What is the Best Plant-Based Cat Food? Top Vegan Food Brands for Cats in 2020
As omnivores, we humans have the capacity to nourish our bodies using both plant-based and animal source foods. Because of such natural versatility, it is okay for us to go vegan and survive on a strictly animal-free diet.
Cats, on the other hand, have a physiology that differs from ours to a significant extent. Being obligate carnivores, cats cannot do without eating meat, which their bodies exclusively rely on for many vital nutrients. When cats are suddenly deprived of meat, they face a whole slew of related health issues.
Top 5 Vegan Cat Food Brands
Unlike us, felines have a digestive tract that is not capable of making use of nutrients in the plant-based foods. It is also unable to make certain vitamins and amino acids, deriving them in ready form from raw flesh instead.
But what if you just supplement felines with the nutrients they get from meat, sticking to an otherwise plant-based diet? Although it seems reasonable, this solution is extremely hard to implement without the use of specially designed vegan cat food.
High-quality vegan cat food allows your cat to eat in a way that respects vegan philosophy and ensures balanced nutrition. Yet, finding the vegan cat food that lives up to such a high quality standard is easier said than done.
Our guide has selected seven vegan cat food solutions that we consider as the best ones available on the market. Below, you can learn more about them and find out which vegan cat food is our guide’s top recommended choice.
Best Vegan Cat Food List
① Vegan Dry Cat Food by Wysong
Suitable for cats and dogs of all ages, this vegan dry food for pets features vet-approved formula and all-natural ingredients. Relying on the latest advances in nutritional genomics and epigenetics, its formulation is enhanced to maintain natural value.
As such, Wysong’s Vegan Natural Food for Dogs & Cats boasts higher fat and protein content. It also includes a complete set of nutraceuticals, micronutrients, probiotics and prebiotics, enzymes, antioxidants, omega-3 fats, and other beneficial ingredients.
Using high-quality plant-based components such as coconut oil, the Vegan Dry Dog & Cat Food by Wysong delivers 10% fat. It also contains at least 26% protein, deriving it from healthy plant sources like brown rice, pea, and potato. Pros Cons
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② Fruit & Veggie Pate for Cats by Holistic Blend
Designed specifically for cats and dogs with food sensitivity, this wet food recipe features a flavorful selection of high-quality ingredients. As such, its unique blend is free from such notorious pet food allergens as wheat, soy, corn, gums, or carrageenan.
Furthermore, Holistic Blend is a Canadian pet food manufacturer and can boast of adhering to high manufacturing and quality standards. As a result, the fresh ingredients in Fruit & Veggie Pate for Cats & Dogs come from select local farmers.
The Fruit & Veggie Pate for Cats & Dogs provides at least 7% protein and 3% fat from plant-based sources. It also contains no more than 78% moisture and up to 1% fiber.
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③ Amì Cat – Vegetarian Cat Food
This vegan cat food by Amì can boast of using exclusively vegetable sources for its entire protein content. In fact, the company claims that the ingredients in the Amì Cat formula are 100% vegetable raw materials. As a result, Amì Cat contains no meat by-products, food dyes, or artificial preservatives.
Besides the above, Amì Cat features a balanced micronutrient blend that helps cats to stay healthy and be more active. As such, it includes Zinc, Taurine, preformed Vitamin A, and other minerals, amino acids, and vitamins essential to feline health.
The Amì Cat formula is also in tune with the physiological needs of carnivores. Namely, it provides 33% protein and 14% beneficial oils and fats.
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④ Gourmet Fondue Delicious Cheese Flavor by Evolution Diet
The Gourmet Fondue cat kibble by Evolution Diet uses a formula that is suitable for cats of all life stages. It also represents a complete and balanced 100% plant-based blend of all-natural ingredients that include no artificial dyes or preservatives.
Being densely packed with nutrients, the Gourmet Fondue is able to provide 30% protein and 14% fat at the minimum. This dry cat kibble can also boast of containing an extensive set of minerals and vitamins essential to feline wellness.
In addition, the quality that Gourmet Fondue by Evolution Diet offers has been recognized by the U.S. Congressional Committee Award. And the 2014 Animal Wellness Magazine Best Pick Award for Finest Pet Food & Health Science Procedures for Internal Diseases.
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⑤ Chlorella EZ Swallow Tablets for Pets by Green Kitty Cat Pet Nutrition
These veterinarian recommended swallow tablets for pets allow your cat to enjoy the full spectrum of natural benefits chlorella offers. Being naturally rich in antioxidants, chlorella helps to cleanse the blood and provides a detoxifying effect for the entire body.
Furthermore, chlorella provides natural support for feline immune system, modulating autoimmune response and decreasing the harmful impact of systemic inflammation. At the same time, chlorella naturally boosts digestion, being a potent source of dietary fiber and sustaining beneficial gut bacteria.
