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Veganizing your pets


xbillyx
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Hi everyone,

 

I've been approached many times with questions about switching pets to vegan diets (by vegans and non-vegans alike). As you may or may not know, I have one dog and two cats (all are vegan).

 

Anyway, I finally decided to write an article from my personal experience which I hope people will find useful. It's pretty long, so I'm hesitant to paste the entire post here. So, if you're interested in reading it, I've posted it on my blog here: http://vegtalk.blogspot.com/2008/02/veganizing-your-pets.html.

 

Please feel free to reply to this thread or on my blog with any questions you may have. I'm more than happy to help. Let's cut our ties with the animal industries completely!

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I dont think this is very ethically responsible... Chosing to be vegan your self is one thing but imposing that on an animal is another.I have a dachshund myself.

To each his own...

 

Certain animals thrive on vegan diets, and I've witnessed it first hand. A well maintained vegan dog reaps the same benefits as humans. I believe he "saved" his pets, and is giving them a wonderful life. How can you possibly believe spreading something so wonderful is wrong, forcefully or not? Its not like its communism, or religion, etc.. Veganism, combined with right training, and support is the ONLY way to have a completely pure mind, humans and animals. With a cluttered/sludged mind we make stupid decisions in life, and that applies to dogs too. I guarantee vegan dogs get in less fights and are less routy than meat eating dogs. To each his own, when it only affects themselves, but when it can affect the world it doesnt apply.

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this is an interesting topic with no right answer only what is right for you.

 

I personally feel i should not take the option from my cats. They eat a meat centric diet and i feel i should not change that, although they like my vegan food more than there own which is weird, but to each their own. My friend recently said "well what about the industry that produces the food"? His argument was because i am buying animal grade food i am allowing the industry of cruelty to exist. I have to agree with this statement, but i feel i have little choice other than buying them organic cat food from companies with good practices. He made the argument that if i was alright with that then why wouldn't i make the food myself from meat from local farms so i can ensure the quality and humane treatment of the meat.

 

This threw me for a loop actually because in essence i am okay with buying my pets food as long as i will never have to see the animal slaughtered. Which seems inherently wrong to me. I am at a moral crossroads and i have been thinking about this as of late.

 

thanks for the post.

 

 

The one thing i will contest is that moist food is best for your pets. A 75 percent mixture is a good start with the emphasis on hard dry food because the soft food can weaken the cats teeth while the harder food acts as a natural scrubbing agent, at least this is true for cats.

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I dont think this is very ethically responsible... Chosing to be vegan your self is one thing but imposing that on an animal is another.I have a dachshund myself.

To each his own...

 

WHAT?? this statement is so out of bounds.

you are imposing a meat diet on your dog as much as he is imposing a vegan one on his.

if anyone you are in lack of ethical responsibility.

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I dont think this is very ethically responsible... Chosing to be vegan your self is one thing but imposing that on an animal is another.I have a dachshund myself.

To each his own...

 

WHAT?? this statement is so out of bounds.

you are imposing a meat diet on your dog as much as he is imposing a vegan one on his.

if anyone you are in lack of ethical responsibility.

 

Dogs are just domesticated wolves (oversimplification but you get the point), Wolves thrive on hunting other animals for MEAT. Now if certain industry practices dont let you sleep at night, change to an organic or freerange dog/cat food company, whatever suits you. BUT where do you draw the line, are you gonna veganize lions, tigers and bears(ohh my)? Dont mess with natural processes. Veganizing a dog or cat is just as bad as their domestication thousands of years ago, Its not natural.

 

Then again because of their domestication maybe its not such a necessity b/c of their much less active and less demanding lives.

 

either way the human interference with natural processes is not necessarly correct even when backed by the best intentions

 

btw you need to elaborate on this statement b/c it doesnt make too much sense

you are imposing a meat diet on your dog as much as he is imposing a vegan one on his.

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dude come on. we (humans) started messing with the dogs and cats natural process a long long time ago, dogs are not "natural" anymore.

and don't compare pets with wild animals, that just makes you look stupid and slow, and you know it.

organic schmorganic, i am an animal rights advocate, not animal welfare. it's not okay to kill an animal just because it has lived a decent life

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dude come on. we (humans) started messing with the dogs and cats natural process a long long time ago, dogs are not "natural" anymore.

and don't compare pets with wild animals, that just makes you look stupid and slow, and you know it.

organic schmorganic, i am an animal rights advocate, not animal welfare. it's not okay to kill an animal just because it has lived a decent life

 

Whoa asshole slow down, I respect your opinions and everyone elses (much less than what I can say about you) but dont even attempt to attack my intelligence b/c you yourself will come across as such, an IGNORANT ASSHOLE.

