# Raising a kitten to be a vegetarian: stupid, cruel, disastrous, or all three? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 8, 2009, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/raising-a-kitten-to-be-a-vegetarian-stupid-cruel-disastrous-or-all-three/513107 "2009-10-08T21:18:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2009, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/raising-a-kitten-to-be-a-vegetarian-stupid-cruel-disastrous-or-all-three/513107/1 "2009-10-08T21:18:34Z")
One of my more… idealistic colleagues mentioned today that, being a strict vegetarian, she is not comfortable feeding meat to her cats. Historically she’d done so, but she’s recently acquired a kitten she intends to raise meatless. My first impulse is that it would be both kinder and swifter to simply stomp the kitten to death, but I’d appreciate some info to back me up. Thoughts? ---
**Author:** ![DiosaBellissima](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a8b319/32.png) [@DiosaBellissima](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DiosaBellissima)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2009, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/raising-a-kitten-to-be-a-vegetarian-stupid-cruel-disastrous-or-all-three/513107/2 "2009-10-08T21:21:14Z")
I thought cats were . . . obligate. . . carnivores. . . maybe? I’m not a vet or a biologist or anything, but I vaguely remember something like that. I can’t imagine a cat being able to get enough protein without meat. ---
**Author:** ![Duckster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duckster/32/1244_2.png) [@Duckster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duckster)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2009, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/raising-a-kitten-to-be-a-vegetarian-stupid-cruel-disastrous-or-all-three/513107/3 "2009-10-08T21:27:25Z")
> [@](#): > > V **egan Cats** > > _A friend of mine who is vegan feeds her cats a vegan diet. Is this safe?_ > > —Barbara > > At the ASPCA we recognize that there are many quality dietary options for pet parents to choose from, Barbara. However, we do not recommend vegetarian or vegan diets for cats. Cats are true carnivores with unique nutritional needs. They require nutrients that are not available from plant sources. At first, they may appear to be doing satisfactorily on vegetarian or vegan diets, but over time nutritional deficiencies may occur. **Even the [Vegetarian Society cautions against these diets for cats](http://www.vegsoc.org/info/catfood.html).** When it comes to felines, it really is best to provide a diet that includes meat. Source: [http://www.aspca.org/pet-care/ask-the-expert/ask-the-expert-pet-nutrition/vegan-cats.html](http://www.aspca.org/pet-care/ask-the-expert/ask-the-expert-pet-nutrition/vegan-cats.html) Why would your idealistic colleague impose their own personal morality upon an animal? In this part of the world, forcing such a human diet upon an animal is considered animal cruelty. > [@](#): > > My first impulse is that it would be both kinder and swifter to simply stomp the kitten to death, but I’d appreciate some info to back me up. On this? No way. If you must, kidnap the kitten and turn it in to a no kill shelter. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2009, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/raising-a-kitten-to-be-a-vegetarian-stupid-cruel-disastrous-or-all-three/513107/4 "2009-10-08T21:31:08Z")
> [@Duckster](#): > > On this? No way. If you must, kidnap the kitten and turn it in to a no kill shelter. Wouldn’t you have to hollow out the kitten to do that, thereby killing it anyway? Plus, I don’t think kittens are big enough that that would really be possible. ---
**Author:** ![DiosaBellissima](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a8b319/32.png) [@DiosaBellissima](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DiosaBellissima)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2009, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/raising-a-kitten-to-be-a-vegetarian-stupid-cruel-disastrous-or-all-three/513107/5 "2009-10-08T21:31:59Z")
> [@Captain\_Amazing](#): > > Wouldn’t you have to hollow out the kitten to do that, thereby killing it anyway? Plus, I don’t think kittens are big enough that that would really be possible. But he’d be helping so many more kittens. The greater good and all that. ---
**Author:** ![Max\_Torque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Max\_Torque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_Torque)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2009, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/raising-a-kitten-to-be-a-vegetarian-stupid-cruel-disastrous-or-all-three/513107/6 "2009-10-08T21:36:33Z")
Cats require the amino acid taurine to survive. Taurine exists in animal muscle tissue. It’s apparently possible to synthesize taurine today, but yeesh, why go to such extremes to force your own ideals on a creature that doesn’t (and can’t and won’t) share them? Let her know that, unless she’s paying top dollar for premium vegetarian foods that contain the artificially-synthesized vitamins and nutrients that the cat needs, she’s basically starving her cute little kitten to death, which makes her more cruel than even most carnivores. You might also want to point out that, unless her cat is totally housebound (and possibly even if it is), it’ll catch and kill rodents, mice, bugs, whatever, so why bother with the whole diet charade in the first place? Just hold your nose and open the damn tuna can! ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2009, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/raising-a-kitten-to-be-a-vegetarian-stupid-cruel-disastrous-or-all-three/513107/7 "2009-10-08T21:37:41Z")
