Guest guest Posted January 6, 2006 Report Share Posted January 6, 2006 Jan, I have cats and they get regular cat food. I know some people claim that cats can be vegan with the appropriate supplementation. That is as yet unproven. Dogs, on the other hand, have been successfully raised vegetarian. Some of my vegetarian friends won't have cats as companions because they are less likely to adjust to being vegetarian. I can't even get my cat babies to eat the so-called natural pet food from the health food store, without all the additives. They turned their nose up at the soy-based vegan food, too. I mix some natural pet food and some soy food in with the other dry mix, and they sometimes get a little of it. It looks to me like they do their best to eat around the better stuff. One of my cats likes dark green leafy vegetables and melons. They both love the canned veggie pate. They like some of the fake meat and cheese products, but not others. It is not so much that I try to feed these items to them, but they come around and beg for a taste when certain things are on the table. There are a number of web sites on vegetarian pet food. See http://www.petfoodshop.com, http://www.vegepet.com, http://www.vegpets.com, http://www.wow-bow.com, and www.veggiepets, for starters. There's also a vegan cats study underway by a third-year veterinary student at the University of Pennsylvania. The site is http://www.vegetariancats.com. from Maida Citizens for Pets in Condos, http://www.petsincondos.org South Florida Vegetarian Events, http://www.soflavegevents.net Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 6, 2006 Report Share Posted January 6, 2006 I tried to find an interesting article about this that was written by a holistic (alternative care) Veterinarian. It basically explained the dog and cats digestive system and why meat is actually required for them because of their digestive makeup and how the liver and kidneys work. One thing for anyone considering a vegetarian diet for their dog. Please be careful of what ingredients are in the product. Many dogs have problems with wheat (VERY common in almost ALL foods!) and corn offers almost no nutrients at all to a dog. (Yet they are cheap fillers for dog food and widely used!). My own vet --- when I asked about this (because my dog has bad allergies and we were trying to eliminate foods and allergens to figure out what he was allergic to) --- said that if you look at the teeth of different animals you have insight to their reproductive systems. Thus dogs and cats have sharpened teeth to tear at meat while oddly enough --- our teeth are more common to the horse! Go figure! Cat Jan, as one of those who don't let meat into their house, I don't think it's an offensive question at all. When we had cats, they were fed a special prescribed cat food for a condition they had (can't remember its name now), and it contained meat. It's my understanding that cats, unlike humans, require meat to thrive. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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