The Available Studies of the Vegan Diet on Cats

The main thing I've read (not a cat owner) is that unlike a dog, you're walking a fine line when providing a vegan diet to a cat. It can be done, and this is reflected in robust scientific literature, but you need to seriously know what you're doing. As a critical part of that, I think consulting a vet about getting them on a specific, well-planned diet is something any vegan cat owner ought to be doing. Mainly because while you can probably get away with feeding your cat a suboptimal meat-based diet and have them still be healthy, the risks with a suboptimal plant-based one mean that I don't think DIY research cuts it.

Nonetheless, I think the best thing for a vegan if possible (not your case) is simply not to own a cat, not because it's impossible to accomplish this but moreso because statistically it's much, much harder to accomplish, and normalizing it among vegans is liable to create situations where well-meaning but incompetent owners simply cannot meet the challenge and either give up partway through and go with meat-based food or slowly destroy the cat's health.

https://petfoodshop.com/collections/for-cats/products/gourmet-fondue-cat-kibble?variant=29212409593942 is pretty affordable I thought, especially if you buy in bulk. How does their price compare?

Surely you meant that the vegans will _up_vote this post, for the exact reason that it confirms their priors.

On the substance, it stands to reason that if humans can be fooled (just about) by the latest generation of fake meat, then pets will find it plenty tasty enough too. But on the question of the science, it is uncontroversial that dogs and cats are both members of the carnivora order. And cats are obligate carnivores: in their natural environment they eat almost nothing but meat and have done for millions of years. So if you're going to turn them vegan, you better be absolutely sure you know what supplements to give them and in what quantity.

I agree with your general point though. As a flexitarian who respects vegans for their ethical coherence, even I am pretty darn tempted to see motivated reasoning in this kind of post, because that's obviously what it is. But facts are facts. A vegan cat can be happy and healthy. What a world to live in.