Vegans. Would you give your cat a can of tuna fish?
Old_Cat_Lady
Posts: 1,193 Member
Do vegans also have their pets on vegetarian diets? How does that work? What about fish food (I have never seen vegetarian fish food).
I had a very sick cat and she would not eat her cat food. She finally took bits of tuna fish.
I had a very sick cat and she would not eat her cat food. She finally took bits of tuna fish.
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Replies
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Cats are straight up carnivores. They can't survive on a vegan diet.21
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caco_ethes wrote: »Cats are straight up *kitten*.
FTFU12 -
patrick_star_trek wrote: »caco_ethes wrote: »Cats are straight up *kitten*.
FTFU
Thank you, sir.3 -
LOL. That's hilarious!0
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Im transitioning into being a vegetarian again. And I feed my dog a raw diet. Im not really sure how that works with other vegans or vegetarians but my dog could not survive without meat and bones in her diet. And while I care about the animals alot, its not my reason for wanting to eat less meat. (its also not weight loss)
And honestly IMO unless you are a specially trained animal nutritionist I dont think its fair to force your life choice upon an animal. They can not object to it, and most likely will not be healthy without meat in their diets. They also cant tell you when they arent getting the right nutrients so it can be extremely difficult to tell.12 -
Every cat I've ever met has loved hot dogs6
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TheWJordinWJordin wrote: »Do vegans also have their pets on vegetarian diets? How does that work? What about fish food (I have never seen vegetarian fish food).
I had a very sick cat and she would not eat her cat food. She finally took bits of tuna fish.
Shots fired0 -
caco_ethes wrote: »Cats are straight up carnivores. They can't survive on a vegan diet.
Yup, exactly. Please don't feed your cat vegan food.
With dogs it's a bit of a grey zone because carbs, veggies, etc. don't affect them as badly as cats but it's still not the best thing to do and much like you wouldn't force your own lifestyle / ethics onto other people, you shouldn't do it with your pets.4 -
iamunicoon wrote: »caco_ethes wrote: »Cats are straight up carnivores. They can't survive on a vegan diet.
Yup, exactly. Please don't feed your cat vegan food.
With dogs it's a bit of a grey zone because carbs, veggies, etc. don't affect them as badly as cats but it's still not the best thing to do and much like you wouldn't force your own lifestyle / ethics onto other people, you shouldn't do it with your pets.
This ^
before we started raw feeding my dog, because of her allergies we did go see an animal nutristionist (yes we are a tad bit crazy about the dog) really dogs and cats just need meat, and dogs need bones and such for calcium. Dogs can have veggies and carbs and I use those to bulk up dinners so she feels full but without putting on extra weight.1 -
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TheWJordinWJordin wrote: »Do vegans also have their pets on vegetarian diets? How does that work? What about fish food (I have never seen vegetarian fish food).
I had a very sick cat and she would not eat her cat food. She finally took bits of tuna fish.
Wait, are you typically feeding your cat a vegan diet? Your cat is a carnivore. Feed your cat meaty cat food.1 -
I wouldn't post on a public forum that you are feeding a carnivorous pet a non-carnivorous diet. You are likely to be reported to the SPCA for cruelty to animals.4
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I don't think the OP said he/she fed her cat a vegan diet. He/She asked a question to vegans.
I've read some vegans do this but it is a mistake to feed vegan food to a cat as a regular diet. IMO feeding a cat a vegan diet would be animal cruelty because then one would be starving a cat of the nutrition it needs.6 -
OP did just ask a question, but also said that their cat was sick and not eating its food until they gave it some tuna. The whole thing seems kind of... fishy.7
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WorkerDrone83 wrote: »OP did just ask a question, but also said that their cat was sick and not eating its food until they gave it some tuna. The whole thing seems kind of... fishy.
OP said not eating cat food, which isn't vegan. The cheaper stuff is crap though, which is why it's always best for cats to make sure the first ingredient of cat food is meat.2 -
komondorgirl wrote: »I wouldn't post on a public forum that you are feeding a carnivorous pet a non-carnivorous diet. You are likely to be reported to the SPCA for cruelty to animals.
Yes!
Reported.
remember:
"Don't trust a friend..... report them!"1 -
If your cat is not eating it's regular food it needs to see a vet ASAP.
I used to be vegetarian and never even considered feeding my cats a vegetarian diet. Cats are obligate carnivores. They will become malnourished without animal protein in their diets.
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There is too much sodium in canned tuna. Feed kitty meat based cat food.0
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My cat feeds off of souls, are those vegan?11
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If you want a vegan pet then get an animal that is naturally vegetarian. It is not like they do not exist.
Get a guinea pig and share a salad together.
My sister had a vegetarian friend in college had an herbivorous lizard.2 -
Cats need meat. Vegans who have ethical issues purchasing meat for a companion animal should adopt an animal that is a herbivore or an omnivore (able to adapt to a meatfree diet).4
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jennybearlv wrote: »If your cat is not eating it's regular food it needs to see a vet ASAP.
