Cats unlike dogs are obligate carnivores. Dogs and cats diet vastly differs. Dogs are with humans for 40,000 years and have evolved to become omnivore. They can get their sufficient nutrition from plant food. However, it is not the same in case of cats. Cats can thrive only on pure non-veg food.
In the site Vegetarian diet for dogs and cats
Lew Olson, PhD, author of Raw and Natural Nutrition for Dogs, makes
this analogy: “Trying to feed a cat a vegan diet would be like me
feeding my horses meat. You’re taking a whole species of animal and
trying to force it to eat something that it isn’t designed to handle.”
“For cats, it’s really inappropriate. It goes against their physiology
and isn’t something I would recommend at all," says Cailin Heinze,
VMD, a board-certified veterinary nutritionist and assistant professor
of nutrition at Tufts Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine.
Cats given vegetarian or vegan diet has the following nutritional defficiencies:
- Vitamins A and D: Dogs and cats cannot make vitamin D
in their skin, so it needs to be in their diet. And the vitamin D
needs to be D3, which comes from animal sources, not D2, which comes
from plant-based sources. “People and dogs can use D2 to some extent,
but cats really need D3,” Heinze says.
- Taurine: Dogs can make taurine if provided the right
building blocks through dietary protein. Cats cannot make their own
taurine at all, so it is regarded as an essential amino acid in this
species and must be present in adequate amounts in the diet. Both
species can suffer taurine deficiencies.
Further it is given:
- Never feed vegetarian or vegan diets to kittens or to cats
you plan to breed.
- Only consider or feed commercial diets
that have gone through feeding trials and meets the requirements for
AAFCO (Association of American Feed Control Officials)
compliance.
- Consult with a veterinary nutritionist who can
analyze your commercial or homemade vegetarian pet diet and make
recommendations for additional health safeguards.
Can dogs and cats be vegetarians
Cats are much more complicated than dogs: they are “obligate
carnivores”. The feline anatomy and metabolism have evolved
specifically for processing meals derived from small prey. While their
anatomy and digestive system can adapt (cats can eat and digest
plant-based food), there are critical aspects of their metabolism that
have an absolute need for nutrients that are only commonly found in
meat.
As given in the site When Pets Don't Get Enough of The Right Kind of Protein
Obligate + carnivore = cats must eat meat to survive. This is
because the protein in animal tissue has a complete amino acid
profile. Amino acids are the building blocks of protein. Plant
proteins do NOT contain all the amino acids critical for the health of
obligate carnivores, and unlike humans who have the physiological
ability to turn plant proteins into the missing pieces needed for a
complete amino acid profile, cats don’t have that capacity.
Remember: It’s not just the amount of protein that’s important
– it’s also the source (for carnivores it should be animal vs.
plant-based) and bioavailability (fresh, unprocessed, preferably raw
muscle and organ meat is ideal for healthy cats and dogs).
Cats aren’t designed to eat carbohydrates, and in fact, their bodies
don’t produce the enzymes required to digest carbs.
