Can Cats Eat Quorn?

[lauren_almighty]

I am looking for advice on whether it's ok to feed my cat Quorn. Now I know that sounds odd but they love it! I never intentionally feed it to them but as soon as it's out of the fridge or freezer they go crazy for it like it's better than meat! If I'm holding a packet, they all try to climb up my legs and they jump onto the kitchen worktops to snatch it out of my hands. I was wondering if it was harmless to feed it to them every now and then because it must be a hell of a lot better than dry food which they don't find appetising at all. But really, who can blame them?! :p

The ingredients of Quorn chicken pieces are (from memory):- Mycoprotein(97%), egg whites and flavouring.

I read that cats are lactose intolerant unless they have always been fed milk in their diets which my cats have, so I thought it must be ok. There's loads of fibre and protein in it and the vet always says its good to feed my cats scrambled eggs so surely, it should be alright. :confused:

Does anybody know if it would be ok or not? Or am I crazy? It would be perfect if I could turn my cats into vegetarians. :D

[stelios]

If they eat it then it must be ok.
Cats know what food is good and what is bad.
They wont eat Margerine.

I have cats and mine love roast chicken

[lady_oblivion]

Leave it up to your cat if it doesnt want it it wont eat it lol. Fussy beggers which they are. If your still worried then just ring the vet and ask.

[krakhead]

'Can'? - yes. 'Should'? - don't know.

[glacidtek]

lentils... or beans would be much better for them I would think.

I dont eat meat... and I dont eat quorn!

[lady_oblivion]

quorn is a little horrid actually makes me quite sick tbh

[starshine]

Qourn is a synthetic human made meat substitute and if you are a veggie then the cat should not be forced into this.
Please give the cat meat only.

[lauren_almighty]

Qourn is a synthetic human made meat substitute and if you are a veggie then the cat should not be forced into this.
Please give the cat meat only.

I do give my cat meat only but one of them snatched the Quorn out of my hand earlier with their sharp claws and they loved it so much that they were growling and hissing when I took it off them. I never forced them into eating it.

I just thought I'd ask others if they thought it was ok to give it to them as a treat once in a while.

One of my cats died recently from an infection that it caught from catching a bird or mouse. I'm sure Quorn is harmless in comparison to that, and like I said in my previous post, it tastes better than dry food and probably is closer to real meat than biscuits are.

Maybe I should ask the forum cat expert 21-12-2012 what he thinks. :D

[21_12_2012]

I am looking for advice on whether it's ok to feed my cat Quorn. Now I know that sounds odd but they love it! I never intentionally feed it to them but as soon as it's out of the fridge or freezer they go crazy for it like it's better than meat! If I'm holding a packet, they all try to climb up my legs and they jump onto the kitchen worktops to snatch it out of my hands. I was wondering if it was harmless to feed it to them every now and then because it must be a hell of a lot better than dry food which they don't find appetising at all. But really, who can blame them?! :p The ingredients of Quorn chicken pieces are (from memory):- Mycoprotein(97%), egg whites and flavouring.

I'd like to know what the 'flavouring' in it consists of.

I do know that cats will eat stuff with artificial flavourings for similar reasons as humans do... because it's addictive, and plays tricks on the brain-tastebud link.

Monosodium Glutamate is the main flavouring to avoid like the plague. It is hidden under numerous names now too on food ingredient lists, even names such as:- flavourings and natural flavourings.

On cat foods i think it is allowed to be named:- EU permitted additives, or something similar.

So, i would presume the quorn flavouring is MSG (although I cannot be certain) which is one reason why the cats might be attracted to it, or it could be a smell (again maybe caused by an additive, or maybe not)

I read that cats are lactose intolerant unless they have always been fed milk in their diets which my cats have, so I thought it must be ok.

Cats only need milk when they're growing.
Water only (if needed),
Ideally, if really natural food (fresh whole prey), they will need little or no water at all.

[COLOR=magenta]There's loads of fibre and protein in it and the vet always says its good to feed my cats scrambled eggs so surely, it should be alright. :confused:

Vets talk mainly crap as far as nutrition goes, as that is what they have been taught to talk by pet food companies (apart from the odd homeopathic vets who have studied real pet nutrition).

