Jody's Page

Vegan?

Yes

Vegan cats at home?

Yes

Bio

We are a vegan family. My son is 16, vegan since birth. When my previous cat got sick and was euthanized, I went through cat withdrawal, but couldn't bring myself to get a new cat until I could convince myself to feed him/her a vegan diet. My husband had showed me articles about all of the nauseating ingredients in commercial pet food. I began noticing how sickly all of the companion animals in my neighborhood looked: overweight; walking slowly behind their guardians; dull coats; more like senior citizens than happy companions. Finally, in January of '04, we received our Satya magazine and read Jed Gillen's article "Why vegans should have vegan cats: a moral case". Then we read Obligate Carnivore, also by Jed Gillen. Then I read about Vegecat supplements. Then, I had to decide "Am I nuts to cook for a cat in addition to cooking for my voracious family?"

Happily, I decided my desire for a cat was greater than my hesitance to increase my cooking responsibilities. We adopted Hermione on Mother's Day of '04. She will be 5 in March. She was destined to be our cat. She has a white "V" on her back surrounded by orange tabby stripes. Coincidence? I think not!

I bake Vegecat kibble for her about every 3 weeks. I coat the kibble with various mashed moist toppings, and nutritional yeast. Her appetite is very good when I present her with a fresh topping, but she tires of the standard toppings after 5 or 6 days. So I switch to something different. I am very hopeful that through this website I can learn about new foods other cats seem to like. I will gladly try new things. Hermione seems glad if I add any new twist to her old standby, blended corn: a bit of smashed chickpea; a tad of miso; chopped parsley; toasted nori; refried beans (be sure that no onion or garlic is an ingredient, first); and the standard toppings of baked or boiled squash, pumpkin or sweet potato instead of corn. She also likes cantaloup, a bit of banana, spiders and centipedes

Hermione is an inside cat. She is in excellent heath. She has never been ill. Unlike most other cats, she rarely throws up, and then only if she ate something that didn't belong in her stomach anyway. Her fur feels like mink! She is frisky, and tears around the house like a herd of buffalos. She drinks water a lot. She loves/begs for a few blades of quack grass every day in summer. In the winter, I grow oat and wheat grass indoors for her "salad fix".

Our only dilemma is what to do with Hermione if we take a vacation. I don't like the idea of leaving her alone for more than a week. She is used to having me as a short order cook. She jumps onto my shoulders when she wants me to refresh her food bowl, no matter where in the house I may be. I would probably buy canned baby food (for a topping) while I was gone.

Favorite books, magazines

Satya (sadly, no longer in print), Into thin Air, The Making of Mt. Rushmore, The Endurance

Favorite music

Sade, Marvin Gaye, CSNY, Beatles, Dylan, Led Zeppelin, Pat Metheny, Jim Hall, Bill Evans

Favorite movies

The Sweet Hereafter, The Fountain, The Girl from the Cafe, After the Wedding, The Constant Gardener, The Year of Living Dangerously, Solarus, The Lives of Others

Interests

Vegan cooking and baking, tabling with vegan/vegetarian literature, National Public Radio, current events