Vegan cat-lovers face a contentious moral issue.
Should they continue supporting animal agriculture by purchasing meat-based food for their animal companion, or should they change their furry friend’s ‘normal’ diet to a plant-based one? Vegan dogs, after all, seem to do just fine on plant-based fuel.
Naturally, this raises the question: Can cats be healthy on a vegan diet?
The Natural Diet of Cats
From leopards to house cats, all felines are carnivorous by nature. In the wild, big and small cats rely on their hunting abilities for food.
Even domesticated cats still have an innate hunting instinct, as any cat owner can confirm (I’m talking half-alive “gifts” on the porch). From birds to squirrels, no living creature of a certain size is safe from the feline compulsion to hunt.
But not all animal protein is healthy for cats. Contrary to popular belief, cats are lactose intolerant. Heavy consumption of milk and other dairy products will cause them digestive problems, including constipation, gas, and bowel issues (1).
Conventional store-bought cat food is typically based on beef, chicken, turkey, lamb, or fish. It’s unlikely that you will find vegan cat food in your local supermarket (although it does exist!). That explains why most people believe it is impossible to feed cats a vegan diet.
What Cat Anatomy Tells Us About the Optimal Feline Diet
The feline anatomy leaves clues about what cats should eat.
Unlike dogs, which are omnivores (2), cats are obligate carnivores. This means that the anatomy of cats is specifically designed for a carnivorous diet. While cats can sufficiently digest plants, their biology is better suited for meat consumption.
The biological features that point to cats’ carnivorous nature include their four prominent canine teeth, their short digestive tract, and their inability to produce salivary amylase (an enzyme responsible for breaking down starches).
Additionally, cats rely on protein as a main energy source. In a process called gluconeogenesis, felines convert amino acids to energy (3). While protein can also be found in plants, animal-based proteins are more bioavailable to cats.
Omnivores, on the other hand, use glycogenolysis to produce energy. Hereby, the body breaks down glycogen (from carbohydrates) into glucose (a type of sugar) to provide immediate energy.
Can Cats Be Healthy on a Vegan Diet?
Unlike dogs, cats are unlikely to thrive on a vegan diet.
Because they are obligate carnivores, felines have specific nutrient requirements which cannot be covered by feeding them broccoli, rice, and wholegrain pasta.
Not only do cats require high amounts of protein to produce energy, a deficiency of taurine can cause them serious health issues. Taurine, an amino acid primarily found in organ meat, beef, fish, and chicken, is essential to cats because their bodies are inable produce it themselves.
As Daniella Dos Santos, former president of the British Veterinary Association, told the BBC, cats “require certain amounts of amino acids to be healthy, and the lack of these can lead to health problems. For that reason, you wouldn’t advise a vegetarian diet, let alone a vegan one.”
Furthermore, cats have a high nutritional requirement for vitamin A, which is readily available in meats. While humans can convert the plant-compound beta-carotene into vitamin A, cats do not share that ability.
Although the majority of veterinarians advise against feeding cats a vegan diet, doing so is not impossible.
Andrew Knight, professor of Animal Welfare and Ethics at the University of Winchester, says that “cats, dogs, and indeed all species, have requirements for specific dietary nutrients, not ingredients […] There is no scientific reason why a diet comprised only of plant, mineral, and synthetically-based ingredients cannot be formulated to meet all of the palatability, nutritional, and bioavailability needs of the species for which they are intended ”(4).
Conclusion
It definitely is a challenge to feed cats a vegan diet that covers all critical nutrients they need in order to be healthy.
Because of cats’ specific nutrient requirements, cat-owners who want to feed their animal companion a healthy vegan diet must pay special attention to taurine, protein, and vitamin A to avoid deficiencies.
In theory, however, healthy plant-based cat food could soon be a viable alternative to meat-based products. Considering the pace at which lab-grown meat and food engineering are progressing, vegan cat products could be the future (being substantially more sustainable than real meat by default).
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References
(1) https://www.livekindly.co/vegan-diet-cats/
(2) https://www.hillspet.com/dog-care/behavior-appearance/are-dogs-carnivores-or-omnivores
(3) https://avodermnatural.com/blog/cats-obligate-carnivores/
(4) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YxjGa0MXfAc