No, Your Cat Probably Shouldn’t Be Vegan

• Thomas Nelson
• April 2, 2020
• Animals
• 0 Comments

In an earlier version of this article, we wrote that No, Your Cat Can’t Be Vegan. Now, thanks to a study of nearly 1,400 cats, new information has come to light that casts doubt on that assumption. The following is an updated version of this article that takes into consideration this new information.

In recent years, more and more people have made the conscious choice to stop consuming animal products for health reasons as well as ethical reasons. Being vegan is a personal choice that we applaud, but it’s important to remember that that’s what it is: a personal choice. People who have chosen to be vegan and love it often want to share the love, but not every organism benefits from a vegan lifestyle. Whether you like it or not, some pets like your cat can’t be vegan.

Science readily supports the reality that humans are omnivores. We can eat a plant-based diet and, if it’s well thought out, be perfectly healthy. But some of our closest companions simply cannot be.

Can cats be vegan?

According to the ASPCA Animal Poison Control Center (APCC), it is possible, but very difficult, for dogs to be fed a plant-based diet. But put plainly, your cat cannot be vegan and be expected to live a long, happy, healthy, purr-filled life.

Cats are what are known as obligate carnivores, meaning that they must eat meat in order to survive. It boils down to two key things: protein and taurine.

Related post: Don’t buy a rabbit as an Easter gift

Cats require a diet high in easily digested animal protein in order to thrive. They also require taurine in order to be healthy. Taurine is an amino acid only found in animal-based foods like meat. Taurine can’t be synthesized in cats, meaning they must get it from an animal source in order to get a proper supply of the amino acid.

If cats are not provided taurine, they can develop dilated cardiomyopathy, which is a heart issue caused by taurine deficiency. With dilated cardiomyopathy, the heart muscle becomes weaker, which prevents blood from being pumped through your cat’s body like normal. This is a fatal disorder if not treated.

Problems of taurine deficiency don’t stop at the heart. Cats who don’t get adequate taurine can also experience eye problems and eventually go blind.

A new study suggests otherwise

A study published on September 13, 2023, in PLOS ONE suggests that the ASPCA could be wrong in their assumption about vegan diets for cats. The study tracked the diets of 1,369 cats, finding that cats fed a meat-free diet “tended to be healthier than cats fed meat-based diets. This trend was clear and consistent.”

However, of the nearly 1,400 cats studied, only 127 were fed a vegan diet, meaning that the group was not able to reach statistical significance – they just didn’t have enough cats participating in the study. It was also difficult to control for the behaviors of indoor-outdoor cats, as cats that went outdoors could be preying on small animals like mice and birds.

There’s also a concern that the results of the study could be skewed by the ideological beliefs of the cats’ owners. Many of the plant-based cats were cared for by people who made the switch to a plant-based diet themselves. It’s possible that these pet owners were compelled to overstate the health of their pets due to their own beliefs.

So what should you do?

Ultimately, when it comes to feeding your pet, the choice is yours. I can’t tell you to do one thing or the other, but personally, I won’t be changing my own cat’s diet based on this study. If having a pet that strictly ate only plant matter was truly important to me, I’d get a nice, vegan rabbit.