cats & vegetarian

[Guest guest]

What it all comes down to is that you need to feed your pets as close to

possible to their natural diet. Dogs are an introduced species while cats are

not. It is not wise or healthy to try to convert your pet(s) to meet your

needs and beliefs. I can also tell you that from past experience that " cheap "

commercially prepared foods are just that.... cheap, and your pets will

suffer. The bargains type brands are no bargain for your pet. Brands like

Pedigree and Purina, Whiskas all are nutritionally " OK. "

While some of the premium brands are advertised as being a bit better they

usually don't have the fillers that some of the other brands do and therefor

cut down on solid waste from the pets. That is one advantage of using the

pricier stuff. Robin

 

 

 

[Guest guest]

HI everyone

I was told that it is unhealthy for a cat to be vegetarian. I sort of

rescued a cat about a month and half ago. I took her to the vet ASAP

to make sure she was ok..no worms, HIV, or anything else. While I was

there I asked the vet about putting her on a vegetarian diet. While

dogs are capable of obtaining nutrients from vegetable-based

proteins, cats cannot. She said cats cannot be vegetarians b/c they

need taurine. It has something to do with cats needing to eat entire

parts of animals..muscle, tissue, intestines, etc. If they do not

receive taurine, their eyesite can be affected and may even die. Me,

being me, I went home and researched what the vet said and the

information found confirmed such.

Here are a couple sites on the subject:

http://www.vegsoc.org/info/catfood.html

http://petshub.com/cats/nutrition/vegetarian.php

I was able to find a few sites saying it's ok to feed a veg diet to a

cat but they didn't seem like credible sources and the written info I

found was by non-accredited individuals whose articles seemed to

heavily focus on how you'd still be promoting the meat industry by

feeding your cat meat. There are some internet stores that sell vegan

cat food, but none of the major brands which are veterinarian-

endorsed have yet to come out with a vegetarian alternative for cats,

but have had such for dogs for years.

I don't like buying Hush meat, but feel that it is the best for her.

I'm not 100% convinced about what I've read concerning 'synthetic'

taurine & I'm not willing to compromise her health due to our

decision to be vegetarian.

 

karen

[Guest guest]

You absolutely have to do what is best for your animal. It is not right to

make your animal suffer for your principles. I do know that people feel,

apparently successfully, their dogs vegetarian diets but I can't get away

from the fact that dogs are not vegetarian and do not have any say in the

matter. However, they do appear to thrive so that seems reasonable, but, if

your vet is telling you that your cat should not be fed a vegetarian diet,

then you need to take that advice.

 

Lee-Gwen

[Guest guest]

In a message dated 01/18/2003 11:39:40 AM Eastern Standard Time,

skgpeace writes:

 

 

> My Rex has a heart murmurr and I had been researching on the net to

> find out what to do... Apparently the taurine deficiency is

>

 

It seems years ago I heard that Clam juice had a lot of taurine in it. Maybe

you could add a little to the cat food without all the meat. If not Clam

juice I know there was something maybe it will come to me. Robin in NC

 

 

 

[Guest guest]

My Rex has a heart murmurr and I had been researching on the net to

find out what to do... Apparently the taurine deficiency is

responsible here as well. The healthiest diet for a cat would be

regular meat, I assume, But I just can't stomach that!! Got one of

those " natural " cat foods that says " NO by-products " and they loved

the taste of it... we'll see what kind of waste we get to judge

relative quality. But can one feed a " low fat, low sodium diet " (the

REALLY expensive stuff I get for Rex's heart) that is just meat? I

wouldn't know where to start!

-dawn

, " bluetulipz

<bluetulipz> " <bluetulipz> wrote:

> HI everyone

> I was told that it is unhealthy for a cat to be vegetarian. I sort

of

> rescued a cat about a month and half ago. I took her to the vet

ASAP

> to make sure she was ok..no worms, HIV, or anything else. While I

was

> there I asked the vet about putting her on a vegetarian diet. While

> dogs are capable of obtaining nutrients from vegetable-based

> proteins, cats cannot. She said cats cannot be vegetarians b/c they

> need taurine. It has something to do with cats needing to eat

entire

> parts of animals..muscle, tissue, intestines, etc. If they do not

> receive taurine, their eyesite can be affected and may even die.

Me,

> being me, I went home and researched what the vet said and the

> information found confirmed such.

> Here are a couple sites on the subject:

> http://www.vegsoc.org/info/catfood.html

> http://petshub.com/cats/nutrition/vegetarian.php

> I was able to find a few sites saying it's ok to feed a veg diet to

a

> cat but they didn't seem like credible sources and the written info

I

> found was by non-accredited individuals whose articles seemed to

> heavily focus on how you'd still be promoting the meat industry by

> feeding your cat meat. There are some internet stores that sell

vegan

> cat food, but none of the major brands which are veterinarian-

> endorsed have yet to come out with a vegetarian alternative for

cats,

> but have had such for dogs for years.

> I don't like buying Hush meat, but feel that it is the best for

her.

> I'm not 100% convinced about what I've read concerning 'synthetic'

> taurine & I'm not willing to compromise her health due to our

> decision to be vegetarian.

>

> karen