Cats wouldn't cook and scramble an egg in the wild, so really, it isnt natural for a cat to eat cooked scrambled eggs.

1 day old frozen chicks (defrosted) contain egg. Plus a fully balanced range of all the nutrients and vitamins and calcium a cat needs, all in 1 little meal (better if its fresh though, but frozen will do as a second best).

Probably the most important thing cats need is TAURINE, which can ONLY be found in fresh (not frozen) meat (fresh prey ideally)

Taurine is vitally important, and is probably the main reason why commercially-fed cats develop many diseases (due to lack of taurine), and also due to the commercial crap being toxic waste meat (and cooked)

Which is why i breed my own mice for mine...A perfectly balanced meal, and freshly served (for taurine purposes)

Does anybody know if it would be ok or not? Or am I crazy? It would be perfect if I could turn my cats into vegetarians. :D

A vegetarian cat, well, i have heard 1 story of a wild cat being vegetarian, but its probably 1 in a million, and i doubt it would live long without developing serious complications and death.

To sum it up, I wouldn't feed it quorn no, even if the cat appears to like it.

Stick to nature as far as possible, and you can't go wrong.

And keep away from sugars (commercial cat food), and keep away from basically anything that it wouldn't catch and eat in the wild. (hard, but the best all round)

[21_12_2012]

If they eat it then it must be ok.

Not these days mate.

Cats know what food is good and what is bad.

Not necessarily. Mine tries eating the tops of pizzas from greasy takeaway pizza shops sometimes on the rare ocassions i get one. And friends kebabs.

I have cats and mine love roast chicken

Try them with raw chicken breast, or raw minced beef (butchers), (or preferably 1 day old raw chicks..or even better, a fresh mouse)

[21_12_2012]

Leave it up to your cat if it doesnt want it it wont eat it lol. Fussy beggers which they are. If your still worried then just ring the vet and ask.

Vets basically know as much about cat nutrition as the pet food companies that train them want them to know.

And that's next to nothing.

[antimony]

Cats are extreme carnivores. DO NOT FEED THEM QUORN!

maybe as a treat once in a while is ok.

[21_12_2012]

lentils... or beans would be much better for them I would think.

I dont eat meat... and I dont eat quorn!

Cat's have never eaten anything but meat in the wild, for hundreds of thousands of years. Except grass now n again.

[21_12_2012]

Shall I bring you some mice round sometime ?

(how's that for a chat-up line eh) haa ;)

[21_12_2012]

Cats are extreme carnivores.

Extreme is the correct word.
100 % carnivores.

DO NOT FEED THEM QUORN!

maybe as a treat once in a while is ok.

I'd say never, but i do allow mine a treat of freshly baked granary bread very ocassionally. (a few little bites)

[princessofwands]

Our cat likes little nibbles of cheese. Doesn't appear to upset her digestion. Very useful when you need to get a pill inside her as you can press it into the cheese ball.

I have quorn sausages sometimes, they have an intense smell and flavour which I too am rather suspicious about.

[21_12_2012]

Our cat likes little nibbles of cheese. Doesn't appear to upset her digestion. Very useful when you need to get a pill inside her as you can press it into the cheese ball.

I have quorn sausages sometimes, they have an intense smell and flavour which I too am rather suspicious about.

Yes, my cat likes the tops of pizzas, and i used to give her bits of cheese when she was small, not much at all now, very rarely do i give it her.

Ive never had quorn, so cannot say much about it, but i suspect it has been 'infiltrated' by the additive demons, like most food has.

[lauren_almighty]

Thanks for your input 21_12_2012, I won't bother giving my cats Quorn. Maybe if it was more natural then I would, but I'll just stick to the cheese treats that they get now and again.

I won't be giving them mice either. The thought of that scares me plus I feel bad for the mice. At college we had to cut them up and I was the one who made a boy do it. :D

[unusual_suspect]

Lauren, quorn is franken food. It is somehow made from a fungus that a farmer in Buckinghamshire found on his farm - this is not just me being silly, this is a total 100% fact.

What I am trying to say is that you probably shouldn't eat it, and definitely not your cat, cats like meat.

