How to choose vegetarian and vegan cat food?

Vegetarian or vegan food is a rejection of meat products and animal products such as milk, eggs, cheese. People choose a vegan diet for ethical reasons: animals should not suffer for the sake of a person’s taste preferences. A person can compensate for the lack of vitamins by buying the missing items, so the vegan lifestyle is healthy and does not harm the body. But if a person is omnivorous, the cats in physiology always remained carnivorous creatures.

Animal defenders often argue that feeding carnivores without meat is blasphemy and a violation of pet rights. However, while protecting cats from vegan food, animal lovers do not think that hundreds of other creatures are doomed to doom with their protection. Vegans are eager to stop the killing of peaceful creatures, and this is the main purpose of vegan food. The discussion of vegetarian food for pets has been going on for a long time.

More often than not, the vast majority of people in conversations do not seriously consider the prospect of refusing to eat meat, what can we say about the refusal of their pets from meat-containing products. The decision will always remain with the owner of the cat, because he must take responsibility for the possible deterioration of the animal's health.

There are examples of cats that do not eat meat and eat meat substitutes. At the same time, some owners incorrectly feed the cat with vegan food (too often or without vitamin complexes and supervision by a veterinarian), which makes the transition to plant food difficult.

Often, people are used to not distinguishing between two concepts - veganism and vegetarianism. In fact, there is a difference, and it essentially separates the terms presented. Vegetarian pet food - food that contains no meat. In such feed there may be animal skin, crushed bones, and whey.

Vegan food eliminates all products harvested by killing animals. These include, for example, milk, meat residues. Thus, vegan cat food is different from vegetarian. In the food industry for cats, there is no vegetarian feed with rare exceptions, because it is inappropriate to produce such feed.

The most simple is the transition to food without meat in dogs: they exclude animal products from the diet without serious consequences for health, while the cat needs to supplement the diet with probiotics and vitamins. The complexity is associated with the body of an animal that has been hunting for food for centuries.

Tips for choosing

• To get vegetarian or vegan food in Russia is more difficult than in other countries. To purchase this feed, you need to find an online store that sells such food, and make a large order (from a few kilograms).
• The most popular vegan animal feed brand is Ami.The manufacturer’s product range includes not only dry food, but also treats, for example, algae supplements. To make a choice in favor of this brand means to purchase certified products.
• The main thing is to study the composition of the feed before purchase. It is important to check whether all the necessary components are present in the composition, otherwise the owner will be waiting for food with a small amount of useful impurities. Preference is preferably given to natural formulations without chemical components.
• In Russia, you can find domestic producers of vegan feed. Trusting them or not is everyone’s business. If the reviews and the composition of the feed differ in good performance, then you can safely order a small amount of vegetable feed for a sample of a pet.

When switching to a special diet, a pet needs increased care and attention when feeding. Many owners neglect the individual approach to feeding the cat, because of which they make many mistakes. The most frequent of them are described below.

• Buying food without studying the composition. The specificity of vegan nutrition requires the owner of the cat to carefully study the ingredients of all feeds that are purchased to feed the animal. In reality, the pet owner often buys the vegetable analogue of meat indiscriminately, ordering the first vegan food.
• Chaotic feeding. Even dry meat fodder should be dosed and given to the cat at a certain time of the day, and in the case of vegetable supplies, one should be even more careful when preparing meals. Often, the owners pour some food into the bowl from time to time, which is a blunder from the point of view of proper feeding of the pet. The accompanying information on meals on the label of a specific feed will help to avoid problems - the manufacturer indicates the required amount of feed and the frequency of feeding.

This is about the pros and cons for pet. The expensive cost of vegan food will not be a minus, as it does not affect the cat. There is also no point in the pros that, due to the refusal of meat feeds, the cat’s conscience will be calmer - the person calms himself, and the cat doesn’t think at all about the origin of food.

pros

• Rejection of meat in dry or liquid feed will significantly reduce the risk of infections in the pet. The reason lies in the fact that even prestigious and expensive feed uses the meat of old and sick animals, which cannot be used by people as food. This meat goes through several stages of processing, during which it turns into a dry food for cats. In addition to vitamins, the cat risks getting serious diseases.
• Frequent nausea goes away if the cat goes on a vegan diet. The problem of meat in pet food also exacerbates digestion: the cat does not get the meat, and crushed, cubes seasoned with bad meat product chemistry. Because of this, the cat can feel sick - the body does not digest such a substance. With vegetable food for cats, everything is simpler: absorption is quick and painless due to natural ingredients.

Minuses

• The cat family is a predator. For many years, changes in feline nature have led to the cat being a carnivorous animal. This suggests that it is extremely problematic to switch to food without meat. Even expensive feed used carcasses of sick animals, so there is a small percentage of meat products. If a person decides to transfer a pet to a vegetable diet, he needs to consult a veterinarian. Also, once every two weeks you need to visit the vet and follow his instructions in order to avoid health problems.

• The pet's reluctance to eat vegetable food. Cats and cats, in principle, do not like dry food.When the host offers a plant-based feed, cats most often react negatively to the diet. You can mix together the meat and vegetable food, gradually reducing the amount of meat.

• It is necessary to make an animal feeding plan carefully. Most likely, the owner of the cat will have to feed the animal once every several hours in an absent portion to avoid malnutrition. In addition, the vegan diet does not include all the necessary substances for the cat's body. Every month after a veterinarian examines and tests, it is advisable to purchase food supplements for cats - vitamin complexes will provide the body with the missing components.

After studying the above data is brewing the question of whether to try to translate the cat's diet for food without meat. There is no definite answer, but if the cat appreciates the taste of such a diet, eating meat-free will bring relief to the owner’s conscience and improved cat digestion.

And although the veterinarians in one voice say that the healthy development of a cat is impossible without meat, research on this topic has not been conducted. If you search, you can find the literary works of vegans, who studied the physiology of animals and offer their ideas for refusing to eat meat in four-legged pets.

Conclusion: cats can eat on a plant-based diet and still stay healthy if caution is exercised.

Veterinary advice on feeding cats with vegetarian feeds, see below.