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Should Cats and Dogs go Vegan? - Professor Andrew Knight, University of Winchester
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this post was submitted on 22 Oct 2023
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Outside of the nutrients argument which you're hyper focused on (and which I don't agree that you have compeling evidence, especially when it comes to cats), I firmly believe that the choice to go vegetarian/vegan is a personal one. Pets and small children cannot make that decision for themselves, so I firmly disagree with forcing it on them (outside of extreme cases like animal protein allergies, unavailability of meat...etc).
@NovaPrime @Feddyteddy
I disagree. As long as the diet is nutritional, a vegan/vegetarian diet if fine. I would argue, one should not force a meat diet on a child. I raised my child on a vegan/vegetarian diet and she is fine. My daughter made her decision as she became older and experimenting with a meat diet for a short period of time.
You are right, I have no evidence that they can get all their nutrients without eating meat. I never said I did. I was just wondering if that was the only issue or if there was another issue as well. I'm just curious and trying to learn.
Even animal based cat food has to be fortified, so I don't find arguments about "natural" diet convincing. I'm also not sure what nutrient cats would have to get from animals. Animal specific nutrients are things like assembled proteins, which bodies break down and reform anyway. Assembled proteins are the natural way to consume amino acids but if anything that causes problems. Foreign proteins can over trigger our immune systems causing allergic responses and auto immune disorders, in rare cases misfolded proteins can directly cause disease like in the case of prions. There's a reason hypoallergenic pet food exists and you don't see people calling others monsters for feeding that to their pets even though that seems to be the common sentiment against people who feed their pets vegan pet food.
I don't understand your point about children. If your child wants to eat just Oreos would you let them? Parents always control what their children eat, if not directly, simply through what they are able to make available.
To me it's kind of moot though because I don't think we should be breeding "pets" in the first place. But while there are still pets that need to be adopted and cared for I don't think sacrificing livestock is the way to care for those animals. We are deciding that the life of one animal is worth the life and suffering of dozens. If you are ethically against vegan pet food then you should be pro murder/euthanasia because we are making a decision to kill either way.
Do you firmly disagree, when they feed thuna, deer and cow to their cats?