What do Vegetarians Feed Their Dogs and Cats?

First, I want to make something very clear. I am not a veterinarian. I am just giving you my opinion – not medical advice, though I am telling you what I know based on research by veterinarians. I just want to make that clear. Second, all of this is just my opinion, which is why I assume many of you read my blogs and listen to my podcast – to know what I think. And I’m sure some of you may disagree with me. That’s fine. That’s your opinion – I’m not presenting doctrine here. It’s just what I think based on my research, my experience, and my own contemplation about these issues. OK?

So, here’s the scoop. Dogs do very well on a vegetarian diet – and when I say vegetarian, I mean vegan. Most dogs thrive on a plant-based diet. And I say “most dogs” because there may some issues with allergens; some vegetarian dog foods may contain allergens such as corn or wheat, so it’s just a matter of finding the right food if that issue arises. But in general, dogs do great and any vet who tells you otherwise is misinformed. I’ve heard from some people who were actually surprised that their vet recommended a vegetarian diet for their dogs; that’s great. Find a vet who will support your decision and stick with him or her, and explore the information together. If your dog is eating meat, I would transition him or her slowly, by incorporating the vegetarian food into his or diet little by little. But there really isn’t much else to say. There are many brands of vegetarian dog food, some of which are sold at vegancats.com, and many are even in your larger and smaller local pet supply stores.

Cats, on the other hand, are a different story. Unlike humans or dogs, they are strict carnivores and have very high protein requirements. They do not require plant products in their diet, though they do tend to consume some when they eat the stomach contents of their prey. However, this doesn’t apply to my cat Simon. So, just so you know – I have two cats: Simon and Schuster. Simon is funny and spunky and manipulative and social and demanding and fickle and gorgeous and long and sleek and skinny and full of energy with a great sense of humor. He also LOVES vegetables – LOVES them. Whatever I’m eating, he wants, especially if it’s chick peas or quinoa or broccoli or asparagus or fava beans or kale or corn or Brussels sprouts. I kid you not. The other day he started eating my salad –carrots, crisp lettuce, celery – vinegar and all. He’s a nutty nut bar. The salad did have nutritional yeast on it, so I’m sure they helped mask the vinegar taste, but still.

Schuster, his brother – they were the only two in the litter – just the two of them, and they’re still very much in love. They groom each other all the time, cuddle into a ball to sleep, and are just inseparable. Schuster is the opposite of Simon – as opposite as you can get. He’s gentle and sweet and mellow and quiet and obedient and round and paunchy and adorable and trustworthy and predictable and never gets into trouble. If there’s trouble somewhere, we know who to look for, and let’s just say it’s not Schuster.

And, as much as I hate it, I feed them meat. I know there will be people who disagree with me, but I feel as comfortable as one can in this crazy world of ours based on some close calls and years of contemplation. While there are many anecdotal tales of cats thriving on vegetarian and vegan foods, let’s just say it makes me nervous based on my own experience. I’d also like to see more long-term studies of vegetarian cats. I, like I advise others to do “never say never,” so perhaps if I adopted other cats in the future, my opinion would change, but I advise people to make this decision on a case by case basis.

I fed my cats a 100% vegetarian diet awhile ago, and I’ll never do so again – not with these guys. I’m not saying this was a direct cause and effect situation, but Schuster developed Addison’s Disease, which his incredibly, incredibly rare in cats. Our vet had the hardest time diagnosing him, because it’s just so rarely seen in cats. I was doing everything that was recommended, and around that time, he developed this disease just out of the blue. (Addison’s is when your adrenal glands don’t work, so you don’t make adrenaline. Schuster will be on prednisone the rest of his life.) Again, I’m just saying this was definitely caused by the lack of meat in his diet, but this was my experience, and as much as I hate supporting the meat industry, I’m not going to put my cats’ lives at risk, especially when I couldn’t put enough nutritional yeast on Schuster’s food to get him to take his meds, and he will die without his medication.

