Vegetarian Cats

My understanding of cats brings me to the reality that cats do not make good vegetarians. Cats need more protein and fat than other pets. It may be that there are very skilled vegetarian owners out there that manage to balance these components and still feed only a vegetarian diet. I've never really heard of someone accomplishing this and raising a totally healthy cat, so I apologize if I'm overlooking someone.

In fact, my own experience leads me to believe that cats need very little besides meat, organs, and bones to survive healthily. Carbohydrates or greens of any sort make my male cat immediately sick, and my female kitten stinks up the whole house when she consumes carbs and vegs. In nature, cats may chew on grass, and they certainly eat the contents of the stomach & intestines of their prey, which would account for a small amount of predigested vegetable matter.

Don't forget that most commercial dry pet foods are mostly carbs which makes for an unhealthy balance for a cat. Commonly, this is apparent in the urinary health or skin & coat of the animal, and sometimes in other ways like obesity or smelly breath. Some cats remain largely unaffected by a dry diet for years, but kidney issues do seem to creep up later on.

If you are currently giving your cat a dry-only diet, consider adding a couple spoons of natural canned food per day, and cut back slightly on the dry. It may just be a small step in the right direction.