 

Now if you took the time to calmly read my post you would have seen that

Then again because of their domestication maybe its not such a necessity b/c of their much less active and less demanding lives.

 

dogs are not "natural" anymore.

Now thats stupid...

Dogs still have almost all of their of their animalistic instincts. Dogs still kill when given the chance, any deviation from that has to be taught, and even then when given the chance they still will try to get away with doing it.

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im not the ignorant person here, you are. you are feeding your dog DEAD ANIMALS! does that mean nothing to you?

 

Dogs still have almost all of their of their animalistic instincts. Dogs still kill when given the chance, any deviation from that has to be taught, and even then when given the chance they still will try to get away with doing it.

 

yeah i know they have a lot of hunting instincts left. so sure. let your dog hunt for it self and see if he/she survives, i bet my money on no.

 

and for the record, i didn't attack your intelligence. i just wrote that if you stated stuff like that it would MAKE you look stupid. so don't call me an asshole you fuckin tard and suck my balls.

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im not the ignorant person here, you are. you are feeding your dog DEAD ANIMALS! does that mean nothing to you?

 

Dogs still have almost all of their of their animalistic instincts. Dogs still kill when given the chance, any deviation from that has to be taught, and even then when given the chance they still will try to get away with doing it.

 

yeah i know they have a lot of hunting instincts left. so sure. let your dog hunt for it self and see if he/she survives, i bet my money on no.

 

and for the record, i didn't attack your intelligence. i just wrote that if you stated stuff like that it would MAKE you look stupid. so don't call me an asshole you fuckin tard and suck my balls.

 

by the associative property, if you say that i saw stuff that makes me look stupid, then you are inherently calling me stupid, STUPID

 

you are getting emotional man, I will not suck your balls and the use of the word tard/retard can be very offensive to some people.

 

this is a subject that is all about personal beliefs, thats it. because of that there is alot of ambiguity in what seems right and wrong. You get fired up very easily and have very little respect for others opinions. You will never win an argument that way, much less ever persuade someone of anything (whether right or wrong).

 

btw, not respecting someones opinions on a public FORUM does make you an ASSHOLE

Edited by GoldenRatio
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offensive or not you are acting like one. asshole can also be offensive and it's disrespectful.

and i never said i didn't respect your opinion.

but you know, buying dead animals and feeding it to your dog makes you an asshole too. so i guess we are both assholes.

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I dont think this is very ethically responsible... Chosing to be vegan your self is one thing but imposing that on an animal is another.I have a dachshund myself.

To each his own...

 

WHAT?? this statement is so out of bounds.

you are imposing a meat diet on your dog as much as he is imposing a vegan one on his.

if anyone you are in lack of ethical responsibility.

 

Dogs are just domesticated wolves (oversimplification but you get the point), Wolves thrive on hunting other animals for MEAT. Now if certain industry practices dont let you sleep at night, change to an organic or freerange dog/cat food company, whatever suits you. BUT where do you draw the line, are you gonna veganize lions, tigers and bears(ohh my)? Dont mess with natural processes. Veganizing a dog or cat is just as bad as their domestication thousands of years ago, Its not natural.

 

Then again because of their domestication maybe its not such a necessity b/c of their much less active and less demanding lives.

 

either way the human interference with natural processes is not necessarly correct even when backed by the best intentions

 

 

 

A majority of people say its natural for humans to eat meat too. What makes it natural for animals to eat meat? Could it be possible that animals, like humans, strayed from original plant eating diets due to climactic change, extinction, starvation, etc? I do believe there are a FEW animals that do well on a carnivorous diet, but nobody really knows what "natural" is? Could this particular interference, of a vegan diet, be greatly beneficial for them?

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As a guy who sells vegan cat and dog food, here's the perspective that I take on the issue:

 

It is an individual choice, and I neither condemn those that continue to feed meat to their cats and dogs, nor do I believe it is the "only way" that some people tend to think because it's an absurd, outdated notion that still clings to life through ignorance. There have been THOUSANDS of healthy, happy vegan cats and dogs out there over the past few decades, so anyone who wants to say that it isn't healthy is misinformed. If a quality food is used (NEVER try to make your own vegan food from scratch, particualrly for cats, unless your plan is to kill them slowly!) that contains all the essential nutrients and amino acids, then you have no worries going with a vegan food.

