What happened in the vegan community?

I hadn’t heard about any of this until seeing that ToS post.

      • @BananaCoffee
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        4 months ago

        My bias is minimal; I don’t practice veganism for myself of my pets.

        I think your opinion is completely ignorant. While there isn’t clear scientific evidence that conclude a vegan cat diet is better, there is isn’t clear scientific evidence to conclude it is inately worse. So, is your opinion based in reality or your intuition?

        “However, there is little evidence of adverse effects arising in dogs and cats on vegan diets.”

        Domínguez-Oliva, Adriana, et al. “The Impact of Vegan Diets on Indicators of Health in Dogs and Cats: A Systematic Review.” Veterinary Sciences, vol. 10, no. 1, Jan. 2023, p. NA. Gale Academic OneFile, dx.doi.org/10.3390/vetsci10010052. Accessed 29 Aug. 2024.

        Naturally, organizations such as the ASPCA tend toward caution and advise against vegan diets, but your statement reaches far beyond that point.

        Edit: I recognize my comment is a bit condescending. I do not mean to discourage discussion. I am genuinely curious and encourage your feedback. Please let me know if I’m missing something important here.

      • @davepleasebehave
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        -234 months ago

        sure. but the above post stated with supplements. so if the food is palatable and nutritional to the cat, then what does it matter?

        • Catpurrple
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          4 months ago

          A person understands the reason they’re eating only plants with no animal byproducts. An animal doesn’t. An animal is just confused and irritated that their food was changed for the worse by their owner. If their diet and mountain of supplement pills/powders did not actually meet their dietary needs because it wasn’t an exact match for their regular food or natural prey, they would still end up malnourished. And not every cat’s dietary needs are the same or stay the same as they age.

          Malnourished or not, you also wouldn’t be able to stop your cat from finding a mouse or insect which snuck into your home and devouring them to enhance their compromised diet. You cannot make a carnivore vegan, you can only abuse them into living in a way they do not naturally live and do not want to live, until they find a way to avoid you for just long enough to go against your wishes and savage another animal, as is their instinctive nature.

          Furthermore, do you really think animals have no joy in what they eat, that that’s only a human quality? Nutrition doesn’t matter to the animal, they just want to eat what they want to eat. Cats almost never turn down an offer of cream or milk despite 90% or more of them being lactose intolerant. It’s not nutrients their body needs or can absorb, and actively makes them feel ill. But they want it anyway because it’s tasty and they aren’t able to consider the consequences of their actions as far in advance as humans can.

          Edit: In fact, going off that same point but for humans, you could probably make a human live off some kind of tasteless nutrient bar that gives everything you could need, but it wouldn’t mean they’d enjoy it. Oh wait, we did do that before, as a cruel punishment for prisoners in the US, fucking nutraloaf!

            • Catpurrple
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              284 months ago

              You’re still making them do something they didn’t consent to. They will still chew on bugs and small prey animals (when they get access to them, which isn’t often for indoor cats), because it’s etched into their behavior. They will take every opportunity they get. You can’t make a cat vegan, you can only force a cat on a vegan diet. Can’t you understand the qualitative difference there?

              • @MissJinx
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                74 months ago

                The stupidity of some vegas has no boundaries. It makes me so sad to know those poor animals are being torture. You are right but we can’t really debate dumb

              • @Cryophilia
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                -34 months ago

                You’re still making them do something they didn’t consent to.

                Bro do you like not understand the concept of pets

                • @redisdead
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                  44 months ago

                  Don’t talk like you understand it either, since you clearly don’t.

              • Makhno
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                -124 months ago

                Giving a dog/cat shots in doing something to them they didn’t consent to.

                Your logic is completely absent

        • @MissJinx
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          184 months ago

          Why have an animal to.torture it? Get a parrot of a fish then. Don’t adopt an animal, that can’t understand, and push stupid human values to it. A person that says wants to “protect” animal should respect nature. but you know… vegans are jot the best at logical thinking

          • @davepleasebehave
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            -134 months ago

            if the animal enjoys the food and it has all the nutrition the animal needs then how is it torture?.

