Your thoughts on buying non vegan cat food

mrvegan

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What are your thoughts on this? To me it seems quite hypocritical to go out and buy dead animals to feed your cat but I don't know. I've seen 2 vegans (influencers) online who have cats and feed them non vegan food. Hmm. Thoughts?? If I were to get a cat (as a vegan) and feed him/her non vegan food would this make me a total hypocrite?
 
What are your thoughts on this? To me it seems quite hypocritical to go out and buy dead animals to feed your cat but I don't know. I've seen 2 vegans (influencers) online who have cats and feed them non vegan food. Hmm. Thoughts?? If I were to get a cat (as a vegan) and feed him/her non vegan food would this make me a total hypocrite?
How I look at this-
The majority of usual meat based cat foods are not near optimal, in fact they're largely crap. I've defended this as being the by products of human meat consumption, so not really being all that responsible for additional animal deaths
Cats being domestic have no real prey, and if outside do real damage to the birds and small mammals they kill.
Typical cat food is fortified with taurine anyway--does it not contain enough formulated vitamins?
Pros: Cheap.
Cons: Not good nutritionally, but being the norm, it's easier to monitor

Vegan cat food. I don't have any personal experience, or know anyone who does in real life. We do have members who advocate for it, and have vegan cats doing very well. I would suggest looking up those threads, taking them with a grain of salt so to speak, as they can be heated!
It's not a cats 'natural' diet--it needs to be properly mixed in order to ensure the nutrients are bio-available>cats need taurine and vit A preformulated, and other things--I think a certain mix of aminos? or added aminos?
Anyway. What has always concerned was the ability to afford to have them monitored, and the worry of urinary issues, and other ills. I"ve dealt with so many cancers in my own cats, I can no longer use these as excuses. The typical dry and canned food, and I have always bought some pricier foods, are really far from a cats natural diet, and don't offer the proper nutrition

Of course theres all the chemical we live with that have an even greater effect on the small respiratory system of cats. All the off gassing of carper and treated laminate flooring.
 
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I would not call anyone feeding animals meat hypocrites. We do the best we can to provide for the far too many homeless
I would call someone buying an animal from a breeder a hypocrite, at least in any country where there are so many homeless
 
Cats are carnivores. Their digestive system does not work properly with plant based food so in all honesty, I would say that it is cruel to feed them "vegan". If an individual cannot face feeding a cat meat or fish then it is probably better to choose another species as a pet. Dogs can be moved onto a very successful vegetarian diet but I would recommend getting as much professional information as possible. I have a dog and a cat. My dog is fresh food fed - she's has raw meat which I chop up myself (but a local butcher would undoubtedly mince meat for you and you could portion it). My cat has tinned tuna or shellfish. Both have the occasional cooked egg. I wouldn't recommend any of the kibbles or most of the wet pet foods. I was a Medical Biochemist with a friend who worked for one of the pet food companies - she had a lot of knowledge on the health problems relating to these processed foods and described it as feeding your little children on a permanent diet of burgers, fried chicken, pizza ... Ugh. I feed my visiting foxes on raw minced meat but they will also eat fruit and some veggies. Definitely better to work out what you can cope with before you get a pet :)
 
Cats are carnivores. Their digestive system does not work properly with plant based food so in all honesty, I would say that it is cruel to feed them "vegan". If an individual cannot face feeding a cat meat or fish then it is probably better to choose another species as a pet. Dogs can be moved onto a very successful vegetarian diet but I would recommend getting as much professional information as possible. I have a dog and a cat. My dog is fresh food fed - she's has raw meat which I chop up myself (but a local butcher would undoubtedly mince meat for you and you could portion it). My cat has tinned tuna or shellfish. Both have the occasional cooked egg. I wouldn't recommend any of the kibbles or most of the wet pet foods. I was a Medical Biochemist with a friend who worked for one of the pet food companies - she had a lot of knowledge on the health problems relating to these processed foods and described it as feeding your little children on a permanent diet of burgers, fried chicken, pizza ... Ugh. I feed my visiting foxes on raw minced meat but they will also eat fruit and some veggies. Definitely better to work out what you can cope with before you get a pet :)
Tuna and shellfish should only be as rare treats. Not only nutritionally incomplete, and mercury, shellfish can deplete other nutrients.
I researched this when trying to appease a cat who wouldn't eat, and found Trader Joes tuna for cats.
I suppose cooked rabbit and chicken may be the most nutritionally complete foods, but how many vegans would do this for cats? I could not
 
Tuna and shellfish should only be as rare treats. Not only nutritionally incomplete, and mercury, shellfish can deplete other nutrients.
I researched this when trying to appease a cat who wouldn't eat, and found Trader Joes tuna for cats.
I suppose cooked rabbit and chicken may be the most nutritionally complete foods, but how many vegans would do this for cats? I could not
Shellfish indeed should be used as a special treat :) but tuna in spring water, and other fish like cod, haddock etc are fine. I think it is an awful dilemma for a Vegan in accepting that some species are Carnivores end of story. That's why I completely understand the difficulties ... A close friend has been Vegan for thirty years, they have cats, her husband feeds them now but her two sons used to feed them as all rejected the Vegan diet. I am Vegetarian - I do feed my babies but sometimes the smell turns my tummy :(
 
I'm just kinda wondering why vegans choose to get cats when they don't have to, in other words, buy dead animals to feed them (which they clearly need). This is where i believe it seems a bit hypocritical..in a way.
 