 

Unless you're turning your cat or dog loose to hunt their own food, you're giving them something unnatural, so let's not kid ourselves that a fancy $4 can of free-range meat based dog or cat food is the same thing they'd eat in the wild. When you're giving your dog a bowl of renderings and fillers that's formed into kibble or a meaty sludge, that's not any more natural of a diet than one based on vegan foods. That's just the way things are - I get a LOT of people who write us to antagonize the vegan perspective for foods, but come on, since when does a dog go out and naturally eat venison? Or kill a cow for beef? When does a cat catch a fish or eat a duck in nature? When you open a can of cat food and find nothing but a whole dead squirrel inside, then you'll finally have your "natural" option, but let's not kid ourselves that we're keeping close to nature when we feed our companion animals. Dogs aren't completely carnivorous, they're scavengers and are very good at existing well on whatever they come across that seems like it's good to eat. Ever been to a country like Jamaica where wild dogs just roam around freely? They're not going home to have someone feed them at night - they pick through trash, eat carcasses, leftover vegetables discarded by vendors, or whatever else they find when they're hungry. Cats don't NEED MEAT, they NEED TAURINE and ARACHADONIC ACID, which is normally in meat but can be created synthetically, as is used in the products we carry. If you can keep an open mind to that and get past the B.S. that gets perpetuated so often, you can start to see how a vegan diet for animals is not necessarily any less healthy or any more dangerous than standard rendering-based foods.

 

Cats and dogs are like people, though - some will absolutely thrive on a vegan diet (we've had quite a few people tell us how their animal's health improved considerably after the changeover), and we've had people say that their animals didn't take well and they went back to a meat-based diet. Every creature is its own entity, and much like how some people go vegan and feel great, others have a more difficult time because they haven't figured out how to balance things adequately for proper nutrition. Choosing to have a cat or dog go vegan isn't something to take lightly, and should only be done with research and plenty of consideration, not to mention having your veterinarian follow the animal's health to ensure that things are going well. It is something that needs to be done responsibly, as the health of the animal comes first and foremost - anything done without that in consideration is cruelty, particuarly anyone who forces a diet on an animal that just can't seem to adapt to it in a healthy manner.

 

What people also need to consider is that feeding a cat or dog a vegan diet isn't all-or-nothing. You CAN give a cat or dog a 25%, 50% or 75% vegan diet and still make a difference. Even a 50% reduction allows some people to feel that their animal can have balanced nutrition and still work to reduce suffering through decreasing their purchase of animal by-product based foods. It's much like with people - if you found NO way to feel good on a completely vegan diet (hypothetically speaking, of course) but found that eating vegan for 80% of your diet worked perfectly, why would you not consider being 80% vegan? It's not a black-and-white issue - every little bit helps when vegan food is put in place of meat-based animal foods, even if it's just a little bit mixed in with the gross stuff.

 

I can rant about this stuff all day, but I'll end it here. Remember, it wasn't that long ago that people in general thought that a vegan diet for humans was ludicrous and would lead to a quick death. Why do so many think that animals are so different and can't go vegan as well?

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I dont think this is very ethically responsible... Chosing to be vegan your self is one thing but imposing that on an animal is another.I have a dachshund myself.

To each his own...

 

WHAT?? this statement is so out of bounds.

you are imposing a meat diet on your dog as much as he is imposing a vegan one on his.

if anyone you are in lack of ethical responsibility.

 

Dogs are just domesticated wolves (oversimplification but you get the point), Wolves thrive on hunting other animals for MEAT. Now if certain industry practices dont let you sleep at night, change to an organic or freerange dog/cat food company, whatever suits you. BUT where do you draw the line, are you gonna veganize lions, tigers and bears(ohh my)? Dont mess with natural processes. Veganizing a dog or cat is just as bad as their domestication thousands of years ago, Its not natural.

 

Then again because of their domestication maybe its not such a necessity b/c of their much less active and less demanding lives.

 

either way the human interference with natural processes is not necessarly correct even when backed by the best intentions

 

 

 

A majority of people say its natural for humans to eat meat too. What makes it natural for animals to eat meat? Could it be possible that animals, like humans, strayed from original plant eating diets due to climactic change, extinction, starvation, etc? I do believe there are a FEW animals that do well on a carnivorous diet, but nobody really knows what "natural" is? Could this particular interference, of a vegan diet, be greatly beneficial for them?

 

ah.... finally some more substancial arguments...

Ok, I do think that the possibility of a vegan diet for a highly domesticated animal might be benificial. however, if benificial this probably will varies greatly with breed.

 

As soon as man started farming, revolving crops and later irrigating the need to eat meat was no longer a necessity rather a craving.

 

As to what is natural, well thats simple, natural is what occurs in under regular circumstances in nature. ie, bears eat fish as long as they are available etc

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As a guy who sells vegan cat and dog food, here's the perspective that I take on the issue:

 

It is an individual choice, and I neither condemn those that continue to feed meat to their cats and dogs, nor do I believe it is the "only way" that some people tend to think because it's an absurd, outdated notion that still clings to life through ignorance. There have been THOUSANDS of healthy, happy vegan cats and dogs out there over the past few decades, so anyone who wants to say that it isn't healthy is misinformed. If a quality food is used (NEVER try to make your own vegan food from scratch, particualrly for cats, unless your plan is to kill them slowly!) that contains all the essential nutrients and amino acids, then you have no worries going with a vegan food.

