Vegetarian Cat Diet

Cats are natural carnivores and meat eaters in the wild.



Although a vegetarian diet is healthy for humans, it is not so for cats as plant sources do not quite contain the nutrients that cats derive from animal protein. However, owners who try to keep their cats on a vegan diet do so for ethical reasons. Cats particularly require Vitamin B12, taurine and arachidonic acid which are abundantly available in animal protein as opposed to plant sources.



Nevertheless vegan cat food can be prepared at home to ensure that its nutrient value matches the cat’s requirements. It would be a good idea to feed one’s cat different food stuffs to identify preference and you may try by offering it seaweed, cantaloupe, avocado, spirulina and cooked pumpkin or squash. When cooking vegan cat food, it is best to use organic food and when buying beans, avoid the canned variety.



This helps avoid the extra amount of sodium which can be harmful for the cat. It is always best to cook a wet pot of food as water is an essential part of the cat’s diet, enabling it to develop a sleeker coat and ward off infections. And despite the number of water bowls you place around the house, the cat may not drink the water at all. If the cat has been on a non-vegetarian diet so far, the new food must be gradually added to its diet while gradually reducing the amount of its former food.

Drastic changes in the food may put off the cat completely and the food should be served in the same place the cat is familiar with. Natural cat food is what they would eat if not house grown and this includes insects, snakes, mice, reptiles, other rodents, small mammals and fish. So if they are not fed meat at home, they will try to find other sources to supplement their diet. Studies conducted over a period of time indicate that feeding them cooked food as opposed to a raw diet would in a few generations cause skeletal deformities, diseases, an increasing attack of parasites, difficult births and young ones born with organ malfunction that does not allow them to grow to adulthood. After the recent pet food recalls, a lot of owners have taken to organic cat food prepared at home. While using meat is advisable, especially hormone free meat, if vegetarian owners are squeamish about it, they will just have to stick to dry cat food. Otherwise organ meat and salmon oil are necessary ingredients when preparing organic cat food at home.