What's the vegetarian policy on feeding pets?

[abcdefz]

For some reason I started wondering if vegetarians or vegans let their cats or dogs eat meat products. Seems like, even with dry food,
there's dead animal involved in the flavoring and whatnot, and it might make for an ethical issue with really uncompromising vegetarians.

Does anyone on this board deal with that? How does it work out?

[AceFace]

well, i dunno about other vegetarians (and i'm not vegan by any means), but my cats need certain nutrients and i'm not going to deprive them of that.

to me it's kinda like those people that won't feed their babies the things they need b/c of their veggie lifestyle. sometimes things have to be overruled.

[cookiepuss]

well certainly it can be done...there are plenty of veggie pet food products on the market...and there are some folks pushing it considering the recall of pet foods recently...

but there's plenty of debate with pet care professional on whether it's really good for the animal.

dogs and cats are not really equipt to digest a purely vegitarian diet. they are unable to digest cellulose...i.e. they can't digest the cell walls of a carrot but if you peel it, discard the peel and blend it up they can. bottom line is the amount and structure of vegitables that a feline or caninies are meant to digest is the amount of vegitation that may be in the stomach of thier prey. ( and keep in mind it's been partially digested by thier pray thus making it even easier for them)

personally, I think you're an idoit if you try to make your pets strictly vegan. you wanna be vegan that's your choice. but your pets are NOT human. they are another species and you have no business fucking with their natural diet.

if you're worried about pet food recall you can put them on a raw diet w/o making them vegan.

[Loppfessor]

You gotta be kidding me....animals (to include) humans eat meat...plain and simple. Anyone who tries to make their pet a vegan should be charged with animal cruelty

[abcdefz]

Sounds like you guys are basically saying what I kind of assumed. But the fact that there are vegan pet food products tells me there's
some kind of market for it, which is interesting.

I think if I were a vegan for ethical reasons, I'd probably just not have a pet. I don't think it'd be a huge stretch to believe that
having an animal in any way "captive" was wrong. Maybe.

[venusvenus123]

Originally Posted by abcdefz

Sounds like you guys are basically saying what I kind of assumed. But the fact that there are vegan pet food products tells me there's
some kind of market for it, which is interesting.

there's a market for all types of animal cruelty so it's not really surprising.

i considered being a vegan yesterday as i poured a drop of milk into my tea. but i figured i'd rather remain an omnivore and try to tell myself the animals are treated well when raised on organic/ethical farms.

[cookiepuss]

Originally Posted by venusvenus123

but i figured i'd rather remain an omnivore and try to tell myself the animals are treated well when raised on organic/ethical farms.

ummm...I don't think you'd be convincing yourself of something false. Most small ranchers are good to their animals. those animals are their livelyhood and they work hard to keep them healthy. My grandfather was one of the first dairy ranchers in the area I live and my family knows many ranchers. I can say with confidence that they don't practice cruelty. the animals around here have tons of pasture and they get fed supplemental grain and hay on top of that. they aren't penned up in thier own feces or any thing like that. they are very well cared for.

[Bob]

i think it would be kind of messed up to put a carnivore on a vegan diet

[abcdefz]

My former bird used to eat a little chicken breast off my plate from time to time. That was a little creepy.

[MC Moot]

It's funny,my sister is a devote vegetarian and she won't handle meat,fish,eggs anything....it freaks her out.....won't have her pans touched by it or have it cooked in her house....but she has this cat,Pablo Picasso,who only eats soft meat tinned cat food or tuna or salmon.....so her husband has to do it,when he's away she get's her neighbor to come over and do it....she is crazy but in the very best way.....

[Otis Driftwood]

*cue Free Waterfall jrs coughing, toothless lion reared on tofu*

[beastiegirrl101]

Cosmo like waaaay back in the day gave me a recipe to make my own cat food, which I still do..it's all nautral and they LOVE LOVE LOVE it.

