We are what we eat: Vegan Cat Food Diet
Before I begin, please note that this is not a review of cat food or diets. I also cannot recommend a vegan or meat diet for your kitty. I can’t stress enough that this is a decision you and your kitty must make together. I highly recommend further research and some deep soul searching if you have ethical reasons to feed or not feed your cat a certain type of food. What this post is about is if you’re thinking of making or purchasing a vegan diet for your cat, I wanted to talk about ingredients and nutrients your cat needs to be healthy. Some people prefer a vegan cat food diet because it won’t contain any slaughterhouse waste/by-products, nor antibiotics, can be considered cruelty-free, as well as potentially better for the environment. When considering any type of diet or food for your kitty there are some important points to consider: nutrients your cat needs, common food allergies (which can lead to a host of diseases and potentially be fatal), and the overall quality of food/nutrients.
The bulk of this post is about nutrients your cat needs to be healthy. All mammals need 9 essential amino acids to live but kitties actually need 11. Essential amino acids must be eaten in foods because the body can’t make (synthesize) them on its own. Remember I was talking in my last post about a healthy foundation made of cells and how mitochondria provide cells with energy? Well, amino acids sit in the matrix of the mitochondria, metabolizing, producing energy, building, and rebuilding the cells. (For those that like to do a lot of research here are a few links with more information, https://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/002222.htm and http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0093597.) Therefore these 11 amino acids are (obviously) “essential” when choosing or making a diet for your kitty: histidine, isoleucine, leucine, lysine, methionine, phenylalanine, threonine, tryptophan, and valine, plus arginine and taurine.
There are standards in making commercial cat foods. According to the FDA, “To have ‘complete and balanced’ in the nutritional adequacy statement, a dog or cat food must either: meet one of the Dog or Cat Food Nutrient Profiles established by the Association of American Feed Control Officials (AAFCO);disclaimer icon, or, Pass an AAFCO feeding trial.” (http://www.fda.gov/AnimalVeterinary/ResourcesforYou/ucm047120.htm) With that being said, the nutritional value must reach a minimum and/or maximum - depending on the nutrient. Therefore, if you see that the cat food is AAFCO approved you can be sure that the food is meeting the minimum requirements and will include all 11 essential amino acids. If you’re making the food yourself, you’ll want to do some deep research to ensure the food you’re making contains all 11 essential amino acids at the right amounts (plus other nutrients). Alternatively, you may want to consider a supplement specifically manufactured for vegan cat food diets. There are a variety that can be found online.
Next, let’s focus on what essential nutrients kitties typically only get from meat and consider how this is being supplemented: taurine, Arachidonic Acid, Docosahexaenoic acid, Vitamin A and B12, as well as protein. It is important to also remember the bioavailability (absorption) of these nutrients in a kitty’s intestines which happen to be very short. Let’s break these down:
Taurine:
Source: It is found in animal muscle meat, especially the heart and liver. It is also found in seaweed, parsley and garlic, https://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/compound/taurine#section=Natural-Occurring-Sources
Deficiency: It is essential for conjugation of bile salts, vision, cardiac muscle function, and proper function of the nervous, reproductive and immune systems (http://veterinarycalendar.dvm360.com/cats-obligate-carnivore-proceedings?id=&sk=&date=&pageID=3). Can take several months to a few years for clinical symptoms to emerge. Deficiencies can lead to feline central retinal degeneration, reproductive failure and impaired fetal development and feline dilated cardiomyopathy
Possible supplement: It is interesting to note that most taurine is synthetically supplemented anyway in commercial cat foods. For natural vegan sources, look for human-grade seaweed powder and don’t heat as it can easily destroy the amino acid.
Arachidonic Acid - AA - Omega 6 EFA
Source: Cat’s cannot synthesize arachidonic acid from linoleic acid like people can. I could only find information that this is found in meat (and eggs) but no vegan source. If you know of one please let me know!
Deficiency: Can lead to impaired reproduction and growth, blood clots, and gastrointestinal disorders
Possible supplement: No known vegan supplement. Can naturally supplement with egg yolks.
Docosahexaenoic acid - DHA - Omega 3 EFA
Source: Cold-water fish such as salmon, mackerel, halibut, sardines, tuna, and herring. Vegan sources come from seaweed https://umm.edu/health/medical/altmed/supplement/docosahexaenoic-acid-dha
Deficiency: Negatively affect a cat’s vision, immunity, and reproduction, http://www.chiro.org/nutrition/FULL/The_Essential_PUFA_Guide.shtml
Possible supplement: Look for algal sources to supplement for cats (but I’ve read the bioavailability of this for cats is unknown)
Vitamin A
Source: Liver, animal tissue, and fish liver oils. Vitamin A is not found in plants. Carotene can be found in plants and converted to “active” Vitamin A by most mammals but not by cats. Therefore, the bioavailable form of Vitamin A for cats should come from an animal source (which have already processed the vitamin).
Deficiency: Higher susceptibility to infections, stress-related disorders, urinary tract infections, night blindness, muscle weakness, reproductive abnormalities and weight loss
Possible supplement: (Warning - Vitamin A supplements can be toxic in cats, http://www.vcahospitals.com/main/pet-health-information/article/animal-health/vitamin-a-toxicosis-in-cats/389) I was unable to find a natural vegan source of Vitamin A (converted) for cats. However, I found articles stating that James Peden, author and creator of the Vegepet line has found a supplemental source of converted Vitamin A but was unable to find where that is from (maybe synthetic?)
