We bought a kitten do they have halal food requirements? I have tried to find halal food but it’s very difficult to find food that meets their nutritional requirements. Is it permissible to buy canned cat food that contains chicken and tuna to feed the kitten?
Bismillahi Ta’ala
Walaikum Assalam Warahmatullah,
There is a difference of opinion among contemporary scholars about feeding the pet cat-food which may contain haram contents. The more researched stance is that cat food would fall in one of following categories:
a. The cat food contains meat from swine/pork. Such cat food will be impermissible to feed to one’s cat.
b. The cat food does not contain swine/pork, however it does contain other animal meat which is neither slaughtered islamically nor has the blood been let out during its non-islamic slaughter. This would render the meat impure and haram. Such cat food will be only be permissible to feed the cats if the majority contents of this cat food are other than these impure haram meat.
c. The cat food does not contain swine/pork, however it does contain other animal meat which is not slaughtered islamically, however blood has been let out. This renders the meat haram yet tahir/pure. Such cat food will be permissible to feed to one’s cat.
d. The cat food does not contain swine/pork, however it does contain other animal meat which has been slaughtered islamically. Such cat food will be permissible to feed the cats without reproach.
From above categories, most preferred would be “d”. Unfortunately this option may not be available to us in Canada as yet and is something our Muslim Community and Entrepreneurs should work on. In UK “Hurayra pet Foods” has started selling such completely Halal Pet Food. (https://hurayrapetfoods.com/)
While the above option is not available to us, majority of the cat food in market will fall under “c” wherein all you have to check is that the cat food does not contain swine/pork. The general practice in slaughtering is to let out the blood, even though the slaughter is not Halal Dhabiha. Nonetheless, since the meat is rendered tahir/pure, it may be fed to the cats.
In practice I have seen that tuna-flavor or sea-food flavors have minimal content of other meats. But you may choose your pet-food based on the diet required for the cat making sure there is no swine/pork in it.
And Allah Ta’āla Knows Best
Mufti Faisal al-Mahmudi