Updated 2/2/2022 to fix interruption in live stream which has had 1422 views and 46 likes to date.Andrew Knight is Professor of Animal Welfare and Ethics, an...
When it comes to both recombinant animal protein as well as microbial- and plant-based protein for pet food, it is important to consider that although these products offer protein (as well as other nutrients that are naturally found in plants and microbes), none of these options are sources of nutrients that can only be produced by animal cells like taurine, arachidonic acid and vitamin A/retinol–and it is precisely these animal-based nutrients that are so important to consider when thinking about the dietary requirements of carnivores, such as cats. In terms of alternative sources of such animal-based nutrients, there are only two options: synthetically manufactured, or naturally produced by cultured meat.
To make cultured meat, we take a small collection of cells from an animal and then feed those cells all the nutrients they need to grow. In our case, we’ve isolated cells from mice, the ancestral diet of cats; as well as chicken, the most common ingredient in pet food.
In making cultured meat, instead of the growing cells obtaining their nutrients via food ingested by an animal, we instead feed those cells the nutrients directly, inside of a warm vessel called a bioreactor. Bioreactors are not a new technology. In fact, most people reading this article regularly consume food and beverages that are the products of bioreactors, such as yeast to make beer and bacteria commonly known as probiotics.
We feed our cells a proprietary blend of plant-based ingredients–in fact, very similar ingredients to what would be fed to a growing farm animal, such as a chicken or cow–and in the process of growing, our animal cells metabolize those nutrients to form new nutrients that only animal cells can make.
In the end, we harvest our cells as well as all of the important animal-based nutrients they’ve manufactured, and use this meat and nutrient-rich “slurry” as a one-to-one replacement ingredient for conventional meat slurries already used by pet food manufacturers.
I think people who do have them should not kill other animals to feed them. It is possible when done with the right food. I have met several people in the past 20 years who fed their cats vegan without problems.
This study should be reason enough to not slaughter billions of animals for pet food.
https://vegconomist.com/interviews/biocraft-pet-manufacturers-desperate-stable-alternative/
If you care about animals why would you subject a cat to this?
If you want a pet, get a herbivore.
Rabbits
Hamsters
Tortoises
Fish
Gerbils
Most Birds
Iguanas
etc
etc
etc
I don’t have or want pets.
I think people who do have them should not kill other animals to feed them. It is possible when done with the right food. I have met several people in the past 20 years who fed their cats vegan without problems.
This study should be reason enough to not slaughter billions of animals for pet food.
Whats wrong with cultivated nutritions?