And so the only way to meet the taurine requirement for vegan cat food is to add synthetic taurine. All other amino-acids can be found in plants in abundance. The only essential amino-acid for cats that is hard to find in plant-based sources is taurine. Proteins are composed of amino-acids.ĪAFCO prescribes the "ideal" amino-acid profile for obligate carnivores. To answer that question we'll need to look at protein structure. The question then is if we are to source proteins from plant-based sources alone - will the cat be ok? Of course Purina also contains meat-, bone-, fish- and turkey-meals, while Gourmet Fondue does not. So using plant-based proteins is not a new practice - the meat-based kibbles have been using them for a long time. For example, soybean meal and corn gluten meal in Purina are rich sources of plant-based protein, and that contributes to the overall protein content in that meat-based formula. AAFCO prescribes that cats have to have certain amounts of vitamins and minerals and hence the heavy supplementation.įurthermore, both formulas obtain protein (wholly or partially) from plant-based sources. The heavy supplementation in both diets is the result of compliance with AAFCO cat food standards. Notably, taurine, an amino-acid critically important for cat's eye-sight and cardiovascular function, is produced in the lab and added to both diets. Furthermore, note that in both formulas the majority of ingredients are actually made in the lab (third section in the table). The first glance at the table immediately tells us that vegan cat food is not simply a salad mix, it is an advanced formula composed of numerous ingredients. Menadione Sodium Bisulfite Complex (Source of Vitamin K Activity).Turkey By-Product Meal (protein and fat).Beef Tallow Preserved with Mixed-Tocopherols (Form of Vitamin E) (fat). The table below helps us understand where these nutrients come from in each formula. There is no reason why diets comprised entirely of plants, minerals, and synthetically-based ingredients (i.e., vegan diets) cannot meet the necessary palatability, bioavailability, and nutritional requirements of cats (1). Whether the nutrients come from meat or from plant-based sources is irrelevant from the regulatory perspective.Īndrew Knight, a prominent veterinarian and scientist explains it well:Ĭats-and indeed all species-require specific nutrients, rather than specific ingredients. Regulators (for example, AAFCO in North America) do not say which ingredients to put in – all they say is the amounts of nutrients that have to be present for a cat to be healthy.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |