Vegetarian food for cats: so silly!

[nath 1]

Hi,

I am back to the world of cats, after adopting a female cat in December. I had a male cat before when I was living with my parents as a teenager, 25 years ago.

I guess since I last had this last cat, the cat industry has gone as crazy as for humans. We are far from the days when cat where fed only with food scrapes. Of course, better food is available to them, this helping them to live longer. But the other day, at the animal food store, I saw vegetarian + holistic food for cats. I think this is the silliest thing I have seen in today's consumer market, to make people buy just anything and play with their guilty feelings if they don't feed their cat 'well'.

Since when a cat is a vegetarian???? This animal comes from prehistoric ages as a carnivore and will always be, and needs the proteins from meat!! Of course, they eat some grass from time to time, sometimes to make them vomit, but vegetarian food for cat... It's best to laugh at this

. Reminds me of the famous 'energizer' bracelet sold on tv, or those creams that make cellulite 'melt' on women's hips. And so on! All rubish!

I guess the next thing on the market will be tofu food and snacks for cats and dogs?

Extra-firm tofu please!

What a joke!

N.

 

[arlyn]

I do agree that putting a cat on a vegetarian diet just because you can is awful.
But, there are cats with food allergies often to protein sources, in that situation, it is good that these alternatives are available, even if it isn't an ideal diet.

 

[nath 1]

Hi Arlyn,

Sure, you are right. But the label should say first 'Anti-Allergenic' food, and not insist on the vegetarian properties of it, which then should be secondary to the purpose of the food.

N.

 

[madpiano]

Since when a cat is a vegetarian???? This animal comes from prehistoric ages as a carnivore and will always be, and needs the proteins from meat!!

But then, so are humans....

My cats do like vegetables, especially peas, but I would never think about feeding them a veggie diet.

 

[dawnofsierra]

You're quite right that cats are obligate carnivores and cannot survive on a vegetarian diet.

 

[sheffieldlass]

no i dont think its right to feed meet eating animals on a vegitairan diet, yes add certain veg products to a meat diet but not take the meat out completely.

 

[katiemae1277]

did anyone see that episode of Animal Cops, I think it was New York, where the girl had cats and was trying to feed them rice because she herself was a vegetarian? all the cats were scrawny and ill! They ended up getting her to sign them over.

 

[sibohan2005]

Katiemae,

I saw that episode. It was sad I agree. I don't know if the woman knew any better either. I was happy when they found a better home for her kitties.

Re: the topic, Last time I had Duke (the 25lb cat) into the vet they put him on somthing called Feline RD as a diet food. I don't know what was in it but he basically lost his little kitty will to live. A proper food for a cat needs to have good protien, there are no if, ands of buts about it. I told the vet so. A compleet veggie diet for a cat is no way to live.

 

[bab-ush-niik]

did anyone see that episode of Animal Cops, I think it was New York, where the girl had cats and was trying to feed them rice because she herself was a vegetarian?

I actually watched that one with my roommate, who's veggie. She said most vegetarians realize that not all animals can be (or should be) vegetarian. She doesn't even feed her dog a vegetarian diet, even though dogs can handle it.

If I remember correctly, those cats all had multiple health problems because they only ate rice.

 

[zissou'smom]

There was also an animal control where a woman was so poor that she was mixing cat food into the rice because she couldn't afford feeding them all, I don't think she ate much besides rice either. So sad.

As a vegetarian myself, I know that humans can choose to be vegetarians because we are designed to be omnivores, meaning our bodies process certain non-meat proteins just as well as meat ones, and so we can decide for ourselves not to eat meat. The fact that humans have to eat meat is a myth.

I also know that Zissou has to eat meat because she is an obligate carnivore. I think it would be cruelty to force Zissou to not eat meat, just as it would be to feed a cow meat-only.

 

[laureen227]

Originally Posted by Sibohan2005

Re: the topic, Last time I had Duke (the 25lb cat) into the vet they put him on somthing called Feline RD as a diet food. I don't know what was in it but he basically lost his little kitty will to live. A proper food for a cat needs to have good protien, there are no if, ands of buts about it. I told the vet so. A compleet veggie diet for a cat is no way to live.

i researched that food on the web... here's the dry's ingredient list: \t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t Chicken By-Product Meal, Brewers Rice, Corn Gluten Meal, Powdered Cellulose 18.8% (source of fiber), Chicken Liver Flavor, Soybean Oil, Calcium Sulfate, Potassium Sulfate, Choline Chloride, Vitamin E Supplement, Taurine, Glyceryl Monostearate, Iodized Salt, vitamins (L-Ascorbyl-2-Polyphosphate (source of vitamin C), Vitamin E Supplement, Niacin, Thiamine Mononitrate, Vitamin A Supplement, Calcium Pantothenate, Riboflavin, Biotin, Vitamin B12 Supplement, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Folic Acid, Vitamin D3 Supplement), Potassium Chloride, preserved with BHT, BHA and Ethoxyquin, L-Carnitine, minerals (Ferrous Sulfate, Zinc Oxide, Copper Sulfate, Manganous Oxide, Calcium Iodate, Sodium Selenite), Beta-Carotene.

