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The Vegetarian Diet For Cats.
What You'll Need To Know
To Keep Your Cat Healthy

Information Pet Planet USA The Planets Information Station On Pet Care.

The Vegetarian Diet For Cats

Can you feed a cat or dog a vegetarian or "vegan" diet?

Both animals can be fed a vegetarian diet, although neither is a vegan by nature -- dogs are omnivores, and cats are carnivores. While both dogs and cats belong to the class carnivora, this doesn't mean a lot, so does the panda bear which is near vegan.

First some history

Most of us believe that dog's and cat's have been meat eaters from the beginning of time. Hunt and be hunted is the ecological way to strengthen the herbivores by weeding out the sick and the weak, therefore keeping a balance of population. Wolves and wild cats being predators, rely on eating a high protein diet. Their digestive systems are well adapted to breaking down proteins and using them efficiently.

In a pack situation, when a wolf pack, for example, brings down a prey animal, the leaders (Alpha's) who have first crack at eating, don't go for what we might have considered the best parts. Instead, they go for the stomach, where pre-digested grains and grasses can be found. For essential vitamins and minerals, they eat the heart, liver, etc. Thus the natural diet is far more varied. Wild dogs and cats eat not only the meat but also the bones (rich in calcium), the organs, and the intestines containing assorted vegetable matter.

By nature cats and dogs wouldn't eat anything like what is commonly found in a can of pet food either. Special diets must be provided for cats, as they require an amino acid called taurine -- found in the muscles of animals.

Lets take a closer look at what our "purr froect friend" will need in its diet to keep him or her healthy.

Taurine

Synthetic taurine has been developed, and is used in commercial (non vegetarian) cat foods. Vegetarian cats should be fed it as a supplement. Taurine deficiency can result in blindness and even death. The cat's retina slowly degenerates and the cat suffers eye problems and can become irreversibly blind. This condition is called central retinal degeneration (CRD). Cow's milk is a poor source of taurine and there is none in plant foods. The only rich source is meat.

Vitamin A

Cats also require pre-formed vitamin A. Cats cannot utilize the provitamin A of vegetables and therefore require preformed vitamin A (retinol) which occurs only in animal foods. There are only small quantities of vitamin A in eggs and dairy produce. The richest source is liver.

Arachidonic acid

Cats need a dietary source of essential fatty acids which they can then convert into other essential substances. A dietary source of the essential fatty acid, arachidonic acid, is not needed by humans as they can synthesize it from linoleic acid present in vegetable fat. However, cats lack the necessary enzymes to synthesize arachidonic acid and so a dietary source is essential. Fatty tissues and milk contain almost none and only small amounts occur in eggs. Meat is the only major source. Arachidonic acid deficiency takes some time to develop but its effect on the cat is profound.

Vitamin B12

Cat's cannot synthesize their own vitamin B12 and a dietary source is necessary. Vitamin B12 is present only in animal products.

Niacin

Unlike other mammals, cats cannot synthesize useful quantities of this vitamin from protein and therefore require a good dietary supply. Eggs and dairy produce are very poor sources and the niacin in cereals is largely unavailable to cats. A diet based on cereals, milk and eggs will always be deficient in niacin for cats. Meat is a rich source.

Thiamin

Cats are very susceptible to deficiency of this vitamin, which is rapidly destroyed by heat. Eggs and dairy produce are poor sources, wholemeal cereals and pulses are fair sources, meat is a good source.

Protein

Cat's require large amounts of protein in their diet and this can be a problem on a vegetarian diet. Over 25% of a cat's diet should be a protein.

While cats may enjoy certain plant foods, vegetarian diets high in fibre and polyunsaturated fatty acids may be detrimental to a cat's health. High fibre foods can fill the cat's digestive system without providing the necessary nutrients in sufficient concentrations. Excess polyunsaturated fatty acids in vegetable oils can lead to a vitamin E deficiency related illness.

All known vegan cat foods contain these essential ingredients. Ask your vet about changing your pet's diet if concerned.

A lifestyle

Not only is it POSSIBLE to feed most cats and dogs a non-meat diet, many people belive it is also DESIRABLE. Many vegetarians believe buying "normal" pet food is suporting the same meat industry with its attendant cruelty, exploitation, waste, and environmental damage that veganism is so opposed to.

Why should ten horses/cows/chickens/ducks or something have to suffer and die every year just to pets your pet cat/dog?

This is not a matter of "imposing your beliefs" on your pets since you are not forcing them to eat it and you are not stopping them eating local wildlife on their wanderings round the neighborhood.

Also animals don't have morals or beliefs. They do whatever is necessary to survive, with no preference one way or the other about the impact on anything else. We however can make moral/ethical decisions - like the decision to be vegan.

In the wild, surviving may mean "kill something or else starve to death," but if your animal is being fed anyway, this becomes unnecessary. It is also no more unnatural for a pet cat/dog to be eating vegan food than any other food.

Firstly, the domesticated cat/dog bears little resemblance to its wild cousins so we're already in an artificial situation.

Secondly, the whole act of feeding it from a tin (as opposed to letting it find food for itself) is unnatural, so you might as well make the best of it.

Thirdly, the actual contents of the tins of commercial pet food bear no resemblance to what a cat/dog would eat in the wild anyway... Could you imagine your own pet killing horses and cows and going deep sea ocean fishing for tuna?