How do I turn my cat vegan? I don't want her to eat meat because it's not right.

Benevo wet and dry. Balanced?

Well, a lot of people would say that the person asking the question is mad. They remind us that cats are 'obligate carnivores'. Yep, we know that, thanks. But the point is this: it is possible to manufacture dry cat food from plant protein to which you can add nutrients to ensure that the final product is a dry cat food which contains the same nutrients and is as balanced as any other cat food. It comes down to the formula of the nutrients in the food and you can rely on plant protein to provide proteins.

Important: is absolutely impossible and dangerous to feed your cat a vegan or vegetarian diet similar to the diet that a human might eat. The diet will not contain the requisite nutrients for cat health. It will not sustain a cat. It should never be attempted. You will have to rely on a commercially prepared cat food to which has been added all the required nutrients. I believe the company mention on this page achieves that but please do your own research.

Benevo Adult dry

This is the fact sheet from the Pet Express website:

Benevo Adult Original Complete Vegetarian & Vegan Cat Food is a delicious meat free recipe that with provide your cat with all of the nutrients they require to thrive.

This tasty dish is complete and balanced, having been approved by the Vegetarian and Vegan Society. It contains taurine and spirulina to boost the immune system, without the addition of any GM ingredients. With 28% protein, this is a great vegetarian meal that your cat will love to savour.

• Nutritionally complete and balanced recipe
• 28% protein
• Not tested on animals
• With Prebiotic FOS to help digestion
• Added Yucca extract helps reduce toilet odour
• Contains Spirulina to boost immune system
• Omega 3 and 6 oils for healthy skin, fur, joints, vision and brain function
• Approved by the Vegetarian and Vegan Society
• Free from genetically modified ingredients

Ingredients: Soya, Wheat, Maize Gluten Meal, Maize, Rice, Sunflower Oil, Beet Pulp, Vitamins & Minerals, Brewers Yeast, Yeast Based Palatant, Linseed, Seaweed, Fructo-oliogosaccharides (0.09%), Spirulina, Yucca Schidigera Extract (0.01%.)

Analytical Constituents: Protein 28%, Fat Content 13%, Crude Fibre 3.0%, Ash 5.0%, Moisture 7%.

Study

A study conducted at the Vienna Institute for Food Nutrition and Functional Plant Compounds published in 2014 assessed the nutritional value of vegan cat and dog food, both wet and dry. The assessment included Benevo and another brand Yarrah. The focused on Benevo Duo.

Benevo Duo - for cats & dogs (same food)

Benevo Duo cats was found to meet most of the minimum fulfilment requirements the cats consuming this vegan pet food. They say that the majority of daily nutrient requirements were met with the exception of energy, kilocalories and crude protein. It is suggested to meet the total of these requirements to help with the vegan cat food supplements to ensure the health of their cat. 

This food is both a dog and cat food (hence 'duo') which is very strange because normally cat food is too rich for dogs and dog food is not rich enough cats. That's possibly why this study found that this particular version of vegan cat food was not quite up to scratch in terms of energy and crude protein. 

But the Benevo Adult Original Complete Vegetarian and Vegan Cat Food mentioned above appears to be as balanced as any other dry cat food.

Vegans have just 30% of the dietary environmental impact of high-meat eaters.

This is about cat owners becoming vegans as they should because they love cats and should love animals and if you love animals, you should love nature and if you want to protect nature and the animals that live in it you should do you bit to stop global warming!! Phew.

Vegans harm the planet a lot less than meat-eaters. No surprise, I guess. Here are some details from an Oxford University study: Low meat diets reduce environmental harm from food production.

• Vegans have just 30% of the dietary environmental impact of high-meat eaters;
• Vegans also had just 25% of the dietary impact for land use;
• Vegans have just 46% of the dietary impact for water use;
• Vegans have just 27% of the dietary impact for water pollution;
• Vegans have just 34% of the dietary impact for biodiversity (i.e. detriments to biodiversity).

The study concluded “that even the least sustainable vegan diet was still more environmentally-friendly than the most sustainable meat eater’s diet.” And that doesn’t include the abuse and killing of animals.

Deforestation for cattle farming. Image in public domain.

The researchers took information from over 55,000 individuals. The scientists are from the Livestock, Environment and People project at the University of Oxford. The participants classified themselves as vegan, vegetarian, pescatarian or meat eaters.

Data on the environmental impact of their diets was assessed in relation to biodiversity loss, water pollution risk, water use, land use, and greenhouse gas emissions.

It took into account how and where the food was produced. There were substantial variations according to where and how the food was produced. But the relationship between environmental impact and animal-based food consumption is clear they said.

They want action to reduce production and consumption of meat. The report on the project is published in Nature Food.

RELATED: Be a better cat caregiver by being healthier in consuming olive oil and going vegetarian for 6 months.

The global food system as they called it is responsible for 70% of the world's freshwater. They also reported that around 75% of the land area of the planet excluding those areas covered by ice have been affected by human use primarily for agriculture and land use change such as deforestation causing biodiversity loss.

The lead author is Prof Peter Scarborough of the Nuffield Department of Primary Care Health Sciences at the University.

He said:

Our dietary choices have a big impact on the planet. Cherry-picking data on high impact plant-based food or low impact meat can obscure the clear relationship between animal-based foods and the environment. Our results, which use data from over 38,000 farms in over 100 countries, show that high meat diets have the biggest impact for many important environmental indicators, including climate change and biodiversity loss. Cutting down the amount of meat and dairy in your diet can make a big difference to your dietary footprint.”

Past research would support this research and that plant-based diets have a much lower impact on greenhouse gas emissions, land use and water use and also reducing meat intake tends to be healthier.