I like your idea, but don’t think getting any significant number of cats vegan is very tractable. However, here are three related ideas that might be more viable:
1) There was a debate a few years back about whether cats should eat grain-free diets versus diets with grain. Vets think eating food with grain is fine for most cats. Food with grain is liable to have less meat (since there is more other stuff in it, i.e., grain), so switching cats from grain-free diets to diets with grain would presumably reduce their meat consumption. Cat owners would likely be open to this because grain-free foods are typically more expensive and grain-free diets have been linked to heart disease in dogs.
2) Slightly separate from the grain-free issue, cat foods vary significantly in terms of how much protein they have; for instance, it looks like the foods on this chart range from 26%-70% protein. So another way to reduce cats’ meat consumption might be to convince pet owners to buy food with less protein (or, if necessary, do research to establish whether this is healthy for cats).
3) Cat foods have different kinds of protein—the above chart mentions lamb, beef, chicken, salmon, tuna, rabbit, duck, trout, venison, mackerel, and shrimp, among many others. So it might be worth trying to investigate which meat cats can cause the least harm by eating.
Thanks Lilly. FYI, as far as tractability goes, I ask for ingredient approvals and a few RCTs. These wouldn’t require much in terms of cost (~1 million USD). There’s millions of vegans around the world, and I bet many are relishing the opportunity to rear vegan cats, including myself.
I also want to flag another ancillary benefit that developed in the days since discussing this post with others: Many folks understand the ethical and environmental benefits to going vegan, but won’t do so themselves because of perceived health concerns. If “carnivore” cats can be vegan safely, that’s quite the signal to non-vegan humans.
Thanks for the ideas. I do have a few concerns.
1.) Would owners be that much more receptive to switching to grain-free for ethical reasons? I would imagine similar head wind compare to vegan diets. I agree with you though about the cost point.
2.) I think this too would also be a tough sell. I’m guessing most owners think more protein is better for health.
3.) One issue here is the carcass balancing problem of animal agriculture. Cat food is generally the offal of the industry. I’m dubious of this approach without it exploding the cost.
I like your idea, but don’t think getting any significant number of cats vegan is very tractable. However, here are three related ideas that might be more viable:
1) There was a debate a few years back about whether cats should eat grain-free diets versus diets with grain. Vets think eating food with grain is fine for most cats. Food with grain is liable to have less meat (since there is more other stuff in it, i.e., grain), so switching cats from grain-free diets to diets with grain would presumably reduce their meat consumption. Cat owners would likely be open to this because grain-free foods are typically more expensive and grain-free diets have been linked to heart disease in dogs.
2) Slightly separate from the grain-free issue, cat foods vary significantly in terms of how much protein they have; for instance, it looks like the foods on this chart range from 26%-70% protein. So another way to reduce cats’ meat consumption might be to convince pet owners to buy food with less protein (or, if necessary, do research to establish whether this is healthy for cats).
3) Cat foods have different kinds of protein—the above chart mentions lamb, beef, chicken, salmon, tuna, rabbit, duck, trout, venison, mackerel, and shrimp, among many others. So it might be worth trying to investigate which meat cats can cause the least harm by eating.
Thanks Lilly. FYI, as far as tractability goes, I ask for ingredient approvals and a few RCTs. These wouldn’t require much in terms of cost (~1 million USD). There’s millions of vegans around the world, and I bet many are relishing the opportunity to rear vegan cats, including myself.
I also want to flag another ancillary benefit that developed in the days since discussing this post with others: Many folks understand the ethical and environmental benefits to going vegan, but won’t do so themselves because of perceived health concerns. If “carnivore” cats can be vegan safely, that’s quite the signal to non-vegan humans.
Thanks for the ideas. I do have a few concerns.
1.) Would owners be that much more receptive to switching to grain-free for ethical reasons? I would imagine similar head wind compare to vegan diets. I agree with you though about the cost point.
2.) I think this too would also be a tough sell. I’m guessing most owners think more protein is better for health.
3.) One issue here is the carcass balancing problem of animal agriculture. Cat food is generally the offal of the industry. I’m dubious of this approach without it exploding the cost.