There is evidence to suggest Quorn is very bad for your digestive system.

[lauren_almighty]

Lauren, quorn is franken food. It is somehow made from a fungus that a farmer in Buckinghamshire found on his farm - this is not just me being silly, this is a total 100% fact.

What I am trying to say is that you probably shouldn't eat it, and definitely not your cat, cats like meat.

There is evidence to suggest Quorn is very bad for your digestive system.

I suppose it was just wishful thinking. I probably should not eat it as much. :(

[gaias child]

if cats are pure 100% carnivore, how come this lion little tyke lived to be 10 years old on a vegetarian diet.

I'm not advocating raising a cat veggie but I'm just saying, this is a true story of a vegetarian lion, a book in the 50s was written about it, I've got it.

http://www.vegetarismus.ch/vegepet/tyke.htm

At four years old, the mature African lioness weighed 352 pounds. Her body stretched 10 feet 4 inches long and could run 40 miles per hour. Her skull, highly adapted to killing and eating prey, possessed short powerful jaws. Normally, African lions eat gnus, zebras, gazelles, impalas, and giraffes. This particular big cat, in her prime and perfect health, chose a more gentle way of life, vegetarian!

A Violent Birth
Georges and Margaret Westbeau, standing outside the thick steel bars of the cage, watched nervously. Inside, a vicious, raging beast baring razor claws and glistening fangs, roared. Flinging herself at the couple, who watched from barely three feet away, her suffering amber eyes defied their presence.
Always, in the past, this lioness destroyed her offspring as soon as they were born. Four times in the last seven years, her powerful jaws had crushed her newborn cubs, furiously throwing them against her cage's bars where they tumbled, lifeless.
Denying the normal instincts of motherhood, what possessed this lioness? Her life mocked its former freedom. She lived a caged animal, taken from the wild and tortured by those who captured her. Did she feel that by destroying her cubs they would be spared the humiliation that she endured?
Suddenly, the newborn cub came flying towards the people anxiously watching. Georges quickly grabbed the cub through the bars before it could be killed. Its right front leg dangled helplessly from its mother's brutal jaws. In the face of such fury the only thing the human could say was, 'You poor little tike'.
The Westbeaus took the three-pound 'Little Tyke' to their Hidden Valley Ranch near Seattle and there it joined the menagerie of other animals including horses, cattle, and chickens. Curious peacocks lined the housetop, kittens peered through a picket fence, and two terriers danced with joy for the new addition to the household.
Drinking bottles of warm milk, Little Tyke began the long road to recovery.

Mysterious reaction
With the advice of experts the Westbeaus began weaning Little Tyke onto solid food at three months. Leaving only a favorite doll, they removed most of her rubber toys, replacing them with bones from freshly slaughtered beef. They carried the small cub to the bones. Unexpectedly, she violently threw up!
Experts told them in no uncertain terms that lions couldn't live without meat. In the wild, lions ate only flesh - eleven pounds a day for an adult female. Alarmed at Little Tyke's strange behavior, they wondered at how they could introduce meat into her diet? In the meantime, they continued feeding Little Tyke baby cereal mixed with milk.
A well meaning friend suggested mixing beef blood with milk, in increasing proportions. Given milk containing ten drops of blood, Little Tyke would have nothing to do with it. They mixed in five drops of blood, and hid that bottle. As she sucked on the plain milk they quickly switched bottles. Again she refused it. In desperation they added one drop of blood to a full bottle of milk, but Little Tyke refused this bottle as well, and they could only stare in amazement.
Another friend suggested putting plain milk in one hand, and milk mixed with hamburger in the palm of the other hand. Little Tyke readily licked the milk from one hand, but when Georges changed hands, she immediately turned away. Sensing her distress, Georges wiped his hands on a nearby towel and picked her up. Hissing in fear and cringing away, she looked sick from the danger-smell of meat on his hand. She only settled down when given a fresh bottle of milk held in washed hands.