Vitamin B12
Source: Seafood, eggs, dairy products, meat sources (kidney and liver). Potential vegan sources are seaweed, alfalfa (on - not in the plant), and brewer’s yeast
Deficiency: There is a wide range of symptoms such as neurological damage, pernicious anemia, spinal-cord degeneration, abnormal gait, bone loss, fatigue and depression, digestive disorders and constipation, dizziness, enlargement of the liver, eye disorders, headaches, tongue inflammation, nervousness and irritability, labored breathing, and palpitations
Possible supplement: Natural supplements can come from seaweed, alfalfa, and brewer’s yeast
Protein
Source: Meat or vegetable protein is available
Deficiency: Water is the first most essential part of a cat’s diet and protein is second. There are a myriad of symptoms such as hypoalbuminemia, appetite loss, weight loss, slow-healing wounds, weak bones, lethargy, increased aggression, impaired/stunted growth, rough and dull hair coat, decreased reproductive performance, decreased milk production, chronic infections/diseases due to compromised immune system, and more, http://www.testcountry.com/content/protein-deficiency-causes-and-symptoms-in-dogs-and-cats.html
Possible supplement: This the most complicated and most controversial. Sadly, there is not much research out there. This is difficult to answer because it all depends on how the cat body breaks down the protein to use to sustain life (build muscle, repair tissue, for energy). They’re not like us and don’t break down and absorb protein like we do. Based on most of the commercially manufactured vegan cat food I found all use corn as the protein (may be GMO concerns).
Important side note here before I continue. Here is a great article packed full of information about plant proteins, cats, and the pH of their urine which can lead to (potentially fatal) urinary tract disease. Here’s the link and a quote from their article, http://www.veganhealth.org/articles/vegan_cats:
Cats on a vegan diet can develop abnormally alkaline (high pH) urine due to the more alkaline pH of plant based proteins in comparison to the acidic pH of meat-based foods which cats have evolved to eat. When the urine pH becomes too alkaline, there is an increased risk of formation of struvite (also known as magnesium ammonium phosphate) bladder crystals and/or stones.
In all the research I’ve done, including sites advocating vegan diets for cats, all say over and over … and over … you must frequently check your cat’s pH balance of their urine if they’re eating vegan. If you are choosing this for your cat (especially based on humanitarian reasons against animal cruelty in factory farms) do not risk being inhumane and cruel to your own cat. Urinary tract disorders can lurk quietly and be perceived as behavioral issues such as going potty outside the box and in inappropriate places. If you have an inside/outside cat you may not even notice other symptoms if your kitty goes potty outside (such as frequent urination, straining, meowing in pain while urinating, or blood in the urine). It is also very painful for kitties. Please don’t do this to your kitty. If your cat passes from a blocked urethra you can only blame yourself - and you do not want to be in that position. I know the guilt would be unbearable as you’re trying to do the right thing. There are quite a few test kits out there for pH and kitties. From what I’ve read the consensus is to test weekly:
Cat and Dog U.T.I. Home Test Kits by Cranimals
Solid Gold Urine Testing pH Strips
Phinex Diagnostic Ph Test Strips
When making vegan diet choices for your cat you’ll also want to consider food allergies and intolerance (such as corn, dairy products, soy products, and wheat products). I’ll post specifically about food allergies and intolerances on a later blog post. For now be on the lookout for common allergy symptoms when feeding your cat such as sneezing, itching, coughing, excessive scratching, sores, runny eyes, vomiting and diarrhea. Finally, you’ll want to consider the overall quality and nutrient value of the foods such as pesticide use, preservatives, added fillers, non-organic and/or GMO products, dyes, etc. There are some fillers you may want to do extra research on as they cause quite a bit of controversy. One is GMO Corn. Next, is GMO Soy. I could talk for days about GMO products … and I will save that for a later post! For now, I recommend you research further if you are not familiar with or do not have an opinion on GMO foods. Again, too much to cover here and I’ll write an in-depth blog post about that later. Stay tuned!
We’ve talked about what they need supplemented to stay healthy but it is equally important to talk about what you’d be feeding them INSTEAD of meat. You cannot feed a cat corn all day every day and supplement the nutrients they need that we talked about above. Remember, their little tummy intestines are very short (compared to omnivores and herbivores). What does this mean? They have a hard time digesting carbohydrates and then absorbing nutrients from those carbs. Food passes quickly. Therefore you may want to consider feeding them numerous small vegan meals. Ok. You’re not going to give them meat … what should you give them? Unfortunately, there’s very little research and information on this subject. So, what is a good filler? There are a lot of choices as you know if you are a vegetarian or vegan. Such as lentils, peas, potatoes, quinoa, rice, and, oh, the list can go on and on. Regardless, please please please rotate their food sources to reduce the chance of allergies developing. Just as you would not eat rice every day all day, please don’t do that to your little kitty either.
Here are some commercially made vegan cat foods on the market (and you can also consider making your own). Take a careful look at all ingredients bearing in mind all that we’ve talked about here: nutritional needs of cats, food allergies/intolerances, and fillers (what are the non-meat sources)?
Ami Cat Vegan Cat Food
Evolution Vegan Cat Kibble
Benevo Vegan Cat Kibble
VegeCat product line
I know there’s a lot of information here so thanks for bearing with me! I will also follow up with a post about my own experience with trying out a vegan diet on my three munchkin kitties … coming soon! For now, as a reminder, please research thoroughly and I encourage you to make a wise humane decision regarding your kitty. Also, I’d love to hear your own experiences and thoughts on vegan cat diets. Please share at the bottom of my webpage here. Thanks for taking care of your kitty!