Cats are obligate carnivores with specific nutritional requirements that cannot be met by plant-based diets, and understanding their unique nutritional needs is fundamental to welfare.
Feline nutrition is a welfare issue because cats fed inappropriate diets develop preventable deficiency diseases including dilated cardiomyopathy from taurine deficiency and hepatic lipidosis from inadequate protein. Understanding obligate carnivore requirements and feeding appropriately formulated complete diets maintains the nutritional foundation of good welfare.