1st May 2006

I Won't Eat Meat, But Should My Pet?

Read more: Food Health | Comments (2)

If you love animals and feel strongly enough to make a point of not eating them, it’s quite likely you’d like to own a pet too. But can it be a moral maze when your principles come up against the call of the wild?

Do you remember the movie Shirley Valentine, in which Shirley is asked to look after the neighbour’s bloodhound and feed it a vegetarian diet? She thinks the poor thing looks sad and hungry, so she feeds it the steak destined for her husband’s dinner, which the dog wolfs down with joy. It’s a funny scene and it seems logical on watching it that a ‘blood’ hound would want to eat blood. But is it OK to feed dogs and cats a diet based on their owner’s moral code or is it necessary to feed them meat, in line with their hunting ancestry?

The Vegetarian Society says that studies have found a purely carnivorous diet could be bad for dogs. It describes ‘all meat disease syndrome’ in which animals fed meat alone (without the addition of vitamins and minerals) develop soft bones, general poor condition and sometimes die. On its website the society says, ‘The condition is attributed to lack of adequate calcium, iodine and vitamins A and B1, and to a poor calcium to phosphorus ratio. Meat is particularly deficient in calcium. The natural diet is far more varied. Wild dogs and cats eat not only the meat but also the bones (rich in calcium), the organs, and the intestines containing assorted vegetable matter.’

We’d agree that meat alone is not the optimum diet for a dog, as they are omnivores – in fact many dogs seem to be happy to eat almost anything – from kitchen scraps to newspapers! But cats seem to actually need meat in their diet, as they require an amino acid called taurine to be healthy. This is only found in the muscles of animals.

However, the International Vegetarian Union says that infact both dogs and cats can be fed a vegetarian diet. ‘Both animals can be fed a vegetarian diet, although neither is a vegan by nature - dogs are omnivores, and cats are carnivores. By nature cats and dogs wouldn't eat anything like what is commonly found in a can of pet food either.’

Synthetic taurine has been developed, and is used in commercial (non-vegetarian) cat foods. Vegetarian cats can be fed it as a supplement. You must take advice from your vet though, as taurine deficiency can result in blindness and even death. Cats also require pre-formed vitamin A and arachidonic acid.

We spoke to cat owner Liz Blackshaw, from the West Midlands, who has been a vegetarian for over 20 years. Her two cats – 9-year-old Pickle and 6-year-old Rene – eat a non-vegetarian diet. Liz explains, why vegetarianism is important to her. ‘I simply couldn't cope with an animal having to die to feed me when I knew I could lead a healthy life without meat. As far as I know there are no health benefits, however, once I changed I became far more concerned with eating a balanced diet so for me this diet probably is healthier than it would be if I ate meat.’

‘I feed both cats dried food (James Wellbeloved) mainly because I can't cope with giving them tinned meat. The smell and mess of tinned cat food is too much for me, plus the fact that it looks like meat. I would hate to have to keep a half-used tin of meat in my fridge too.’

However, Liz says her cats do sometimes roam to find more obvious ‘meaty’ treats for themselves. ‘One of our cats is often fed fresh fish by a neighbour, I've told the old lady that if she wants to spend her money that way then I'm not going to tell her to stop but could she PLEASE keep him with her for at least a few hours afterwards because it gives him horrible wind, and sometimes even gives him diarrhoea. The other cat won’t even eat fresh meat as a 'treat' when he's poorly - from his reaction, I honestly think he doesn't like the mess! He did catch his first bird recently, which was really hard for me, but he seemed far more concerned with showing it to mum than eating it!’

Liz says her vet always comments on how good the cats’ teeth are, and puts this down to the dried, rather than fresh food.

I asked her why she lets her cats have meat, when she feels so strongly against eating it herself. ‘I do it because cats are not naturally omnivorous as we are,’ she explains. ‘They have evolved a digestive system that is meant to process meat. I try really hard not to think about them eating meat, but it doesn't bother me too much. I have to feed them meat to have healthy, happy cats, so that’s what I’ll do.’

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