re: vegan cats

[Guest guest]

Try out the website <A HREF= " www.vegancats.com " >www.vegancats.com</A>

They are a start. Good Luck, Tracy

 

 

 

[Guest guest]

Dear Caity,

I also follow a vegan diet. I care very much about the suffering of

farmed animals and I also don't feel good about feeding my little guys

(brothers, Simon and Cody) meat produced from factory farming. I guess I

tell myself that the amount of meat that my two cats consume is a very small

amount and that I feel it is justified because I put their health above the

very small amount to which their eating of cat food contributes to factory

farming.

I try to buy them fish kitty foods, as at least the fish had a

normal life before being killed (unless they are farmed fish, but they

usually state if they are). Also, I buy PetGuard canned food which has

" Coleman Natural Beef " in it. I am hoping (perhaps vainly) that the Coleman

is telling the truth that their cows have better lives than the factory

farmed cows.

Yes, you are right that canned or dry cat food is not the ideal diet for

a cat, and not really their natural diet. It is actually much higher in

cereal grains than their natural diet would be, as their natural diet would

contain a much higher proportion of animal protein (cereal grains are

cheaper, so they put more of them in). It just comes closer to their natural

diet than a diet without animal protein in it would do.

( A brief aside: Almost all cat foods are made from meat that is

deemed unsuitable for human consumption, and with what we know about what the

USDA is willing to approve of, one shudders to think what they put in cat and

dog food (even though it is sterilized).

There is a cat food that says it is made from " human-grade " chickens,

it's called Spot's Stew. I have gotten it at health food stores. As I

mentioned above, PetGuard Premium has " Coleman beef " . Also, I think Wysong

and Flynt River Ranch are much better quality than most, and Wysong has

something called the Archetypal Diet which is supposed to come very close to

what cats evolved to thrive on.)

Do I think you should let your cats just eat what they find outside?

Well, no, I also agree with you that it is obvious that cats are domesticated

and dependent on human beings for their survival (feral cats do very poorly,

in the unlikely event that they survive at all).

But my point was just that cats have evolved to be carnivorous animals.

If you do let your cats outside, I am sure that you see that they try to kill

birds and rodents (unless you have a bell on their collar to alert the

birds/rodents to their presence).

If someone can truly construct a vegan diet for a cat that will allow

the cat to be really healthy, then I would certainly be all for it. I am

just not convinced that this is possible and I think that if it is, it would

be difficult to do. Stephanie

 

 

 

 

 

[Guest guest]

As a long time vegan, wildlife rescuer and domestic companion animal

guardian, I have to agree with Stephanie on this one.

 

What I have chosen to do is to make my cats & dogs food and only buy meat

that comes from small local farms where the animals are not factory farmed.

I actually contact these farms myself and talk to them about the care their

animals receive. I have even visited some of the ranches myself. The

ranchers I deal with raised pasture-raised, organic, sustainable

meats/eggs/dairy.

 

My dogs eat two vegetarian meals a week and fast once a week - cutting down

on the amount of meat they consume while my cats (now much too old to fast)

eat dairy or cereal as snacks, too. Otherwise, they eat what they were

designed to eat (meat, bones, offal, vegetables, herbs), and have really

thrived because of it.

 

My first dog as an adult was 75-80% vegetarian. He died at age of 5 (not

from his diet, but from poor genes - bone cancer endemic to the breed).

When my vegetarian partner & I adopted the dogs we have now, we decided they

would eat meat as nature intended - they do seem healthier to me on this

diet - and they also don't have the best genes. My cats have always been

fed a carnivorous diet because I always have felt that they would suffer

health-wise without meat in their diet - I feel that you can get away with

vegetarian diets with dogs, but it's harder on cats.

