“When words are both true and kind, they can change the world”- Gautam Buddha
Dr Arielle brought a very honest account about cat nutrition with information that no other vet has ever mentioned in a Webinar on the 8th January! Email info@justbekind.co.uk to watch a replay of this webinar if you missed it.
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! Unlike our dogs who will chase a squirrel until it runs off their property; their intention is not to kill and eat it, but a cat's intention when it hunts 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!
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 cat died on Boxing Day last month of Avian Flu from eating raw chicken, followed by many more cats dying in January?! 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)?
**COMPLETE HEALTHY PLANT-BASED CAT FOOD IS FREE OF PROCESSED CHEESE AND MILK**
How safe are fish foods to our cats?
Did you know that a leading cause of skin allergies and intolerances in cats are due to eating fish? Cats are HYDROPHOBIC as they have only ever lived as land mammals, so they would NEVER choose to jump into water to catch and eat fish......and yet almost every cat food brand available has the addition of highly non-sustainable fish protein added to their food. (There isn't enough fish left in the ocean for us, so there absolutely isn't enough to add to cat food)...and should they be having it anyway?
What is ethoxyquin?
Ethoxyquin is a preservative used in fish meal, particularly during transport and storage as fish will undergo bacterial putrefaction just as soon as they are taken out of the water. It has been banned in some countries for human consumption, and there is some evidence it is harmful to a cat's liver function.
Many fish-based pet foods contain ethoxyquin, and there is no regulation requiring it to be labelled on pet foods. It’s just another reason to choose vegan cat foods!
**COMPLETE PLANT-BASED CAT FOOD IS FREE OF ETHOXYQUIN AND PROTECTS OUR PRECIOUS OCEANS**
Cats are highly sensitive to the heavy metals in fish as well as the actual protein as shown in the graph below taken from a veterinary dermatology webinar with Nextmune.
Heavy metal toxicities with Arsenic in particular resulting in kidney disease in cats are caused by cats eating foods rich in fish?!
THE TRUTH ABOUT TAURINE
Which other brands add taurine to their cat foods?
SEE PURE SUGAR SHOWN IN BOTH WHISKAS AND SHEBA CAT FOODS MADE BY MARS PETCARE
NEED MORE SCIENCE? - WE ALL LOVE THE SCIENCE!
4 published studies showing health benefits of vegan cat food diets:
Peer-reviewed analysis of 16 studies on the impact of vegan diets on cat and dog health
Domínguez-Oliva et al. (2023) concluded, “there was no overwhelming evidence of adverse effects arising from use of these diets and there was some evidence of benefits.
In 2023 veterinary Professor Andrew Knight and colleagues published a large-scale study of 1,369 cats fed vegan (127 – 9%) or meat-based (1,242 – 91%) pet food, for at least one year. Cats fed vegan diets had better health outcomes for each of seven general health indicators studied. First, differences between diet groups in age, sex, neutering (desexing) status and primary location (outdoor vs. indoor) were all controlled for statistically. Next, risk reductions were calculated for cats of average age, and other characteristics. For average cats fed vegan diets, risk reductions were:
• increased veterinary visits (possibly indicating illness) – 7% reduction
• medication use – 15% reduction
• progression onto a medical diet (after being fed a vegan or meat-based diet) – 55% reduction
• reported veterinary assessment of being unwell – 4% reduction
• reported veterinary assessment of more severe illness – 8% reduction
• pet guardian opinion of more severe illness – 23% reduction.
• Additionally, the number of health disorders per unwell cat decreased by 16%.
No reductions were statistically significant, but collectively they revealed a strong trend. Additionally, the prevalence of 22 of the most common feline health disorders was studied. Forty two percent of cats fed meat, and 37% of those fed vegan diets suffered from at least one health disorder. 15 disorders were most common in cats fed meat, and seven most common in cats fed vegan diets.
In 2021 veterinarians Dr Sarah Dodd and colleagues published a large-scale study, including dietary information for 1,026 cats, of whom 187 were fed vegan diets. The latter were more frequently reported by guardians to be in very good health. They had more ideal body condition scores, and were less likely to suffer from gastrointestinal and hepatic (liver) disorders, than cats fed meat. No health disorders were more likely, for cats fed vegan diets.
And in 2006 veterinarians Dr Lorelei Wakefield and colleagues published a study in the Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association comparing the health status of 34 cats maintained on vegetarian diets, and 52 maintained on conventional diets, for at least one year. Most of the caregivers in both groups described their cats as healthy or generally healthy.
(And we haven't even begun to mention the benefit to the environment when you transition your cat onto a healthy plant-based diet - YOU WILL BE SAVING SO MANY FISH, CHICKENS, COWS AND PIGS - see the environmental impact here!)
Read more here from Prof Andrew Knight with all your questions answered.
WHY DO CATS DO SO WELL ON PLANT-BASED INGREDIENTS?
**CELEBRATING VEGAN CAT FOOD AS IT TASTES DELICIOUS!**
What about the palatability of plant-based cat foods?
Alison has fed all her animals vegan diets since the 80's (!). Listen to her speak about Ami vegan cat food in the clip below. Her full podcast is here where she talks about her cat living till 25 on a vegan diet eating Ami (but we've included that clip for you too below to listen to and be as amazed as we are!).
