Vegetarians and vegans of Fluther, what do you feed your carnivorous pets (Please read details)

The Far Side

If you don’t like even feeding the dog meat, try a vegetarian snack. I recommend canned green beans, with NO salt. You can keep them in a baggie, and take them to the table, when it’s time to eat. As long as it’s getting something from the table, a dog thinks it’s a great day.

Peanut butter, also salt free/reduced sodium, is great too. Get a size appropriate Kong, or similar toy, and put the PB way up in the toy. The dog will love it, and get some entertainment…

@MrGrimm888, I am not asking for recommendations, I am asking what a specific subset of a specific demographic feeds a certain type of pet. Not how I should snack my dogs.

Apologies.

Quality food, not that cheap stuff.

I guess I wasn’t clear enough. Do you feed your carnivorous pets commercial food or only locally raised and humanely slaughtered animal products? Are there brand names that you have vetted? Do you prepare the food yourselves? Things like that.
“Quality food, not that cheap stuff” doesn’t really tell me much.

I had no idea this Q was so difficult to interpret. Sorry.

I don’t have any pets, but I have had many over the years, and I take care of the pets of friends and relatives now.

I am a vegetarian, and I do not need meat to survive, and be healthy. Dogs and cats do, so I’m OK with feeding them meat.

In a perfect world, there would be food for humans and animals that didn’t involve killing other living beings. We don’t live in a perfect world. I just try to do the best I can, and leave a smaller footprint.

This issue is not black and white. I don’t try to stop people from eating meat, although I wish they would, but individuals need to come to those decisions on their own, as I did.

I appreciate the fact that there are scientists who try to make things better. Maybe some day, there will be meat substitutes that are healthy for both humans and animals, that taste good to both meat eaters and non meat eaters, that don’t involve killing other living beings.

But, to reiterate, what do you feed them? Or, in your case @Kardamom, as stated in my last post, what did you feed your carnivorous pets? I know you have no control of your friends’ pets’ food, but the question is not “What are your moral reasons for being vegan/vegetarian?” But “What/how do you feed your carnivorous pets that dovetails with your philosophies.”
The moral aspect of food consumption has been done to death here, everybody has different reasons for eating as they do, I am asking a practical question about a practical matter.

Gee, the people I ran this Q by had no trouble understanding what I wanted. I really don’t know how much clearer I could be.

Quality food, such as name brand products like Purina, Gaines, Science Diet, etc.

@kritiper, have you vetted their sources of animal products? I know that, in the past (no, I can’t link, I’m talking about pre-internet days) some of the name brands (I think Purina was involved) were part of a nasty offal-in-their-products scandal.
This is why I asked about brands, many use factory farmed meat and poultry products, for example.

@canidmajor, do you need the brand name? I said that I do feed the pets meat, if you read my response. They need to eat meat, I do not.

I take care of a lot of different animals. I feed them the food that their owners provide. They all contain meat. They eat different brands. Is that what you wanted to know? The actual brands of pet food?

@canidmajor I don’t think my dog cares and I would not try to influence his thinking or opinion on the subject. As long as he is healthy, not overweight and his coat is smooth and shiny, it’s OK with me.

Oh, good grief. I don’t care what people do or don’t eat. A number of people express concern at the suffering of food animals, I wondered how that translated to feeding the pets that require animal products for good health.
@Kardamom, do you not, then, care about the suffering of animals that are used in the manufacture of pet foods?

There are so many atrocities in occurrence throughout the world, how can anyone feel anything more about more suffering animals?

So @kritiper, your moral choices about what you eat and how you source your food do not extend to the creatures under your care who have no say?

The point of this Q is to get suggestions for feeding methods of carnivorous pets that dovetail with your own moral code, if you are vegan/vegetarian.

I showed six people the Q as written last night and not one of them misunderstood what I asked. I am sorry this is proving so difficult for you guys, I don’t know how to be clearer.

