Cats are obligate carnivores - what does that mean?
Unlike the gentle cat asleep amongst the chickens in the photo above, our cats have lived with man for over 12000 years to guard grain stores initially, and they are voracious hunters that only ever hunt alone and will hunt anything small that moves! Very different to our dogs who will chase a squirrel until it runs off their property; a cat's intention is not to kill and eat it, but when it hunts, it is absolutely to kill and eat their prey.
Once caught however, they are incredibly selective in what they eat - never the feathers or head, and so many cats are known for leaving the spleen and gall bladder of a mouse on your doorstep or bedroom floor for you!
Cats need nutrients and not ingredients with their high protein diets, but as they are so selective with what they eat, they are offered an array of different cat foods very far removed from what they would normally eat!
“When words are both true and kind, they can change the world”- Gautam Buddha
What does board-certified small animal nutrition specialist Dr Mike Davies recommend for feeding cats?
Please see notes below from Dr Mike Davies' Provet Nutrition Course that is aimed at educating vets about small animal nutrition. Just Be Kind was able to sponsor the course alongside Hills in 2025 (see teaching Hills about sustainable nutrition)
I have been on his course every year since 2021, and each year I have learnt something new and been fascinated to see the how there has been such progress over the years with how we feed cats.
The slides shown are from the 2025 Provet Nutrition Course courtesy of Dr Mike Davies, starting with reasons why we want to feed our dogs and cats more kindly using plant-based foods.
The slide shown below stands out as being the most relevant of ALL studies done with nutrition in cats.
What do we currently feed our cats?
It is easy for pet food companies to play on this term 'obligate carnivores' and market food to be high in meat or even raw, but our cats are not scavengers and they would NEVER choose to eat a mouse or bird that has been dead in the garden for a few days, but by raw feeding, or feeding high meat protein cat foods, this is what we are expecting them to do!
Have you heard that a number of cats have died of Avian Flu from eating raw chicken?! Cats being fed raw meat IS our next pandemic as this keeps making headline news starting our year - very frightening and read more here.
**COMPLETE PLANT-BASED CAT FOOD IS FREE OF ALL LETHAL VIRUSES SUCH AS AVIAN INFLUENZA!**
What about the cat that got the cream?
The image appears quite normal to us as cats naturally love the taste of high fat milk and cream especially. Cats are highly sensitive to the casomorphin that is present in milk and cheese and is there to calm the young calf and bond it with its mother, but this casomorphin has some amazing effects in cats!
The AI generated image of the cat sniffing a cow's udder does appear quite shocking as cats would NEVER choose to drink the milk meant for the young of another mammal as part of their natural behaviour!
But, we feed them milk and cream and add highly processed cheese to the UK's top selling cat treats 'Dreamies' made by Mars Petcare. Is it right to give our cats that are highly sensitive to casomorphin in the milk (it makes them mildly 'addicted' as well as causing them to overeat uncontrollably)?
I do remember when we would give morphin to cats in veterinary hospitals, they would quite literally 'climb the walls' they became so hyper-responsive to even the smallest amounts and they would eat uncontrollably - so easy to turn them into little 'fast food junkies!'
COVER UP BY UK PET FOODS!!
Taurine is safe to add and HAS to be included in ALL cat foods!
ALL cat food brands add Taurine to their cat foods?
SEE PURE SUGAR ADDED TO BOTH WHISKAS AND SHEBA CAT FOODS MADE BY MARS PETCARE
Should cats eat fish? NO!
No 1 allergen in cats causing skin issues as shown by this graph:
WHAT INNOVATIONS DO WE HAVE COMING FOR OUR CATS?
2026 is the year that we have THE most exciting products launching for our cats and NO, it is NOT cultivated meats from animal cells!!
We were promised a launch of Meatly collaborating with Omni to produce wet cat food from cultured cells in 2023, but nothing seems to have come from that collaboration and we see that there is now no mention of cat products at all on the Omni website.
There was an exciting prospect of 'Mouse Mousse' made from cultured mouse cells by Prefera - a Romanian company who bought out The Pack last year, but I happened to meet with one of the Prefera partners at the London Vet Show and he told me that the market was not ready for cultivated meats yet! I was SO upset to hear this as I had a whole speech prepared for vets telling them all about the future with cultivated cells from mice!!
BUT, we have something so much better that is fully vegan, already being made in huge quantities, had scientific studies done on its safety, and.....
THE FUTURE IS FERMENTATION PROTEIN!
JUST BE KIND are SO excited to be the very first company in the UK to sell innovative treats specifically designed for obligate carnivore cats!
They contain microbial fermentation protein that is bio-identical to meat protein in its amino acid profile, but is clean, vegan, made as a biomass and the best bit...cats are drawn to its umami flavour - in fact it is one of the flavours that they crave being high in glutamic acid!!
Made by wonderfully ethical company VegDog who have now branched into making cat products. We are SO excited to read that this is the start and a cat food is being planned from this article.
How are the PURE BITES treats made?
Feeding Benefits VegCat Pure Bites Taurine Treats
✔ Supports digestion with biotic fermented microbial protein!
✔ Promotes a balanced microbiome and immunity
✔ Supports healthy heart and eyesight with added Taurine
✔ Irresistible taste with Brewer's yeast and catnip
✔ No artificial additives, colours, or preservatives
TRY OUR VegCat INNOVATION SPECIAL!
PURE INNOVATION SPECIAL FOR YOUR CAT WITH 6 x PACKS UMAMI CRUNCHY PURE BITES TAURINE TREATS + FREE 150ml BOTTLE OMEGA 3 ALGAE OIL click here
What else is coming for your cats? The future is with small independent passionate companies leading the way!
It was such a pleasure to meet and spend time at the London Vegfest in December with hugely inspiring Maria who as a very passionate vegan veterinary nurse; has started her own business OmPets that will stock and sell THE VERY FIRST wet tinned plant-based cat food containing Feedkind bacterial fermentation protein - hurrah for innovation and independent small businesses leading the way!! (We will definitely be stocking it as soon as it is available as Maria has been working falt out with one of the top nutritionists available!)
We also have the promise of Marsapet in Germany who make MicroBell dog food, producing a wet cat food using fermentation protein, and VegDog have hinted at a cat food coming out, so the future for your obligate carnivore plant powered cats is looking VERY bright!!
All 3 of these companies will ensure that nothing is lacking in the food which is the most important, and the most exciting part is having a wet (or dry) food that cats find irresistible with the addition of that umami rich fermentation protein!
