Vulpyne #fundie reddit.com

["However, a cat is a natural carnivore"]

This line of argumentation is known as the "appeal to nature". It basically assumes that natural=good (and sometimes that unnatural=bad/inferior). Unfortunately, this argument cannot be applied consistently because there are many natural things which are bad (starvation, disease, etc).

So basically, as a rational argument anything that starts with "this is okay because it's natural" is pretty much a non-starter.

["and needs to eat meat."]

That's certainly debatable. There are nutritionally complete vegan cat foods as well as steps you can take to identify and avoid problems as you transition. Also, in the interests of harm reduction it's not necessarily a black and white thing. Even if you could substitute 25% of your meat-based cat for for an alternative that doesn't require other animals to suffer and be killed that would be an improvement over doing nothing.

["As a human, I can morally decide not to eat animal products."]

Don't you have a responsibility for your cat's actions and your own actions in the course of taking care of the cat?

["A lot of times I talk about this, I get people telling me I am not a "real" vegan because I feed my cat meat."]

Just to be clear, I am not saying that. Although, I would argue that it's not really consistent with "a way of living that seeks to exclude, as far as possible and practicable, all forms of exploitation of, and cruelty to, animals for food, clothing and any other purpose" to reject out of hand an alternative that can reduce cruelty and exploitation.

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Confused?

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