Vegan catfood products are on the market, so whether or not they are good for cats, they have been approved by several regulating bodies

Yeah, that's not how it works. Especially in countries with extreme regulatory capture like the US.

Unless a product has text that says in a very specifically worded way that it's been tested and approved by a relevant regulatory body, it hasn't.

The fact that something hasn't been taken off the market YET does not necessarily mean that it's been approved. Especially not when you're dealing with politically volatile stuff that could lead to lengthy public lawsuits sapping the resources of the already chronically underfunded and understaffed agencies.

If it's vegan food for obligate carnivores, it MIGHT technically be "safe" (as in won't be outright lethal), but for the reasons you yourself mentioned, it's likely to significantly decrease the animal's enjoyment of life at best and more likely to be downright torturous.

It would be like going into a vape community and banning accounts that claimed vaping is safer than smoking

Except for the fact that those accounts would be absolutely right and have reams of scientific evidence from the world's foremost experts in related fields to back up their claims. Unlike the people abusing cats in the name of not abusing animals.

it probably isn't

It is. It's not even anywhere near the next city over from the neighborhood of close.

but I don't need admins deciding who gets to have discourse about that

Except limiting the spread of dangerous misinformation, such as common myths that are keeping smokers away from one of if not THE most effective smoking cessation tool, is a big part of what admins are FOR.

if you're dumb enough to take veterinary advice from an internet vegan group, you're probably too dumb to keep a cat alive anyway

Yeah..that's not a valid argument either. A lot of vegans avoid getting a cat because they're too overzealous in their veganism to even want carnivorous animals to eat meat.

The Venn diagram of people vegan enough to love carnivores but refuse to give them meat and people who would trust a vegan online echo chamber more than competent veterinarians is a circle within a bigger circle.

I feel like nobody is approaching this from a consent aspect either. If someone offers their cat an array of cat food options and makes an actual honest attempt to determine a long term preference and the cat legitimately prefers the vegan cat food, then that's way less problematic than saying "you will eat this weird food or you will starve."

The forced veganism thing just feels a lot like saying "studies show that a human can technically survive on roaches and rat feces as long as they get a vitamin C supplement."

I just wanted to add: the reason why most carnivores go for the digestive tract first when eating their prey is that they eat the predigested plant matter with the entrails, making those nutrients much more readily available to them.

It's a shame; i'm sure there are vegans feeding their cats this way, and when those animals lose muscle mass quickly, the first thing that gets really damaged by that are their kidneys - and this does normally only get noticed shortly before the cat is going to die. And it's an ugly death. I've had a young cat which had nearly dead kidneys when we got her, and it's pure torture for them - we tried everything we could, but there's not much to be done after they show symptoms. That one "study" that other poster is throwing around with the owner-reported feedback regarding the health of their cats has actual negative worth.

I agree entirely. Let's end the factory farming of cats.

Bruh. This is why I don't like folks from vegan communities. So full of misinformation and vitriol regarding farming practices. Dead, malnourished and diseased cattle are worthless to a farmer, so they intentionally don't keep them in conditions like these crazies describe.

That said I am trying to cut down on my meat consumption because meat production is more climate intensive than vegetables, and my diet is not as vegetable-heavy as it should be. But you folks make it so hard to feel good about making positive changes like that

What is your intent when replying like this? Did you intend to have a conversation and a sharing of views? Is it just about mocking the hypocrisy what you assume my views to be?