RE: Free Range or Vegetarian Cat food

[Guest guest]

Hi everyone,

 

Caity, Congratulations on the new additions to your family!

 

The timing on your question is good though, as its something we've

recently been mulling over. This is a difficult topic... one every

veggie who lives with cats has pondered, I think. I have not looked

into this for awhile, but here's what I do know -

 

There is a book called " Dogs and Cats Go Vegetarian " that you might

find useful. I have not read the book so unfortunately I cannot attest

to it.

 

You might find it at your local library! I thought I had a copy around the

house but a quick look couldn't find it. Otherwise, it's out of print

but available at half.com (<$7)

http://www.half.com/cat/buy/prod.cgi?cpid=2665289 & domain_id=1856 & meta_id=1

also available 2nd hand at amazon.com (much more expensive $31)

 

I think there *are* people feeding their cats a veggie diet. I don't know

any

to refer you to, but I'm sure they are out there! On Friday, I

listened to Bruce Friedrich, PeTA's Vegan Campaign Coordinator, and

he said he believes cats can be vegan.

 

Check out this website - http://www.goveg.com/lmeatless.html

I don't know who authored this information, I just found it in a google

search.

 

I have my own personal hesitations about feeding a cat a veg diet due to the

need for taurine to prevent blindness. I used to buy a dry vegan cat food

from Wysong; they didn't recommend it as such - they said to add meat to it.

But I'm like you, I would not be comfortable preparing chicken for feline

friends (although I do know someone who used to do that; I think she kept

separate cooking pans, etc.)

 

As far as organic food - I haven't seen any. Have you looked into the Halo

brand pet food? They make " Spot's Stew " for cats and the ingredients are

simple. It's a wet food and seems to have less of all the by product stuff

so typical of most cat food. http://www.halopets.com Their food

has such recognizable ingredients as zucchini, yellow squash, celery,

carrots, green beans, green peas, dried kelp, & garlic powder.

 

There are 4 cats that I share my house with, and they are mostly

fed dry food. This makes it " easier " for me, as it doesn't smell as much

as wet food.

 

Since three of the cats have only one eye, I am very cautious about

anything that may affect their eyesight . The fourth cat (still a

kitten) is the anomaly in our household and has two.

 

Since I know people reading this will be wondering (I definitely would!),

the

story of the cats is this: Bonkey developed glaucoma and lost his eye.

A natural companion for him seemed to be adopting another cat (Harry)

who had lost his eye after tangling with a car. A natural friend for Harry

is a kitten called Moo, he technically has his eye, but it never developed

so he really sees with only one eye. And Jack (with two-eyes) is Moo's

buddy,

so we had to adopt both. And who is the terror of the house??? The

littlest

one, Moo, of course.

 

I know there are a lot of people with a plethora of cat experience, so I

hope

others will share their information, too. Good luck, and please do let us

know

what good resources you find.

 

Cheers,

Tammy

 

Join the San Francisco Bay Area Vegetarians!

email: -

 

 

Perform a death-defying act.... Go Vegan!

 

 

 

 

startherehealth [startherehealth]

Sunday, October 28, 2001 8:33 PM

 

Free Range or Vegetarian Cat food

 

 

I recently adopted 2 middle aged cats and I've been buying canned cat

food and bulk dry food for them at Rainbow. I'm wondering if anyone

knows a local supplier of organic cat food - or information about

raising cats vegetarian. I'm vegan and it's really difficult to deal

with the cans of mystery meat (though the cats love it, of course).

 

Somehow I feel better about buying prepared cat food, rather than

purchasing free range chicken and cooking it up in my kitchen.

 

Any information or references would be appreciated!

 

~Caity

 

 

 

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