[abcdefz]

Originally Posted by cmute rhyme

Food for cats or out of cats?

^

I made that mistake once with "cockatiel recipes." I thought that sounded awful.

[cookiepuss]

Originally Posted by beastiegirrl101

Cosmo like waaaay back in the day gave me a recipe to make my own cat food, which I still do..it's all nautral and they LOVE LOVE LOVE it.

all natural doesn't mean vegan though. is it vegan?

I'm all for making your own pet food and to do it right and balanced it should certainly have some pureed vegitables in it. (like I said about there being enough veggies like what would be in the food of the stomach of thier prey)

some vegan meals for a pet wouldn't be harmful but I just wouldn't put my pet on a strictly vegan diet, unless my vet gave me some medical reason for doing so.

[cosmo105]

just fyi y'all, it's not a vegan recipe, and my cats eat cat food with fish or chicken or tuna or whatever their hearts desire in it. i'm not even going to force my kids to be vegetarian, much less vegan, and i would never make an animal follow a vegan diet. i've seen vegan dog food, and heard/read that dogs are better equipped to follow a vegan diet than cats (something about cats' kidneys not being able to handle it) but i think it's just plain cruel to do such a thing. i'm all for a vegan lifestyle, but that doesn't extend to anyone (or anything) beyond me. if everyone could be vegan, that'd be rad, but i'm not about to go forcing that belief. animals can't make that decision, so it shouldn't be made for them.

wow natalie, i didn't even remember sending you that! crap, i've got to start making that stuff myself for my kitties. if anybody wants to know what we're talking about, here's a link to the recipe: http://www.flippyscatpage.com/spotsstew.html

you can buy it in cans but it's really expensive, and much easier to just make it yourself. if you contact the company, Halo, they'll send you the recipe (for dog food too)!

[Lyman Zerga]

im feeding my dog some meat (without touching it with bare hands) but still find it easier to have veggie pets like bunnies!

and like cosmo i would also give my kid meat till it's old enough to make its own decision and like cosmo i wouldnt mind having a meat eating bf

[GreenEarthAl]

I've been vegetarian for almost 14 years now. Never tried being vegan, but I consume very little dairy. I don't much care for the smell of meat, and would prefer not to have it cooked in my vicinity.

I have come to believe that trying to domesticate animals is generally wrong, and feeding them a vegan or vegetarian diet seems VERY wrong to me. We have two cats that have been living with us since before I had the epiphany about domesticating animals.

I am all for people who eat what they hunt. And while I would like to believe that organic and free-range livestock is ethically treated and environmentally sustainable, honestly, I am not able to convince myself of this. The profit motive for large agribusiness and meat production industry to get into the ballooning "health food" sector seems to great for me not to believe that they are finding a way to screw everything up. Commercial fast food/supermarket meat production is so wrong I wouldn't even know where to begin and seems to go without saying.

[Alli]

My dogs and cats are on a completely NON vegan diet.

My dog likes raw chicken quarters, whole large sardines, beef heart and whatever other gruesome goodies I find deals for. My cats LOVE LOVE LOVE their chicken hearts and gizzards. They also get various tidbits of whatever meat I feed the dog. It's waaay cheaper than dog food/cat food and I've never seen them healthier. Cats are obligate carnivores so really veggies are useless to them without much processing. However that's what usually strips all the nutrients out. Same with meat. Cooking it destroys a lot of what makes it so good for them. This is why when you feed a commercial food they have too eat SO MUCH. Then they poop SO MUCH.

Less money, Less poop, More healthy and only a little more work. Not a bad deal.

I would suggest checking out raw diets for your pets. I specifically use the prey model raw diet. Which basically is trying to over time give the animal all the parts is normally consumes. This includes organs, bones, meat, and etc. Yes dogs can eat chicken bones, WHEN THEY ARE RAW. Cooked bones cause splinters and can harm your animal.