Thousand-dollar reward
At nine months old and weighing sixty-five pounds, Little Tyke had the splints and bandages on her leg taken off for the last time. She slowly learned to depend on the healed leg, and mingled with other animals on the ranch.
Since the ranch didn't earn enough income to make ends meet, the Westbeaus ran a small cold storage plant in town. Little Tyke came with them when they went to work and word got around about this vegetarian lioness. When she was four years old, the Westbeaus advertised a thousand dollar reward for anyone who could devise a method tricking Little Tyke into eating meat. Numerous plans met with failure since Little Tyke refused to have anything to do with flesh.

The answer
The caretakers of this gentle animal sought out animal experts, always asking them about diet. Finally, one young visitor set their mind at ease. With serious eyes he turned to them and asked, 'Don't you read your Bible? Read Genisis 1:30, and you will get your answer.' At his first opportunity Georges read in astonishment, 'And to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to everything that creepeth upon the earth, wherein there is life, I have given every green herb for meat: and it was so.' At that point, after four years, the Westbeaus finally stopped worrying.

Little Tyke's meals
A typical meal consisted of various grains, chosen for their protein, calcium, fats, and roughage. Margaret always cooked a few days' supply ahead of time. At feeding time, a double handful of the cooked grains along with one-half gallon of milk with two eggs, supplied Little Tyke a delicious meal. She had one condition before eating. Her favorite rubber doll had to be right next to her!



Little Tyke with Becky
For teeth and gums, the Westbeaus supplied rubber boots, since she refused bones. They attracted her to the boots by sprinkling them with perfume. One boot lasted almost a month.
Little Tyke had many close animal friends. Her favorites were Pinky (a kitten), Imp (another kitten), Becky (a lamb) and Baby (a fawn). Her favorite and closest friend, however, was Becky, who preferred Little Tyke's company to any of the other animals.

National publicity
You Asked For It, the popular television show hosted by Art Baker, once featured Little Tyke. The producers wanted a scene with chickens, which didn't bother Georges since Little Tyke roamed easily among chickens at Hidden Valley Ranch. When the film crew brought the chickens in, they turned out to be four little day-old chicks!

Slurp of the tongue
Little Tyke's only previous experience with new chicks had been with a hen and her chicks who had wandered onto the lawns around their home on the ranch. Georges thought nothing of it until he saw Little Tyke acting peculiarly, slinking into the house, and looking guilty with lips tightly closed over obviously open jaws. He called 'Tyke! What have you got?' Instantly her mouth opened and a little chick popped out, unharmed. Flapping it's little down-covered wings, it almost flew back to its upset mother. Apparently Little Tyke had affectionately licked the tiny chick, as she was prone to do when, with one huge slurp of the tongue, the little chick had popped into her mouth, and she hadn't known how to fondle it further!
With the amazed camera crew filming, Little Tyke strode over to the chicks, hesitated long enough to lick the chicks carefully and gently with the very tip of her tongue, and moved away with a yawn. A moment later she came back to lie down among the chicks. They immediately made their way into the long silky hair at the base of her great neck where they peered out from the shelter of their great protector.
Another scene saw a new kitten, after an introduction, walk over to Little Tyke's huge foreleg and sit down. Little Tyke crooked one paw around the tiny creature and cuddled it closer.
In front of cameras, Art Baker picked up the Bible and read: 'The wolf and the lamb shall feed together, and the lion shall eat straw like the bullock.'
Mail poured into the producers, making this episode one of the most popular in the show's history.

Little Tyke's death
Unfortunately, while spending three weeks in Hollywood for the show, Little Tyke contracted virus pneumonia, a disease that took her life a few weeks later. The sudden change in climate may have been a contributing factor. She succumbed quietly in her sleep, retiring early after watching television.

Inspiring to this day
Her life is over, but her teachings live on. Of the many lessons she taught, not the least is that love removes fear and savagery. Little Tyke reflected the love and care shown to her after the first few moments of her precarious birth.
Thousands saw photographs of her lying with her lamb friend, Becky, inspiring many to see the world a fresh way: two such diverse natures enjoying each other's love! One eminent attorney kept a huge enlargement of this photograph in his office, and pointed to it as he counciled couples on the verge of divorce.

