Okay it's almost 2023, I think it's time we talked about the "vegans" who purposely inflict suffering onto animals by feeding them incorrect diets or not doing correct medical care. I think any good vegan who geniuely believes in the betterment of animals would NEVER purposely go out of their way to force feed incompatible pets vegan diets that can later cause suffering, illness and death. It is only ever done for their own personal ego and gratification and I personally see that as worse than using by-products. You're actively inflicting harm to cats, dogs and lizards when more suitable pets like rabbits, guinea pigs and hamsters are RIGHT THERE. Who are already compatible with your belief system.

I own a cat who is under my care until he passes. I will ensure as he is a care dependent that I am maintaining his welfare and health by feeding him a meat diet even if I personally am vegan. He can not change his diet and I have owned him for over a decade so he will not be punished for my changes in life. After he is gone, I will likely rescue more rabbits (I have had 3 so far) as they fit my lifestyle and beliefs much more. But I will NOT enforce suffering on my cat just because his existence conflicts with my personal diet. I just won't own another cat after he is gone.

To me that is the true Vegan way. If you can go for alternatives in food then you can pick a different pet. If you are already committed to the care of an animal who needs to eat meat then it is more vegan to ensure the optimal health, wellbeing and happiness for the animal. Not to cause unnecessary harm and stress to an animal just because YOU personally do not like something. If you really find it distressing then rehome the animal to owners who will put their wellbeing and life above all else.

Genuine questione: So if our pets like cats and dogs need meat to survive - specially cats - in an ideal world where everyone is vegan how we would feed them? like we would kill animals just for cats / dogs to be fed or what. Since we already domesticated them and can’t let them just into the wild to hunt. I guess dogs can survive without meat even if it’s not ideal but cats really can’t. One of the reasons I’m always wondering what vegans with cats do.

In a vegan world, we'd put more funding into developing alternative proteins for carnivorous animals that are well-researched and nutritionally adequate. In the short term, lab grown meat is already available, it just needs to be done at scale in a way that is commercially viable and sustainable.

Currently, most vegans with cats just feed their cats meat, because they understand that cats are obligate carnivores and that it is their duty to meet the needs of their companion animal. Vegan cat and dog foods exist but I don't believe that they are currently well researched enough to recommend it safely, particularly for the latter.

The authors of the study surveyed 1,369 cat owners who fed their cats either a vegan or meat-based diet about their cats’ health. Respondents were mostly female (91%) and represented a range of ages. Most lived in the UK, with others residing in Europe, North America, or Oceania. Most (about 65%) had themselves adopted some form of diet to reduce meat consumption – being either vegan, vegetarian, pescatarian (fish only), or reducing their meat consumption. A small portion (9%) fed their cats a vegan diet in spite of their own dietary choices. The owners were asked about their cat’s health, including specific health conditions, medication use, and how often they saw a vet. They were also asked their opinion on how healthy their cat was and what they believed their vet would say about their cat’s health. Overall, the study found no evidence of detrimental health effects in cats fed a vegan diet. In fact, the authors suggest a vegan diet actually leads to health benefits for cats. The researchers looked at seven indicators of illness and found non-significant reductions in all of them in cats on a vegan diet. These included reduced veterinary visits, reduced use of medications, and fewer instances of owners thinking their cats were in poor health. Non-significance means the researchers didn’t find strong enough evidence to say there was a meaningful difference between the groups — but it doesn’t mean there was no effect (especially since some of the trends were strong). They found that 15 diseases were more common in cats fed meat, while only seven diseases were more common in cats on a vegan diet. Examples of less common diseases for cats on a vegan diet include dental disease, skin disease, and hormonal diseases. But again, the differences between the two diet groups were not statistically significant. There was only one disease for which a significant statistical difference was observed: cats fed a vegan diet were slightly more likely to have kidney disease.

If you support, indorse, or are even neutral towards the fur industry at all please get off my blog. This is one of the things that makes me the angriest when I see it. I don't know how anyone can see foxes and minks locked in cages so they can't even touch the ground, bred to grow as much skin as possible so they look like bags of fur, put out in the hot sun, and think that it's fine. It's disgusting and unethical, and it's also really weird at least to me. I don't know why you would think you look good with a dead animal draped around you like that. Wool is fine. It doesn't hurt the sheep, and it's actually good for them. (ignore the fact that we selectively bred them to be able to grow so much wool that if we don't shear them they'll suffocate from the heat) Fur is not environmentally friendly. (fake fur isn't either it's full of microplastics) It's environmentally friendly in the same way that the modern livestock industry is environmentally friendly. If you want to be good to the environment there's a lot better clothes you can buy.

I fucking hate the veganism fights like all fights online have no nuance and are in super bad faith but man the veganism one is just... something else

I've never heard any vegans be like 'yeah I don't care about agricultural workers lol' and I've never heard anyone who thinks that animal products can be consumed ethically be like 'ha ha factory farm/slaughterhouse/meat packing plant employees can go die actually!'

I think. People who feel strongly about what we are eating in general do care about Pretty Much Everything

I'm friends with some vegans vegetarians and they're friends with me and like... it's. Fine. And not in a 'we Don't Talk About It' way at all!!!! In a like 'we can talk about food systems and what we would ideally like to be able to do within them'

I'm someone who tried to be vegetarian once and had to stop for health reasons. I'd love to be able to only eat animal products from small local farms who i trust to treat all their animals ethically but for health and money reasons can't rn. None of my friends who eat differently than me are mean about that? I don't know comma man it's just. I think we all care a lot about everything actually. Which is why everyone's so fucking mad lmao

This is a pointless post which is why no one can reblog it 🥲 I just feel like omfg the veganism fight has the BIGGEST STRAWMEN IN THE WORLD its like ... straw mechas

Actually that's a really good mental image. Strawmechas. Bad ass

Please consider making a Turkey happy today by supporting your local Farm Sanctuary. As a Birdhist, I believe Turkeys deserve the same compassion as all other birds, maybe you do to? 