One of the potential problems that we do know about regarding feeding cats a 100% vegetarian diet is the risk of what’s called Feline Urologic Syndrome or feline urinary tract disease. Male cats are more prone to this than females and it occurs when crystals form in the bladder and are unable to be passed through the urethra. It’s more common in males because their urethras are more narrow than that of females, and I’ve witnessed cats passing these crystals (these stones) and it’s not a pretty sight. It’s fatal if it’s not caught, because infection can form and basically back up into the cat and kill them. In an emergency situation, a cat can be catheterized, which is quite an ordeal in itself. A 100% vegetarian diet – even using the commercial cat food that’s supplemented with taurine and other essential nutrients – often means that their urine is more alkaline than acidic, which can lead to the crystals forming. Both my cats are prone to this – they both developed it years ago when I decided to foster a kitten I had fallen in love with at the shelter I was volunteering at. The problem is I didn’t ask Simon and Schuster if this was okay. Anyway – their little bodies rebelled, and they both got blocked. I know now that it happens to Simon (it’s happened several times since to him – but never again to Schuster) if he eats dry food or is under severe stress, but this is something to know if you’re considering feeding your cats a 100% vegetarian diet.

I do think there can be a compromise solution, and I really like the suggestions at http://www.vegancats.com/. They suggest you supplement their meat with vegetarian food to at least cut down on the amount of meat you feed them. They do differentiate between what’s good for males vs. females because of the former’s propensity for urinary tract disease, but personally, I would do no more than a quarter of their food with veggie food, and that’s just my opinion. But see what they have to say. I think it’s sound advice. So you can try 25% vegetarian food, and 75% meat – that will definitely cut down on the amount of meat you have to buy.

In terms of the food I buy for them, as I said, they eat only canned, and my first criterion for their food is that it not contain by-products. If there are by-products in your cat (or dog) food, then I recommend switching brands, especially if by-products appear first in the ingredients list. A lot of the cheaper, lower-grade, generic brands and other brands use a lot of by-products (such as U.S. Department of Agriculture grade 4-D meat, which stands for dead, dying, disabled and diseased animals, as well as filler (usually in the form of corn which is difficult for many cats to ingest). So, I do recommend a “higher quality” brand. I’m not saying it’s higher quality from the standpoint of the animal who was killed; I’m saying higher quality from the standpoint of what I’m feeding my cats.

Many commercial foods are contaminated by antibiotics, hormones, pesticides, heavy metals, and other potentially hazardous materials. So, I do highly recommend checking out some brands that have the least amount of crap in them – and considering organic if you can afford that. There are many people who also make their own food, and if you want to purchase whole chickens, etc. and make your own food, you can do that, too. Dr. Pitcairn’s Guide to Dogs and Cats has some recipes for doing so.
The other issue for me is buying food that’s from a company that doesn’t use animals as research tools. PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) is totally on top of this, and I recommend visiting their website http://www.iamscruelty.com/ – where you can find out about IAMS (owned by Procter and Gamble) and the horrific conditions of the animals in the Iams-supported laboratories – as well as a list of companies that sell food not tested on animals. It also indicates which of those brands offers vegan dog food, so it’s a great resource to check out. BTW, I’ve mentioned nutritional yeast already; I sprinkle nutritional yeast on their food at every meal. They love it. I’ve actually busted Schuster more than once on the counter reaching his paw into the jar and scooping out the nutritional yeast and eating it. Did I say that Schuster never gets into trouble? LOL – well, it’s actually really cute. He doesn’t get in trouble for that. Anyway, if you need to get meds into your dog or cat, try sprinkling nutritional yeast on their food, and save some for your own popcorn. J I never eat my popcorn without it.

There are some other issues related to dogs and cats I’d like to talk about. It’s something that has been very difficult for me to talk about, but I want my experience to help others so it’s really necessary that I share some information with you. There is a cancerous tumor that’s seen in dogs but most frequently in cats; it’s called Fibrosarcoma. It’s so commonly attributed to vaccinations that it’s also called Vaccine-Associated Sarcoma.

