[MPJJJ]

I am vegetarian for moral reasons. I have 2 cats, they are siblings, and they seem to be intolerant to commercial food. I have tried almost all of the brands, including C/D and a prescription diet for IBS. Nothing works, and while on commercial food, my cats have huge amounts of chronic diarrhea and dull fur. Someone told me to try raw meat, and the difference was amazing. For the first time in their lives, they had solid, non-stinky stools, and their fur has become so soft!

However, I am not happy having to feed my cats raw meat. I cannot afford organic meat, even if there was an organic farm around here (which there isnt) so I have to buy the meat from the grocery store, which makes me feel like I am STILL contributing to animal cruelty.

I dont know what to do. Does my cats' health come before my moral issues? Should I just suck it up and continue to feed them raw meat? DH won't even unwrap it for them because he says they are my cats, and he's not gonna touch that stuff. (But he's omni, go figure.) So it's me handling the poor dead animals. I dont know what to do.

 

[homemademomma]

i totally get that it sucks, but you were feeding them meat before, in their cat food. it is NO different now. the only difference is you have to actually touch and see the meat. if you are at all spiritual it might help you to say a blessing or a prayer over the meat as you are preparing it.

ETA i definitely think their health comes before your morals. cats need meat.

 

[Kitsune6]

I may get flamed but I also believe that cats need meat. I also think that raw is a lot better than most 'commercial' dry food which is full of fillers and road kill or rendered meat. I feed my cat a 'holistic' cat food that has food grade chicken and my pup eats a brand of dog food that has human food grade meat. I personally don't think my pets should eat veggie since they wouldn't create their own crops in the wild. I know that determined veggies feed their pets that way and they thrive... more power to them I am just too lazy. It's more important to me that my animals eat animals that are more humanely killed. That's probably an oxymoron. :lo

 

[PikkuMyy]

If I had cats (allergic), I would not feed them veggie food. I would feed them meat. And as ethically-made as possible. And organic meat, particularly beef that's free range, is as ethical as it gets.

 

[callmemama]

I've been doing some reading about vegetarian dogs (since we'd like to adopt one), and most books touch on cats too. Animals may not grow their own vegetables, but its interesting to me that "in the wild" dogs and cats do not eat cows or sheep or pigs or chickens, etc.

 

[leoloveshiscats]

I totally feel for you. I was almost there.

A few years ago my cat developed IBD ... and for awhile it looked like I was going to have to go raw. I was dreading it! I found a local supplier of rabbits. I was going out of mind thinking "how will I do this". But I was committed to my cat's health, so I was going to do it. Luckily for me, we found a packaged cat food that worked very well for my cat (three years later he is doing great on it.) You might want to consider the brand "Wellness" -- some wholefoods sell it, some vets sell it, otherwise you'd have to mail order. The website for the food is:

http://www.oldmotherhubbard.com/wellness/cat_index.html

 

[Living Slowly]

I have just been dealing with this for my dogs. I knew I wanted to get them on a more natural food. I have read about the benefits of the BARF (raw food/meat) diet and also about veggie diets. I was really unsure.

Well, I was very excited to find a new Vet for my dogs. She is totally holistic (not vaxing unless necessary,etc) and she is also VEGAN with 14 rescued animals. So, finally I found some one that had both the knowlegde as well as the moral beliefs similar to mine. She said as much as she loved animals, they needed meat in their diets. She was talking about dogs when she said this, but from my reading cats have to have meat in their diets even more than dogs.

I totally agree with you on feeding them raw meat. I couldn't get myself to buy a chunck of raw animal and have to handle it. I told my vet this and she recommended a great all natural dry food for my dogs. I might get the canned wet food form them as a treat, but that is about a close to the meat as I think I can get.

It is a tough decision. I like the PP suggestion for doing a little prayer or something over the food. And I agree, our pets health has to come before our morals.

 

[WC_hapamama]

I'm not vegan or vegetarian, but I'm very mindful that some animal died to provide my meat, and I don't take that for granted.

Your pet needs to eat meat. It's part of the natural cycle. As long as you're not wasting the meat, the animal that died to provide sustenance for your pet has not died in vain.

I'm going to second the suggestion of trying to find a holistic pet food if you think that'll be easier for you to cope with.

 

[LastBestPlace]

I think you are doing the right thing. In my opinion, dogs can do all right as vegetarians because they are omnivores, but cats are truly carnivores. Depriving them of meat is not healthy for them. I don't think it has so much to do with what dogs and cats would do in the wild, but what foods their bodies of capable of processing. Many brands of commercial cat foods are full of fillers, such as corn or worse "corn by-products", that have no nutritional value for cats. Giving your kitties raw meat is the best thing you can do for them, especially if they can't tolerate commercial food.

I'm a vegetarian with a rescued dog and a rescued cat and I struggle with these issues too. Right now, my kitty is getting a quality dry kibble that is mostly meat based. My dog is much more of a challenge because she is allergic to grain - all grain!!! She would be completely miserable and unhealthy on a meat-free diet. You don't realize how much grain is in dog food until you have to avoid it. I've just switched over to a new grain-free kibble and she seems to like it, but it smells so stinky! In fact, it smells so strongly of fish (the main ingredient is salmon) that the kitty comes running whenever I open the food container.

I've come to the conclusion that it's not a question of health versus morals. Instead, I made a committment to adopt my dog and cat and take care of them in the best way possible. If the best and most healthy way involves them eating meat, then that's inherently moral.

But, I totally understand that you don't want to contribute to the cruelty that goes into producing all those packages of meat at the supermarket. Is there some way that you could find meat that is a little less cruel? For instance, I grew up in a rural area and my parents always bought a whole cow from the 4-H auction every year. The cow was raised from birth to death by a kid and then the kid gets to keep the money for his cow - to me that's even better than the "certified organic" route. Organic does not necessarily mean cruelty-free. Of course, your cats probably don't need a whole cow, but maybe you could share with someone?