Vegetarian diets for pets put their health at risk and could even be fatal say experts as sales of v

castle cat

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Vegetarian diets for pets put their health at risk and could even be fatal say experts as sales of vegan cat food soar

Sales of meat-free pet foods are increasing by up to 25 per cent a year

But unsuitable vegetarian diets for cats can lead to brain damage or death

In dogs it can also cause heart problems and stunted muscle growth

Report filed by EMINE SINMAZ

I never tried to feed my late Jethro with vegetarian diet. Has anyone tried?

Here’s the link:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...al-say-experts-sales-vegan-cat-food-soar.html    December 13, 2015

Castle Cat (late Jethro's beloved servant)
 

peagreenboat82

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No, I definitely haven't tried a vegetarian or vegan diet for my cats. I'm a vegetarian myself, but humans are omnivores whereas cats are carnivores. I understand why some people try to do this, but I think it's bad for the cats unfortunately.

Thanks for sharing the article!
 

margd

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I told this story in an earlier thread but years ago we adopted a cat who had been raised on a vegetarian diet from some vegetarian friends of ours. She was about a year old and apparently healthy (also pregnant - big shock.). Even though we didn't eat meat ourselves at the time, we fed Poppy Friskies.

When I opened the first can, she went wild, loudly meowing and jumping up on the counter. She wolfed it down and begged for more. It took her a long time to not go bonkers at meal times. Poor baby. She really needed her chicken and turkey.
 

crazy4strays

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Yep! Please, please, please don't feed your cat vegetarian. I'm a vegetarian but my cats get low carb, high meat wet cat food.

The fact that a pet food doesn't immediately kill a pet doesn't prove that it's good for the animal.

Feeding cats vegetarian is as misguided as feeding a meat based diet to a goat or horse!
 

misterwhiskers

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I have a dumb question: if cats can't absorb plant materials in the gut, why are grains in cat food so bad for them? And why is there at least one dry food out there with soybeans in its ingredients, saying it increases the protein in that food? If cat's intestinal tract is incapable of absorbing or even breaking down plant stuffs?
 

LTS3

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 And why is there at least one dry food out there with soybeans in its ingredients, saying it increases the protein in that food?
Plants are a cheap source of protein. The best source of protein for cats is real meat but that can be expensive. So companies add in some meat protein source (usually the lesser quality meals, by products, etc) and then add in the plant proteins to meet minimum AAFCO protein and other requirements.

Don't forget that many pet owners are unaware of what a proper diet for their pet is. Not everyone goes online to Catinfo.org, TCS, etc to read up on the subject. Some rely on the vet to tell them what to feed. Many will buy food based on the cute marketing ads pet food companies make that appeal to a Human's pereception of what a healthy diet is ( Soybeans are great for Humans so it must be great for cats too!
)
 

misterwhiskers

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Thank you.

So when looking for food for my cat--if they are all basically largely indigestible fillers--why are non grains like "pea powder" better than say, corn? Or wheat? Where is rice and potato on the good-bad list?

Right now I'm trying again to get Robin off off corn in his dry. I'm doing this by again trying Goodlife (chicken, dry). Robin really likes his One hairball dry food, though. I'm trying to get him to eat canned, but he needs Sheba portions (he won't eat from an open can no matter what I do), and my stores don't carry it yet. TheGoodlife is corn free, but has other carbs. (Apologies if I'm hijacking thread).
 
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crazy4strays

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All vegetable matter in cat food is basically fillers. Pea powder is a filler, just as corn and wheat are.

I prefer to get wet cat foods that are as close to 100% meat as I can get. In the wild, cats get 5% carbohydrates or less. (mostly contents of their prey's stomach) So my preferred carbohydrate target is 5% or less.
 

lisahe

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Thank you.

So when looking for food for my cat--if they are all basically largely indigestible fillers--why are non grains like "pea powder" better than say, corn? Or wheat? Where is rice and potato on the good-bad list?

Right now I'm trying again to get Robin off off corn in his dry. I'm doing this by again trying Goodlife (chicken, dry). Robin really likes his One hairball dry food, though. I'm trying to get him to eat canned, but he needs Sheba portions (he won't eat from an open can no matter what I do), and my stores don't carry it yet. TheGoodlife is corn free, but has other carbs. (Apologies if I'm hijacking thread).
I agree with @LTS3 about plant-based materials being cheap filler in cat food. And might echo LTS3's mention of catinfo.org: there's even a section about plant-based protein for cats and why it's not good for them.

I don't think any of the plant fillers are good for cats: at best, rice, peas, and potato are just unnecessary carbs, though there can be "at worst" sides to this, too, since one of our cats vomits and gets very gassy if she eats potato. As our vet said, "potato doesn't belong in cat food anyway!" 