In 2001, I brought Simon and Schuster in for a check-up to a vet that we had been using for a little while. This vet said we needed vaccinate Simon and Schuster, and I was really surprised. They’re indoor cats and hadn’t had vaccinations for years, because the risk of them contracting anything was so low. She said “nope – gotta vaccinate.” I said, well you know I don’t really feel comfortable; I know there are risks involved, but I’m not clear about what they are. Can you tell me?” she mumbled, “but the risk of a mouse coming into the house and them getting rabies” blah blah blah she started spouting off pretty much WHILE she was taking my cats in the back to be vaccinated. This is the moment for which I feel so much guilt. It’s the moment I wish I could return to. If I could turn back, I would have walked out that door with my cats and found a new vet. I didn’t know any better. I trusted her. I trusted her expertise – she was the vet. But I really didn’t have time to process what she was saying. Before I knew it, they were back with me, and we went home.

Not long after that – a couple months MAYBE – I was petting Simon and I noticed a bump on his upper hip – pretty much right near his spine at the top of his right hip. I know their bodies reeeally well, so I immediately called the vet in a panic and made an appointment. I brought Simon in, and the vet felt the lump. She looked up and said “this is fibrosarcoma. It’s caused by vaccination needles. I’m taking him into the operating room right now.” My heart sank. I was stunned. I really was still in shock. I didn’t know what she was talking about. I left hysterically crying, and I got a speeding ticket on the way home. I still think about that day when I’m on that stretch of road going from Berkeley to Oakland, which is pretty frequent. I remember the exact spot where the cop stopped me. Anyway…

When we picked him up from the vet, the vet showed me on his X-ray where the tumor was – like I said way up high on his hip near his spine. I didn’t know at the time what she meant when she said “he struggled so much when we were trying to vaccinate him; he just made it really difficult to do it lower.” But I know now why she said that.

You see, in Vaccine Associated Sarcoma, a malignant tumor forms exactly in the spot where the vaccination was given. These tumors have been most commonly associated with rabies and feline leukemia virus vaccines, but other vaccines and injected medications have also been implicated. These tumors have become so common that vaccine protocols have changed. I’ll tell you what they recommend and what I know so you can avoid going through what we have and so you can pass this information along to your vet. They recommend that the vaccine for feline leukemia be given only to kittens and very high-risk cats. The other vaccines, including rabies, they say should be given every three years to adult cats. They also recommend that the vaccination be given in a location that allows for easy removal should a tumor occur. In other words, they recommend vaccinating very low on the limb (as opposed to between the shoulder blades where they used to give them), because if a tumor does occur, they can remove the limb or foot and thus eliminate the chances that the tumor will recur.

Fibrosarcoma is an aggressive tumor with rapid growth, but it tends not to metastasize. So, if you remove it – along with a VERY WIDE MARGIN on all sides, you virtually eliminate the chances it will recur. On one hand, it’s good that the cancer doesn’t spread – Simon never knew anything was wrong. He was never, ever sick. On the other hand, people have euthanized perfectly healthy cats who had this tumor that caused distress and pressure on vital organs. It’s heart-breaking. The tumor doesn’t metastasize, but it sends out little tendrils and spreads and grows very rapidly, and if you can remove a wide margin of tendons, etc. – anything it can grab onto – then you have a better chance at stopping its growth.

When I learned all this, I realized that’s what the vet meant when she said that Simon struggled when they gave him the vaccination. She was essentially blaming him for the fact that they gave him the vaccine on his hip – by his spine – as opposed to low down on his limb. She blamed Simon. She called the next day after the surgery to confirm it was indeed fibrosarcoma, and all she said was “my instinct was correct. It’s fibrosarcoma. You have two choices: you can amputate or you can radiate. But the odds of survival are slim.” So, you can imagine that by now I was out of shock. I was enraged. I told her I did have a third option: to find a new vet, which is exactly what I did.

