Vegan diet?

Cats are OBLIGATE carnivores = they eat MEAT and have to in order to be healthy and avoid eye and heart issues...

Dogs are carnivores but not obligate = they Should eat meat

Well, Cats are carnivorous by nature, and need meat in their diet. Their intestinal track is not made to digest vegetables and grains - it is sized appropriately to digest meat.
By feeding a cat a vegan diet, I am afraid you are going to risk your cats health. You are vegan because of your beliefs, but your cats don't share them... What about a compromise? Say feeding raw meat from humane local organic farms? Or feeding game meat?
With all that said.... I did have a cat that was Vegan - by choice. Nobody from my family was vegetarian, and we offered all kinds of food to him with no avail - dry, wet, raw, cooked meats, etc. He would ONLY eat vegetables. He would devour steamed vegetables like nothing I have ever seen. It sounds like a joke, but I swear... He was a very healthy, energetic, lean cat. I don't know how long he lived, as my dad gave him away
I would not recommend a Vegan diet though - it is a physiological question...

You are going to find LOTS of Vegans on here FEEDING a RAW meat diet to their cats...This is a CAT welfare site , ie a MEAT based diet is best for cats as that is what nature intended ...

Adding to that: he was with us for about 5 years, and never had an illness - he only went to the vet for vaccines.

About Sharky's post: She was not debating... She is an expert in feline nutrition, with many many years of experience, and she ws stating a fact. Nobody here will say things just to debate - we love cats, and want what is best for them; including your kitty

taurine, for one. they are unable to manufacture it from vegetable sources, whereas humans can. lack of taurine in the diet can lead to blindness.

If you would like a quick cat nutrition 101 ///

Chicken 91% digestible protein to cat overall 89% digestible overall

Brown rice 50% overall about 50%

Why kitty was designed to eat meat and thus utilizes it far better

You stated humans evolved to eat meat which is true as omnivores , humans are adept to eating all kinds of foods ...
Cats on the other hand are OBLIGATE carnivores meaning they are designed for meat ( ie HIGH protein and Moderate to high fat)... Most cat owners now are even moving away from regular kibble as it is less than optimal in the meat dept ... Taurine is the main issue with a no meat diet , you can supplement it but studies are showing it is not the same as meat


I feed mine almost no grains at all and low veggie matter ... Issues solved by a natural meat diet , cleaner teeth , better coats , smaller feces and no smell to them and far fewer uti and uri s ... this is going from a premium with moderate grains to no grain dry and mostly no grain wet with raw and cooked meat avail

This site is great for researching - here is the reason why they need meat:

"Cats are obligate (strict) carnivores and are very different from dogs in their nutritional needs. What does it mean to be an ‘obligate carnivore’? It means that your cat was built by Mother Nature to get her nutritional needs met by the consumption of a large amount of animal-based proteins (meat) and derives much less nutritional support from plant-based proteins (grains). It means that cats lack specific metabolic (enzymatic) pathways and cannot utilize plant proteins as efficiently as animal proteins.

It is very important to remember that not all proteins are created equal.

Proteins derived from animal tissues have a complete amino acid profile. (Amino acids are the building blocks of proteins. Think of them as pieces of a puzzle.) Plant-based proteins do not contain the full compliment (puzzle pieces) of the critical amino acids required by an obligate carnivore. The quality and composition of a protein (how many puzzle pieces it has) is also referred to as its biological value.

Humans and dogs can take the pieces of the puzzle in the plant protein and, from those, make the missing pieces. Cats cannot do this. This is why humans and dogs can live on a vegetarian diet but cats cannot. (Note that I do not recommend vegetarian diets for dogs.)

Taurine is one of the most important amino acids that is present in meat but is missing from plants. Taurine deficiency will cause blindness and heart problems in cats.

The protein in dry food, which is often heavily plant-based, is not equal in quality to the protein in canned food, which is meat-based. The protein in dry food, therefore, earns a lower biological value score."

actually, i think that was a quote from the site she linked...

Experience you likely wont get as most on here are researching the healthiest and most natural diet to feed( which no matter if you are a die hard kibble feeder all the way to ONLY raw meat involves a good amount of meat ... vegan is not on the map ... Vegan and cat do not = optimal or even life sustaining without help( loads of meat based supplements)...

I would suggest reading this forum ... the answerer is a holistic vet who is VERY well known and respected

http://www.thecatsite.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=60

Well, good luck to you... I really wish you and your kitty well. I just wanted to note that the reason why you didn't get a lot of experience here, pretty much one of the biggest cat sites in the country, if not in the world, with many thousands of members, is that a vegan diet is harmful for cats, and people will not feed it. As Sharky mentioned, lots of Vegan members here feed a raw diet to their kitties, which doing it right, IMO is the best diet possible.
We gave you many different reasons, and don't take me wrong, but I think you are looking for biased information. And you might be able to find it, but it doesn't mean it will be good for your cat.
Please keep an open mind, and try to listen to all sides.
As I said, I did have a vegan cat, by choice, healthy, fit, etc. I can not say how much he lived, but while with me, he was ok. Would I recommend that knowing what I know? No, I wouldn't, and I would also try harder to change his diet if I could go back on time.
Again, good luck!!

50/50 is about a premium grain containing kibble ...

IMHO I would suggest finding a holistic vet to aid you in this venture but that is a doable thing...

what are you currently feeding ?? maybe I can attempt to give you a % off the current diet ...

I have homemade diets( ie cooked meat and veggies / grains ) that came from a book written by a vet ..

not complete but a general idea

1 cup meat
1/2 cup veggies
1/2 cup grains

it is a 50 50 ratio


Yes I feed some raw , homemade , canned and kibble ....

I have saved and given many good yrs to animal s via a raw or homemade diet ... one had Crf and actually had improvement in kidney function via 75% raw and 25% canned to 50 raw 50 canned .... 4 herpes cats with no severe out breaks , allergic gingivitis, aid in controlling epilepsy and cushings

yes good food but $$$... what is in your budget and how many cats are you feeding ?? Do you have access to big box pet stores ?? small mom and pop>>?? feed ??

To reply directly you click on "quote" on the bottom right of the post you want to reply to
Are you open to cooking at home, instead of feeding commercial brands?

Brands to look at

Nutro ( you likely will like the max line as it has more than one grain

Natural balance

Halo

Solid gold

Petsmart Authority

Blue spa ( high veggie and grain )

By nature ( one is organic the other is not ... high grain and veggies )

all are premium foods ... IMHO quality similar to wellness


Needing really affordable look at Purina natural s ... lots of meat , grain and veggies and about 1$ a lb ( wellness here is about 3$ a lb

here, Authority's not much more than that - maybe $1.25 a pound [just got a bag today].

thank you ... so a 16 lb bag is still under 25 ish??

if the coat was not great on NB and better on wellness , look at solid gold and nutro ...

i got a 20 pound bag, for around $26, including 8% sales tax.