Community: Forum: Vegetarian Discussion
Vegan / Vegetarian Discussion - All Things Veg*n Forum
I have been vegan for four years now. From what I eat, wear, use as household products are all vegan and environmentally safe. One area I have not conquered is with my dogs. I still give them dog food that contains meat. I have three dogs and for one of my dogs I cook for her since she is not very healthy, and don't want to give her kibble. I understand that kibble is overprocessed and not very healthy for them. Since I have three it will be extremely expensive to feed three dogs canned food. Cooking for one dog, being vegan, I can only cook grains and vegetables and then when serving her the food, I add canned food which contains the meat. I want to cook for all of them, but I don't want to buy the canned food separate and then add to it, since a case is $30 or more, not cost effective with three dogs. How many vegans still feed their dogs meat and do you cook for them using animal products. I am not sure if I am ever able to do that.
Responses (3)
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Posted by WhatDoYouEatThen at 12/31/16 10:42:26
dogs are carnivores, mine eat meat
raw occasionally & good quality dry food
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Posted by ahimsa32fa at 12/31/16 12:22:23
Actually, dogs are omnivores, close to the carnivorous end of the omnivore spectrum. Humans on the other hand, are also omnivores, but rather close to the vegetarian end of the spectrum.
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Posted by Robinwomb at 01/01/17 12:32:47
This is one area I have also struggled with, though I have been vegan for years. I phased out all my own "pets", but my partner whom I live with has a dog. She is mine too by default, but really his dog as I have a very busy lifestyle and am rarely home and he is home all day and takes care of her. he refuses to change her diet over to vegan as he believes dogs need meat. I tend to disagree, but since he buys her food and cares for her, I don't really have much of a say. I do however, feed her stuff like brown rice, chickpeas, cooked carrots, oatmeal from time to time in place of her dry dog food her feeds her, so at least it cuts down on the amount of that she consumes. She is twelve years old now and still going strong.
Another dilemma is getting hold of commercial vegan dog food. There is NO vegan dog food anywhere near where I live. So if I did convince my husband to let me buy some and feed it to her (or any future dog), I would have to constantly order it online. I see often that companies that sell vegan dog food are often out of stock and have backorders/waiting lists. And vegan dog food is very expensive. So more than likely I would have to do all the cooking myself. I did just buy a book about feeding dogs vegan and have been reading it. It would take a lot of time and effort. With my lifestyle I would feel more comfortable without a pet, but my partner love dogs and will more than likely have another one at some point. The best I can do right now is research and prepare for that scenario. I wish I had better and more specific answers to give. I know one woman who has rescue chickens and while she does not eat the eggs they lay, she does feed some of them to her dogs as an animal source of protein for them. I certainly would not recommend rescuing chickens just for this purpose though.
