“Cats are obligate carnivores, and they require certain amounts of amino acids to be healthy, and the lack of these can lead to health problems,” says Dos Santos. “For that reason, you wouldn’t advise a vegetarian diet, let alone a vegan one.”
Cats are a particular challenge because they cannot produce certain proteins – such as taurine – themselves. They instead have to absorb it from their food, with beef, chicken and fish being particularly rich sources. Cats that don’t have enough taurine are at risk of developing a potentially fatal condition called dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM), the American Society of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) says.
Cats are unlikely to thrive on a diet without meat
In cats with DCM, the heart muscle becomes very thin and weak, preventing them from pumping blood and supplying oxygen to the body normally. This is a fatal disease if not corrected early on,” the ASPCA says in an article on cats and vegan diets. Cats need a diet particularly rich in protein, which can be more difficult to find with a plant-rich diet, and they can have issues processing carbohydrate as well. “They can't digest plant material well, and they require essential nutrients that only meat can provide to them,” the ASPCA adds.