Hi, every morning I have breakfast with unsweetened soy milk. My cats kill me if they can’t empty my bowl, but because I add stuff like raisins which include sugar, I give them some plain soy milk instead. The vet said it’s “probably fine”, but I want to know for certain. Does anyone know for certain soy milk is or isn’t bad for cats? Thanks!
Wow, this is exactly the answer I was hoping for, thank you.
I had vegan friends who fed their cat vegan food. I’m a vegan too, but humans are omnivores, cats are carnivores. Feeding cats vegan food is bad in my opinion, I see it as animal abuse. It comes with a lot of health risks which are similar to what I read in the articles you posted. It all makes sense.
From now on, they will get a little bit of unsweetened soy milk once in a while, not every day. (I have to find a middle ground, otherwise they will kick me out)
Thanks! I really appreciate it :)
Your opinion is fact: feeding an obligate carnivore vegan food is actual animal abuse.
Also please dont feed them (or anything or anyone else) raw food right now, kibble is safest until this bird flu shit is done with.
I only feed them kibble. Adviced by the vet, not because of bird flu but because of wet food being bad for their teeth. They had wet food while growing up, since they were castrated at 6 months the only food they get is adult dental kibble (Hills brand). I gave then Royal Canin before, but I heard (unconfirmed) they add sugar, so I switched precautionary.
I’m scared we’re only in the pre phase of a massive pandemic. Let’s hope it won’t go that far, but with the current world tension status and clowns rising to power, I’m scared the shit is about to hit the fan like it’s 1939 with a massive pandemic combined.
I’m not your vet, so I’m sharing this for informational purposes, but your vet seems to have the opposite opinion of most vets I’ve spoken with. I foster with a few different organizations, so I’ve spoken with quite a few vets.
I had originally been feeding my own cats mostly kibble, but their vet strongly encouraged me to transition them to at least 50% wet. They won’t really touch the wet if they also have kibble available, so now they only get wet food in their dishes, and kibble is reserved for use as treats. My oldest had his annual exam a few weeks ago and the vet said his teeth look great.
Studies have shown that cats that eat primarily dry food may drink more water than cats that eat primarily wet food, but cats on a primarily wet food diet overall consume more water. This is particularly important for their kidney and urinary health.
Dry food also tends to be much higher in carbohydrates, and cats really don’t need carbohydrates, like at all. They need lots of protein and some fat.
Yeah I’ve heard the same thing. Wet food is better for them.
+1 this is what I have been told by vets and cat rescue organizations when we were going through the adoption process
Multiple vets and the university animal hospital adviced against wet food, so I’m going to follow their advice. But I will sure ask them again knowing this information. Thanks!
You know that many vets and universities get kick backs or receive funding from kibble companies right? I was training to be a vet nurse (I have the prerequisite qualification and only reason I didn’t finish was because my disability worsened and I was unable to do the clinic hours) so I’m not just some rando giving advice… We switched our cats to raw food a decade ago and they have never been healthier. Cats are obligate carnivores and in the wild they eat almost nothing but raw meat (a little vegetable matter in the guts of their prey and eating grass, etc). Cats have evolved over millennia to eat raw meat. Their physiology is not adapted to eat the high amounts of carbohydrates in kibble. Not to mention the high rates of kidney disease, diabetes, dental disease, etc. with feeding kibble. Kibble is a species inappropriate diet no different from humans eating junk food. For the same reasons humans get diabetes, heart disease, cancer, etc. from eating junk food, cats suffer poor health eating kibble. The kibble industry is a billion dollar industry with a vested interest in keeping vets and pet owners hooked. If you can’t feed raw, feed wet. Its not ideal, bit it’s far better than kibble. Your kitty deserves better than the bs the kibble industry spouts.
EDIT: While I’m thinking about it, do not feed cats beef. It is one of the single biggest contributors to allergies. Small cats eat small prey and cows are definitely not small. Again, their physiology is not designed to handle digesting meat from large animals. Beef is allergenic to cats.
I know vets have contracts with food companies, but these companies also sell wet food which is more expensive so you’d expect vets to try and sell you we food instead. These companies tell you to combine dry and wet food, they have charts to tell you how much of each for your cat. Instead, several vet offices with different contracts all tell me the same, as well as the university hospital, to stick with only dry food so I’m going to stick with that. Wet food isn’t great for their teeth and it has too much protein making them fat. My cats are super healthy with a perfect weight. They just need water available at all times so I give them fresh water daily and they have 2 cat fountains.
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I’m not your IT admin, so I’m sharing this only for informational purposes but you seem to have posted twice ;-)
Ahh, yes, fediverse is fun. I accidentally hit the submit button when I was nowhere near done, so I quickly deleted the original comment while I continued working on my draft. Once I was done composing my thoughts, I tried editing the deleted comment, but even after refreshing it still shows as deleted for me, so I submitted my final draft as a new comment instead.
It sure feels like it felt in feb 2020 right before covid really kicked up. I’m also hoping that it won’t end up another pandemic though, because if it does we are so thoroughly fucked
I’ve seen at least a few kibbles that include some freeze dried raw meat in them, so I don’t think “kibble” is 100% safe unless you’re paying close attention. For example: https://www.chewy.com/instinct-original-recipe-real-chicken/dp/693326
I also just want to note for anyone reading here that the venn diagram of “raw” food and “wet” food has very minimal overlap, especially in terms of what’s sitting on the shelves in stores. Most canned food is not raw, and should be safe from bird flu.
In order to maximize shelf life, most raw food is generally sold either freeze dried or frozen. In the case of freeze dried, it’s often stored at room temperature, and you can either reconstitute with water to serve “wet” or serve “as is” in it’s dry, crunchy form. Something else to be aware of is that a lot of treats at the “fancy” pet supply stores are freeze dried and raw, so it’s worth paying very close attention if your cat is immunocompromised (very young, pregnant/nursing, senior, FIV+, etc.) and/or if you’re concerned about bird flu.