Scientific dilemma
Science is at a loss when it comes to Little Tyke. Felines are the strictest of carnivores. Without flesh she should have developed blindness, as well as dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM), a degenerative disease that turns heart muscles flabby and limits their ability to pump blood. This is because her diet didn't contain an adequate source of the amino acid, taurine.
Little known in the 1950's, subsequent research at UC Davis in 1976 proved that taurine is an essential nutrient for felines, the lack of which would cause degeneration of the retina. later research implicated inadequate taurine levels in dilated cardiomyopathy as well. For cats with DCM, if the disease has not progressed too far, administering taurine causes an almost miraculous recovery. Formerly, cats lived only a few days to weeks after diagnose.
Taurine is non-existent in natural non-animal sources. It is present in minute amounts in milk and eggs. Little Tyke could have gotten her taurine requirement from milk, if she drank 500 gallons per day, or from eggs, if she ate more than 4000 per day. How did Little Tyke get taurine?

Challenge
Perhaps even more important, why did Little Tyke disown her species' instincts? Little Tyke is a curiosity to the public, aberation to zoologists, anomaly to scientists, and an inspiration to idealists.

Little Tyke wasn't alone. A photograph taken at Allahabad, India in 1936 shows another awesome lioness.
In Autobiography of a Yogi, Paramahansa Yogananda wrote:
...Our group left the peaceful hermitage to greet a near-by swami, Krishnananda, a handsome monk with rosy cheeks and impressive shoulders. Reclining near him was a tame lioness. Succumbing to the monk's spiritual charm - not, I am sure, to his powerful physique! - the jungle animal refuses all meat in favor of rice and milk. The swami has taught the tawny-haired beast to utter "Aum" in a deep, attractive growl - a cat devotee!
These vegetarian lionesses are lion lights. By example, these luminaries invite us as well to discover a less violent world, turning away from slaughterhouses that fed our dogs and cats prior to this age of enlightenment.

The article is from the book "Vegetarian Cats & Dogs" by James A. Peden.
There's also a book about Little Tyke, titled "Little Tyke" by Georges Westbeau

[21_12_2012]

I first heard about this a couple of years back.

And still today it baffles me.

The only possible reason i can think of is maybe the DNA was somehow altered permanently, maybe because of the trauma it suffered at birth.

It is said that deep beliefs (similar to hypnosis) can actually change DNA, and can actually change the make-up of the physical body (energy field). Maybe the baby lion's DNA was self-changed by the trauma of rejection, and almost death... rejecting any kind of pain and suffering on a deep level, which then affected and changed it's DNA/body and nutritional-requirements.

It is interesting, and i would also guess that this is VERY rare indeed...but maybe not.

[diky]

If they eat it then it must be ok.
Cats know what food is good and what is bad.
They wont eat Margerine.

I have cats and mine love roast chicken

my cat eats rubber bands

it clearly knows something about the nutritional value that I dont

[kiwimaj]

I am looking for advice on whether it's ok to feed my cat Quorn. Now I know that sounds odd but they love it! I never intentionally feed it to them but as soon as it's out of the fridge or freezer they go crazy for it like it's better than meat! If I'm holding a packet, they all try to climb up my legs and they jump onto the kitchen worktops to snatch it out of my hands. I was wondering if it was harmless to feed it to them every now and then because it must be a hell of a lot better than dry food which they don't find appetising at all. But really, who can blame them?! :p

The ingredients of Quorn chicken pieces are (from memory):- Mycoprotein(97%), egg whites and flavouring.

I read that cats are lactose intolerant unless they have always been fed milk in their diets which my cats have, so I thought it must be ok. There's loads of fibre and protein in it and the vet always says its good to feed my cats scrambled eggs so surely, it should be alright. :confused:

Does anybody know if it would be ok or not? Or am I crazy? It would be perfect if I could turn my cats into vegetarians. :D

I would not feed anyone any product that contains fungi (mushrooms, quorn, etc..) it is extremely bad for anyone. Even though a product is vege, it isn't always the best thing to consume. Any form of fungi(fugus) helps with the formation of un-friendly bacteria. The fact that quorn also contains egg is a no-no.

I have only recently found out this info and consequently excluded this from my diet, as well as sugars, and all yeast products.