Free from allergens and densely packed with valuable nutrients, Green Kitty Cat Chlorella makes for a nice superfood for cats. As such, it can become an excellent vegan addition to virtually any balanced feline diet.
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⑥ All Fresh Vegetarian Dinner by Evanger’s – Wet Vegan Cat Food
Made of fresh potatoes, brown rice, peas, and other natural ingredients, the All Fresh Vegetarian Dinner is flavorful and balanced. Thanks to its vegetarian formula, it is a viable option for cats who suffer from food sensitivity and intolerance.
The All Fresh Vegetarian Dinner features a well-calibrated blend of macronutrients, providing 7% protein, 2% fat, and 3% dietary fiber. On top of that, it also includes a diverse set of vitamins and minerals that are critical to feline health.
Besides being all-natural, the blend is rid of any harmful preservatives, salt, or fillers. Despite being nutrient dense, the All Fresh Vegetarian Dinner is highly digestible, working as both main course and side meal.
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⑦ Gourmet Vegetable Stew by Evolution Diet
Including natural ingredients, such as brown rice and carrots, the Gourmet Vegetable Stew by Evolution Diet features 100% vegan formula. As such, it is especially suitable for those cats who may experience various forms of food sensitivity or food intolerance.
On top of its all-natural formula, the Gourmet Vegetable Stew can also boast of providing a potent blend of micronutrients. From Taurine for cardiovascular health to B vitamins for nervous system wellness, it includes many essential micronutrients that felines need.
At the minimum, the Gourmet Vegetable Stew by Evolution Diet delivers 8% protein, 5% fat, 3% fiber, and 76% moisture. This balanced macronutrient ratio makes adding raw food to the Gourmet Vegetable Stew unnecessary.
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Conclusion & What is the Best Vegan Cat Food
Out of the seven vegan cat food brands our guide has reviewed, none represents a viable nutritional alternative to meat. Being obligate carnivores by their nature, cats can thrive only when they consume high-quality meat on a long-term regular basis.
Yet, if our guide was to choose only one vegan cat food brand as the best, we would recommend Wysong. Being vet-approved, its all-natural blend can serve as a potent base for high-quality sources of meat. It also has the capacity to provide support for various elimination protocols.
Using the science of veterinary nutrition, Wysong Dry Cat Food (CHECK BEST PRICE HERE) preserves the highest natural value. Including beneficial ingredients, like micronutrients and probiotics, its formula appears as complete as vegan cat food can reasonably be.
There Are Compelling Reasons Why Cats Need Meat
In terms of their physiology, cats can be classified as obligate carnivores. As the term “carnivore” suggests, cats rely on meat as a main or exclusive source of nourishment for their bodies. At the same time, as “obligate” implies, cats consume meat of other animals out of necessity rather than by choice.
At this point, it is only so reasonable to wonder. What exactly makes meat such an essential source of nutrition for cats? This is the case due to a number of factors:
- Genetic predisposition Cats are descended from a long line of carnivorous ancestors who fed on the meat of other animals, particularly herbivores. As a result, the entire feline physiology is best geared for receiving nourishment from meat rather than from plant-based foods.
- Metabolic peculiarities Our bodies have the capacity to synthesize some micronutrients from their precursors. For instance, we can produce the fat-soluble vitamin A out of beta-carotene. Cats, however, need many micronutrients in a preformed state – as they can be found in meat.
- Exclusive nutrients Meat is an exclusively rich source of certain nutrients that can be hard to get enough of from plant-based foods. Specifically, meat contains high amounts of the amino acids taurine and arginine, both of which are essential to feline health.
- Anatomic structure The digestive tract in cats is very short in length. This naturally makes meat the easiest for it to digest. On the contrary, many plant-based foods have complex structure and require extensive metabolic activities that feline digestive tract can’t facilitate.
As you can see, meat seems to be the most natural food for the way the cat’s body is designed. Being easier than plant-based foods to digest, meat provides cats with what their bodies require in a preformed ready state.
Can’t Beat Nature: What May Happen When a Cat Goes Vegan
As a convinced vegan, you may feel compelled to organize your pet’s nutrition in tune with your way of life. Doing so without forethought, however, may result in a variety of issues that your cat would have to deal with.
In particular, vegan diet can make your cat susceptible to the following nutritional risks:
- Protein deficiency From making up various tissues to supporting the immune system, protein performs a slew of vital roles in the body. While animal source foods usually provide enough protein, plant-based foods may fall short of being able to supply enough protein.
- Imbalanced amino and fatty acid intake Certain nutrients are essential to feline health, like the amino acids L-carnitine and taurine and the fatty acid arachidonic acid. Plant-based foods may have incomplete amino and fatty acid profiles and may deprive your cat of these nutrients.
