vegan pets?

[kari_louise]

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

Comments

[needoll]

I want my pets to become vegan, but right now I can't afford it, but definetely when I can, I will.

I feel the same about service dogs, its not fair that they have to be ordered and bossed around by humans, imagine the training, it could have been abusive or something. Especially for guard dogs. Which half the time arn't even guardy at all, they are just not looked after lonely and wanting interaction, because they are sad :(

[__feverdream]

i have a cat, and cats are not meant to be vegan. i feel strange feeding her chicken, but it helps to know that she's healthy and happy. it also helps that i have access to cage-free chemical-free cat food (although you're right, it is a bit pricey).

i'm not sure you can call guide dogs slaves. it's unfortunate that the girl at your school is mean to her animal, but i think that's more about the individual owner than the system itself. the people i've seen with guide dogs on buses and around town all seemed to have a loving, respectful relationship with their dogs.

[sinestetici]

So true, and I think many people forget that there are many dogs out there who enjoy being a service animal. Think about ranch dogs, for instance. Or sheep dogs. When it all comes down to it, it's the owners responsibility to treat their animal right...but I don't think you can fault a system because of one persons' actions, you know what I mean?

[kari_louise]

if you say a cat wasnt meant to be vegan isnt it just as easy to argue humans arent meant to be vegan? i mean the first people did hunt their own animals....but in modern society no one hunts their food (fairly) and neither do cats or dogs. isnt it just like saying "oh you cant get all the vitamins and nutrients you need as a vegan" maybe there isnt suffiecient vegan cat food out there right now but im sure if we can live healthy vegan lifestyles that so can our pets.

[turnyourback]

you can't really compare cats' needs to human needs. there's something cats absolutely need (is it taurine?) that's usually animal-derived (but can sometimes be synthetic).

[chemdebem]

Personally, I am very against having my animals be vegan. While right now, all I have is my very herbivorous rabbit, I have a big problem with veganizing pets. It may feel good to you, but it doesn't work as well for them.

I try to see pets as equals. I don't believe in imposing my views on food to others, therefore, I am not going to make my pets go vegan like me.

Since it is a LOT harder to tell how a dog or cat is feeling that it is a human, I believe in feeding my loves something that I know is good for them. Whether I would eat it, or not.

[violet_flames]

I was a lot more skeptical about this than I am now after reading the Vegan Freak forums. Basically what I've gathered is dogs can generally thrive on a well balanced vegan diet. Cats are much more tricky, particularly male cats (for some reason), and if I had a cat I probably wouldn't try, though there are people who have had happy healthy vegan cats for years.

I would like to switch my dogs to a vegan diet, but am not going to until I'm sure I'm well educated, and can afford any tests at the vet that might help me makes sure my pet that appears health IS healthy.

[roboticminotaur]

You bring up two reasons to feed cats meat. One is health concerns, the other is "imposing your views" on others. Health concerns are very valid. The issue of "imposing your views" on your pets is very much not valid. No matter what you feed your pets, you are imposing that diet on your pets. You are taking away their option to be carnivorous/omnivorous if you feed them vegan, and if you feed them carnivorous/omnivorous, you are taking away their option to be vegan.

It is impossible to keep a pet without "imposing your views" on it.

[sagcat]

Intelligent, working dogs are bored to death without tasks to perform. It would be mean to not give those animals something to do.

Most service dogs are well treated. It's always a shame when any dog isn't, and it sounds like the person on your campus is a shithead to her dog, but for the most part, they are among the best treated dogs around. And since they are chosen from the smartest dogs, the challenging tasks they are given are quite the reward for them.

They also perform tasks that are *extremely* valuable to their people. It's not something like a meal that will be forgotten the next day. These animals change the lives of their people. Allow them to be part of society.

[__feverdream]

i completely agree, but the point of this comment is actually to say that i love your tattoo.

[sagcat]

Thanks!

[sinestetici]

Thank you for saying to eloquantly what I tried to say above, hehe.

And you're right, its a win win situation for both the dog and the person it is helping.

[_unsure]

I've read up a lot on vegan pets and I agree with violet_flames - dogs almost always do well on a balanced vegan diet, whereas cats are somewhat hit and miss (where males often, but not always have issues, and females often, but not always do fine on it

[_unsure]

Also, about taurine - all pet food taurine, to my knowledge, is synthetic. I've read that the rendering and processing breaks down all the natural taurine, and so they always have to add it back in.

This addresses some issues.

[mookitten]

There is also arachidonic acid and Vitamin A (in its complete form, not derived from beta-carotene).

Also the fact that meat-free diets in cats lead to a more alkaline urine pH, which in turn predisposes cats (particularly males) to the formation of urinary crystals and eventually chronic cystitis and potentially fatal urethral blockage.

Meaning that, taurine is not the only reason that cats are more suited to a meat-based diet. It's just the most well known reason.

[mookitten]

Sorry, I didn't know where to put this reply so I just put it to yours,even though you already mentioned the urinary crystals thing. I agree with you in that, vegans who want a vegan pet should have a pet that is naturally inclined to be herbivorous, such as a rabbit.