I’ve been a vegan for five years. I’ve always had dogs, up until last year when mine passed away, and I fed them commercial dog food, which has meat in it, until the last few years of their lives when I switched to a homemade diet, and used organic, local, free range meat.
A year before I went vegan, I got a pet turtle. They have some pretty specific dietary needs, they can’t just be fed lettuce; they need some form of protein, preferably things like fish which they would eat in the wild. So, I have to feed him turtle food, plants, as well as live feeder fish and snails, and I really hate myself for doing that. I feel awful for the poor things, but I obviously want to keep my turtle alive and healthy. It’s a relatively quick death, and there are decorations in the tank they can hide in, so they do have a chance. I’ve had some that lived for months before the turtle caught them or they died on their own. I still feel guilty and like a terrible vegan for it.
So, any vegans out there with pets, how do you deal with this? I’ve heard of vegan diets for dogs but as far as I can tell there hasn’t been any concrete evidence that it’s healthy for them, and there are some pets like cats, turtles, and reptiles that just can’t be vegan.
✅ Answers
Answerer 1
Dude… it’s the circle of life… if you do not feed them their food staples, they will die.
Vegan diets for animals is just… wow… some people just will not accept life for what it is. The same with their nature, we are omnivores.
As for the fish, it sounds like you did the right thing, letting them swim freely until they were caught, why? Because they had a fighting chance, like they would in the wild.
Please don’t go against nature and feed your animals diets that they are not based apon, as their organs have adapted for such way of life. Trying to ‘substitute it’ is never any good, as that ‘substitution’ usually involves food that is of a more… chemically grown/created, GMO nature.
Answerer 2
I feel fine about feeding my animals meat seeing that they are MEANT to eat meat. What I am more concerned about is quality of the food that I feed my animals. A lot of these commercial foods contain by-products that aren’t very good for our little companions.
Answerer 3
I feed my dogs and cat a prey model raw diet. My love for my family (pets) outweighs my morality.
Source(s):
Vegan since ’06.
Answerer 4
If your turtle was in the wild it would be eating fish. It’s only doing what is natural for it. Don’t be guilty for feeding your pet a healthy diet. Inadequately feeding it and causing him to slowly die of malnutrition would be far crueler.
Answerer 5
If I had a pet I would feed it its “natural” diet
Answerer 6
Lots of the commercial food available for pets (that has meat or other animal products in it) tends to source a lot of the important nutrients for a pet’s balanced and complete diet from non-animal sources, using cheap meat components with les nutritional value as the filler. For example, cat food sources taurine, the essential nutrient in meat that cats cannot live without, from plants. If cats, obligate carnivores, can digest taurine from plants and still live healthful lives (which most cats are doing, unbeknownst to their owners), then they could theoretically eat a vegan diet. In order to do it healthfully, the owner would need to be very careful and do thorough research, and take the cat to the vet frequently to make sure that they continue to be healthy.
In other animals, like dogs, omnivorous diets are totally natural, so they can also be vegan if the owner is careful to supplement their diet with sufficient plant protein and takes them to the vet frequently to check that they are getting enough nutrients. It is theoretically possible for other pets to be vegan as well, but it is a LOT of work and requires a huge amount of commitment in order to keep the pet healthy. Ultimately, it is only an ethical choice for a vegan pet owner if they are willing to dedicate the time and energy required to keep their pet in good health. Otherwise, it can be incredibly cruel.
Source(s):
Vegan, pet owner
Have been looking into vegan cat diets: http://www.vegancats.com/, http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=veggie-cat-food, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cat_food#Vegan_and_vegetarian_diets, http://pets.webmd.com/features/vegetarian-diet-dogs-cats
Answerer 7
I would say to do your research… and speak to your veterinarian. I am vegan and I feed my cats commercial cat food.. i.e. not vegan.
I have not found many sources of vegan food for cats and I would need to explore it more for me to change their diet… for example, taurine is a concern.
If I found a food in a animal food store I would try it, but I haven’t seen it yet. Until then I will feed them what they need.
Answerer 8
dogs and cats are meant to eat meat, look at their teeth, humans however are not. so even though I don’t follow a vegan diet. I don’t believe in forcing it on my dog or cat. I do believe however in getting ethically sourced dog/cat food. and only buying organic pet food, I don’t wanna pump my pets full of chemicals and growth hormones. 🙂
Source(s):
vegan dog and cat owner
Answerer 9
If they are carnivores, yes I feed them meat. It’s their natural diet.
Source(s):
me
Answerer 10
Most vegans don’t have pets for this reason. Maybe you should get a rabbit or some other animal that doesn’t eat meat if it bothers you that badly