Plant-based pet diets are increasingly available, raising questions about whether they can meet the nutritional needs of obligate carnivores like cats.
Cats fed inadequate plant-based diets can develop serious nutritional deficiencies including taurine and arachidonic acid deficiency that cause fatal disease. The ethical tension between avoiding animal products and meeting companion animal needs requires careful consideration. Well-formulated vegan dog diets may be nutritionally adequate with veterinary monitoring, but cat vegan diets remain very high-risk.