> [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > . . . she is not comfortable feeding meat to her cats.Thoughts? Ask her whether her “comfort” is more important than the kitten’s health and well-being. Ask her how she’d feel if she were locked into a house and forced to eat things that she was not evolved to eat, just to satisfy her captor’s “comfort” level. ---
**Author:** ![NajaNivea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/22d042/32.png) [@NajaNivea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NajaNivea)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2009, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/raising-a-kitten-to-be-a-vegetarian-stupid-cruel-disastrous-or-all-three/513107/8 "2009-10-08T21:42:46Z")
Yes. A person who acquires a carnivorous pet then attempts to foist her own morality upon it by feeding a biologically inappropriate diet should, by all rights, be ground up and fed to said cat. Although I’m sure it won’t faze her in the least, please consider imparting upon her the wisdom of getting herself a rabbit or a guinea pig for companionship, rather than a pet which is \* biologically dependent upon eating other animals for survival\*. People are idiots. > [@Max\_Torque](#): > > Let her know that, unless she’s paying top dollar for premium vegetarian foods that contain the artificially-synthesized vitamins and nutrients that the cat needs, she’s basically starving her cute little kitten to death, which makes her more cruel than even most carnivores. Even if she is, it’s not like these foods are what you’d call “good” for them. They can survive on inappropriate diets, but they most certainly will not “thrive”. It would be like eating grass and trying to get all your nutritional needs by taking multi-vitamins. Possible maybe, but by no means is it serving the animal’s best interests. ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2009, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/raising-a-kitten-to-be-a-vegetarian-stupid-cruel-disastrous-or-all-three/513107/9 "2009-10-08T21:48:42Z")
Certainly the first two IMHO. Whether the third…well, the jury is out. See the wiki blurb on [vegetarian cat food](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cat_food#Vegetarian_or_vegan_food). Cats are obligate carnivores. If it were my pet, I wouldn’t put its potential long-term health at risk for my piddling ethical qualms. Omnivorous humans can afford the luxury of ethics, carnivorous cats cannot. ---
**Author:** ![Chopper9760](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/cdc98d/32.png) [@Chopper9760](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chopper9760)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2009, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/raising-a-kitten-to-be-a-vegetarian-stupid-cruel-disastrous-or-all-three/513107/10 "2009-10-08T21:53:04Z")
You could beat her to death with her cat and do them both a favor. ---
**Author:** ![supergoose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/aeb1de/32.png) [@supergoose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/supergoose)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2009, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/raising-a-kitten-to-be-a-vegetarian-stupid-cruel-disastrous-or-all-three/513107/11 "2009-10-08T22:15:45Z")
If it was me, I’d prepare myself with a bit of info on taurine and cats’ requirements for it and just casually ask her the next time she brings up her kitten/it’s diet (hopefully she’ll do so soon) how she plans to deal with that. If (when, more likely) she expresses ignorance, tell her there’s a lot of good information on the web and suggest she check into it. I think the key is to be non confrontational at first. If she responds badly and continues to endanger her cat’s health, you can kick it up a notch then, but she’s more likely to respond well if you don’t treat her as stupid and idiotic, whatever you may really think of her. ---
**Author:** ![Shirley\_Ujest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shirley\_Ujest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shirley_Ujest)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2009, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/raising-a-kitten-to-be-a-vegetarian-stupid-cruel-disastrous-or-all-three/513107/12 "2009-10-08T22:26:10Z")
Tell her to put a piece of meat and a veggie on the floor and let the cat decide for itself. ---