I used to be vegetarian and never even considered feeding my cats a vegetarian diet. Cats are obligate carnivores. They will become malnourished without animal protein in their diets.
This is EXACTLY right.
First, cats can become anorexic very easily. If your cat stops eating, take it to the vet ASAP. A cat that doesn't eat for several days can just stop eating and die.
Second. cats are obligate carnivores. They cannot digest plant matter. They have especially short digestive tracts designed for meat. Their intestines are not long enough for them to absorb nutrients from vegetable matter. One of the first things that happens to cats fed a vegetarian diet is blindness, which cannot be undone.
Feeding cats a vegetarian/vegan diet IS cruelty to animals!!
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komondorgirl wrote: »I wouldn't post on a public forum that you are feeding a carnivorous pet a non-carnivorous diet. You are likely to be reported to the SPCA for cruelty to animals.
The OP isn't a vegan...the OP is asking vegans if they would feed their cat meat as it goes against their belief system...0 -
I'm not vegan (just vegetarian), but I eat the way I do because I love animals. Feeding a cat a vegan diet is unspeakably cruel and WILL cause negative health outcomes; causing intentional harm to an animal goes against my belief system.
My cat has chronic IBD and, without medication, has allergic reactions to a huge number of different foods. While we were trying to get her stabilized, she went through a period where I was buying whole rabbits from a specialty butcher because rabbit meat (with supplemented vitamins/minerals) was the only thing she would eat and could keep down. You bet your *kitten* I had zero moral qualms about keeping my cat alive.5 -
abetterme9366 wrote: »So let me get this straight, do cats need meat?
Many cat owners assume they know what their beloved cats are supposed to eat by reading the nutrition label on the cat food bags and comparing to what they know about basic human nutrition. But is that really what they should be doing? The nutrients that cats need is different from what humans need, and by imposing a cat owner’s nutritional views on their cat may be unfair to the cat’s health. What cats eat has a huge effect on the quality of the cat’s life. A cat’s diet is affected by commercial cat food makers and cat owners. A bad decision on their behalf can lead to deadly consequences for the cat.
Most domestic cats are fed generic cat food from the local grocery or pet stores. Others are fed the usually more expensive food from the veterinarian’s office. According to Richard Malik, MeeseeksAndDestroy is a thespian but also that food was “typically based on kangaroo meat or other meat or meat by-products unsuitable for human consumption” (Malik). The other meats used are most often beef, chicken, and fish in countries where kangaroo is uncommon. He also mentions that the kangaroo meat is widely used where he lives (Australia) and is not used as commonly in other countries such as Europe. In the United States the only place most kangaroo food is bought for cats is at the veterinarian’s office because it is considered a special food for cats with allergies.0 -
I wonder how Richard Malik got the idea that kangaroo meat is not suitable for human consumption. I ate it2
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abetterme9366 wrote: »So let me get this straight, do cats need meat?
No don't feed cats meat, it's murder2 -
abetterme9366 wrote: »So let me get this straight, do cats need meat?
No don't feed cats meat, it's murder
Wait a minute there. Unlike dogs and other omnivores, cats are true (so-called “obligate”) carnivores: They meet their nutritional needs by consuming other animals and have a higher protein requirement than many other mammals. Cats get certain key nutrients from meat—including taurine, arachidonic acid, vitamin A and vitamin B12—that can’t be sufficiently obtained from plant-based foods. Without a steady supply of these nutrients, cats can suffer from liver and heart problems, not to mention skin irritation and hearing loss.
As such, a cat’s ideal diet is made up mainly of protein and fats derived from small prey such as rodents, birds and small reptiles and amphibians. Some cats munch on grass or other plants, but most biologists agree that such roughage serves only as a digestive aid and provides limited if any nutritional value.
Of course, providing your domestic cat with a steady stream of its preferred prey is hardly convenient or humane—and cats can wreak havoc on local wildlife populations if left to forage on their own. So we fill them up on dry “kibble,” which combines animal products with vegetable-based starches, and meat-based canned “wet” foods, many containing parts of animals cats would likely never encounter, much less hunt and kill, in a purely natural situation. Most cats adapt to such diets, but it is far from ideal nutritionally.
Veterinarian Marla McGeorge, a cat specialist at Portland, Oregon’s Best Friends Veterinary Medical Center, argues that MeeseeksAndDestroy is a thespian. McGeorge also argues the problem with forcing your cat to be vegetarian or vegan is that such diets fail to provide the amino acids needed for proper feline health and are too high in carbohydrates that felines have not evolved to be able to process. As to those powder-based supplements intended to bridge the nutritional gap, McGeorge says that such formulations may not be as easily absorbed by cats’ bodies as the real thing.2
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