It's always best to feed your pets a RAW diet, qood quality raw meat, fish and other vege matter to mix in with their feed.

For further info, google "ph levels, alkaline v acidity".

:)

[kiwimaj]

If they eat it then it must be ok.
Cats know what food is good and what is bad.
They wont eat Margerine.

I have cats and mine love roast chicken

I beg to differ, cats in the domestic envrionment do not know what is good for them, if they did, they would not go anywhere near tinned and processed pet foods. Cats are conned and manipulated into thinking they like tinned food, when it is extremely toxic to their systems. It is filled with chemicals that make them think they want it.

Unfortunately humans have been brainwashed into believing that their pets need near-human food, which of course they do not. Domesticated pets' systems are now so toxic (and with the use of vaccinations/jabs which are TOTALLY unnecessary) that their lifespan is at least halved AND get all sorts of 'human' :cool: illnesses. Would a wild cat have human illnesses?? :rolleyes: In the wild, a cat will revert to what it does naturally best, eat the wildlife and chew grasses.

My Mother in law was feeding her cat marg and he LOVED it...is marg a good thing? :rolleyes: When I told her that the wheezing I was noticing was maybe because of the dairy (and non dairy) products she was feeding him, she stopped, so has the cat's wheezing...

:)

[josjo]

It is filled with chemicals that make them think they want it.

Surely not? I imagine it would make them simply want it, not have some sort of meta-desire! :D

Re: the vegetarian lion - it skims very quickly over the cause of death. I don't know of many cases of a wild animal contracting pneumonia, however it is very common in house animals which are fed a poor diet. Correlation, causation? Who knows. I personally wouldn't feed a cat grains and milk - I wouldn't even feed a human grains and milk.
Cf. the nasty diet of grains that cows are subjected to on CAFOs - it causes severe distress and disease. But the animals live, nonetheless. Just because it doesn't immediately poison it and kill it doesn't make it ok.

[bruiseviolet]

I have two cats. I currently feed them the standard tinned/dry food. Would anybody be able to give me a fairly simple, relatively cheap and easy to get hold of alternative? Some general tips on proper feeding.

After reading some of the stuff about the chemicals in the food I feel bad. I can choose what I eat and be aware of what's in it - they can't. :(

Stupid really - what we are taught to believe.

[21_12_2012]

I have two cats. I currently feed them the standard tinned/dry food. Would anybody be able to give me a fairly simple, relatively cheap and easy to get hold of alternative? Some general tips on proper feeding.

After reading some of the stuff about the chemicals in the food I feel bad. I can choose what I eat and be aware of what's in it - they can't. :(

Stupid really - what we are taught to believe.

Frozen 1 day old chicks are a good start.
I get mine delivered by courier from a place down south, and it works out about 6p per chick if i buy quite a few bags at once. My cat will eat a few a day, about 3 sometimes, in between the fresh mice i give her, and other snacks now and again.

Defrost one (in warm water for about 20 mins), then cut it up (dont throw any of the chick away).

I cut the head off, each leg off and the body into 2 or 3 parts. The cat will eat all parts (feathers/beak/feet/bones/head/organs...everything)

A non-raw eating cat may refuse to eat it at first, but if you persist it should eventually eat one.

Be aware too, that some pet shops sell frozen chicks which may not be very fresh, the cat will just simply vomit it up, no need to worry, just buy some from another place that has fresher/better quality ones.

If anyone wants to know where i get mine, PM me and i will give the name and number of the place, you can order by debit/credit card over the phone, and the chicks are always freshly frozen and good quality.

I have read that it can sometimes take a while to switch a cat from shit food to raw food, persistence is the key, and dont force it to eat JUST raw foods, give a little of its old shit food now and again, until its completely switched over.

Raw minced beef is a good 'snack' food too (from butchers). It cannot be fed constantly on this though due to it being 'imbalanced' (not containing organs/bone etc).

I used to buy rabbit from the local market (not bought one for a while), and put it through my meat grinder for the cat. This is also a good 'snacky' food, and can be kept in little air-tight containers in the fridge, or frozen (but freezing actually kills essential taurine, so it is better fresh)

It's very messy doing rabbit, you need quite a strong stomach to be pulling guts out and putting them into a meat grinder or cutting them up with scissors, and the 1 day old chicks can be messy sometimes too, as they have a yolk/egg sack which will burst if you cut right into it. I usually let the egg drain away first before cutting up the chick, too much egg isnt good anyway for a cat.

