7 reasons why your cat cannot be vegetarian
Any vegetarian or vegan who has a cat, at some stage thought about feeding it vegetarian diet. Out of all the domestic animals cats are unique. A study by the National Cancer Institute suggests that all current domestic cats in the world are descendants from a group of self-domesticated wildcats 10,000 years ago. In fact there’s still no conclusive evidence that domestic cats should be classified as a separate species.
Being a true carnivore a cat (domestic or wild) subsists on a diet consisting primarily of meat. In its natural state the cat will hunt and provide for itself at every opportunity. A wild cat eats all of its prey including hair, skin, flesh, bones and internal organs. Cats are very unlikely to give up meat voluntarily. If you intentionally feed cat vegetarian diet, it will look for meat somewhere else. Many cats will hunt and kill mice, rabbits and birds. Certainly they will consume other foods as well, especially of animal origin. However as these are not important in their diet, cats will eat them only in small quantities and not on a regular basis.
Cats lack the physiology to properly digest vegetation. It’s no coincidence that a cat eats grass to induce vomiting to get rid of the hair collected in its stomach. The cat’s digestive system cannot convert plant based nutrients in to the form that its body can utilize. That’s why cat are are called strict carnivores, as they need to take the active form of the nutrients from other animals, who do the conversion beforehand.
Here’s 7 most important nutrients that your cat is unable to get from a vegetarian diet:
- Taurine is an amino acid essential for cats as unlike other mammals, cats cannot synthesize it. In the absence of taurine, a 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.
- Arachidonic acid is one of the essential fatty acids. Dogs and humans can convert linoleic acid found in vegetable fats into arachidonic acid. Cats are unable to do that, as their liver doesn’t contain delta-6-desaturase enzyme (no kidding!). Cats need arachidonic acid to be able to produce an inflammatory response so that the body can protect itself in case of disease. Arachidonic acid also helps control skin growth and is necessary for proper blood clotting, proper functioning of the reproductive and gastrointestinal systems. Animal fat is the only major source of arachidonic acid, very small amount can be found in eggs and milk. Arachidonic acid deficiency takes some time to develop but its effect on the cat is profound.
- Vitamin A found in vegetables (carotenoid) cannot be converted by cats in to the active form of vitamin A (retinol). As cats do not have the necessary enzyme to do the conversion they have to hunt other animals that have done it for them (mice, rabbits). There are sufficient quantities of retinol in meat and very small amounts in eggs and milk. Liver is the richest source of preformed Vitamin A. Vitamin A deficiency in cats can cause night blindness, retarded growth, and poor-quality skin and fur.
- Vitamin B12 is another vitamin that cannot be synthesized by cats. Vitamin B12 is present only in animal products.
- Niacin can be synthesized from the amino acid tryptophan by many mammals but not cats. Meat is the best source of niacin. Insignificant amounts of niacin can be found in milk and eggs. Lack of niacin in cat’s diet can cause loss of appetite, loss of weight, inflamed gums, and hemorrhagic diarrhea.
- Thiamin (vitamin B1) has an important role in carbohydrate metabolism. Cats are very susceptible to deficiency of this vitamin. Thiamin is rapidly destroyed by heat, that’s why only raw meat is the only good source of this nutrient. Very small amount can be obtained from eggs and dairy. Thiamin deficiency in cats can lead to anorexia, ataxia, paralysis and finally permanent brain damage.
- Protein is required by cats in large amounts. Over 30% of a cat’s diet should consist of protein and this can be a problem on a vegetarian diet.
For all these reasons cats must not be fed vegetarian or vegan diet. Cats have very specific nutritional needs which you must meet if you want to keep them fit, healthy, and happy.
You might have to make some hard choices as this is a question of life and death for your cat. It might be impractical or impossible to let your cat hunt, but killing your cat by feeding it food they cannot digest is just another way to participate in animal cruelty that we’re trying to avoid in the first place.
July 15th, 2007 20:16
Vegetarian Blog Carnival #3…
It’s 16 July 2007. Do you know where your Vegetarian Blog Carnival is? Welcome, I’m Mitchell, your host and now on to the Veggie Blog goodness.
Need more reasons to convince your friends and family to go vegan, or at least eat less m…
July 21st, 2007 01:21
Whatever solution I propose would raise quite a few ethical questions.
1. Don’t have a cat. Sometimes it’s not a option. (Not exactly the same but… Should you have children? What if they start eating meat?)
2. Let you cat hunt freely and survive on it’s own. This really depends on where you live, how spoiled your cat is, how fit and healthy it is etc
3. Buy meat for you cat. Stick to something that a cat would catch naturally in the wild, better organic and free range. Variety is very important.
I wouldn’t consider any prepackaged cat food (vegan or not) as an acceptable solution.
So take your pick, mix and match or come up with your own.
July 25th, 2007 17:07
Sorry, but this is bad and inaccurate information!
Please see, for example, Vegecat:
http://www.vegepet.com/forcats.html
Apart from that, there are other major errors… “Vitamin B12 is present only in animal products.” - VERY wrong!
