How do you feed your animal friend?

[KFCcruelty]

I would be very interested in hearing how ethical vegan/vegetarians on here feed their companion animals.

I have a dog and I have her on a semi veg diet. The only kinds of animal based that I feed her is dog food that I find in the discontinued section of the store and freezer burnt meat that I get from a soup kitchen that they would otherwise throw away. At least this way it does not add to the supply and demand and therefore does not support the meat industry and cause any further animals to have to die.

I am particularly interested in hearing from anybody who has succesfully been able to transition their dog or cat from eating meat to a veg. diet. How easy or difficult it was and how their animals health has been.

[Calhoun07]

I came here looking for some advice as well.

I was feeding my dog Life Abundance, but that's pretty pricey when you add in shipping and handling. It's NOT vegetarian...they use chicken in it to get the protein, but it's rich in A LOT of veggies and healthy things for my dog...probably better things than I feed myself (aside from the chicken, of course.)

I switched to Canidae, based on responses from thedogforums, but not to have something to feed my dog for the rest of his life...just something to get by for now. It's not vegetarian either.

Vegetarian dog food is an alien concept in pet food stores I go to. Ask a clerk for it and you might as well have a third arm growing out of your head. So I went online.

V-Dog (http://www.v-dogfood.com/) seems to be a really good brand, and free shipping to boot.

The first thing you have to consider is protein...your dog will need a good amount of protein. I asked my vet for a guide on how much my dog should get and she said he (being a 90 pound golden retriever) should get about 30% protein in his diet.

V-Dog offers 20%. Life Abundance offers 26%.

I hate to buy Life Abundance but the health benefits he gets from it are really good. If I did buy him V-Dog, I'd have to consider buying something else to offset his protein he'd be missing out on, and I am not sure what.

He still has a good portion of the bag of Canidae left, so I have time to research this before I make a final decision. Right now, unless I find something better, it will be Life Abundance and I will buy canned vegetarian dog food for him from online stores. But if I could find a good vegetarian dry food with a good amount of protein in it, I'd be all over it.

And I realize the 26% in Life Abundance is still below the vet's recommendation, but I did see an improvement in other areas of his health on that food while he ate it that I think it's best over all, for now.

But you should consult your vet first. You never know...they might know other people who have their pets on a veg diet and could recommend some good food and you could post the suggestions here. My vet really didn't know of any vegetarian dog food.

[SkySoStarry]

My dogs are on Canidae, my cats are usually on Felidae (right now they are on Chicken Soup for the Cat Lover's Soul because I am having issues getting Felidae), and my rats eat Mazuri. I am open to feeding veg*n pet food, if I was fairly certain that it was as healthy for my pets, and it was feasible (can I afford it?), I would do it. One of the first things I look for in dog/cat food is that there are no corn products in it, and that is the second ingredient in the vegan dog food posted here. Judging from my rough calculations, it would cost me around twice as much as it costs to feed Canidae, and I honestly can't afford that. I'm a full-time high school student working to afford vet bills and feed bills for 4 dogs, 2 cats, and a handful of rats. I'm thankful to be able to afford Canidae, as it is.

[Percy]

I heard that a cat can't be vegan, cuz it may die. Is that true?


I feed my two cats with organic dry food... non veg*an. But willing to change if is healthy for them.

I read that a cat is carnivore always, and it will die without Taurine that comes with the meat.

[Pescas]

Cats do need taurine and they are carnivores. However I think it is possible for them to be on a vegan diet as long as they are given taurine as supplement (???).
Anyway, my rabbits are vegan, lol, and my cat is 100% meat eater.

[freznow]

I don't think it's right to force a dog or cat to eat a completely veggie diet. For cats, in the wild they ONLY eat meat. Dogs occasionally snack on veggies, but very very rarely. It might be possible to simulate all the necessary stuff with a million chemicals, but how expensive and dangerous do you think that'd be?

Personally, I do a prey model raw diet when I can, and try to get at least semi-ethically raised animals, but I understand if I can't. Just because the food is raised improperly doesn't mean you should deprive them of their food. Think about it opposite. If for some reason there was an ethical thing against raising and eating veggies (completely hypothetically) would you like it if they forced you to eat meat and only meat? Yes, with enough supplements it might be remotely 'healthy', but think about all you'd put in your body, and how expensive it'd be! So if you were offered a choice of a potentially unhealthy, chemical laden, unnatural food, or an unethically raised but healthy food (which you could probably find a more ethical seller if you had the $$$) which would you choose?

Personally, there's no argument. Carnivores eat what carnivores eat. Yes, you could probably safely reduce the amount of meat they do eat, but eliminating it wouldn't be healthy.

[Calhoun07]

We could try feeding our dogs this diet:
http://www.gnn.tv/threads/1954/World_s_oldest_Dog_is_a_Vegan

This is the world's oldest dog and her age is attributed to a vegan diet.