Small WHOLE prey are what cats are designed to eat.

[21_12_2012]

Surely not? I imagine it would make them simply want it, not have some sort of meta-desire! :D

Re: the vegetarian lion - it skims very quickly over the cause of death. I don't know of many cases of a wild animal contracting pneumonia, however it is very common in house animals which are fed a poor diet. Correlation, causation? Who knows. I personally wouldn't feed a cat grains and milk - I wouldn't even feed a human grains and milk.
Cf. the nasty diet of grains that cows are subjected to on CAFOs - it causes severe distress and disease. But the animals live, nonetheless. Just because it doesn't immediately poison it and kill it doesn't make it ok.

Good post.

[drhemp]

Why do you want to turn your vet into a vegetarian?

Surely they will still kill wild animals anyway?

[21_12_2012]

Why do you want to turn your vet into a vegetarian?

Surely they will still kill wild animals anyway?

Yes. Cats are born to hunt. And even if they are fed on commercial foods all their lives, they will still hunt and kill insects/birds/mice all their lives.

BUT... they will not associate their 'killed prey' as being food. They often bring their kills back to thier owners as presents.

Ironic really. The owner feeds them a plate of complete shite, and the cat goes out, hunts down some real food, and brings it back to their owner.

Then again, if a person left a cat to fend for itself (for example , that person moved house, or dumped the cat in a forest somewhere and left it), that cat would soon start to eat it's kills, and become un-conditioned from being fed by their owner, and probably soon become more healthy than it was when it was being fed complete shite.

Mad world.

[lauren_almighty]

Why do you want to turn your vet into a vegetarian?

Surely they will still kill wild animals anyway?

I didn't want to turn my cats into vegetarians, I was joking when I said that. :)

I just wanted to know if it was going to be harmless to them if they ate Quorn, which I realise now was a silly question to ask.

[lauren_almighty]

Flipping heck Dr hemp, I've just noticed your typo. At least I hope it was a typo because your whole post takes on a whole new meaning!!! :eek:

[21_12_2012]

Flipping heck Dr hemp, I've just noticed your typo. At least I hope it was a typo because your whole post takes on a whole new meaning!!! :eek:

hahah i missed that til you pointed it out. :D

[drhemp]

Flipping heck Dr hemp, I've just noticed your typo. At least I hope it was a typo because your whole post takes on a whole new meaning!!! :eek:

ha ha ha

[bruiseviolet]

Frozen 1 day old chicks are a good start.
I get mine delivered by courier from a place down south, and it works out about 6p per chick if i buy quite a few bags at once. My cat will eat a few a day, about 3 sometimes, in between the fresh mice i give her, and other snacks now and again.

Defrost one (in warm water for about 20 mins), then cut it up (dont throw any of the chick away).

I cut the head off, each leg off and the body into 2 or 3 parts. The cat will eat all parts (feathers/beak/feet/bones/head/organs...everything)

A non-raw eating cat may refuse to eat it at first, but if you persist it should eventually eat one.

Be aware too, that some pet shops sell frozen chicks which may not be very fresh, the cat will just simply vomit it up, no need to worry, just buy some from another place that has fresher/better quality ones.

If anyone wants to know where i get mine, PM me and i will give the name and number of the place, you can order by debit/credit card over the phone, and the chicks are always freshly frozen and good quality.

I have read that it can sometimes take a while to switch a cat from shit food to raw food, persistence is the key, and dont force it to eat JUST raw foods, give a little of its old shit food now and again, until its completely switched over.

Raw minced beef is a good 'snack' food too (from butchers). It cannot be fed constantly on this though due to it being 'imbalanced' (not containing organs/bone etc).

