Our Vegan Kitty
It has been three years since we adopted our cat, Jasime, from a local shelter. My two sons have always been “cat people,” and for some years worked on us to get a cat. One of our hesitations was thinking that we would have to feed a cat the crap that comes in cans. But what alternative was there, we thought, since cats are natural carnivores? Our clever sons helped overcome this obstacle by finding a source of vegan cat food that is especially formulated to give them all the nutrients they need, such as taurine.
We transitioned Jasmine to Evolution Feline vegan cat food as soon as she joined our family. It was not at all an issue, as she took to the food right away. We order the food in bulk from Vegan Cats.
Of course, one can argue that a vegan diet is not natural for cats. I fully agree. Jasmine, though an indoor cat (we do let her out on our deck daily, with supervision), would be a natural hunter, given her interest in birds. A natural diet for a cat would be rodents and birds. How often to you see canned food that contains mice, shrews, or songbirds? No, cat food is often made of cow, chicken, lamb, and fish. I doubt that in the history of the world, a housecat has ever hunted down and felled a steer, nor have they overcome their natural aversion to water to go fishing.
When we were researching pet food, we read some truly repulsive information. Some sites reveal cruel testing on animals by major pet food manufacturers (see Iams Cruelty); others, some of the disturbing ingredients contained in pet food, including the ground up remains of companion animals from shelters.
Jasmine, I may add, loves to sit with us at the dinner table and wait for scraps to come her way. She goes mad for corn kernels, but also loves green peas, red and black beans, and seitan. As I prepare dinner each night, she positions herself next to my chair, patiently waiting for the rest of the family to join her.
I would venture to say that Jasmine is the Poster Kitty for a vegan diet. She’s gorgeous, with lustrous fur and sparkly eyes. I’m not sure that every cat would take to this way of eating, but we’re happy (and relieved) that ours did!
Debby said,
February 2, 2006 @ 3:30 pm
Just a note about a vegan diet for cats.
My cat, too, is vegan. I get VegeCatPH from the same website and use that to make his food at home. He was incredibly healthy for 4 years, then I forgot to order in time and ran out. I resorted to store-bought meat (l use that term looosely) based cat food (dry) until I got around to ordering more. Life was hectic and 2 months passed. He got a urinary blockage and spent some time in the hospital and accreud a very large bill. (He’s OK now and back on the vegan diet)
I found that this is a common occurance for male cats. (Female cats get urinary tract infections) The VegeCatPH is Ph adjusted to help avoid this problem in male cats. Anyway, in the process of treatment, my vet, who is not terribly thrilled about the vegan diet because she’s had no experience with it, said that no cat should be eating dry catfood. I guess the grain content is too high and as well as the possibility that the cat will not get enough fluid intake, which can cause problems, especially in male cats.
You might want to think about using the VegeCat supplement and making your kitty wet food yourself. It comes with recipes with many different variations. My cat’s favorite seems to be the Chickpea/TVP recipe, but he also likes the rice/TVP & Tofu/Rice and actually any of the of others he’s tried. I make a 3-day supply, using canned chickpeas (since I never plan ahead enough to make my own!) in about 5 minutes.
FYI, my cat participated in a vegan cat study last year. The results will be published soon, but basically they found all the kitties had at least adequate levels of the nutrients in their blood that they were studying. I think you can get more info on the VeganCats website.
I think its great that you are promoting this! Here’s to your kitty’s health!!
Nava said,
February 2, 2006 @ 3:56 pm
Hi Debby, thank you so much for this informative post. I make a mix of the vegan kibble and the canned Vegetable Stew from VeganCats.com. Our cat seems to like them mixed, which is lucky. The VegeCat supplements sound great, too.
I’m so glad your cat is thriving once again. Perhaps when the results are published, you can post again and let my readers and I know where we can see the study of vegan cats that you mentions.
Dogs are naturally more omnivorous than cats, but there are also sources (maybe even on VeganCats.com). Isn’t it great that there’s a healthy alternative for our companion animals other than slaughterhouse crap?
Isil said,
February 7, 2006 @ 4:27 pm
That’s really nice. Unfortunately I can’t find any vegan cat food here in Istanbul. But our cat also likes eating beans,lentils, tofu, tahini and some fruit like grapes and pears : ) I can’t resist thinking that our animals are imitating us like the children would do in their growth stage ; )
Nava said,
February 8, 2006 @ 1:57 pm
Hello Isil,
Beans, lentils, chickpeas, and tofu are all things our cat likes. She doesn’t seem to go for fruit though, I think that’s unusual. It’s an interesting thought, that our companion animals take on our habits … thank you for writing from Istanbul!
cebasham said,
March 11, 2006 @ 1:31 pm
OK, not that I’m knocking you, but my cats fish. They have brought home the neighbor’s koi on more than one occasion. And they definitely hunt for birds, squirrels, rabbits and voles. The food we feed them is nice for them to have around, but I think they enjoy the fruits of their cattish labor a lot more.
Perhaps in their next incarnation, they’ll crave a more merciful diet.
Nava said,
March 11, 2006 @ 4:33 pm
I definitely do not disagree with you! As I mentioned in the early part of the original post, if Jasmine were left to her own devices, she would live on rodents and songbirds. The point I was making was that since commercial cat food presents cats with a diet that is not only unnatural but unhealthy, I’d rather feed her a diet that is, at least healthy if not innate. She definitely likes the food (and table scraps as mentioned), and does not suffer from the side effects, like urinary tract infections, that are so prevalent with cats on a standard cat food diet.
I’ve always wondered why cats like fish; that seems odd in light of their aversion to getting wet …
Jody said,
October 6, 2006 @ 9:55 am
Nava,
My female cat has been vegan since we brought her home as a 6 week old kitten. She is two now and is also a poster cat for vegan food: silky soft fur, and bright eyes. I use Vegecat, and bake kibble that I mix with either pureed sweet corn, pureed sweet potato, pureed acorn or pumpkin. She seems to be burning out on the kibble… I am worried that she is eating less and less. I would love to hear from anyone who uses Vegacat successfully, and has been using the product for several years… I need some new ideas to spark her interest.
Thanks,
Jody
Nava said,
October 9, 2006 @ 3:33 pm
Hi Jody,
I have been using Evolution Feline wet food and kibble (from Vegan Cats) for the 3 years or so we’ve had Jasmine, and she doesn’t seem tired of it at all. She also joins us for dinner at the table every night and especially likes corn, peas, black beans, and seitan. Maybe a change of brand might interest your cat; though the flip side is, as creatures of habit, she may balk. It may be worth a try, though!
Jody said,
November 22, 2006 @ 9:50 pm
Nava,
I should have replied sooner. My cat is back to her old self and is happily eating Vegecat kibble again. I formed a theory that if she feels ill from time to time (perhaps crystals form in her urinary tract) she would understandably be more fussy about what she would want to eat. It seems to be a 2 or 3 day spell when she won’t eat much. I came close to getting some Evolution for her, but now she’s fine. She loves quack grass from my back yard. I call it her “salad” and I bring her 4 blades of grass each day. In the winter, I grow wheat grass or oat grass so she can graze. Eat your greens, kitty!
Jody