After having a cat with IBD, I really wanted to feed our new cats a high-protein (meat protein) wet food diet with low carbs and no grains or carrageenan, to limit their exposure to stuff that might irritate their digestive systems immediately or over time. Our vet, who's a cat specialist, says Siamese (and mixes, which our cats are) tend to have GI troubles so she recommends that kind of diet for Siamese cats anyway. It worked out well that she didn't have to give us "the talk"!
 

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It's very irresponsible, cruel - to impose a vegetarian diet on an obligate carnivore.  We've got little tigers on our hands, in the wild they wouldn't be hunting for potatoes and beans.

Having worked out of the pet retail industry now the past five years, thankfully, I've heard very few stories of cat owners attempting to inflict their dietary vegetarian options on cats, however, I've heard a few horror stories, the last one being that the cat went blind after several weeks of being on a no meat diet, the owner didn't want a blind cat, she gave it up to the shelter and the shelter euthanized the cat.

I have zero tolerance for this kind of thing. If someone feels that strongly about their vegetarianism (and I was a vegetarian for 25 years, up until the past couple of years, I eat fish occasionally), please don't have a cat as a pet, get a rabbit instead. 

When I worked for Natural Balance, I would occasionally meet dog owners who were feeding their dogs NB's vegetarian formula. The dogs looked okay, they were mostly young, under five years old, but  not great, not sure how these dogs were surviving on NB's mostly potato protein and peanut butter their owners would feed them.  The majority of people though who purchased NB's vegetarian dog canned food or kibble were supplementing with NB's meat based formulas and wanted the vegetarian foods for add'l sources of fiber.

I also think the companies that are catering to cat customers who want to force their cats to be vegetarians (posted on another thread, including Wysong) is just beyond reprehensible.
 
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Kat0121

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It's very irresponsible, cruel - to impose a vegetarian diet on an obligate carnivore.  We've got little tigers on our hands, in the wild they wouldn't be hunting for potatoes and beans.

Having worked out of the pet retail industry now the past five years, thankfully, I've heard very few stories of cat owners attempting to inflict their dietary vegetarian options on cats, however, I've heard a few horror stories, the last one being that the cat went blind after several weeks of being on a no meat diet, the owner didn't want a blind cat, she gave it up to the shelter and the shelter euthanized the cat.

I have zero tolerance for this kind of thing. If someone feels that strongly about their vegetarianism (and I was a vegetarian for 25 years, up until the past couple of years, I eat fish occasionally), please don't have a cat as a pet, get a rabbit instead. 

When I worked for Natural Balance, I would occasionally meet dog owners who were feeding their dogs NB's vegetarian formula. The dogs looked okay, they were mostly young, under five years old, but  not great, not sure how these dogs were surviving on NB's mostly potato protein and peanut butter their owners would feed them.  The majority of people though who purchased NB's vegetarian dog canned food or kibble were supplementing with NB's meat based formulas and wanted the vegetarian foods for add'l sources of fiber.

I also think the companies that are catering to cat customers who want to force their cats to be vegetarians (posted on another thread, including Wysong) is just beyond reprehensible.
I couldn't possibly agree with you more. You'd never walk into a zoo and see a lion or a tiger being fed a salad at feeding time. Our cats are just big cats hiding in a little body. People have the right to choose what they want to eat or not eat but our pets rely on us to feed them a diet that is best for their health and well being and vegetarian or vegan diet is the polar opposite of what cats and dogs biological needs are. There is no argument they can give and no excuse that they can come up with that will justify their reprehensible, irresponsible, ignorant and dangerous decision. I also get really upset about the fact that there has to be veterinarians out there who condone this. If I were a vet and someone came to me and said that they were planning to or already were feeding a dog or a cat a vegan or vegetarian diet, they would be read the riot act. I know that many vets aren't as educated about feline nutrition as they could be but they HAVE to know that these animals require a meat based diet. To me, these vets are just as guilty as the irresponsible owners. 

You're right and I said the same thing on the previous thread. If you are unwilling or incapable of feeding your dog or cat a species appropriate diet, don't have one in your home. Get a rabbit or a guinea pig so you will be able to feed them a diet you're comfortable with. Rabbits and guinea pigs are available for adoption in many shelters and rescues and they would love to have a good home. 
 

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Hear, hear!! 


I feel like the extremist vegetarians who insist on feeding their carnivores a vegetarian diet give the rest of us vegetarians a bad name.

My friend who mentioned that she was feeding her cats vegan, was surprised to hear that I was actively looking for meat sources for my cats. She said, "But you're still vegetarian, right?" Shocker of shockers, you know, that I feed my carnivores a species appropriate diet. 
 

What I feed myself is completely irrelevant to how my cats are fed. I can be a vegetarian and not push my beliefs on the members of my household who are not biologically capable of being vegetarian. 
 