I think your line of thought/questioning is too narrow. I trust the government, the ASPCA, and the FDA to figure out what is right and wrong with the companies that manufacture animal feed. I, myself, can’t correct all that is wrong with them, or the rest of the world, so why loose sleep over it?
If my pet is a carnivore, then it needs meat in it’s diet. What am I supposed to do? Feed them shit?
If I want to care about the treatment of animals, then I will care about how Mother Nature takes care of animals, or, rather, doesn’t. Many animals suffer in the wild as a natural thing. Are you concerned about them as much? Do you care that 1 elephant is killed every 30 minutes for it’s tusks, whether it has young to feed or not? Or that I rhinoceros is killed every 7 hours just for it’s horn so some people can make some kind of powdered formula to drink?
Wouldn’t that be more of an issue to care about?

@kritiper The OP is addressing the question to vegans and vegetarians who have a moral objection to meat as to how they feed their pets. She is not addressing the issue of wild animal cruelty which she probably cares about as well . You have broadened the discussion but that is not what she is asking about. Are you a vegan or vegetarian?

Perhaps this question could be switched to General.

YES! Thank you, @janbb! That’s exactly it! Maybe I should get this over to General, thanks.

I asked a Jelly who is a known vegan, for reasons of animal rights, and has cats. I hope she answers, as I think she will have something actually useful and on topic to add.

@janbb and @canidmajor Nevertheless, I feel my POV is relevant, even if you do not.

Not to this Q, it’s not, @kritiper. Not even remotely.

@canidmajor Methinks you had ascertained the answer you sought before having asked it…

Did you even read the Q? I wanted a specific type of answer, yes, from vegans and vegetarians of a specific mindset (are you either one? Your post on @Kardamom’s earlier Q would indicate otherwise). I don’t know what the answer is, which is why I asked the Q. I explained and clarified in a couple of follow up posts.
My mistake was, obviously, not putting this in General, as you felt that being in Social you could go off on whatever pointless tangent you wanted.

I wanted, as I said, practical advice on the matter, not your off topic rambling.

Feed them human flesh. That might answer your question…

How asinine to hijack my reasonable Q with your crap.

I wish this were in General.

I flagged and asked that they move it the other day. Hopefully they’ll see it soon.

[Mod says] I’d like to help, but we don’t move questions from Social to General – just the other way around.

As a vegetarian dog owner, I try to buy sustainable food for my pets. Our favourite brand is “Wolfsblut”. It’s kibble containing a mixture of meat/fish and vegetables. Right now we’re feeding “Alaska Salmon”, which is “sustainably caught” salmon with potatoes and brown rice.

Wolfsblut seems good enough in that they don’t put trans fats or ground up bones in their kibble. They don’t do any testing on animals, and they claim to slaughter “humanely”, though I don’t even think that’s a label worth aspiring to. But I live with a furry guy who would gladly eat the neighbour’s cat, so I try to give him what he needs without compromising my principles too much.

For what it’s worth, I think this is a good question. It makes me feel guilty for buying the occasional factory-farmed treat, and it might make me think twice next time I’m about to.

Oh, @longgone, thank you so much for actually addressing the real Q! I’m an omnivore, but I try to source my own food responsibly. It can be very difficult to do the same for the pups, as it is difficult to reliably research pet foods, as they don’t have to abide by the same standards.
I lean more and more towards trying to do that, though.

And thanks for the tip about the sections. I usually post most in General, I meant to with this one, but goofed. :-)

(And give Wilson an extra pat and cookie from me.)

There a few pet food companies that use “humanely sourced” meat. Now, I do not believe that meat is humane, but I have cats and I have to feed them something. Do I feel about it sometimes? Sure. I use this.

Thank you, @tinyfaery. I do recognize the seeming conundrum, but when we take on the responsibility of caring for another creature with very specific needs, we need to come up with workarounds to give them the best care, while working within our own ethical parameters.