Max

This is a biological fact not an opinion. Not an agenda or bias. It is pure scientific fact. You cannot feed your carnivorous pets a vegetarian or vegan diet.  Especially cats. Cats are obligate carnivores which means that they live on a solely meat based diet that is biologically essential for their survival. 

Not only does the meat contain enzymes, amino acids, nutrients and other essential minerals, cats can’t utilize plant-based proteins at all. Cats require high levels of amino acids like taurine and arginine that plants do not provide and require vitamin D (D3) that is only found in meat. So while eating a vegetarian / vegan based diet might “fill” their stomachs they cannot get any nutrients from it as they are unable to break down plant matter. 

This is because of a number of reasons. Firstly plant matter if hard to digest and herbivores require special biological systems to be able to live on a plant-only diet. Such as an enzyme called cellulose that that breaks down the cell wall of plant matter and bacteria that live in their gut, that herbivores cannot do themselves. Cats instead have an enzyme called amylase that can be used to break down small amounts of plant matter. But it is only produced in small amounts and therefore cannot handle high levels of plant matter. 

There is also the fact their digestive tracts are vastly different from that of herbivores. 

As you can see, carnivores have a rather short digestive tract. This because the nutrients and energy in meat is easier to absorb then an animal eating a herbivorous diet.  

Herbivores therefore have long digestive tracts in order to lengthen the time the plant matter is in their body and therefore have a chance to absorb more of the energy. In fact ruminant herbivores have a hour chamber stomach and ruminant (regurgitate) their food in order to better break down the plant matter and absorb more of the nutrients.

The dental structure of a carnivore such as a cat and a herbivore is also vastly different as they are adapted for their different diets. Cats have teeth (incisors and canine) that are used for tearing flesh and holding onto prey. They have only one set of molars as shown and three sets of pre-molars. These teeth are used for grinding / chewing. Compared to that of a herbivore, it’s hardly enough to break down and chew a plant based diet.

A herbivore’s dental structure (horse) contain of mostly molars rather then teeth used for tearing / holding onto prey. As shown below, a horse has many sets of large molars and a large mandible. That allows for long periods of chewing and grinding down on tough plant-matter / grains ect. 

Autumn Nights | Camille Chew

A cozy, spooky, fall inspired pattern. Available on Society6.

Beth Cavener - Sculptor by Bas Berkhout