Cat opening its mouth looking at food (© fantom_rd - stock.adobe.com)
WINCHESTER, United Kingdom — Vegan diets might be healthy and trendy for people, but should you be giving your cat the same plant-based meal plan? A new study contends that the answer is yes. Researchers in the United Kingdom say vegan cats appear to be healthier than their meat-eating feline friends.
Professor Andrew Knight from the University of Winchester, a co-author of the study, explains that while many pet foods list cooked meat as the primary protein source, there’s a rising availability of products that utilize alternative sources of protein, such as plants or fungi.
Despite this, some veterinary experts have expressed reservations about vegan diets for cats, pointing out the absence of meat, eggs, and dairy. Yet, there’s limited research addressing these concerns directly.
In an effort to shed light on the health implications of vegan diets for cats, Prof. Knight and his team analyzed survey data from 1,369 cat owners. These owners were asked about the health and diet of one cat in their household, which had been fed either a vegan or meat-based diet for at least a year.
Out of the participants, approximately nine percent reported feeding their cat a vegan diet, while the remainder opted for meat-based diets. Once variables like the cat’s age and neuter status were accounted for, the results indicated that vegan diets had a link to fewer health issues, though the differences weren’t statistically significant.
REACTION: Vet Says Study ‘Far From Conclusive’
For example, Prof. Knight observed that cat owners on vegan diets generally reported fewer vet visits and less medication use. They also claimed that vets would often describe their vegan-fed cats as healthier than those on meat-based diets. However, upon further analysis, there wasn’t a statistically significant difference between the health indicators of cats from both diet groups.
The survey further delved into 22 specific health disorders. It was found that 42 percent of meat-fed cat owners reported at least one health disorder, as opposed to the 37 percent of vegan-fed cat owners.
Publishing their findings in the journal PLoS ONE, the researchers support the potential health benefits of vegan diets for cats. However, they emphasized that the actual nutrient content of the cats’ diets was not analyzed in the study.
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South West News Service writer Stephen Beech contributed to this report.
In the age when a cold virus with a 99.8% survival rate, requires a vaccine with a 80% survival rate … this news makes perfect sense.
What utter excrement
declawed and deballed is no way to live. I’d rather have a shorter life with an achilles heel.
???????????? for millennia cats have been carnivores, and now they are suddenly vegan, I smell an agenda. Lol
The methodology in this report is similar to the IPCC’s original 1996 report that stated solar input is not factored into this report as solar residuals tend to be constant and negligible, therefore solar input is constant and negligible.
This study doesn’t pass middle school science.
Found the answer at the end of the study. It’s funded by an organization called “Proveg international” with a questionable disclaimer made out to sound like that had no influence.
The proveg page shows it to be a not for profit that’s apparently vegan focused and states that world problems (including climate change) stem from animal agriculture.
And it’s a survey-based “study” on top of that.
Not changing my cat’s food based on this, for sure. She’s outside killing animals, anyway – apparently not interested in being a vegan.
Cats can’t synthesize Taurine. Taurine comes from meat and dairy. Or small amounts from some seaweed. A strict vegan cat diet would be deficient.
A controlled study could be done.
This entire site is studies with questionable methodology at best, I really wish Drudge would stop linking anything to it.
Drudge has lost me lately- they have been linking to more and more Liberal propaganda stories. Never thought I would see the day but Drudge has gone the corporate route of being woke.
Survey is somehow a scientific study? I wonder who would be less likely to admit cats are having health issues – a vegan owner or someone who has no idea what the point of the survey is because they’re feeding their cats a standard meat-including cat diet.
Who funded the study?
Great post
I think i found a typo. I believe it should read ”
Out of the participants, approximately nine percent did not know what vegan meant”
How can a study claim anything if its results are not statistically significant. I admit I haven’t read the paper, but based on what is reported here, these are hunches at best.
Another “study” by brain dead, leftist science deniers. Democrat gaslighters trying to brainwash people with their extremist religions. Lol…
This study is going to kill a lot of cats.
Only if anyone listened. Nobody is.
Don’t be so sure- I’m sure some Liberal Mask Nazi is listening to this- most likely in Hell-A.
Headline says vegan cats are healthier. Article says evidence supporting that is not statistically significant. Study relies solely on anecdotal evidence. Vegan person says my vegan cat is healthier is laughably admitted as evidence. This whole article is an embarrassment.
BS, cats are carnivores. Another attempt by the green-weenies to push their idiotic agenda. BTW, more animals are killed through agriculture than any other industry.
Well, we now know this site is anti-meat propaganda. They want to persuade everyone (and now their pets) that they should all be vegans for life, eat insects, own nothing and they will be happy. Sound familiar?
Did some dog clicking away on Chat GPT auto generate this “article”?
No dog would do this as they love lively healthy cats better to chase and tease.
Get the booster shot Trump bad!
there are no words for the stupidity of humans…i cannot wait to be off planet hellville. humans just can’t let things be the way nature intended. they have to lie, manipulate, kill, destroy, poison, torture, pollute and now they are even letting men have babies…nope, i want no part of this insanity. please shove your stupid studies over the edge of the flat earth.
Don’t give up on Earth, think of big ole’ tiddies… Beauty can be found if you look 😉
Bravo Linda…..
How many of the “vegan” cats were outside slaughtering mice and birds all day out of view of the owner?