 

Unless you're turning your cat or dog loose to hunt their own food, you're giving them something unnatural, so let's not kid ourselves that a fancy $4 can of free-range meat based dog or cat food is the same thing they'd eat in the wild. When you're giving your dog a bowl of renderings and fillers that's formed into kibble or a meaty sludge, that's not any more natural of a diet than one based on vegan foods. That's just the way things are - I get a LOT of people who write us to antagonize the vegan perspective for foods, but come on, since when does a dog go out and naturally eat venison? Or kill a cow for beef? When does a cat catch a fish or eat a duck in nature? When you open a can of cat food and find nothing but a whole dead squirrel inside, then you'll finally have your "natural" option, but let's not kid ourselves that we're keeping close to nature when we feed our companion animals. Dogs aren't completely carnivorous, they're scavengers and are very good at existing well on whatever they come across that seems like it's good to eat. Ever been to a country like Jamaica where wild dogs just roam around freely? They're not going home to have someone feed them at night - they pick through trash, eat carcasses, leftover vegetables discarded by vendors, or whatever else they find when they're hungry. Cats don't NEED MEAT, they NEED TAURINE and ARACHADONIC ACID, which is normally in meat but can be created synthetically, as is used in the products we carry. If you can keep an open mind to that and get past the B.S. that gets perpetuated so often, you can start to see how a vegan diet for animals is not necessarily any less healthy or any more dangerous than standard rendering-based foods.

 

Cats and dogs are like people, though - some will absolutely thrive on a vegan diet (we've had quite a few people tell us how their animal's health improved considerably after the changeover), and we've had people say that their animals didn't take well and they went back to a meat-based diet. Every creature is its own entity, and much like how some people go vegan and feel great, others have a more difficult time because they haven't figured out how to balance things adequately for proper nutrition. Choosing to have a cat or dog go vegan isn't something to take lightly, and should only be done with research and plenty of consideration, not to mention having your veterinarian follow the animal's health to ensure that things are going well. It is something that needs to be done responsibly, as the health of the animal comes first and foremost - anything done without that in consideration is cruelty, particuarly anyone who forces a diet on an animal that just can't seem to adapt to it in a healthy manner.

 

What people also need to consider is that feeding a cat or dog a vegan diet isn't all-or-nothing. You CAN give a cat or dog a 25%, 50% or 75% vegan diet and still make a difference. Even a 50% reduction allows some people to feel that their animal can have balanced nutrition and still work to reduce suffering through decreasing their purchase of animal by-product based foods. It's much like with people - if you found NO way to feel good on a completely vegan diet (hypothetically speaking, of course) but found that eating vegan for 80% of your diet worked perfectly, why would you not consider being 80% vegan? It's not a black-and-white issue - every little bit helps when vegan food is put in place of meat-based animal foods, even if it's just a little bit mixed in with the gross stuff.

 

I can rant about this stuff all day, but I'll end it here. Remember, it wasn't that long ago that people in general thought that a vegan diet for humans was ludicrous and would lead to a quick death. Why do so many think that animals are so different and can't go vegan as well?

 

Yes, Yes and Yes... I find your dissertation a pleasure to read as well as very informative. Your pointing out the ambiguity of the subject definetly makes your argument a very credible one... you may have even swayed my opinion a little bit, Good job

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But WHAT IF, those bears eating fish, are just mimicking generations of bears before them with no clue why they are doing it besides the fact that they like the taste of fish, or its easy. I know animals arent equiped with the same brains as us, so its easy for us to think whatever an animal does is pure instinct. I dont even know if humans should be vegan, so I dont think I can ever convince you that animals should be either, but it works for animals!

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But WHAT IF, those bears eating fish, are just mimicking generations of bears before them with no clue why they are doing it besides the fact that they like the taste of fish, or its easy. I know animals arent equiped with the same brains as us, so its easy for us to think whatever an animal does is pure instinct. I dont even know if humans should be vegan, so I dont think I can ever convince you that animals should be either, but it works for animals!

 

Bears do it b/c it works, if it didnt theyd be extinct or there would be another variety that doesnt eat fish( yogi bear?).

Should humans be vegan? I can say 99.9% yes, the amount of of resources that are wasted on rasing animals for slaughter is ridiculous + ethical reasons+religous reasons+philosophical reasons etc, just outway all of the baseless arguments for not being vegan. But of course you already know this.

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