A border collie said to be 27 could make it into the Guinness Book of World Records as the world's oldest living dog. Bramble's owner Anne Heritage says she's still alert and active and goes for a walk four times a day near her home in Bridgwater, Somerset.

The 43-year-old says she feeds her a vegan diet of rice, lentils and organic vegetables. Her partner Roy Franklin takes her swimming once a week at a canine hydrotherapy pool.

[jeezycreezy]

http://veggieboards.com/boards/showthread.php?p=1691187#post1691187

[AJH]

I use a product called Nutripet which is supposed to be all natural stuff without the addatives.

[havocjohn]

in a bowl...... sometimes a plate.

[Calhoun07]

in a bowl...... sometimes a plate.

Not how YOU feed yourself, but how about your dog?? :p

[Marie]

in a bowl...... sometimes a plate.

My dog won't eat out of her bowl. She likes to be hand fed one piece of food at a time, or I'll toss pieces across the room so she can chase them and eat them, or she'll eat out of her kong. I wish she would eat like a normal dog.

[havocjohn]

My dog won't eat out of her bowl. She likes to be hand fed one piece of food at a time, or I'll toss pieces across the room so she can chase them and eat them, or she'll eat out of her kong. I wish she would eat like a normal dog.

I have heard dogs tend to take after their owners. :lol:

Sounds like she trained you well!

:)

[LadyFaile]

the only vegetarian pet food i've seen in stores here is for "cats AND dogs" so i stay away from it. dogs and cats have very different nutritional needs, no food can be 100% balanced for both afaik. i bought a can once out of curiousity to see what it looked like and if the cat would eat it. he nibbled it a bit but wasn't terribly excited about it. he had fatty liver disease so we have to buy whatever food he'll eat.
cat and dog are both on Nutro dry food and cat gets wellness canned and sometimes some other good quality brands thrown in for variety.

don't get me wrong, i've read testimonials by people whose pets had health problems and bounced back on a veg diet, it's great really. but if i were to try an alternative feeding method for my critters i'd be more likely to go raw than veg, it's more natural. but i'm not about to buy and cut up raw meat for them and the premade raw petfoods are bloody expensive. cat seems to be doing great on what we're giving him now. the dog's healthy as can be but still really gassy, i may switch foods to try to find one that's easier to digest so she's less gassy but i don't think i'll stray too far from the brands i'm using now.

[Scorpius]

I'm on the fence/have some guilt about pet food. When I first became vegan, I thought about what I was feeding my pet (cat) and looked into PETA's list of so-called "cruelty free" pet foods. I tried some holistic brands ("Solid Gold" was one I had her on for a while). I'm just wary as to how complete and high-quality these brands claim to be. For all I know, the crap they put in Alpo could be the same crap they put in Innova. ((I still don't buy into the whole 'euthanized shelter animals go into pet food'...I just find that one very hard to believe)) So for now, I just stick to what the Vets say, and feed Hills' Prescription Diet (one of my cats should be on it anyways, he blocked from the shi**y food my mom feeds them, the rest are just fat and can benefit from the high fiber/low fat composition of the food). My mother, much to my dismay, also likes to "supplement" their diets with junky Whiskas, 9-Lives and whatever else is on sale at PetSmart. :( She has this weird feeding-cats-OCD thing. I don't know.

So to summarize, I don't want to mess with what my cats eat, because the whole industry (pet food) is poorly regulated (in my opinion...Menu Foods scare, anyone?) so I'll just go with the professional's opinion. The only thing that the vets recommend that I don't feed them is Iams or Eukanuba, just because its made by P&G. *shudders*

((FYI:: Hill's has a real veterinarian [probably a few actually, but I only met that one] who works with them...I actually had a conversation with her one day when she came to a cook out at my work, very nice lady. :) ))

[MrsKey]

I feed my cats a meat based cat food because they're older cats and won't eat anything but this one food. I've tried switching and they refuse to eat. I'm not going to play games with their health. I adopted these cats before I ever considered giving up meat and animal products. So I continue to feed them what they will eat.

I have a dog with some special health needs so I have to feed him a very special diet. It took us years to find the right mixture of foods to keep him healthy. Unfortunately that includes raw meat, eggs, whole grains and flax meal. Any changes to his diet make him really ill so I will continue with this feeding until he passes away. I'm not thrilled with it - but again I'll do what I have to do to keep him healthy and happy since I had him before even thinking of giving up meat.

My guinea pigs are the easiest to feed. No worries with my vegan friends. Fresh veggies, occasional fruits, pelleted food made from hay and lots of fresh hay.

Future pets will be natural vegetarians. But for now I'll do the best I can for the obligate carnivores and omnivores I already care for.

[Kona]

Both of my dogs are on a high-quality lamb and rice dry kibble formulated for large breed dogs (with glucosamine and chondroitin for their hips and joints), supplemented with Missing Link Plus. My old girl will be 16 this year and has never been sick a day in her life. I feel that humans are omni by nature but veggie by moral choice, and dogs are omni leaning very heavily towards the meat end of the spectrum. Yes, I know that dogs can live on a vegetarian diet. I also know that there's a difference between surviving and thriving.