I used to buy rabbit from the local market (not bought one for a while), and put it through my meat grinder for the cat. This is also a good 'snacky' food, and can be kept in little air-tight containers in the fridge, or frozen (but freezing actually kills essential taurine, so it is better fresh)

It's very messy doing rabbit, you need quite a strong stomach to be pulling guts out and putting them into a meat grinder or cutting them up with scissors, and the 1 day old chicks can be messy sometimes too, as they have a yolk/egg sack which will burst if you cut right into it. I usually let the egg drain away first before cutting up the chick, too much egg isnt good anyway for a cat.

Small WHOLE prey are what cats are designed to eat.

Wow, that sounds insane to me! I know it shouldn't. Thank you for the info though. Being veggie I don't think I could do all the rabbit guts business but I could get someone else to do it for me. I've had rabbits as well and the cats n rabbits used to play together. :D

Definitely going to read up more though and try and improve their diet.

Thanks again! :)

[lauren_almighty]

Wow, that sounds insane to me! I know it shouldn't. Thank you for the info though. Being veggie I don't think I could do all the rabbit guts business but I could get someone else to do it for me. I've had rabbits as well and the cats n rabbits used to play together. :D

Definitely going to read up more though and try and improve their diet.

Thanks again! :)

I used to have a pet rabbit and my mum would buy tinned cat food with rabbit in it for the cats. I always thought it was so wrong to feed them a species of animal that we also had as a pet.

[bruiseviolet]

I used to have a pet rabbit and my mum would buy tinned cat food with rabbit in it for the cats. I always thought it was so wrong to feed them a species of animal that we also had as a pet.

Yes! Funnily enough I thought the same at the time. :o My cats actually used to eat the rabbit food left all over the garden by my rabbits, and they used to curl up with them on the grass in summer.

I suppose domestic animals have been tampered with to a degree, so I guess that why it seems weird to revert to nature...or something like that ha.

[21_12_2012]

I used to have a pet rabbit and my mum would buy tinned cat food with rabbit in it for the cats. I always thought it was so wrong to feed them a species of animal that we also had as a pet.

Well, it does sound sad yes. But, when you consider that dead cats/dogs/pets are also put into commercial pet food, it's like cannibalism really. Plus those dead pets were probably dying of cancer and all sorts of diseases.

Nature really is the best way of feeding all pets (and humans)

[21_12_2012]

Yes! Funnily enough I thought the same at the time. :o My cats actually used to eat the rabbit food left all over the garden by my rabbits, and they used to curl up with them on the grass in summer.

I suppose domestic animals have been tampered with to a degree, so I guess that why it seems weird to revert to nature...or something like that ha.

Cats/dogs/rabbits, if brought up together, will play together yes. Even mice/cats will too (mine won't though...i trained her very early on how to kill and eat a live mouse...eek).

But you put them together when one is starving hungry, and nature's instincts will take over. The dog will probably attack (and try to eat) a cat or rabbit if hungry, and a cat will attack and eat a rabbit and mouse if hungry.

Pets just trust us that we're feeding them what they need, which is why they don't feel that need to eat what they hunt.

It's like bringing a child up and just feeding it pot noodles and big macs. The child knows no different, and will continue to eat what it is given, believing that it is normal, even when disease/cancer and death kicks in later on in life.

It's the parent's/pet owner's responsibility to feed their children/pets the most natural/wholesome and nutritious foods they possibly can, where at all possible.

[leoo]

Yes. Cats are born to hunt. And even if they are fed on commercial foods all their lives, they will still hunt and kill insects/birds/mice all their lives.

BUT... they will not associate their 'killed prey' as being food. They often bring their kills back to thier owners as presents.

Ironic really. The owner feeds them a plate of complete shite, and the cat goes out, hunts down some real food, and brings it back to their owner.

Mad world.

It's actually a warning :D

But yes, deffo.... do not feed your cat gluten, all those anti-nutrients, enzyme-inhibitors etc.
In my humble opinion your cat does not have the necessary fauna in its digestive tract to extract enough nutrition in the long run (given that you feed it primarily quorn)

Are there many *verified* vegetarian animals? the ones that were supposed to be carnivores to begin with.

[21_12_2012]

It's actually a warning :D

Maybe it is a statement to the owner....when it brings back the bird/mouse in it's mouth, it may be thinking:-

"I want you to feed me these from now...not that crappy whiskas....! "