Is it wrong to feed your cat a vegan diet?
An Australian has come under fire for feeding his cat a strictly plant-based diet.
Harry Bolman of Gold Coast, Australia has received backlash online after he posted a video of his five-year-old cat Uma eating vegan food. Harry has been a vegan since 1980 and says he has fed all his pets a similar plant-based diet. He maintains that this is the best option for his cat.
But vegans and cat owners alike are divided on Harry's statement, with some saying they are concerned that the cat is not getting all the nutrients it needs, and that making a cat stick to a vegan diet is cruel.
Harry believes regular processed cat food is "revolting" and cites Uma's "vitality" and "whitest coat" as signs that she is thriving on the vegan diet.
Veterinary Specialist Dr Andrew Knight sees no reason why a specially formulated plant-based diet that still provides all the nutrients a cat would get if it were hunting small animals in the wild should be a problem.
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But it appears feeding a cat a vegan diet is not yet a scientifically sound idea as a different animal care expert, Dr Pete Wedderburn, said that feeding a cat a plant-based diet is unfair: "If you are going to insist, you need to accept that there is a risk to your cats' long-term health."
Do you believe Harry makes a compelling case, or should animals not be forced to change their diet to suit a pet owner's ethics?