Channel Episode: Can Cats Be Vegan? Spoiler, No
Hi Cat Lovers, in this CatCrazy episode, I tackle the question: Can cats be vegan? Spoiler alert: No, they can't. Cats are obligate carnivores, meaning they must eat meat to stay healthy. In this episode I also discuss importance of taurine, an amino acid essential for cats' health found primarily in animal muscle. Watch this episode to learn why plant-based diets are inadequate for cats and discover a taurine supplement to ensure your feline friend gets the nutrients they need. Dr. Lynsey Rosen also shares insights on the physiological needs of cats and the necessity of meat in their diet. Watch the full episode below!
Petra Luna 0:00
So, can cats be vegan? Let's think about it. And what is taurine? Coming up!
Hi there my wonderful CatCrazy friends. I hope your week is going great. Welcome to my CatCrazy channel where I'm talking about anything related to cats. So if you love cats, please hit the subscribe button below and the notification bell and you'll be notified whenever there's a new video, which will be next week.
So now let's dive in right after the quiz of the day. Sprinting, how fast can a cat run? Seven miles per hour? 15 miles per hour? 30 miles per hour? Or 50 miles per hour?
What's up, Doc? So, Angel. Hey, Angel, would you like a carrot? Huh? No carrot? Well. So do you think cats can be vegan? Well look at the teeth of a cat. Do they have lots of molars to grind plants? Nope. Not at all. Cats don't chew. Their sharp teeth are perfect for ripping meat off the bones of their prey. And their short intestines are made for digesting meat. That means cats are obligate carnivores, meat eaters. And there's no “but” after this statement: cats on a strictly plant based diet will develop all kinds of health issues like impaired vision as well as weakening of the muscle cells, which ultimately will progress to heart failure and death. When your kitty starts showing signs, it might already be too late. So the answer is, no, cats cannot be vegan.
[Ask the Vet]
Petra Luna 2:17
So, can cats be vegan?
Lynsey Rosen, DVM 2:19
There are a lot of diet questions out there these days, and the short answer is, no. Unfortunately, they can't. We know that veganism is really popular right now, of course it's better for the environment, it's better for human health in a lot of ways, but our kitty friends unfortunately are what are called obligate carnivores. And what that means is the way their GI tract is set up is to digest really high protein, high fat contents. And it really has to be animal protein and can't be plant based protein because of their physiology, so they really are obligate carnivores. [Their protein] really cannot be replaced with plant protein. They actually really need to eat meat products. And so unfortunately, if you are really strict vegan a cat might not be the right pet for you. Luckily there are a lot of herbivorous pets out there. Bunnies are really good. Guinea pigs. You can totally have a vegan pet, but it shouldn't be a cat.
Petra Luna 3:17
Thank you. There you have it.
Petra Luna 3:24
Everybody needs taurine. So what is it? Taurine, or 2-aminoethanesulfonic acid, is named after the Latin word Taurus, which means bull or ox, and is essential for cardiovascular function, skeletal, muscle, retina, and the central nervous system. So taurine is an amino acid mostly found in muscle meat, and especially in dark meat. And since the heart is the strongest muscle in your body, it has the highest concentrations of taurine. In plants, though, you'll find only low to no taurine at all. Cats can synthesize taurine from other amino acids, so they do need to eat meat. The best food for cats, right Angel? Would be to feed them raw meat and even grind the bones, but who does that? Well, I do know a couple of people and I really admire that. So there's also raw food you can buy in stores, and we'll review a few cool ones in another episode.
Many cat food varieties, and I'm also talking about high-end foods, only offer a minimum amount of taurine though, so we found a great supplement that you can just add to your store bought food. So, here is. ThomasLabs Felo Taurine. It's a powder and you can just add half a teaspoon to their food every day. That's it. And so this is for Angel. And then humans need Taurine too. This is for humans. So this is for us. Angel. Us.
The answer is 30 miles per hour. Sprinting, a cat can run up to 30 miles per hour. Can you believe it? They have powerful legs that give them the ability to twist and turn on a dime. The flexible backbone adds to the cat's ability to run really fast.
All right, this is it for today. I hope you enjoyed the video. If you did, please give it a thumbs up and share with your friends and subscribe to my channel that you can down below. And if you'd like to supplement, because I learned a lot about this and I really love it, please hit the links below or visit my website catcrazychannel.com. And thank you so much for watching. I look forward to seeing you again next week. Bye bye!