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I'm just kinda wondering why vegans choose to get cats when they don't have to, in other words, buy dead animals to feed them (which they clearly need). This is where i believe it seems a bit hypocritical..in a way.
I have a dog and two cats, all of which I had before becoming vegan. I do feel hypocritical. Once they are no longer around, I am unlikely to have another.
I am reading up on vegan pet foods, and I have seen the link here to an Australian brand. I think the dog will be okay, but cats...hmmm.
 
I'm just kinda wondering why vegans choose to get cats when they don't have to, in other words, buy dead animals to feed them (which they clearly need). This is where i believe it seems a bit hypocritical..in a way.
I'm not sure. Naturally-vegan pets are available in shelters, waiting for homes, and the House Rabbit Society advocates for the rabbits who get sold to be Easter presents (and then dropped off at shelters when their owners finally grasp that they can't thrive cooped up in a cage, and have to be watched carefully when they're out in the house because their gnawing can be destructive). Guinea pigs are also vegan, I think- I've never had one. The other commonly-available rodent pets are vegan or nearly so- but they often don't live long enough to need adoption, even with the best care.

I don't think hedgehogs are vegan. I don't know about baby chicks (I don't think they sell these as pets anymore); kind of a rude awakening (very literally) if someone winds up with a male.
 
There are a number of reasons why cats don't do well on a vegan diet, but it all essentially comes down to this: they aren't adapted to it. Feeding a cat a plant-based diet is a lot like feeding a cow a meat-based diet—their digestive system isn't geared to handle it, and they will not thrive on it.
 
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I'm also hoping that a vegan food which is truly adequate for cats (both nutritionally adequate and appealing to them) will be developed. When I had cats, their food usually included some vegan ingredients, yes- but also meat. I saw it as a compromise, and some animal caretakers (both vegan and nonvegan) would probably have disagreed with that.
 
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Our dog seems to enjoy the V-dog vegan dog food from Amazon, and happily chows down on that.

The vegan cat foods I've heard recommended are Ami and Benevo. The Benevo one seems to bear some kind of endorsement from the vegan society.

Problem with it... I read I need to check the cat's urine and stuff every several weeks or several months to check for some type of issue, but I have also heard some cats end up getting healthier on vegan food. I don't even know how I would get a urine sample from him to do this.

I think it's probably a very good thing morally to have these pets on a vegan diet if you can do so in compliance with your local laws and in a way that keeps them healthy.... because the demand for vegan pet foods will probably lead the market forces to develop more vegan options for pets that could greatly reduce animal suffering caused by factory farms.

 
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In a positivist sense that's clearly not vegan;
in a pragmatic sense you still need to properly take care of your animal However you should read up on how to take care of the particular specific animal in question AND ONLY buy of such products that avoid as much of the unnecisary cruelty as possible;
If you want animal of a breed as a companion, ~ then still need to worry about the health of said animal more than non vegans even pretend to[technically], if their are no appropriate substitutes yet you should then buy food that happens to be breed specific. This does not extend to food which isn't appropriate for the breed.

{Not to belinger the point i'd would personally recommend buying at-least some of the vegan option,~ since it shows that their is at-least some demand for the product. or at-least asking if their is some.}
 
I think you're trying to transfer your habits to a cat. If you look at homeless or wild animals, you can hardly find vegan or vegetarian cats, they all eat meat. So, it's your choice. But if you still decide to feed the cat vegan food, it is better to consult with veterinarian.
 
I am curious about this issue. My thought on this is that perhaps ethical vegans should not own cats. I accept people have cats for company, but that is ultimately using an animal for your own benefit. And given the vast scale of negative impacts of the pet food industry, shouldn't vegans avoid owning a cat? If one does own a cat, it seems best to obtain whole animals to feed them, but that doesn't seem practical. We fed our cat (inherited from our parents) on store bought food but it always seemed odd to do so if I chose not to buy store bought meat for myself. Perhaps there are better choices to feed pets if we look around and perhaps in time, some kind of cultured pet food might become generally available?

 
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I am curious about this issue. My thought on this is that perhaps ethical vegans should not own cats. I accept people have cats for company, but that is ultimately using an animal for your own benefit. And given the vast scale of negative impacts of the pet food industry, shouldn't vegans avoid owning a cat? If one does own a cat, it seems best to obtain whole animals to feed them, but that doesn't seem practical. We fed our cat (inherited from our parents) on store bought food but it always seemed odd to do so if I chose not to buy store bought meat for myself. Perhaps there are better choices to feed pets if we look around and perhaps in time, some kind of cultured pet food might become generally available?

I kind of agree that vegans shouldn't own cats or other pets, but then again, lots of domesticated animals are often abandoned and could use rescuing. I would have a hard time not helping an abandoned animal if I were to come across one.

I had my cat before I went vegan, and though I don't like having to buy pet food made with animal products, I don't feel my cat has a choice in its diet in the way that humans do. It does bother me to buy the food, but I feel like changing his diet at this stage of his life would stress him out big-time.

Going forward, I probably won't have any more cats for more reasons than being vegan. I don't have the financial means to afford a cat these days. When I got my Theo, care/food, etc., wasn't so expensive. (He's 17 years old.) Also, I'm getting older and would not want to go before the cat goes.
 
If I were to get a cat (as a vegan) and feed him/her non vegan food would this make me a total hypocrite?

No, what would make you a hypocrite is if you were a vegan yourself for ethical reasons... and then you decide to get a cat and feed them animal products.
 
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