[LadyFaile]

I also know that there's a difference between surviving and thriving.


:yes:

[Calhoun07]

The more posts I read, the more I think the Life Abundance dog food is the best for my pet. Like Hills, it's formulated by an actual vet.

http://www.healthypetnet.com/HealthyPetNet/Home.aspx?realname=&Ath=False&hdr=&cat=0



It's a bit more expensive, but I really do think it's much healthier than Science Diet. The only draw back is the shipping, but if you get on their auto ship program it pretty much eliminates shipping costs.

[KFCcruelty]

thanks everyone for all your interesting responses.

[panthera]

My cat is a transitioning vegan, and I have no worries b/c I know she gets the necessary amounts of taurine, arachidonate, B12, and D2. I'll post more complete documentation, but briefly, there are 2 or 3 vegan cat diets that meet the formula requirements of the AAFCO. Obviously, there's not a lot of support for this, and you'll find most vets are opposed to the idea of vegan cat diets. After all, the major food suppliers haven't published many papers demonstrating that a VEGAN diet is healthy, gee I wonder why?

There is one small one that showed that all the vegan cats tested had sufficient levels of taurine & cobalamin in their blood.

And there are certainly hundreds if not thousands of individuals who have lived very healthy lives for 15yrs or so? thus far.

My cat is on Vegecat pH because she has urinary tract issues. There's also Evolution and Ami.

V-dog, by the way, is actually vegan, and even my cat approved of the taste! And I'd actually do some research on my own before taking my vet's word on the protein balance. How many people doctor's are a little sketchy about their nutritional recommendations? And vet schools often don't require nutrition courses.

[panthera]

Someone mentioned Hill's, which is the pet food of choice for most vets and vet hospitals. But just remember that most vet students get Hills for free. I think that continues if you're buying food for a vet hospital & such. I'm surprised, by the way, that so few companies have a vet working for them!

Anyway, just remember there's often $$ behind the recommendations of esteemed professionals! Not that they're always dishonest or anything, but just be aware.

[danakscully64]

I started making my dog's meals, but found that it's not completely practical. It's true that dogs need meat in their diets (yeah, I'm a veggie saying that). They are naturally carnivores. For a while, I was making eggs for breakfast (still am) and at night, I made a mix of some healthy carbs, greens and protein. I noticed that she had stopped eating her dry dog food (before I made her meals) and even when I cooked, she was losing weight. I heard on Oprah (from an animal expert) that the best thing you can feed your dog is raw meat, second is cooked meat, 3rd is gourmet wet food... last on the list is dry generic food. I wouldn't give my dog raw meat, but I have given her cooked meat.

I recently switched to canned gourmet dog food from Trader Joe's. She still is served her dry TJ food (which she eats on occasion) and still has morning eggs (1 yolk, 3 whites). I also ordered her vitamins that should be arriving today.

My chinchillas get Mazuri and my rabbit gets Gold Cup brand. My 3 chins and rabbit are vegans. :)

[KFCcruelty]

Hi Panthera, it is good to hear from you on this forum as well. Have you been having a difficult time getting on the other forum? I can't seem to get on there.
Anyway, you are always so helpful with the advice. Please keep us updated on the progress of your cats on the veg. diet. It would be interesting to hear about and good for you for giving it a try!

Interesting post as well, danakscully. What you say makes alot of sense as well.

This is the one area of the veg. lifestyle that I find quite confusing.

[panthera]

Hi KFCcruelty! I don't know why I didn't realize I knew you already - and I even thought, gee that initial post sounds so familiar! duh:dizzy: oh, and yes ARCO is down for a bit - I'll pm you about it. Technical difficulties.

So this is for the others, since you've already read all about my wonderful bratty cat & me!

Here's how I first introduced my cat to Vegecat pH!
First I made the kibble, then sprinkled on imitation beef broth before realizing that imitation beef broth is not animal-free! :surprised
So then I used nutritional yeast and only gave her a tiny amount, and when she finished that, I'd reward her by giving her the carcass food. That way she learned to associate eating vegan kibble with eating regular food. It took a lot of cajoling though b/c she's pretty spoiled and usually I give in when she insists on her way.

But I increased the amount of vegan kibble she had to eat in order to get to the regular food, and at some point she even started eating it without the nutritional yeast on top, just moistened.

Then it got really hot during the summer so I switched to the chickpea recipe, which is practically the same as making hummus, just different ingredients. No cooking. For this one, I thoroughly coated her regular food with the chickpea mash. I had to sprinkle the nutritional yeast, and fiddle with the texture, and not give in to her demands. Even hand fed her when she told me she couldn't eat it because of the texture.

But at this point there's more of the mash - instead of carcass food with a coating of chickpea mash, it's chickpea soup/mash with a fair amount of carcass food, but she finishes both parts. Like oatmeal w/raisins, that's the ratio.

A lot of it is getting the texture right.