Re: OT/ names of online articles by vets showing cats are carnivores

[PEC2851]

All of this I find very interesting.....   I am a vegan, and I do find it somewhat unpleasant feeding my critters something that I refuse to eat, but...   I became very familiar w/ allergies in animals w/ my first Rottie years ago. After repeated tests, x-rays & specialists, I finally found a vet specializing in allergies. After all was done, turns out he was highly allergic to select proteins. We started him out on a vegetarian diet, and he had no further problems, and was a BIG boy, 138 lbs. I have another dog here who also has severe allergies. Improper diet led to repeated ear infections, leading to 2 surgeries, w/ 2 total ear ablasions performed. This all occured when she was returned to the shelter at age 8, her "owners" had never addressed the problem. She also was put on a vegetarian diet, at which time I took her home to "foster", since the shelter could not accomadate her new diet. She is also thriving, and the change in diet has been a lifesaver literally for her too. (But, she did suffer permanent deafness as a result of neglect...)   About 5 years ago our shelter was called to an abandoned farmhouse. The tenants had been evicted and left behind all their animals. I had never seen, and to this day have never seen anything as horrendous as this! There were 2 dogs that were chained to dog houses. Kind neighbors were able to provide them w/ H2O & food, but it was not until they realized that there were many cats locked in the house that they called authorities and we were asked to assist. We rescued over 40 live cats from this house, plus the 2 dogs. The nightmare was the carcasses of "deceased" cats/kittens in the house..... I still have nightmares. There were 16 kittens among those rescued. Many of them, along w/ some adults, were extremely ill, and despite efforts, we did lose a large number, especially w/ the kittens. I took 2 home to "foster", and had hopes of saving them. They were scrawny, loaded w/ parasites, had URI's and I didn't want to get my hopes up.... Sorry to ramble, but what I am getting at, is after many months(frustrating), both also were found to have severe allergies, thus their "failure to thrive". With a very efficient, patient vet, we eliminated all meat/seafood from their diets. I learned to prepare vegetarian meals for cats and taurine was supplemented. The results were amazing...these 2 little scruffy, sickly kittens blossomed into the most beautiful cats....And we never had a clue, they were even longhairs.. The diarrhea stopped, their coats grew long/silky, the URI's cleared up and they started to GROW!! My other guys were jealous cause these 2 had their special meals in the bathroom. And, they have been adopted to a wonderful woman, who has no problem fixing her vegetarian babies their meals! They are still thriving and doing very well.   I'm not debating here whether a vegetarian diet is good or bad for cats. Nor am I debating that cats need meat. I am just stating that w/ my personal experiences, I have seen cats flourish on a vegetarian diet. I do think it is more healthy than any commercial diet on the market though.   And an added benefit is, you can all "sit down" and enjoy a home cooked meal... it sure beats eating by myself!!   Patti