I would NEVER feed cat food to my cat - personal opinion

[feralvr]

Please understand I am not trying to judge anyone. FACT: Cats require taurine, only found in meat/protein. Cats are carnivores, require meat/protein. I feel that if someone wants a cat and can't feed them meat/protein (raw or commercial) please don't own a cat. They will become quite ill with many health issues. Now, I don't profess to be a cat nutritionist, but I do know they need meat/protein to be healthy and thrive.

I have always fed commercial diets, but nowadays, there are superior diets to choose from, far superior than many years ago. And some of those diets are as close to raw as you can get without having to feed raw. i.e. Instinct. I don't feed Instinct but use their wet food, good stuff.

 

[demstaraus]

Originally Posted by saitenyo

I'm bolding part of that for emphasis. Being vegetarian is a choice for you, and if you don't want to push that choice on other people, then how is pushing that choice on your cats any better? At least other people have the option to listen to what you have to say and still choose not to follow it, but your cats have no choice but to eat what you give them.

That's what I was trying to say. I can do what I like with my own body, but for them its a different story. What I meant by 'I want to give them the best' was that I know they're meat eaters, but I feel that we could be doing better than the packet food we currently feed them.
Whether that means giving them all raw meat, or some fresh veggies mixed in or what, I don't know yet.
I didn't want to make it sound like I was going to force them into being vegetarian.
As I said, it IS tempting for me to explore a vegetarian diet for the kittens because I am, BUT I also very much understand that they are an entirely different animal. I was trying to express my lack of experience with it and my desire vs. anxiety towards giving them a solely vegetarian diet. I'm not experienced with that. I didn't mean to upset anyone, and I certainly wouldn't change their diet willy nilly! :S

Please know that I absolutely adore my cats, and whilst it was my fault for not making the context of my statement clear, it does hurt when people imply that I shouldn't be keeping them.

I guess I just didn't say it as best as I could.

I am however obligated to thank you for your words as it has given me the opportunity to stand up for myself and clear things up.

 

[saitenyo]

Originally Posted by DemstarAus

That's what I was trying to say. I can do what I like with my own body, but for them its a different story. What I meant by 'I want to give them the best' was that I know they're meat eaters, but I feel that we could be doing better than the packet food we currently feed them.
Whether that means giving them all raw meat, or some fresh veggies mixed in or what, I don't know yet.
I didn't want to make it sound like I was going to force them into being vegetarian.
As I said, it IS tempting for me to explore a vegetarian diet for the kittens because I am, BUT I also very much understand that they are an entirely different animal. I was trying to express my lack of experience with it and my desire vs. anxiety towards giving them a solely vegetarian diet. I'm not experienced with that. I didn't mean to upset anyone, and I certainly wouldn't change their diet willy nilly! :S

Please know that I absolutely adore my cats, and whilst it was my fault for not making the context of my statement clear, it does hurt when people imply that I shouldn't be keeping them.

I guess I just didn't say it as best as I could.

I am however obligated to thank you for your words as it has given me the opportunity to stand up for myself and clear things up.

Ahh I see now. Sorry for misunderstanding! I'm glad you're willing to feed your cats what they need despite your personal dietary reservations.

It can be tough sometimes, I definitely sympathize there. I don't love looking at or smelling my cats' raw food (and the chicken variety has a tendency to be...bloody, blech). But they love it and are doing so well on it, so I'll put up with my discomfort for them.

 

[demstaraus]

Originally Posted by saitenyo

Ahh I see now. Sorry for misunderstanding! I'm glad you're willing to feed your cats what they need despite your personal dietary reservations.

It can be tough sometimes, I definitely sympathize there. I don't love looking at or smelling my cats' raw food (and the chicken variety has a tendency to be...bloody, blech). But they love it and are doing so well on it, so I'll put up with my discomfort for them.

I know, I can't stand the smell of their chicken wings, and even the chicken sachets, but they enjoy it so much!

 

[auntie crazy]

Hi, DemstarAus!

If you'd like to do some research into feline nutrition, you might find the Feline Nutrition Education Society (feline-nutrition.org) a good starting point. Catinfo.org and Catnutrition.org are also chock-full of relevant information.

For anyone who is interested in researching commercial foods, what goes in it, why the Pet Food Industry is basically unregulated (and how we can change that), the latest recalls, etc., you can check out the truthaboutpetfood.com website.

For the record, I stopped feeding commercially-prepared foods to my own cats after the 2007 pet food poisoning. I do, however, still feed commercial grain-free canned foods to my fosters. Just like how we feed our families, what we offer our cats is a very personal choice, and my recommendation is always to offer your furbaby the highest-quality nutrition you can afford that he or she will eat.

Best regards!

AC

 

[planetx]

Hi, another vegetarian here - my cats often turn their noses up at the food I provide and go and catch themselves some tasty mice. There's nothing they like better. And I get to clean up after them.....