Vegan Pets

[J9]

Hi, I'm really new here & I've been looking for advice on Vegan Pet Food...sorry if I've missed it but can't find much! So I thought I'd just ask!
I have been veggie for yrs & yrs but only recently vegan & now I want to turn my dog & cats vegan too. I don't like feeding them a lot of pet shop food though, although I do sometimes but mostly I make their food myself such as rice, marmite, cereals etc.
But I've really worried I'm not feeding them right plus I'm getting stuck for ideas.
Does anyone have any good hints/tips/ideas for feeding pets? I want Murphy to be a healthy happy but Vegan dog!!
Thanks!

[alekolu]

Go to www.vegancats.com. It has plenty of info on vegan cats and dogs, as well as vegan cat and dog food that you can buy.

However, you should NOT be feeding your cats a non-fortified vegan diet! Cats need taurine in their diet, and if you are feeding them food that you made yourself, they aren't getting it unless you deliberately added it. Taurine deficiency in cats is fatal. You should probably go back to giving your cats regular cat food until you can buy them a vegan alternative with synthetic taurine added.

[Tigress]

Hi
for UK stockists check out www.happidog.co.uk. They stock vegetarian pet food and you can order online.

Hope that helps

[tabitha]

Trust cats to be awkward!!

[Korn]

Hi J9, we have a subforum called 'Companion Animals' - you'll find it if you check out your User CP (look for Group Memberships)...

[J9]

Thanks everyone! I'll check those sites out. I knew about the taurine for cats - and they do get that. But just wanted to check out some new ideas & try to move more away from bought food.

Thankya!

[Kissy Crow]

Is it ethical to feed an obligate carnivore (ie: cat) an animal free diet? I certainly recognize that to purchase an animal based diet for one's cat is not vegan, but is it right? To manipulate the archetypal diet of one's companion animal in order to meet our own ethical standards seems contrary to the underlying philosopy of veganism. Any thoughts?

[J9]

I can definitely see what you're saying. But the way I look at it simply by keeping animals as pets you are already completely removing them from their natural environment/way of life etc. Yes, my cats are carnivores by nature. But by nature they shouldn't be living in a centrally heating home with creature comforts & getting food dished onto their plates every day! They should be out hunting for it. My dog is a rhodesian ridgeback cross who should, by nature be out hunting lions or something!
I don't personally have a problem with my animals living lives/eating diets that their ancestors wouldn't have done.
My concern is that if they were naturally designed to eat meat then am I putting their health at risk by altering their diets? Can I really replace everything they need?
That's what I'm still looking into. If I can, and if they are happy & healthy then I don't have any ethical argument against doing so.

[treehugga]

I don't think your putting them at risk. I've read lots of stories of happy long lived pets on vegan diets. My dogs love vegan pet food. Actually in the wild all animals consume lots of plant material to complement their diets, even carnivores.

I don't actually believe in keeping pets anymore. Mine are all extremely old and I'm letting them die off and not replacing them.

But I see some dedicated people who love their pets and visa versa and I don't have a problem with that.

I also know people who collect animals and do nothing with them and they live out a boring existance. I think that's criminal. Horse riding is one of my main hates. To see those beautiful animals going round and around in circles breaks my heart!

[vegan1969]

my kids (1 dog, 1 cat) have been vegan for 3 years and have done great. I also recently found out that the rescued animals (dogs, cats, etc) at Farm Sanctuary are on vegan diets as well!

I highly recommend adding this supplement to their food:
cats
dogs

there are recipes included with the supplements above(comes in the container) and here's a great link for vegan animal recipes

[Korn]

Hi,
I'm closing this thread now, since we already have a special forum dedicated to everything related to vegan views on 'pets' - with many threads about these topics...