Vegan Kittens

PokemonResrcher said:

Thank you for the advice @Molly92 and @Tsukiyomi, I just wanted to make sure I was making the right decision. We live in the Boston area, I will try to call tomorrow morning but I'm not sure if they're open, so Monday the latest. I will also keep posting what happens on here. Again, much appreciated

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Were you able to call them?

If the OP called the MSPCA Law Enforcement, they were closed yesterday due to the President's Day holiday. I hope OP left a voicemail message or will call them back today. A complaint can be filed by email as well. The link is here https://www.mspca.org/cruelty-prevention/ right under the top paragraph.

I hope someone will take the cats away from that roommate and give them a home where they will be properly cared for.

Ginny said:

 
I'm hoping to hear a response from the OP too.  I'm also wondering how these pics of the kittens were taken if there is no access to them.  

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Pardon my response.  I re-read the OP and saw where she said 90% of the time the cats are locked up.  My apologies. 

I'm thinking about the kittens and hoping that they have been rescued.

I know.  Me too.  This is one of those things that just chaps my nether regions every time I hear about it.  I grew up with cats and dogs, but before I got my first rat, I spent weeks reading up on their care and feeding.  I knew what they needed and could not tolerate before I ever went shopping for one.  I wish people would take the time to learn about ANY animal they are thinking about bringing into their homes. 

I've been wondering about this, too. I hope something positive has happened.

It gives vegetarians a bad name when some are so harmfully radical in their beliefs. It's one thing to feed vegan or vegetarian commercial kibble (which I still don't agree with and would never recommend or practice), but an unsupplemented whole food vegan diet is a sure way to kill a cat and it probably won't take long either.

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Crazy4Strays said:

 
It gives vegetarians a bad name when some are so harmfully radical in their beliefs. It's one thing to feed vegan or vegetarian commercial kibble (which I still don't agree with and would never recommend or practice), but an unsupplemented whole food vegan diet is a sure way to kill a cat and it probably won't take long either.

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The thing that kills me about this is that we're dealing with a biological fact that, by nature, does not have a moral element to it. Cats are carnivores. It isn't a morally-informed lifestyle choice, it's just reality. They evolved that way, and they fill an ecological niche.

OP's roommate is trying to impose not only human morals onto the existence of cats, but her own very narrow moral and ethical code. Which, by the way, are morals usually found among idealistic college kids and 20-somethings, beliefs that usually soften over time as idealism collides with reality. I'm not saying veganism is a bad thing, but the hard-liners are usually the kids.

Could you imagine if, say, a Muslim cat owner made his/her cat "fast" during Ramadan? Or a Catholic cat owner forcing a cat to fast during Lent and Good Friday?

P plan , I work with folks from different countries and a lot of these folks are vegetarian for religious reasons. Out of curiosity, I asked them if they had a pet (cat or dog) would they feed it vegetarian also. They thought that was absolutely absurd, because cats and dogs are supposed to eat meat.

I don't get why people that are doing this for other reasons feel the need to impose it on their critters.

They do sell vegetarian dog kibble in India, because so many people in india are vegetarian for religious reasons. It's even made by Pedigree! Pedigree doesn't sell vegetarian kibble in the US. I don't know if they offer vegetarian cat food too.

Anyway, no, imposing human dietary preferences on pets is not cool. They need to be fed a species-appropriate diet, no matter what that is for that species. Not that most pet owners put a lot of thought into picking a food, other than "what's cheapest at the grocery store" :/.

Your roommate is being cruel and neglectful to those kittens, who should be taken away from the roommate immediately.  Cats are obligate carnivores.  That means that, more than most other species on our planet, they need meat.  People can be vegetarian or vegan and that is great.  But cats fed vegetarian/vegan diets will develop severe medical problems such as blindness, heart problems, etc., and will likely die.  This can't be allowed to happen. 

You are absolutely right.  They need to be removed from the person's influence at once.

I know this is an old thread, but I was prompted to look up "vegan" when I was looking for new food for my cats, and noticed a couple of highly respected purveyors offering it.  My first reaction was utter astonishment, my second was to come here and try to find out why anyone would even think of trying to make a cat (or a dog, or a ferret) eat a vegan diet.

