vegetarian cats...and more

[VTJess03]

My husband worked with a guy who was a strict vegetarian (and so was the girlfriend he was sharing a mortgage with), maybe even vegan, but I don't remember now. They were so strict that they forced their cat to also have a vegetarian diet...don't know exactly what they fed it, but in my mind, it can't possibly be healthy for a cat. They even took away vermin that the cat caught when it was allowed out so that it wouldn't learn to be cruel to the moles, etc.

Does anyone else know about stuff like this, or keep your own cats on a veggie diet? To me, this seems like it will malnourish a cat on purpose since they are true carnivores; is it really as cruel to the cats as it seems like (to me) it must be?

I can understand why a person might want to pursue a vegetarian or vegan lifestyle; however, why not then choose a pet that is naturally vegetarian (rabbit or hamster or something for instance)... and what do they want done with all the animals currently in production for use in the human food system? These two wanted to turn them all loose (something to do with having read it in PETA literature), which of course would be a disaster, since domesticated animals have been raised to be dependent on human care, not to mention cows in the road (deer are bad enough!).

Oh, and by the way, just about all of the eggs in the store are not fertile (you can see in the little white spot on the yolk...if it is a solid spot, it is infertile, and if it is a ring, it is fertile), so you are not saving any chicks from death by avoiding that. In fact, a hen produces the eggs as part of her ~28 hour menstrual cycle -- you are eating her period (that might turn you away from eggs, lol).
Also, milking cows prevents extreme discomfort and mastitis (udder infections), and then allows you to pasteurize the milk to feed to the calves if you so desire (I realize most calves are raised on formula, not farm-fresh milk, which formula is made from milk by-products like cheese whey), but the calves are not starving, and in fact are being kept safe from diseases that can pass through milk to a suckling calf... so I don't buy vegan at all...vegetarian yes, but not vegan.

Well, I'll stop ranting now and open this up for your opinions. :)

[G.P.girl]

Well, I am a vegetarian (not so strict) but i dont believe in forcing animals to be vegetarians. Even though there are vegetarian foods that you can buy and I know they have added vitamins that are supposed to give the same nourishment as meat, i just dont think its right. They were meant to eat meat, not altered veggies.

[Cubby'sMom]

You're eating the hen's period??? :confused: :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek: BLEH!!!!!

I don't think you should force your animals to become vegetarian either. They are carnivores, and I'm guessing that if you change that way of life for them, they'd probably get stressed and miserable.

[Miss Z]

I've read somewhere that vegetables are no good for cats, they are carnivores by nature and so cannot extract proteins etc that they would usually from meat. I don't know much on this topic though:rolleyes:

[jackie]

Cats need meat, by forcing a cat to be vegetarian, you would be shortening its lifespan.

[jackie]

OH, you would probably be getting a lot more replies if this was posted in cat general.

[Kfamr]

I think this suits doghouse, IMO, simply because it's a very strong opinion about Vegetarianism/Veganism, not just kitty cats.


But, I don't think Vegetarianism for cats is a good thing at all. I saw on Animal Cops once a lady who was trying to make her cats Vegetarian. She fed them rice and green beans. :eek: The cats were all so sickly, had incredibly poor eyesight, and were almost near death.

[catnapper]

It boggles the mind. My brother is a strict vegan. Once upon a time, in his early days of being vegan, he tried to force his wife into veeganism too (I remember clearly one day mom, SIL, and I went to lunch where she ordered an egg salad sandwhich and begged us to never tell him she ate eggs)

Well, that was years ago and now he's still strict on himself, but his wife freely eats eggs when she wants to in front of him ;) and they feed the babies meat, eggs, cheese, milk, etc daily. He now realizes that just because its his life choice does not mean he should subject his principles upon others - especially people (and animals) who cannot make the choice for themselves. He would hope one day his sons grow up and eat like him but doesn't insist upon it. Same goes for his cat and dogs. He feeds them quality food (well, now he does thanks to me... they were feeding utter crap until I told them about Nutro ;) )

Same goes for the director of the rescue. She is a very strict vegetarian. Not sure if she's also a veegan. She knows that her cats need meat. She did look up the vegetarian diets just out of curiosity but never switched her cats to it. To her, the health of her cats is more important than the fact that they eatvegetarian diet.

[chrissycat21]

I've been a vegetarian for about 7 or 8 years now. Although I do not like the fact of eating meat, cats need it to survive and live a happy life. (I've never owned a cat, nor do I know much about them, but I think I know enough to assume that, right? ;) )

Although I once looked into some vegetarian dog diets, I never seriously thought about switching Snowy to that. When my grandparents come over they sometimes bring her a little meat, she gets so excited and happy, she loves it and I'm not going to take it away from her. She does love veggies, too. She barks like mad if she sees a pepper in our fridge, I think those are her favorite!

[G.P.girl]

Well Batman is an omnivore; he steals cadbury's lettuce when he's out and heovs pretty much every fruit and vegetable, but also i could never take his meat away from him.