I was pleasantly surprised to find this short three-minute video by BBC on vegan cat food.

BBC interviewed four people for this video.

    1. Joanna Farr, an owner with two vegan cats.
    2. Shannon Falconer, CEO of Because Animals.
    3. Gudrun Ravetz, British Veterinary Association.
    4. Andrew Knight, Professor of Animal Welfare and Ethics, University of Winchester.

Joanna Farr has an Instagram account for one of her vegan cats at MagicTheVeganCat. She feeds her cats Benevo vegan cat food, which we are planning on importing to Australia in Q1 2019. She does not want other animals to die to feed her cats when there is nutritionally complete vegan cat food available.

Shannon Falconer made a very good explanation of the differences between cats in the wild and domesticated cats. Cats in the wild need to kill other animals in order to obtain all the essential nutrients they need but domesticated cats can obtain all the essential nutrients from commercial cat food diets.

Cats, like all organisms, need nutrients not ingredients in order to survive and thrive. If we can get all the essential nutrients that cats needs from non-animal sources, which we know we can, then cats can live off an animal-free diet.

~ Shannon Falconer, CEO of Because Animals

Gudrun Ravetz on behalf of the British Veterinary Association does not recommend a vegan diet for cats because the essential nutrients a cat needs such as arginine, vitamin A and taurine are found mainly in animal sources. She recommends talking to your local vet before considering a vegan diet for your cat.

Andrew Knight says cats can absolutely be vegan as long as they receive the full range of nutrients that they require. He also went on to elaborate that the diets that people feed cats today that are made up of assorted body parts from cows, sheep, pigs, turkeys and fish that are not animals that cats would naturally eat, therefore, do not resemble natural feeding behaviour.