I would love to know what happened to the OP, her idiot roommate, and those poor cats.  I hope they have been taken from her, and that she did not get more to replace them.  I also hope, contrary to some of the suggestions here, that she did not get a naturally vegan pet or volunteer at a shelter with cats.  Anyone who is capable of such willful ignorance as to what a cat needs doesn't need to be anywhere near one, and if she is willing to impose her sense of morality about diet on a cat, there is no way to know that she won't do something similar to another kind of animal whose needs meet with her disapproval.  In her current state of mind, she should not be allowed to have a pet, nor should she be trusted to care for shelter pets.  That probably sounds harsh, but this isn't about veganism and it isn't about cats.  It's about control, at a deeply dysfunctional level..  This...person...needs help.  God forbid she should ever have a child.

You're so correct, and I would not want to know the outcome, because it has to be very bad, unless the cats found their way to safe haven somehow with someone who knows at least the basics of cats' needs.

Can you please provide us with an update? I'm sure we are all worried. I'm still sick to my stomach after reading this

I hope the kittens have been rescued from this miserable situation!

I second yogakitty , those poor things. I really hope they got help.

I'm a veggie myself and feed my cats the best grain free food I can afford. That woman cannot call herself a vegan after torturing her cats like that.

Since this thread has been bumped, it's probably as appropriate a place as any to note: PETA actually recommends cat owners put their cats on vegan diets. That's insane. They have pages on their site dedicated to helping people adjust their cats to a "vegan lifestyle" and insisting science is on their side about the viability of a vegan diet for obligate carnivores. Those poor cats, they're probably getting fed the equivalent of Boca burgers. (Which I like, as a human, but obviously I do not think they are in any way appropriate for cats.)

FWIW I was seriously thinking about applying for a PR/communications job there, thinking I might be able to do some good as an animal lover with communications and media expertise, but the job application specified that they want a vegan for the position.

What the hell? I mean, I'm a vegetarian. That's not enough? You have to be a vegan too? And also, doesn't that run afoul of anti-discrimination laws? I was really surprised to see that. Needless to say I did not apply.

Just like their impossibly high standards for TNR, maybe this recommendation is another way for PETA to say, without saying it, that they don't like cats. Not very ethical in my opinion. 

This reminds me of the one time I contacted PETA for advice - before I knew better of course - about my neighborhood banning all bird feeding.  This was because one of the elderly ladies here who has a morbid fear of animals spotted a raccoon once. (So why does she choose to live in the woods??)  PETA actually gave some sound advice.  At first, that is.  They said it's not good to create an artificial environment for the birds and make them dependent on feedings if that can't be kept up, and where multiple people live who might not all share the same love for creatures and might harm the birds. Plus being close to buildings and cars there's more risk of being killed, etc, etc...

But then they said the only time they'd recommend feeding birds is in an emergency situation, i.e. during a blizzard.

 

The crazy always comes out sooner or later, lol.  

That organization advocates eradicating feral cats, btw.  And they are on record as having killed almost every one of the animals they have collected from trusting and caring people, after promising to find good homes for them.  The head of that organization is allegedly very fond of killing animals.  Why anyone would support them is beyond me.  They thrive on roping in the gullible and the ignorant, using D-List  has-been "celebrities" and in-your-face campaigns that offend far more people than they actually help.  All of this has been known for years in the humane community, especially the cat advocacy community.  If you don't believe any of this, research it.  It is all very well documented.

I hate PETA. I know it's a strong work. But they make animal lovers look like psychos and give people who really do want to make a positive change, a very bad name. Unfortunately, they are so well known, most people who don't know any better automatically associate a vegetarian or vegan with them. Gross. They don't know their head from their ass. The "founder" is completely against animal testing. Yet when she was asked about taking insulin for her medical condition that was tested on animals, she said it was a necessity to keep her alive to do good for the animals lol. But if it meant saving a human life in another circumstance, she said there were no excuses to using drugs tested on animals. Wow. Just. Wow. I'm against animal testing too...I think it's disturbing and there are alternative methods....but if you're going to try and force your beliefs on someone, you better follow what you preach! Crazy PETA.