Is vegan pet food healthier?

A Griffith-led study has explored whether a vegan diet for cats provided more benefits for their health than a carnivorous diet.

The study found that cats who were fed a vegan diet for at least one year had fewer veterinary visits, health disorders and severe illnesses, and less frequent medication use.

Andrew Knight, a Griffith School of Environment and Science Professor, said increasing concerns about environmental sustainability, farmed animal welfare and the development of alternative pet foods were catalysts for the research.

According to Knight, alternatives include raw meat diets, in-vitro meat products and diets based on novel protein sources such as terrestrial plants, insects, yeast, fungi and potentially seaweed.

The researchers surveyed 1418 cat guardians, asking about one cat living with them for at least one year.

Among the 1380 respondents involved in cat diet decision-making, health and nutrition was considered most important when choosing diets. Of these, 1369 respondents provided information relating to a single cat fed a meat-based (1242 — 91%) or vegan (127 — 9%) diet for at least one year.

The researchers examined seven general indicators of illness.

After controlling for age, sex, neutering status and primary location, the following risk reductions with a vegan diet occurred for average cats, for all seven general illness indicators:

• increased veterinary visits (which may indicate illness) — 7% reduction
• medication use — 15% reduction
• progression onto therapeutic diet — 55% reduction
• reported veterinary assessment of being unwell — 4% reduction
• reported veterinary assessment of more severe illness — 8% reduction
• guardian opinion of more severe illness — 23% reduction
• number of health disorders per unwell cat — 16% reduction.

The team also examined the prevalence of 22 specific health disorders, using reported veterinary assessments. 42% percent of cats fed meat and 37% of those fed vegan diets suffered from at least one disorder.

Of these 22 disorders, 15 were most common in cats fed meat, and seven in cats fed vegan diets.

Overall, cats fed vegan diets tended to be healthier than those fed meat-based diets, according to the study.

According to Knight, the results concurred with similar studies, remaining consistent. The evidence finds that nutritionally sound vegan diets can produce good health outcomes and are associated with environmental benefits.

Image credit: iStock.com/Irina Orlova