and the canned: Water, Pork Liver, Pork By-Products, Corn Flour, Powdered Cellulose, Corn Gluten Meal, Chicken Liver Flavor, Soybean Oil, Calcium Sulfate, Dicalcium Phosphate, Calcium Carbonate, Potassium Chloride, Iron Oxide, Taurine, Vitamin E Supplement, Iodized Salt, Choline Chloride, Thiamine Mononitrate, L-Carnitine, Ascorbic Acid (source of vitamin C), Zinc Oxide, Ferrous Sulfate, Beta-Carotene, Niacin, Manganous Oxide, Copper Sulfate, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Calcium Pantothenate, Vitamin B12 Supplement, Riboflavin, Biotin, Vitamin D3 Supplement, Calcium Iodate, Folic Acid, Sodium Selenite.

 

[goldenkitty45]

I agree with you 100%. Its stupid. Cats were not designed to be vegetarians (even if people don't believe in eating meat). If that were the case then somewhere in the world their would be a member of the cat family that was grazing in the field - there isn't.

Remember "its not nice to fool Mother Nature". Let cats be who they are - CARNAVOIRS!

As far as those with allergys - in the wild those cats would not survive. So is it right or wrong to adjust a diet of a cat that has allergies or should Mother Nature take over?

 

[urbantigers]

I agree - and that's from an ex veggie! It's one thing to feed a dog a vegitarian diet - as was mentioned earlier they can handle it - but cats are obligate carnivores and need their meat. Incidentally I was veggie when I first got my cats but would never have dreamed of depriving them of their meat.

 

[katiemae1277]

Originally Posted by bab-ush-niik

If I remember correctly, those cats all had multiple health problems because they only ate rice.

Yes, I believe that one of them was completely blind and another was well on its way because they were missing an important nutrient, not that I can remember what THAT was

 

[arlyn]

Originally Posted by katiemae1277

Yes, I believe that one of them was completely blind and another was well on its way because they were missing an important nutrient, not that I can remember what THAT was

Taurine.

 

[moggiegirl]

I also saw that episode on the animal planet. It was sad. She just didn't know any better. Good thing the animal cop lady stepped in to save the kitties.

Yes, taurine, and it was on that show that I learned that tuna isn't very high in taurine either. A vet had said that. So here is another reason not to feed canned tuna to a cat as a staple.

I believe these vegetarian cat foods are supposed to have taurine as a supplement, how they can obtain it without meat tissues is beyond me. Either way it is entirely unhealthy and against nature not to feed meat to a cat.

 

[arlyn]

They are supplemented, but I would sooner invest in pre-killed frozen mice, rats and rabbits.

As for allergies, if the cat can have a normal life on a veggie diet versus death or being uncomfortable I'd feed it, but only after exhausting all other avenues.

 

[mrsmeowgi]

I'm a vegetarian and I feed my cats meat based foods. I do want Nutro to come out with a free range / organic line though.

 

[mimosa]

I lot of the raw feeders I know are actually vegetarians. Seems most of them do realize what's natural for a cat to eat, even if some of them think meat is gross.

I once got into a discussion with an animal rights activist who was all for vegetarian pet food, and he claimed cats could subsist on a vegetarian diet, there seems to be a kind of powder which contains synthetic stuff like taurine, and you add that to soy, rice, whatever and voila; vegetarian cat food. I asked him if he wanted to eat real foods or live on vitamin pills. In feeding my cats a raw diet I have noticed the way they react to their food, they sneak up on some food items from behind house plants, they throw things in they air like they would do with real prey (to break bones), they can crunch and tear at their food in a way most processed foods make impossible. They seem to get a lot of extra satisfaction from this, it keeps them occupied and cleans their teeth. Food is more than just a bunch of nutrients.

 

[plebayo]

Remember "its not nice to fool Mother Nature". Let cats be who they are - CARNAVOIRS!

As far as those with allergys - in the wild those cats would not survive. So is it right or wrong to adjust a diet of a cat that has allergies or should Mother Nature take over?

Just to point out, we already mess with mother nature when we allow these cats to live in our homes and be dependant upon us feeding them.

My cat has HORRIBLE food allergies, if I were to allow "mother nature" to take care of him, something would eat him after he became a walking skin infection. I'm already playing god by feeding him and letting him live with me, so yeah I'm going to continue to play god in making sure he can live a good life. He's screwed up because we as people mess with genetics, and allow animals to breed together that shouldn't be bred in the first place.

In the wild cats don't live to be 20 either. Cats would never get renal failure because they wouldn't live long enough to.

That's like people who ask horse people who board their horses why their horses can't live on just grass and be outside, and they say "well wild horses can do it." Wild horses don't live to be much older than 8-10 either.
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I think vegetarian diets are stupid, dog and cat food if you think about it is made for PEOPLE not their pets. They want to market it as best they can. Vegetarian foods will appeal to people who don't believe in eating meat, colorful "fun shaped" foods will appeal more to people as well [uneducated people mind you ] pet food really isn't made for pets anymore, at least not the real commercial brands.