Recently one of my favorite cats died of cancer. He was 11 years old and was in great shape until a few months before he died.
He had what was thought to be glandular blockage in the anal glands around the anus that needed to be drained and was having constipation problems.
Then he seemed to be getting better for a few weeks only to have to take another trip to the vet. This time they found that it wasn’t a blockage in his anal glands but a rapid growth colon cancer that had come upon him swiftly giving him just a few more weeks before he would have to be put out of his misery. This rapid acting colon cancer is a very common form of cancer in cats it turns out.
He was the sweetest kitty and I had been looking forward to visiting him again for pet sitting, when I heard the bad news. I had just been with him for 10 days the week before while his human was away. She didn’t want to leave him all alone, so I’d stayed overnight and did much of my computer work at his home during the day to keep him company.
But I wondered what caused the cancer in the first place. We will probably never know but I wonder if it had to do with the delicious fish treats and animal food, he ate all his life. We know that with humans it can make a significant difference in cancer risk with dietary changes, with some types of cancers. though some cancers are genetically based the medical establishment is finding that colon cancer, prostate cancer and breast cancer risks do go down depending on what culture a person is from and how much fresh food, and fiber they take in. When people from Asia move to the US and start eating American junk food, and dairy their cancer risk often goes up to American levels.
I wondered if our pets are eating too high on the food chain and taking in too many toxins from sea food and other animal products. Dogs do well on a vegan diet or diets high in vegetable matter, but I was under the impression that cats were obligate carnivores and could not survive on a diet of mostly veggie protein.
But with the right supplementation cats can also thrive while eating lower on the food chain where there are less toxins built up in the food products. Would Taurine supplements be enough to keep a cat healthy on a vegan or semi vegan diet?
According to a recent study a vegan diet might be safe for cats, and I wonder if it might have helped my friend Taylor to eat lower on the food chain away from toxins that can increase the risk of colon cancer.
A recent study found that a vegan diet helped cats have better health factors including body weight.
It might be worth experimenting to see if your pet would take to a plant-based diet after checking with your vet of course.
You can read more about the study at Plant Based News.