Updated 2/2/2022 to fix interruption in live stream which has had 1422 views and 46 likes to date.Andrew Knight is Professor of Animal Welfare and Ethics, an...
Obligate carnivore means cats can’t just live off of whole plant foods like rice and beans.
For example, cats famously need taurine, which is naturally found mostly in meat.
However, most cat food is already supplemented with extra taurine that was synthesized in a factory, because processing breaks down taurine. AFAIK that taurine is vegan. Wikipedia says
Synthetic taurine is obtained by the ammonolysis of isethionic acid (2-hydroxyethanesulfonic acid), which in turn is obtained from the reaction of ethylene oxide with aqueous sodium bisulfite. A direct approach involves the reaction of aziridine with sulfurous acid.
Cats being obligate carnivores means they can either eat meat or hyperprocessed industrial meat substitutes with all the nutrients of meat. Agreed that its better to just have a non-carnivore, though.
Obligate carnivore means cats can’t just live off of whole plant foods like rice and beans.
For example, cats famously need taurine, which is naturally found mostly in meat.
However, most cat food is already supplemented with extra taurine that was synthesized in a factory, because processing breaks down taurine. AFAIK that taurine is vegan. Wikipedia says
Cats being obligate carnivores means they can either eat meat or hyperprocessed industrial meat substitutes with all the nutrients of meat. Agreed that its better to just have a non-carnivore, though.