And it’s this vet to whom I owe everything. If you’re in Oakland, her name is Dr. Jenny Taylor, and her practice is called Creature Comfort on Macarthur Ave. She’s a holistic vet, which is where I should have gone in the first place. The tumor returned 2-1/2 months later, and everything I read told me Simon would be dead in a few months – that’s how quickly this tumor grows. Read anything on it, you will learn that the prognosis is sooo poor for this tumor – especially if you can’t remove the limb. (I know that sounds horrific. What a horrible way to treat this tumor.) Dr. Taylor and I have spoken a lot about this, and she said she never would have vaccinated these cats. I’m not saying there’s never a time to vaccinate, but the protocols don’t take into consideration individual needs. My cats are indoor cats and really didn’t need to be vaccinated. So, do talk with your vet about making assessments on a cat by cat basis – not according to some general protocol. And of course – I would recommend that you be present if you do vaccinate and make sure they do it very low on the limb.

So, Simon’s tumor came back, and Dr. Taylor went back in to remove it. At that time we had already started him on some Chinese herbs as well as what is called Immpower – a supplement used for humans that is basically made from Japanese mushrooms. The idea is that these mushrooms increase what are called Natural Killer Cells – these are the cells that destroy cancer cells. Now, we’ll never know what actually did it, but the tumor stayed away. It stayed away for TWO AND A HALF YEARS. The odds of it coming back after TWO SURGERIES was very high. If it’s removed once and returns, the odds that it will come back right away are very high. But for 2-1/2 years, it was gone.

Sadly, though, it returned. The entire time, I kept him on Immpower, but it returned 2.5 years later. So, we removed it again. And it returned right away. We were faced with a very difficult decision, and our wonderful vet referred us to the best surgeon in the area. He did a major assessment and was so dismayed that the tumor was so high up. If it were just a little lower – just a little – he felt confident that an amputation of Simon’s entire hip and leg would have taken care of it. But as it was, the tumor was very high. So, he recommended doing a major, major surgery, which consisted of removing a lot of tendons and tissue and ligaments – just as much as he could without compromising his quality of life. Then, after a short healing process, we would do localized radiation for 7 weeks – 21 sessions, 3 times a week. We felt had no choice. We had to give it a try. And our odds: 50/50 that it would still come back.

What I haven’t mentioned is that Simon’s personality played a huge role in our decision to do this. Immediately following his surgeries, he would bounce around like the maniac he is. He’s so strong. He gives me so strength, and making this decision was a lot easier because he’s got so much life in him. He never ceases to amaze me – and everyone who knows him. So we did the surgery – it was so aggressive. He looked like Frankenstein’s monster when he came home. It was the only time in his life he didn’t want Schuster around. But after a couple days, he gave Schuster the signal, and I have a photograph of the first time he let Schuster come over and groom him. Schuster’s the best brother anyone can have. We did the radiation, and he was great. Three times a week, I’d put him in his carrier and drive him down to the specialists. After awhile, he’d go right into his carrier. They brought him right in, I’d go to a café for an hour, and I’d pick him up.

In just a couple months, it will be two years since the radiation ended. The only effects were that the fur on that part of his body grew back very thin and a light gray. Both Simon and Schuster are tuxedo cats – they have gorgeous black coats, except for white on their chests, bellies, and paws. Now Simon also had white on his hip.

So, that’s our story, and it isn’t over yet. The surgeon told us that the worst case scenario was that the tumor would return after 1 year. The fact that we’re almost at two years is a very hopeful sign. We will continue to hope we’ll never see it again. That’s all we can do. I still give him Immpower and lots of love.

Finally, if you don't already have a holistic vet, you can find one by visiting http://www.ahvma.org/. It stands for the American Holistic Veterinary Medical Association. If you can’t find a holistic vet, I just hope your vet listens to your concerns and questions. When I had mentioned to the vet who gave my cat cancer, she very smugly replied “good luck – you can do what you want, but I doubt it’s going to work.” She was just so horrible. So, do find one who will work with you and be open to alternative methods. It’s true that they’re the experts, but that doesn’t mean we have to trust them implicitly. Our instinct counts for a lot, and I curse the day I didn’t listen to mine.

But I know that all we can do is do the best we can with the information we have. And that’s related to my feelings about feeding cats a 100% vegetarian diet. Based on the information I have, I’m not confident it’s the right thing for them. As far as dogs, based on the information I have, I think it’s the best thing for them. I hope this helps somewhat. I realize it’s not a perfect situation, but this is a pretty imperfect world.