Scratchings-and-Sniffings

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Can My Cat be a Vegetarian or even Vegan? Posted: 23 Sep 2009 07:18 AM PDT The short answer is maybe. The long answer follows.  This came up last night as we entertained our vegan friend, Alicia. We cooked up some yummy tofu, green bean and carrot stir fry with brown rice. Chris made a cheesecake, too, and I was happy to hear that Alicia couldn't eat any of it because it had eggs and dairy product in it. More for me. In fact, I just had some for lunch.   Alicia is not opposed to eating animal tissue from a health perspective. Her problem is more about animal cruelty. As a former vet tech and animal lover she is not convinced that any animal can be raised and processed for food in a humane way. Slaughter is by definition cruel in her mind and I can't say that I disagree with her. I've been to a "meat processing" facility. I do eat meat myself, mostly ground chicken and turkey. I avoid cow because I think, in some instances, cows do more damage to mother earth than any other critter except us.    As we've discussed, cats are obligate carnivores. That means that they have to have certain nutrients supplied by animal tissue. The amino acid taurine is required by cats and meat is rich in taurine. Cats also need the essential fatty acid arachidonic acid and again animal tissue, primarily meat, is the best source. In addition, certain vitamins like preformed vitamin A, niacin, B-12 and thiamine are required by cats and are best supplied by animal tissue. Cats also have high protein requirements and it can be tough to get up to the levels cats need with veggies alone.   Another potential complication is Feline Lower Urinary Tract Disease. The cat's natural diet is rich in meat and high in sulfur containing amino acids. These types of amino acids help keep a cat's urine pH in the healthy range. A veggie based diet tends to produce an alkaline urine which can help set up the conditions in which certain stones can form leading to potentially serious problems. All that being said, there are commercially prepared vegan diets available. I went to the website of one of these companies and it looks like they have incorporated most of the ingredients that cats require in some other form. They state that thousands of cats are maintained successfully on these diets.   I did not agree with the discredited scare tactics they employed to sell their products over other commercially available cat foods.   I do know that a study published in the AVMA Journal (American Veterinary Medical Association) in 2004 demonstrated nutrient deficiencies in two vegan cat diets tested. Those results were questioned by the makers of these products. Another study done by a vet student at the University of Pennsylvania Veterinary College did not find taurine deficiencies in cats fed a balanced vegan diet. I'd like to see more research in this area by a third party.   For my money I'd defer to the cat on this one.   It's one thing for a human to eat based on conscience and for us there are many healthy options. After all we are omnivores. Cats are not and they have evolved over time as carnivores for a reason. Jumping through so many nutritional hoops with this and that supplement seems a lot less natural for the cat. I was also somewhat surprised to read that The Vegetarian Society recommends against feeding cats vegetarian diets. They listed precisely the same concerns that I have.   One suggestion they had was to get a dog. They can exist on veggie diets. I wonder how many cat people would take that suggestion. Not too many, I bet.

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