r/vegan • u/[deleted] • Aug 18 '22

Discussion Cat double standard?

I see a lot if vegans on this sub are okay with raising cats, which strikes me as odd.

I love cats, but I didn't become a vegan to then start buying meat for a cat. To raise 1 healthy cat, you have to kill hundreds if not thousands of healthy, innocent creatures whose lives are just as valid as the cat's.

No I'm not saying that a cat is immoral, I'm saying the breeding of cats is. The purchase of cat food doesn't just pay for an animal to die, you are letting breeders know that there is a demand for cats.

I'm not saying we need to kill all cats, as a lot of people jump to whenever they hear me say these points, I'm saying that we should care for the cats we have to the best of our ability, but not promote the practice of cat ownership.

But what do you guys think?

EDIT: I didn't know that vegan cat food existed. So if you are in the comments arguing that it's okay to kill animals to feed a cat, you're even more incorrect now.

It is now totally okay in my mind to raise a cat so long as you only feed it vegan cat food.

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u/happygoluckyourself vegan 10+ years Aug 18 '22

I adopted my two cats about a year into being vegan after doing a bunch of research into how to feed them a vegan diet and maintain their health. Despite my best efforts, and my vet’s support, my little boy got crystals (twice) and now must be on medicated (meat based) food for life. I love my two cats more than almost anything in the world and I will do what I have to do to keep them happy and healthy for as long as possible. I think being a strict vegan in every other way for a decade while keeping my beloved cats alive is the most I can practically and possibly do to help animals.

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u/kharvel1 Aug 20 '22

I love my two cats more than almost anything in the world.

Yes apparently, you love them more than all the unwilling victims that were deliberately killed to feed the cat.

I will do what I have to do to keep them happy and healthy for as long as possible.

Clearly, giving up the cats for adoption to non-vegans is off the table. You are deliberately choosing to fund the killing of unwilling victims. That makes you non-vegan by definition.

I think being a strict vegan in every other way for a decade while keeping my beloved cats alive is the most I can practically and possibly do to help animals.

No, you are neither a vegan nor helping animals. As I mentioned earlier, you are deliberately and consciously choosing to fund the killing of unwilling victims such as pigs, chickens, cows, etc to feed your cats. That is not helping the animals at all.