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lisamarie12

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I couldn't possibly agree with you more. You'd never walk into a zoo and see a lion or a tiger being fed a salad at feeding time. Our cats are just big cats hiding in a little body. People have the right to choose what they want to eat or not eat but our pets rely on us to feed them a diet that is best for their health and well being and vegetarian or vegan diet is the polar opposite of what cats and dogs biological needs are. There is no argument they can give and no excuse that they can come up with that will justify their reprehensible, irresponsible, ignorant and dangerous decision. I also get really upset about the fact that there has to be veterinarians out there who condone this. If I were a vet and someone came to me and said that they were planning to or already were feeding a dog or a cat a vegan or vegetarian diet, they would be read the riot act. I know that many vets aren't as educated about feline nutrition as they could be but they HAVE to know that these animals require a meat based diet. To me, these vets are just as guilty as the irresponsible owners. 

You're right and I said the same thing on the previous thread. If you are unwilling or incapable of feeding your dog or cat a species appropriate diet, don't have one in your home. Get a rabbit or a guinea pig so you will be able to feed them a diet you're comfortable with. Rabbits and guinea pigs are available for adoption in many shelters and rescues and they would love to have a good home. 
Yeah, it's a topic that really unnerves me, I don't even like to discuss it actually (which is why I just sort of skimmed through the other thread).

We are on the same page - adopt a pet that evolved to eat a vegetarian diet, easy peasy.

I can't imagine any vets recommending this sort of thing for an obligate carnivore, that would be shocking actually, I would hope the AVMA would put them out of practice if that were the case.  

I don't even know how dogs manage on these diets, they aren't obligate carnivores but carnivores nonetheless. Maybe they survive but don't thrive, I don't know ... just the ones that I saw on NB's veg diet didn't look all that healthy to me.

I have read that the future of meat might possibly be in a petri dish (keyword search "meat in a petri dish"). :)
 

lisamarie12

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Hear, hear!! 


I feel like the extremist vegetarians who insist on feeding their carnivores a vegetarian diet give the rest of us vegetarians a bad name.

My friend who mentioned that she was feeding her cats vegan, was surprised to hear that I was actively looking for meat sources for my cats. She said, "But you're still vegetarian, right?" Shocker of shockers, you know, that I feed my carnivores a species appropriate diet. 
 

What I feed myself is completely irrelevant to how my cats are fed. I can be a vegetarian and not push my beliefs on the members of my household who are not biologically capable of being vegetarian. 
Wow .... I have met a few really strict vegetarians, vegans - who actually do homemade raw with their cats, they have zero problem handling meat, putting it through a grinder and feeding it to their cats. 

One woman I met not long ago had two dogs and two cats - she and her husband (both from India and vegetarians) feed NV raw to both their dogs and cats. When I mentioned that the Instinct / canine raw didn't have enough taurine for cats, she said that the other part of the cats diet were whole prey mice and chicks - she orders from Hare Today! So here are these two people raised as vegetarians feeding whole prey diets, in addition to commercial raw. Did she teach me a thing or two, I learned a lot from her.
 
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crazy4strays

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That's great!

Right now, I feed primarily grain free canned, have made some home cooked, tried some commercial raw, and am researching on making homemade raw. Raw is probably actually a little bit easier in some ways, because I hate the smell of meat cooking. With raw, I won't have to smell cooked meat. 
 

detroitcatlady

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It's unbelievable how uneducated or unaware people are about the kind of diets their cats need. Not only do high grain and vegetable-based foods not provide cats with the nutrients they need but they also do not fill them up as long and will constantly be hungry. Cats that eat food with a higher percent of meat protein are usually more content and stay full longer. This is partly why feeding dry food with so many fillers makes cats get overweight, they are hungry all of the time and then people will feed them more.
 

crazy4strays

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Were they feeding the dog version of the NV raw to their cats and supplementing with whole prey? Because I've fed my cats Nature's Variety Instinct raw, but it was the cat version, so I would assume that it was appropriately balanced for a cat.
 

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Were they feeding the dog version of the NV raw to their cats and supplementing with whole prey? Because I've fed my cats Nature's Variety Instinct raw, but it was the cat version, so I would assume that it was appropriately balanced for a cat.
LisaMarie12 explained it:
 
One woman I met not long ago had two dogs and two cats - she and her husband (both from India and vegetarians) feed NV raw to both their dogs and cats. When I mentioned that the Instinct / canine raw didn't have enough taurine for cats, she said that the other part of the cats diet were whole prey mice and chicks - she orders from Hare Today! So here are these two people raised as vegetarians feeding whole prey diets, in addition to commercial raw. Did she teach me a thing or two, I learned a lot from her.
The cats were fed NV raw for dogs and also fed whole prey.

The NV raw for cats is a complete diet, with taurine and everything else a cat needs.

There are plenty of vegetarians / vegans out there who understand that cats need meat and have no problem at all feeding a commercial brand of "normal" food or even raw.  Then there are the others who may understand what a cat needs in the diet and still insist of feeding a vegetarian diet 
 
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