- Lack of some micronutrients Some micronutrients, such as preformed vitamin A and B vitamins, are easier for cats to get from animal source foods. Because of this, diets that consist of purely plant-based foods may quickly lead to serious nutritional deficiencies in your cat.
- Mineral excess Plant-based foods have richer mineral content. Yet, the excess of certain minerals may become detrimental to feline health. For instance, diets that have high sodium, phosphorous, or magnesium content may contribute to kidney and bladder stones and disease.
Despite favoring meat consumption, the above factors require careful consideration if you want your cat to enjoy a balanced diet. For a convinced vegan, though, doing so may feel like a significant compromise on the entire vegan way of life. Would it suddenly make you not vegan? Not quite.
No Conflict: You Can Stay Vegan and Feed Meat to Your Cat
It is not uncommon for vegan cat parents to see feeding animal source foods to their cats as something hypocritical. After all, it may become hard to keep considering yourself vegan once you approve of eating meat in any way.
There is, however, no strong underlying contradiction because of these key reasons:
- Vegan way of life is a deliberate choice The philosophy that underpins the vegan way of life is based on the notion of nonviolence. As such, it can not be imposed on anyone, including your pet. Because of this, your choice of going vegan should not compel your cat to this way of life.
- Cats have limited options Cats don’t have the capacity to choose between the plant-based and the animal source foods as easily as we can. Instead, cats have no option but to consume meat in order to nourish their bodies simply because nature dictates so.
- Feline health depends on eating meat As we have mentioned earlier, cats have the physiology that they have inherited from their ancestors who were obligate carnivores. Eating meat for cats is as natural and beneficial as eating plant-based foods can be for our health and wellness.
- Cats don’t eat meat out of pleasure If cats ate meat for frivolous reasons, like amusement or convenience, the vegan philosophy would be right to condemn it. This, however, is not how things are. Felines consume meat because their health hinges on the nutrients meat provides.
As the above points suggest, your cat’s diet doesn’t have to be a reflection of how you eat. In the same way, your cat’s natural food preferences don’t suddenly make you not vegan. If you were, however, to make you cat go vegan, how would you go about it?
How to Make Your Cat’s Meat-Based Diet Vegan-Friendly
Allowing your cat to consume animal source foods while adhering to vegan values yourself may seem to be mutually exclusive. But it certainly doesn’t have to feel this way. Using the ideas below, you can provide your cat with a carnivorous diet and stay loyal to your vegan principles.
Your cat’s diet can become more vegan-friendly if it consists of animal source foods that are:
- Produced by compassionate farmers By and large, not every animal farmer is a heartless butcher who raises and kills animals just to get profit. There are farmers who are meat-eaters themselves and who choose to adhere to the ethical animal farming principles and values.
- Made from animals who can’t be factory farmed Some animals don’t lend themselves easy to factory farming methods and practices. The examples include such animals as bison, sheep, deer, elk, or quail. Those who farm these animals can’t apply factory farming methods to them.
- Purchased from ethical hunters Unlike farm animals, hunted animals get to enjoy more freedom and live the life that consists of normal natural routines. Furthermore, there are ethical hunters who strive to minimize the suffering of an animal as much as possible during hunting.
- Free-range and hormone-free Without doubt, it may be hard to find the pet food for your cat that comes from the above sources. In this case, look for the ‘hormone-free’ and ‘free-range’ labels, since they maximize the chance the meat is produced ethically.
For these reasons, it is perfectly possible to keep your cat’s diet meat-based and remain a convinced vegan yourself. Choosing to live your life as a vegan means, first and foremost, trying to minimize the suffering in this world. And the above ideas make it feasible within reasonable limits.
Is Vegan Cat Food a Sustainable Option for Feline Diet?
It seems evident by now that a purely plant-based diet is not the healthiest type of nutrition for cats. Lacking in what feline physiology needs, such diet may have detrimental effects for your pet’s health and wellness over time.
As a result, vegan cat food doesn’t seem to represent a sustainable nutritional solution for a feline diet. Furthermore, most brands aren’t able to provide nutritional equivalents of meat with their vegan cat food offers.
If you’ve already made a decision to feed vegan cat food to your pet, make sure to consider the following:
- Check if the vegan cat food is well-balanced The more it resembles the nutritional value of quality meat, the less associated health risks it poses for your cat.
- Double check its contents with a veterinary nutritionist A professional veterinary nutritionist can determine whether a particular vegan cat food meets your cat’s key physiological needs well enough.
- Monitor your pet’s condition following vegan food introduction Keeping track of how vegan cat food affects your cat’s health allows to spot negative changes early and take action.
- Do not exclude meat from your cat’s diet You may pick the best vegan cat food out there, but cats are still physiologically better off eating quality meat.
Our guide believes that vegan cat food isn’t a complete solution for feline diets. We have, however, reviewed the top seven vegan cat food offers that are the next best thing after quality meat. And have selected the one that lives up to the title of best vegan cat food the most.
