The comments saying it's ok to malnourish your cat are wild ha ha
this post was submitted on 03 Apr 2025
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Poor quality source at best. They literally suggest that a plant based diet is acceptable for cats despite them being obligate carnivores.
Edit: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0284132
That’s Dr Knight’s study and all the positive results for plant diets fed to cats come from the self reports of the owners who made this choice already. That’s a strong selection bias and it’s not a great study.
Obligate carnivore means they require nutrients that on a natural diet, they can only get from meat. With processed foods, cats can survive on a plant-based diet, if the food has had the appropriate nutrition added (in a way that cats can absorb it)
Edit, it even says exactly that in the article:
While cats are obligate carnivores, complete foods like Unicorn Pate are fortified with all of the vitamins and minerals that cats need to thrive, including taurine
That’s still not ok. Processed foods aren’t a good replacement for what they naturally eat. Your cat wants to eat meat and the only reason to deny them this is if you prioritize your emotions regarding meat over their needs.If you are this selfish of a pet owner maybe don’t own pets that survive by eating animals.
Your veganism does not excuse animal abuse.
Soo... I haven't seen any cat food owner offer anything but kibble and "wet food". These are insanely processed and not natural at all. I have yet to see a cat hunt down a cow.
Also this selfishness you speak of is kinda paradoxical because its from a desire to protect animals thats not only the one closest to you. You know, from being slaughtered to serve you to feed your cat?
Unless you're against kibble too can you clarify your position a bit?
Im not a fan of processed foods under most circumstances but realistically the stuff that is just meat + preservatives is still closer to what cats eat than any plant.
If you have an issue with animals being killed to feed your pet you should not own that type of pet. Again your veganism does not excuse any form of abuse towards animals and forcing a plant based diet onto an obligate carnivore is abusive IMO.
Could you outline the specific differences between processed kibble / wet cat food and processed vegan cat food that make you believe the latter is worse for the cat than the former? You could link a recent study on the matter to help us understand your concerns. Otherwise, your concerns are completly vibe-based.
Wet food is still meat. You don’t need to teach your cat to eat it like you do plants because cats naturally eat meat.
Before you accuse anyone of “vibes based” feelings you should check your sources. Dr Knight’s study is linked below. The vegan diet fed cats outcomes were entirely determined by their vegan owners which is going to have a very strong selection bias.
To be crystal clear here you do not have a good study backing plant based diets for cats regardless of what this non-scientific source claims. So maybe dial it back a bit because the science isn’t suggesting what you think.
https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0284132
You're right that Knight's study being entirely determined by the owner's own opinions could result in biased results. It seems like there's not really much comprehensive research in regards to the health effects, whether adverse, beneficial, or neutral of vegan cat food on cats. This review [1] is fairly recent and points to that.
So we are back to my initial claim about how this isn't a good source and they are claiming benefits for a plant based diet for cats when the science isn't there. It seems like you agree with that point now.
I do not eat meat.
I do feed meat to my cat.
What do you think of people feeding their pets kibble/dry food? Most people (>75%) with dogs and cats feed most (or all) of their food as dry kibble. Is that morally wrong?
If yes, please share more about that.
If no, is it only "processed food" if it's made with non-meat protein with added nutrients rather than animal-based sludge with added nutrients? I'm struggling to understand this perspective.
Dogs can eat vegan diets safely. They are not only inclined to eat meat naturally while felines are only naturally inclined to subsist off of meat so there is an important difference between the two.
Cat food that is meat based (not mostly plant based filler like Meow Mix) is still closer to what cats naturally consume than any plant so while not ideal it is still preferable.
Did you find the study mentioned innthe article? I did. The results are entirely based off the self reporting of the owners of the animals which creates a strong selection bias. I don’t think Dr Knight did great work here.
https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0284132