**Author:** ![Terraplane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/74df32/32.png) [@Terraplane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terraplane)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2009, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/raising-a-kitten-to-be-a-vegetarian-stupid-cruel-disastrous-or-all-three/513107/13 "2009-10-08T22:29:47Z")
This is a really bad idea. She should have thought of this before and adopted something that fits with her lifestyle instead of trying to force an incompatible animal into it. If you ignore organizations like PETA (the wise choice, I think) the best you might get in favor of a vegetarian diet is ‘your cat might not die.’ That’s not the type of thing to inspire confidence in a responsible pet owner. Maybe appeal to her idealism and ask her if she’s really comfortable performing experiments on her kitten like it’s some sort of lab animal. ---
**Author:** ![dukette71](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/8edcca/32.png) [@dukette71](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dukette71)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2009, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/raising-a-kitten-to-be-a-vegetarian-stupid-cruel-disastrous-or-all-three/513107/14 "2009-10-08T22:56:48Z")
Can you ask her what her vet thinks of this? ---
**Author:** ![SpoilerVirgin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4491bb/32.png) [@SpoilerVirgin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SpoilerVirgin)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2009, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/raising-a-kitten-to-be-a-vegetarian-stupid-cruel-disastrous-or-all-three/513107/15 "2009-10-08T23:15:03Z")
Tell her that Cecil says, “[Don’t do it!](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/1221/can-you-feed-dogs-and-cats-a-vegetarian-diet)” ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Awesome](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a698b9/32.png) [@Captain\_Awesome](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Awesome)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2009, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/raising-a-kitten-to-be-a-vegetarian-stupid-cruel-disastrous-or-all-three/513107/16 "2009-10-08T23:21:27Z")
[We taught a lion to eat tofu!](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nRSLQu-d6ZQ&feature=player_embedded) ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2009, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/raising-a-kitten-to-be-a-vegetarian-stupid-cruel-disastrous-or-all-three/513107/17 "2009-10-08T23:31:44Z")
> [@Max\_Torque](#): > > Cats require the amino acid taurine to survive. Taurine exists in animal muscle tissue. It’s apparently possible to synthesize taurine today, but yeesh, why go to such extremes to force your own ideals on a creature that doesn’t (and can’t and won’t) share them? So she can supplement the cat’s diet with tons of energy drinks, no? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![pharris](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f1d935/32.png) [@pharris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pharris)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2009, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/raising-a-kitten-to-be-a-vegetarian-stupid-cruel-disastrous-or-all-three/513107/18 "2009-10-08T23:45:55Z")
aw, feed it anything, just let it go outside to kill and eat the things it prefers! \ ---
**Author:** ![Kyla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/eada6e/32.png) [@Kyla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kyla)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2009, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/raising-a-kitten-to-be-a-vegetarian-stupid-cruel-disastrous-or-all-three/513107/19 "2009-10-08T23:46:34Z")
Totally, totally stupid. And cruel. And will be disastrous for the cat’s health. This woman needs to reconsider getting the kitten or this decision. FWIW, I’m a vegetarian and I feed my cat meaty cat food. I’m evolved to be able to be healthy without meat. He isn’t. Obligatory kitty picture: [Max the Bulgarian Cat](http://photos-h.ak.fbcdn.net/photos-ak-snc1/v351/15/46/1120903582/n1120903582_30170799_1182.jpg). ---
**Author:** ![Omniscient](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omniscient/32/3290_2.png) [@Omniscient](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omniscient)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2009, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/raising-a-kitten-to-be-a-vegetarian-stupid-cruel-disastrous-or-all-three/513107/20 "2009-10-08T23:50:09Z")
> [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > My first impulse is that it would be both kinder and swifter to simply stomp the kitten to death, but I’d appreciate some info to back me up. Thoughts? The kindest and simplest solution would be to stomp the owner to death. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/raising-a-kitten-to-be-a-vegetarian-stupid-cruel-disastrous-or-all-three/513107.md?page=2)