Emme Loves Ami!

Finally, it arrived--a medium-size bag (4.4lb for $22.95 + shipping) of Ami vegan cat food (via Vegan Essentials). It was with some trepidation that I opened the bag and offered chunky Emily some of the animal-free tasty morsels. And to my surprise, she picked them out of her Whole Foods brand canned food loaded with animal products.

What a relief!

The only problem now is that my original plan was to use half of each food (one meal of the kibble, one of the canned) and I don't know if she'll eat the canned. Perhaps considering she won't be in a position to choose (either one or the other will be in the bowl), I won't have this problem. We'll see.

The taurine issue is supposedly resolved with Ami (not to mention Emily is female, and most problems I have read about not only didn't involve Ami, but also didn't involve female cats), but I'm still wary. If she didn't like Ami I wouldn't be writing this as I don't feed the animals in my care food they don't like. I'm not going to leave it in the bowl until "they're hungry enough to eat it."

Of course, I have to be on the lookout for any changes in Emily anyway, as she's an FIP kitty and has a bloated belly but at this point no other symptoms. And now that she's not eating as much canned food, she'll probably drink more water (either from a scotch glass or the dogs' bowls), but that's to be expected.

My only complaint so far is that Ami was backordered and I was told it would arrive in two weeks but it took a month, and concerns about availability are common when you research the product. Hopefully, with increased demand, Ami will be easier to obtain.

Feeding the system that exploits sentient nonhumans by feeding Emily sentient nonhumans has never sat well with me, though neither has feeding a carnivore a non-carnivorous diet. I know that it's the nutrients she needs, not the actual flesh, and there are other ways to get those nutrients, but I'm not 100% comfortable.

When I start seeing results/changes of some sort, I'll let you know. Perhaps I will change my mind.

Comments

[Roger]

We recently tried this too with a deaf cat who was rescued from the vet's needle. We name her Momo not knowing what she calls herself - she likes vegan cat food, so we are now waiting for a supply!

[Zucchini Breath]

This is great. I am looking forward to hearing what happens with this. My cat was eating purina when he came to live here but I have switched him to an organic food and feel a little better about it but not much. The organic food costs more but he eats less of it. Anyway, I am interested in the results.

[Elaine Vigneault]

I'm curious to see how it goes. I am very vary of changing our cats' foods.
The dogs I have no worries about, but cats are so different, so picky, and so little is known about them.

[Kristen]

I used to give my dog Nature's recipe vegetarian food and she got really sick so I put her back on organic kibble with meat in it. Unfortunately it isn't certified organic by the usda but is the only organic food available at the store.

Does anyone know of good organic vegan dog food that is easily attainable? and won't make my dog sick (she had the worst stool I have ever seen). I really don't want to pay $10 in shipping for a $20 bag of food so if I can get it at a store that would be superb! Thanks!

[Mary]

Kristen,
I use Natural Balance Vegetarian http://www.naturalbalanceinc.com/dogformulas/Vegetarian.html . One of my dogs took a bit o time to get used to it, stool-wise, but they are now both trouble-free. I soak the kibble for at least an hour and they love it! It is no organic, but it is soy, wheat and corn-free (if you care).

[John N.]

Kristen,

Same here..I fed my greyhound Natural Balance Vegetarian for the last 2 years and he loved it..and his stools looked great! I really felt it improved his overall health at that time also.