Guest guest Posted October 13, 2003 Report Share Posted October 13, 2003 Cats eat grass from time to time..and eat all soets of veggie food if mixed up, so I've been informed by a neighour. They eat biscuits as well .don't they? They must be omnivores as well...like humans of course. Dogs are omnivorous, cats are obligate carnivores. Cats are not small dogs! Individual large cats catch very large prey, and do not neccessarily even eat the entrails, which would give them at least some vegetable material, in contrast to the action of groups of hunting dogs. When forced to do so, lions have been seen to empty entrails of food material before eating them. Cats are adapted to a protien requirement roughly twice that of dogs. They cannot adapt their liver enzyme production to cope on a diet that is too high in carbohydrate, and too low in protein. They have a special requirement for arginine and taurine. A lack of the former cuasing death, and the latter causing blindness. plant proteins are poor sources of taurine. Cats have a higher requirement for fat, especially animal fat, than most other carnivores. Cats have high requirements for Niacin, B6 and Vitamin A, and lack the ability to utilise plant sources well. Not to say that a synthetic supplement cant allow cats to eat vegan, and I know my cat eats grass, and mushroom spread when she can get it, but I would be very careful giving a cat large amounts of non animal food without a lot of research and a good supplement. Richard Saunders Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted October 14, 2003 Report Share Posted October 14, 2003 Hey guys, I am going to have a wide stab at answering the questions posed in this digest about veggie cats. Cats are carnivorous. In the wild they eat other animals BUT they eat the entire animal, feathers or fur, stomach content and all, thus getting a rounded diet which includes vegetation. They do not eat a fillet of fish, or a chicken breast. Nor is it cooked, or canned. Cats can become veggie or even vegan, but they must be fed a commercial diet which is a total food. They can survive on a serving of what ever you are having each day, but they will often go blind, and their heart will become flabby and hard to pump. This is because they require a chemical called tautrine (sp?) and another I can't put my finger on right now. These are found in meat naturally, and in tinned and dry meat foods. However, these nutrients are destroyed with cooking and washing - for instance in processing pet foods, or even in processing our own meat (obviously not OUR own though :*). Thus, when you buy a tin of food, assuming it is the 'natural' thing for a cat to eat because it has what they would normally eat in the wild (don't know many cats that deep-sea dive for tuna!), be aware that these nutrients are added as a synthetic chemical. So, if you would like to have your cat become veggie or vegan, it is possible, but you will need to feed them a commercially prepared food, or a home cooked one like VeggieCat. (sp?). A cat or dog can change their diet at any age (this means you, Pumpkin!) as long as they find it enjoyable. Try mixing in a small amount of the new food, and changing them over several weeks, introducing more and more veggie kibble till that is all they eat. You may also need to add something like a yeast mix to make the cat's urine more acidic, if the cat has trouble with urinary crystals. You can find great info and articles, as well as order the products you need at vegancats.com This is a great resource, and even has a photo page for pets at home, so you can be sure they are healthy and good looking :*) Thanks for your time, and please don't flame, I have just answered some questions posed, 'Chelle, et al, minus five __ IncrediMail - Email has finally evolved - Click Here Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted October 14, 2003 Report Share Posted October 14, 2003 On Monday, October 13, 2003, at 04:43 PM, Chelle Whitaker wrote: > Hey guys, > > Cats are carnivorous. In the wild they eat other animals BUT they > eat the entire animal, feathers or fur, stomach content and all, thus > getting a rounded diet which includes vegetation I used to have a cat who ate leftover mashed potatoes and greens, or rice with greens. > Thus, when you buy a tin of food, assuming it is the 'natural' thing > for a cat to eat because it has what they would normally eat in the > wild (don't know many cats that deep-sea dive for tuna!), However, there are " fishing cats " , which hunt fish by dipping their paws in the lake the hooking them out! > > Finding this thread very informative, since I had no idea veggie cat foods now included taurine, among other things. Maggie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted October 14, 2003 Report Share Posted October 14, 2003 I have not heard of anyone who has a cats on a vegan diet as diet..I would like to hear from any one who has? Simon - " Richard SAUNDERS " <rich Monday, October 13, 2003 9:38 PM Re: Digest Number 1004 > Dogs are omnivorous, cats are obligate carnivores. Cats are not small dogs! > Individual large cats catch very large prey, and do not neccessarily even > eat the entrails, which would give them at least some vegetable material, in > contrast to the action of groups of hunting dogs. When forced to do so, > lions have been seen to empty entrails of food material before eating them. > Cats are adapted to a protien requirement roughly twice that of dogs. They > cannot adapt their liver enzyme production to cope on a diet that is too > high in carbohydrate, and too low in protein. They have a special > requirement for arginine and taurine. A lack of the former cuasing death, > and the latter causing blindness. plant proteins are poor sources of > taurine. Cats have a higher requirement for fat, especially animal fat, than > most other carnivores. Cats have high requirements for Niacin, B6 and > Vitamin A, and lack the ability to utilise plant sources well. > > Not to say that a synthetic supplement cant allow cats to eat vegan, and I > know my cat eats grass, and mushroom spread when she can get it, but I would > be very careful giving a cat large amounts of non animal food without a lot > of research and a good supplement. > > Richard Saunders > > > > To send an email to - > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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