It's crazy that everyone thinks animals are lesser than us and dumb but if you get left alone with any animal more than a day or two it'll be pretty clear that it has a personality. Foods and treats they prefer, places they feel especially comfy, their favorite spot to be pet, a favorite place to walk, they have a favorite person, and they definitely have things they do not like. Little tippy taps or tail wiggles to communicate excitement or frowns and going away to let you know you they're disappointed.

Doesn't matter if it's snakes, mice, birds, dogs, cats, etc.

I don't think they are just animals actually. And I think they deserve a lot better than what they get a lot of the time

That time I spent four hours doing a photoshoot with my cats for a presentation in school and I didn’t even pass 😀

Is it possible to put cats on e full or partial vegan diet?

It is certainly possible, there are many owners doing it with no obvious ill effects, at least according to their own testimonies.

However, we don’t have enough actual evidence to know for sure that there aren’t any long term consequences, that it doesn’t have a health impact, potential side effects, that it’s suitable for all cats at all stages of life, how it interacts with existing health issues and medications, vitamin absorption rates, ideal quantities of plant-based foods vs meat based ones etc.

It is undeniable that there is significant risk involved, without the necessary research to prove it can be done safely. My hope is that we will develop demonstrably safe synthetic or fermented proteins for meat eating pets, or that lab grown meat will reach a point where it is commercially viable to be produced at scale.

At the moment though, pet owners have a responsibility to look after the welfare of the animals in their care, and the most responsible thing for them to do is follow the dietary guidance of their vet.

@swagging-back-to

y'all need to understand that those formulating vegan cat food aren't clueless randos on tumblr.

mic has tackled this subject and even tho he's a die hard vegan he's skeptical about vegan cat food. it's not impossible to have a healthy cat on a vegan diet b/c most people don't have "natural" diets themselves. we have an organ that is p much useless b/c we don't eat tree bark anymore! people have had to survive off of whatever they could find when crops went bad/there was a famine.

CATS DO NOT EAT COWS, PIGS AND CHICKENS IN NATURE! a vegan diet is no more unnatural than commercial pet food which is known to be bad for them.

I have to say this

Might lose followers, but whatever. I was lurking around on reddit and saw some posts that made me scratch my head

First, I have no problem with people who are vegans, do whatever the hell you want with your health and personal choice for yourself.

Edit: And I understand not all people who following plant based diet are doing this but still But I don't get people who insist on feeding their dog vegan food??

Doing it for the environment? You are already contributing to minimizing the harm that is done to the environment by choosing a different diet. Why dragged the dog into this?

The pups are not involved, nor they understand the complexity of human diet, politics, morality, and the slow decay of the environment that is caused by human civilization.

Dogs doesn't have to make a penance for the environment.

Minimizing animal exploitation in huge farm? You can buy eggs from a free-range chicken source, catch your own fish, or buy meat from a local hunter or sustainable local farm

Still feeling uncomfortable to feed animal product to your dog? Maybe you should get a different pet? Like a rabbit? Or I don't know let your dog hunt on their own and let nature takes it course, it's not your fault. It's just nature doing its own thing.

Yeah, there's argument that you can give them supplement or vegan kibble for dog? But animal product is already there, just cut off the middle man and give your dog the real thing...

I mean yeah dog is omnivorous, but their diet is still more on the meat side, not to mention they came from wolves, they evolved to eat meat. Setting the argument of manufactured vegan dog food aside, why go out of your way preventing your dog from eating the meat that they like and beneficial for the pup because of your own personal politics/morality, it is just odd. Dogs likes meat/egg/fishes, why take away their food preference?

What would you do if doggie sees a chicken breast lying on their floor? Take away the chicken?

Reminded me of those parents who hardcore banned their kids from eating sweets. But it's even worse because in this case animal products are good for dogs and an important part of their diet unlike candies for humans, Dogs evolved to eat animal product, they cannot comprehend your reasoning for not allowing them to eat meat nor they care anyway. I have the same thoughts about dog race or dog beauty contest. Airbud doesn't care about medals, maaan...

Sounds pretty selfish to insist that a golden retriever cannot have chicken because of the owner personal morality/politics

Bonus:

I'm sorry, but this is delusional, you mean by YOUR own choice

carnists outraging at animals “forced to be vegan” by shitty vegans is hilarious considering the animals in their very stomachs like? fuck off for real

good morning its a beautiful day to stop eating beef! <3

Why do people think humans killing each other is a bad thing when animals do the same thing and nobody gives a shit? NOW I'M NOT SAYING I AGREE WITH MURDER, IT'S A GENUINE QUESTION. I will explain. (I will be using lions as an example)

The only known predator for lions are other lions. They have no need to kill each other whatsoever. They don't need to in order to survive(technically) and they don't need to in order to get food.

Lions are warm-blooded mammals and they have feelings and they can learn things, just like humans. They learn from mistakes and they adapt. They have even made up their own language through sounds that come out of their mouths, just like humans. I think that this kind of shows that they have thoughts and maybe a conscience.

Knowing this, human beings do not give a damn if animals kill each other, whether it be for food or for sport. So why do people get so upset when humans do the same thing? It just doesn't make very much sense to me.

man i’m just a little guy