do any of you have vegan pets? id love my dog to go vegan but for an economy size dogfood bag its over 70$!!! Im poor and in college, the kind i buy now is 12.49
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My dog (a 3-year-old black lab mix) is vegetarian, but not vegan (due to the lack of vegan dog treats around my area). When I first got her as a puppy, I was vegetarian, but she ate a regular popular brand of puppy food.
However, as she got older, she started to have some allergy issues that were traced back to mainstream pet food ingredients (beef & chicken). My vet recommended that I put her on a special diet food and gave me several suggested options.
As I was doing research on each of the potential special diet foods, I stumbled across information about the many nasty things that go into mainstream pet foods (by-products, parts from diseased animals, meat that isn't "human grade", sometimes euthanized shelter pets and/or roadkill, etc.). With that information, I knew that for me personally, it wouldn't be an acceptable choice to feed Molly one of those foods. I just couldn't wrap my mind around putting that kind of stuff into the body of a wonderful creature that I've chosen to take into my home and be the guardian for. Plus I decided that I prefer not to support an industry that would include that sort of stuff in their products. Conveniently, one of the non-allergen brands that my vet recommended was Nature's Recipe, and they have a vegetarian adult dog food that is nutritionally balanced (and remarkably good-smelling for dog food!). Molly has been on the Nature's Recipe vegetarian dog food for the past 2 years. She no longer has allergy issues and is just as healthy and active as any other dog her age.
The one drawback to this diet for Molly is that it is relatively expensive. A 37-pound bag of food that lasts about a month for my dog costs around $32 at Petsmart. That's more salient for me now (because I'm a grad student) than it will be later (when I have a job with a good salary). Also, I'm fortunate to have a fellowship and relatively low living costs, so I can afford to make this choice. However, I recognize that many other people (especially students and/or people with entry-level jobs) do not have that luxury.
However, as she got older, she started to have some allergy issues that were traced back to mainstream pet food ingredients (beef & chicken). My vet recommended that I put her on a special diet food and gave me several suggested options.
As I was doing research on each of the potential special diet foods, I stumbled across information about the many nasty things that go into mainstream pet foods (by-products, parts from diseased animals, meat that isn't "human grade", sometimes euthanized shelter pets and/or roadkill, etc.). With that information, I knew that for me personally, it wouldn't be an acceptable choice to feed Molly one of those foods. I just couldn't wrap my mind around putting that kind of stuff into the body of a wonderful creature that I've chosen to take into my home and be the guardian for. Plus I decided that I prefer not to support an industry that would include that sort of stuff in their products. Conveniently, one of the non-allergen brands that my vet recommended was Nature's Recipe, and they have a vegetarian adult dog food that is nutritionally balanced (and remarkably good-smelling for dog food!). Molly has been on the Nature's Recipe vegetarian dog food for the past 2 years. She no longer has allergy issues and is just as healthy and active as any other dog her age.
The one drawback to this diet for Molly is that it is relatively expensive. A 37-pound bag of food that lasts about a month for my dog costs around $32 at Petsmart. That's more salient for me now (because I'm a grad student) than it will be later (when I have a job with a good salary). Also, I'm fortunate to have a fellowship and relatively low living costs, so I can afford to make this choice. However, I recognize that many other people (especially students and/or people with entry-level jobs) do not have that luxury.
Hope this helps!
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