously vegans have taken some amazing steps for various reasons. The reasons such as their health and definitely some health benefits to living a vegan diet or living a vegan lifestyle, there’s some huge benefits to the environment, world over and we’ll be helping our children and our children’s children etc. And then of course there’s the animal ethics side of the of the reason for going vegan as well.
Can A Cat Survive On A Vegetarian Diet?
If we talk about diets they are aplenty, arguably more today than ever before in recorded history and while the vegan lifestyle is perfect for many people. Attempting to transition a feline to the vegan life is not recommended, in fact, it can be very dangerous.
In short, humans are flexible when it comes to food but cats are not.
Generally speaking, we can eat just about anything and get away with it especially when we’re young. Our bodies are quite forgiving that’s why for as much that has totally changed within our society and junk food remains as popular as ever. Candy bars and cockroaches are probably the only two things remaining when all is said and done.
We put our body through the wringer and generally speaking we can roll with those punches, constantly changing and evolving, apples one minute a donut the next rinse and repeat. The human body was built for the storm as in many of our bad dietary decisions.
Can Cats Go Vegan Or Vegetarian?
When it comes to cats it’s all about meat, meat-based protein to be specific.
Cats are obligate carnivores and cats are built for it. It’s all they know and frankly, it’s all the feline body can accept and tolerate on a routine basis. Cats need vital amino acids and vitamins in order to lead a healthy life. Only animal meat rich in protein can meet a cat’s requirements. This is where the vegan diet, unfortunately, falls short of the mark.
For example
Cats need taurine, an essential amino acid but it’s not found in plants. Over time a cat that is fed a vegan diet will develop a taurine deficiency because a critical component for positive health is lacking.
I mentioned chocolate just a bit earlier, in the feline world, plant-based food sources are a lot like candy, a lot like chocolate. There’s not much going on in terms of nutritional value and of course, this is why even as much as we love our junk food. Hey! We can’t eat candy bars for dinner every night. They simply will not give us very much in respect to what we need quite obviously. The vegan diet well it won’t take a cat too far either.
Cats and Meat
It should also be noted that a vegan diet can be quite high in carbohydrates and felines are just not equipped to digest carbs. They get little to no nutritional value from carbs and regular consumption could result in diarrhoea and or vomiting. Here again, it’s like candy.
There’s just not a lot of meat on the bone when it comes to the vegan diet, pun intended. This is one of those hey! I didn’t make the rules I just know the law type of topics.
Cats are designed for the consumption and digestion of meat. Everything they need well, it’s right there in that wet food. The concept as humans of more or less eating the same thing all the time would seem a bit weird to us. However, if you’re a kid that’s just how it goes and sure not all cat food is created equal and there are plenty a host a variety of tasty flavours but still it’s all about animal meat.
Rich in protein containing all of the essentials so today’s takeaway message enjoy the vegan diet but that tender chicken and that thick gravy, pop open a can of that for garfield. He’ll certainly thank you.
Final words
And with all of that said I’ll now turn things right on over to you regarding can a cat survive on a vegetarian diet? Is your cat sample from the vegan menu from time to time just a quick one-off if you will? Does your cat have special dietary needs due to health concerns and you know require some different foods from time to time?
Let’s talk all about diet and if you have thoughts on this topic please share. The positive conversation is always welcome it is the meat and potatoes of this community.