Peter
July 26th, 2007 09:01
Always be wary of the information given by someone who wants to sell you something. There are currently no independent studies on the long term effects of a veg*n diet for cats. Any veg*n cat food is just a mix of vegetable matter with lab synthesized amino-acids, minerals and vitamin. Hardly a good diet for someone you care about. We do not know enough about cat nutrition to experiment with their health. Please do some more research on what cats actually need and why they’re classified as obligate carnivores. This could be a good start
http://www.littlebigcat.com/index.php?action=library&act=show&item=vegetariancats
Vitamin B12 deficiency is very common in vegans for a very good reason. Please have a look at this for example http://www.vegansociety.com/html/food/nutrition/b12/
August 8th, 2007 06:36
I am really suprised at this article, on a vegetarian site especially. It seems the author has some out-dated information here! The 7 nutrients mentioned can all be met sufficiently with a specially formulated vegan diet. Some of these nutrients (taurine and arachidonic acid) are synthesized, and others have been found in vegetable foods, including algae. If you read that back of regular meat cat food you’ll see that it is also supplemented wtih (usually because it’s cheaper) the synthetic forms of taurine etc. This is because the ‘meat’ in most cat food is actually the rubbish - feathers, feet etc. which doesn’t contain as much of these nutrients, and also because the processing at high temperatures depletes these nutrients in the final food. So in this respect feeding a cat a vegan diet is no different to feeding it a meat one. When choosing a vegan food, chose one that meets the AAFCO’s Cat Food Nutrient Profile e.g. Evolution Diet, Vegecat, VeganPet
You mentioned that a cat will go outside and hunt if it isn’t getting meat in it’s diet. Is it not preferable that a cat supplements it’s diet in this way if needed? To catch a bird or mouse that has had a free life, rather than to feed it meat from animals that have been raised in miserable captivity? Our cat has been on a vegan diet for about 2 years now and has only caught one mouse about a year ago which she didn’t eat. She prefers to chase leaves!
August 10th, 2007 19:52
Most of the issues you raised are answered in my previous responses or links.
I am advocating vegetarian diet for humans (omnivorous). I’m against experimenting with health and well being of obligate carnivores as veg*n pet food manufacturers do.
What is essential to understand is that obligate carnivores do not simply supplement their diet with meat, 99% of their diet is meat.
Like it or not, living in the modern world involves some compromises. Hey, why don’t we stop using computers, cars, etc? They’re all made by people who do eat meat from “animals raised in miserable captivity”!
September 17th, 2007 16:27
I found your blog via Google while searching for cat food and your post regarding 7 reasons why your cat cannot be vegetarian looks very interesting for me
September 25th, 2007 22:02
To Petra…
As one that holds a vet. assistant degree you should know the following:
Cats are carnivores…dogs are onmiovores…..there are numerous nutrients and chemicals that cats need that they can only acquire if they eat ANIMAL-derived tissues.
Cats process little or no enzymes that wil break down the plant-produced carotenoids. They need to eat other animals to obtain vitamin A. Dogs on the other hand - have enzymesw in the lining of their intestines that can break down plant carotenoids and convertt these into active vitamin A.
Cats can obrain Niacin only by eating the preformed vitamn.
Cats are extremely sensitive to even a single meal deficient in arginine and are unable to make their own.
Cats must eat preformed taurine and since taurine is not found in plant tissues, cats MUST consume meat to obtain it. (Dogs make their own)…
Cats can NOT make their own arachidonic acid even in the presence of adequate linoleic acid. This is because their liver contains NO delta-6-desaturase enzyme to convert linoleic to arachidonic. Dogs can ake their own A.A. and it is not an essential fatty acid for dogs. Cats NEED to eat meat to satisfy this requirement!
anyways…..just some facts to consider………
January 4th, 2008 15:45
Sylvestre - the cat I rescued on the street eight years ago - will be surprised to know that he is a carnivore (an “obligate” one at that), since during those eight years he has not eaten any meat at all, nor any other animal products. And no, I don’t let him go out to slaughter birds and mice; natural or not, I don’t see how inflicting suffering and death on a sentient being can be a good thing.
He is in good health - despite being FIV+ for at least those eight years. And so are my three other cats. All cats at my home have been vegetarian since 1989; for many years with homemade recipes with the addition of the Veggiecat supplement, and then in the last three years with vegan kibble made by a European firm (Amì, in Italy; there is also Benevo, in the UK).
Yes, there are synthetic vitamins in what I give them, but then so what? There is also a lot of synthetic methionine (an amino acid) in the food given to the animals raised for meat; actually my cats have probably eaten less synthetic nutrients than if they had been brought up on commercial catfood, or even on plain meat.
I get the feeling that you are more a adept of the religion of nature than of ethical living. For someone who does not want to contribute to the suffering and killing in the world, feeding cats (and dogs) a well prepared vegetarian diet is a must!
(And also keeping them out of the garden - for the sake of all the sentient beings there!)
David
January 24th, 2008 16:40
David,
Your really trying to tell me that I ought to keep my cat in the house holed up & to never let him out to do what comes naturally to him??! Is that cruel? Or am I being totally stupid here?
Good god then if this is the case what of all the wild animals “slaughtering” their prey???! Perhaps crocodiles should not eat zzebra, or lions too? What of these. Indeed many wild animals in this country catch & eat rabbits dont they?? Foxes, wheasels, etc etc. We had a feral Cat hav her kittens in our barn. She brought them rabbits, birds, etc to eat. Should I have told her that was wrong? Was she doing something totally unnatural to her? well?
Nicola
February 1st, 2008 10:44
Here are some websites with information about converting your cats to becoming vegan.. It is not easy to make personal decisions about ones own eating habits as well as our pets. Getting as much information as possible is needed to make the best decision possible. This decision can not be based on someones opinion, but on facts. I have spoken to people who have healthy vegan cats. We need not to make some of the comments as are above to eachother, but respect the fact that someone may not actually want to feed their animal what is really in the cat food. I am not saying any of this in a mean way but in an informative way. If it can be done safely and the animal will be healthy well then there is no harm. Only good from a vegan point of view.
http://www.satyamag.com/jan04/difelici.html
http://www.satyamag.com/jan04/gillen.html
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