This one boiled my blood just from the title alone…
u/headachebrewing hopped on the Am I The Assh*le subreddit with the following question: “AITA for telling my stepdaughter she’s absolutely under no circumstances allowed to switch out my cat’s food for vegan food even though she’s losing weight because the sight of normal cat food makes her sick?”
I can tell you straight up, no way no how is this woman the bad guy: cats need meat. They are not vegans. They are not capable of being vegans. JFC, give your cats meat.
Anyway. Here’s her story:
Sorry for the appalling title. My stepdaughter is living with my husband and I for the next year. Shes an educated young professional who’s saving up to buy her own home.
Since she’s moved in with us (past 3 months) she’s become increasingly snappy and unhappy with how her dad and I run our lives. We aren’t environmentally conscious enough because we don’t compost our waste, we are negligent because we leave lights on when we leave our home for security reasons, we should switch to electric cars, we are contributing to the inhumane treatment of cows by consuming dairy, the list is endless.
My cat Mango is getting to be an old ass man and he has lived a full life of eating whatever the f-ck he likes (obviously within what’s safe for a cat) and hes happy that way. My stepdaughter is now insisting she will purchase vegan cat food because seeing Mango eat meat makes her sick.
We feed him in the kitchen and she will literally throw up / retch/ leave the kitchen if she sees him eat meat. She HAS lost a lot of weight since claiming that seeing Mango eat meat makes her sick, and we leave out dry biscuits for him to snack on which also makes her sick. It’s not like we leave mess out but even if she smells his food in the am (which is gross, yeah, but the doors are open and that’s just life if you have a pet) she will heave and walk away.
Her dad and I both told her if she’s unhappy with it she needs to find someplace else to live and although we are genuinely sorry she’s lost her appetite and has lost weight we aren’t going to change Mangos lifestyle- she has yelled, cursed at us, cried, begged, etc, but no, we are NOT happy with Mango eating a vegan diet. We don’t feed him cheap crap either, we feed him food quality cat food that isn’t processed or full of sugar or grain. It’s pretty much gourmet Gordon Ramsey worthy cat food.
My MIL has waded in after my stepdaughter told her we were being unfair by refusing to let Mango go on her preferred diet for him, and is accusing us of being cruel and shortsighted. She says we are letting her get sick, and that Mango won’t hurt from a change in diet but stepdaughter is hurting.
Right? Not the asshole at all! And Thank God, Reddit also came out in droves to give this lady the reassurance she needs.
NTA Cats are obligate carnivores and they will sicken and die without meat.
NTA.
Cats cannot under any circumstances be vegan. They need meat. I have a vegan friends who still feed their cats meat because it’s their choice to be vegan, not the cats who couldn’t be even if he was sentient enough to want to be.
If she cares about animals and the environment so much, why would she want to actually harm a cat by feeding it unsuitable food? Why does she have to be in the room while the cat is eating his meat? Cat meat smells gross sure and that’s probably worse for a vegan. But she doesn’t have to watch the cat eat.
