Can a cat be vegan?
It is possible to love and care for an animal in a way that enriches the lives of both the animal and the human involved.
It is also possible to raise a meat-eating animal such as a cat or dog on a vegan diet and thus reduce the overall amount of animal suffering and death in the world by not supporting the exploitative industries of fishing and meat-farming.
How to change your cat to Vegan
The best time to begin your cat on a vegan diet is when he is a kitten, but older cats can convert easily too. Make any changes to your cats diet SLOWLY. Begin by adding a small amount of vegies and VEGANPET dry food, slowly increasing the amounts replacing his old diet with the new. Be sure your cat is eating enough to sustain him, if not go back a few steps adding more of his old diet, and begin slowly decreasing it again. If your cat is very old I would not try to make him total vegan. Some old timers take to it easily, but some are very set in their ways and it would be cruel to force change on them at this time of life. You could slowly reduce the amount of meat, chicken or fish you are feeding him and replace with VEGANPET dry food and some vegetables or what ever you eat adding only a very small amount of meat or fish. Even though your old cat is still eating flesh of a dead animal the amount is greatly reduced.
VEGANPET kitten and cat food is a dry extruded food that contains a plant source of every nutrient a cat/ kitten needs. I now have vegan tinned cat food available. If you want your kitten/cat to be a vegetarian or Vegan, you must feed him my VEGANPET dry food. VEGANPET tin food is NOT a complete diet so must be fed with Complete and Balanced Veganpet Dry food which is suitable for kittens through to elderly cats. A cat cannot live on just a vegetarian diet. There are many very special needs nutritionally for cats that vegetables cannot give. There is special needs for some Amino Acids (eg; Taurine) or Fatty Acids, Vitamin A level sensitivity, and a need to be preformed to name a few. All of these nutrients are provided in my VEGANPET food and are balanced, which is essential.
My VEGANPET dry food is an excellent base for your vegan diet. Just add the required amount of food daily as suggested on my label allowing for size, activity and age of your cat. You can mix it with any other food, feed it alone or pour warm water, low fat soy milk ( or for vegetarians, pet milk or low fat milk ) over it to make it softer. Cats are very different from most domestic animals, feeding randomly through the day and night, and eating only very small amounts. A cat normally eats 8-16 times over a 24-hour period, however adult cats can adapt to a feed once a day. I recommend feeding cats twice a day. Your cat will live happily on just VEGANPET dry cat food, however they really enjoy a variety of different foods as well, so why not try a few foods to add interest to your cats diet. You must always have fresh water available when feeding your cat.
Some other foods cats enjoy
Cooked mashed squash, sweet potato, broccoli, or potato, rice, and lentils. Tofu or pasta with tomato or a creamy sauce. (Always opt for low fat ingredients in creamy sauces). Just try your cat on different vegies you will soon see what his taste is. TVP or Textured vegetable Protein or Gluten wheat properly prepared becomes meat like in texture and flavour and cats enjoy it. Shredded carrot, chopped spinach, lentil sprouts and other salad vegetables some cats love. Frozen peas or creamed or corn nibblets are enjoyed. Finely grated fresh greens, sprouts, mix together well, especially with an added whole grain cereal or brown rice. Always cook the grains lentils and rice perhaps with a vegetable stock cube to add flavour. “Supreme” Gravox is vegetarian that could be added as some flavour. Be aware there is a lot of salt in Gravox and stock cubes so use sparingly and only when cooking rice or lentils. Fruit should be fed alone before or after the meal because fruit is high in water and is digested rapidly. Favourite fruits are Cantalope, banana, melons, pear, and any fruit really so long as it is ripened. Try to feed the same families of fruit together, except for pineapple which has it’s own enzymes. Please check that a fruit is suitable and not toxic for your cat before feeding it to them.
An example of some additives to enhance flavour and add interest to your cat’s food are. Japanese seaweed,( this is very alkaline so use sparingly) veggie bacon bits, and a sprinkle of Brewer’s yeast, soya sauce( again very salty) or tahini. Cats do prefer savoury taste to sweet (in fact cats do not have sweet receptors on their tongue at all.) These foods should be fed in small amounts while Veganpet Dry Food is the principal diet. Cat’s body pH balance is different to dogs and people, they are pH acid, by feeding a diet rich in vegetables ( which are predominantly alkaline) you can change your cats acid balance. Please be aware of this. Veganpet for cats is balanced at the correct pH cats for cats. If you are worried about urinary pH, Urinary pH test kits are available at chemists and you can test your cats urinary pH. After feeding your cat Veganpet for a month it would be wise to test your cat's urinary pH to ensure their pH levels are correct. You could also do this biannually to ensure the health and safety of your cat.
The secret is to try all different types of vegetables, remembering that they should be finely grated and root vegetables oats and lentils etc need to be cooked. Always serve food at room temperature or slightly warmed, always serve with fresh water. The fresh and cooked foods you give to your cat should not be greater than the VEGANPET dry food, because of the protein levels and the enzymes included and all the needed nutrients are in VEGANPET food in the balanced amount and are readily absorbed, where the vegetables give some nutrients, but mainly are a change in texture and flavour of food for your cat.
Fresh Green Cat Grass
Cats need to have access to long green cat grass, which is essential if your cat lives indoors full time. I now have this grass available, please contact me regarding purchase.
As a good emergency food always have some of your cat’s favourite vegetable baby food in the cupboard. Be adventuresome and try all sorts of mixes of foods for your cat, he will soon develop his favourite. Always be careful to incorporate my VEGANPET dry food as well. Happy cooking, remembering all the time . No animal has suffered to feed your pet – Doesn’t it feel great!