 

 

 

 

 

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[Guest guest]

I don't know if anyone has made this point or observed this also... It seems

that cats who are started on a vegan diet when young do much better than

cats who are switched to a vegan diet as adults. I am not saying there are

no exceptions. I also do not know if the cats started on vegan diets when

young live normal, healthy lives for their entire expected lifespans, but I

know of a few of them who were healthy for at least a few years.

 

Jack

-

<inthepresent

<SFBAVeg >

Tuesday, November 26, 2002 12:57 PM

Re: [sFBAVeg] re: vegan cats

 

 

> Dear Caity,

> I also follow a vegan diet. I care very much about the suffering of

> farmed animals and I also don't feel good about feeding my little guys

> (brothers, Simon and Cody) meat produced from factory farming. I guess I

> tell myself that the amount of meat that my two cats consume is a very

small

> amount and that I feel it is justified because I put their health above

the

> very small amount to which their eating of cat food contributes to factory

> farming.

> I try to buy them fish kitty foods, as at least the fish had a

> normal life before being killed (unless they are farmed fish, but they

> usually state if they are). Also, I buy PetGuard canned food which has

> " Coleman Natural Beef " in it. I am hoping (perhaps vainly) that the

Coleman

> is telling the truth that their cows have better lives than the factory

> farmed cows.

> Yes, you are right that canned or dry cat food is not the ideal diet

for

> a cat, and not really their natural diet. It is actually much higher in

> cereal grains than their natural diet would be, as their natural diet

would

> contain a much higher proportion of animal protein (cereal grains are

> cheaper, so they put more of them in). It just comes closer to their

natural

> diet than a diet without animal protein in it would do.

> ( A brief aside: Almost all cat foods are made from meat that is

> deemed unsuitable for human consumption, and with what we know about what

the

> USDA is willing to approve of, one shudders to think what they put in cat

and

> dog food (even though it is sterilized).

> There is a cat food that says it is made from " human-grade " chickens,

> it's called Spot's Stew. I have gotten it at health food stores. As I

> mentioned above, PetGuard Premium has " Coleman beef " . Also, I think

Wysong

> and Flynt River Ranch are much better quality than most, and Wysong has

> something called the Archetypal Diet which is supposed to come very close

to

> what cats evolved to thrive on.)

> Do I think you should let your cats just eat what they find outside?

> Well, no, I also agree with you that it is obvious that cats are

domesticated

> and dependent on human beings for their survival (feral cats do very

poorly,

> in the unlikely event that they survive at all).

> But my point was just that cats have evolved to be carnivorous

animals.

> If you do let your cats outside, I am sure that you see that they try to

kill

> birds and rodents (unless you have a bell on their collar to alert the

> birds/rodents to their presence).

> If someone can truly construct a vegan diet for a cat that will

allow

> the cat to be really healthy, then I would certainly be all for it. I am

> just not convinced that this is possible and I think that if it is, it

would

> be difficult to do. Stephanie

>

>

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

I have a friend who has cats that have been

vegetarian/vegan all their lives. She referred me to

this website:

 

http://www.vegepet.com

 

I know that there is personal debate among

veggies/vegans about whether or not to enforce the

same dietary lifestyle on their pets. I personally

don't think it's a problem if a dog or cat eats meat,

but I know that some people may want to have that

choice to abstain.

 

As a long-time veg, I find the smell and touch of meat

products to be absolutely repulsive; I don't even

touch the hot dog bits they use at the SPCA for the

dogs. But again, when it comes to this issue, I think

that dogs and cats don't have to be forced into being

veg/vegan.

 

C

 

 

 

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[Guest guest]

On Wednesday, November 27, 2002, at 01:30 PM, Kris wrote:

 

> I know that there is personal debate among

> veggies/vegans about whether or not to enforce the

> same dietary lifestyle on their pets. I personally

> don't think it's a problem if a dog or cat eats meat,

> but I know that some people may want to have that

> choice to abstain.

 

 

 

Hmm, as a pro-choice advocate, I would let the pet decide for

themselves.

 

 

tony