            Do you also rant at people who keep their cats inside against their will?

            • @[email protected]
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              54 months ago

              You keep making this logical jump that a cat would enjoy eating shitty food with supplements. They would not. A cat would enjoy some chicken.

              • @davepleasebehave
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                -34 months ago

                but what if they did enjoy eating the biscuits? Would you knock the food out of their mouths?

                  • @davepleasebehave
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                    -34 months ago

                    so if the cats enjoy the food and the food is nutritious you would be against it?

                  • @davepleasebehave
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                    13 months ago

                    Gish gallop is a series of untrue statements said in rapid fire that the other person does not have time to refute.

                    you don’t understand the word.

            • @[email protected]
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              13 months ago

              I hope the RSPCA, ASPCA, Whatever your countries local equivalent is looks into you with that sort of mindset

              • @davepleasebehave
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                03 months ago

                if the animal has nutritious food and enjoys the food then the RSPCA would be fine.

                the RSPCA published the following information:

                it is possible to develop a plant-based diet for cats, these need to be carefully formulated to meet the unique nutritional requirements of the cat and be appropriately supplemented with essential nutrients

                  • @davepleasebehave
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                    -13 months ago

                    so the RSPCA would have zero issue with a cat on a vegan diet as long as the cat had adequate nutrition and was eating palatable food.

                    any argument with that?

        • @Paraponera_clavata
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          184 months ago

          I don’t think palatable nutritional vegan cat food exists, at least none with any empirical evidence its safe for cats long-term.

            • @Sarmyth
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              194 months ago

              I would encourage people contemplating it’s use to instead get any of the many herbivore companions instead of trying to make the square peg fit in the round hole.

              • @davepleasebehave
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                -84 months ago

                but I’m asking a simple question: if the cat enjoys the food, and it has all the nutrition the cat requires for a healthy life, would you have any objection?

                • @Sarmyth
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                  84 months ago

                  If it actually enjoyed it, sure. But I believe it would be a substantial lowering of their quality of life. Seeing the difference between how happy my cats are with their normal food vs wet cat food vs churu treats, it’s plain as day they have preferences. While they can survive with proper nutrients, they won’t have as fulfilling a life by limiting their food source in such a manner.

                  I won’t talk about what’s natural since my cats aren’t catching any salmon or taking down a cow on their own, but I’m not getting a pet just to enforce a restrictive diet on them.

                  • @davepleasebehave
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                    -64 months ago

                    So as long as the cat is happy eating the food and has nutrition it’s really not a problem.

                    I’m not a vet or a scientist. but these issues are easy to solve.

                • @[email protected]
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                  13 months ago

                  Yes I do, only in online comments you can’t speak while another person is talking unless it’s a livestream chat

                  The online comment version of basically responding over and over again to eventually tire the other person out

                  • @davepleasebehave
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                    13 months ago

                    talking to tire someone out is not Gish gallop.

                    So you don’t understand the term.

                    here:

                    The Gish gallop (/ˈɡɪʃ ˈɡæləp/) is a rhetorical technique in which a person in a debate attempts to overwhelm an opponent by presenting an excessive number of arguments, with no regard for their accuracy or strength, with a rapidity that makes it impossible for the opponent to address them in the time available.

      • @[email protected]
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        -264 months ago

        Cats require a few nutrients which aren’t naturally present in plants, such as taurine. Fortunately, those nutrients are easily synthesised, and added to vegan cat foods in order to make them nutritionally complete.

        • @Voyajer
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          194 months ago

          I thought the issue was bioavailability of those nutrients was called into question?

        • @MissJinx
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          174 months ago

          oh god WHY HAVE A DUCKING CAT?!!! Get a bird or a turtle please!

          • @[email protected]
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            4 months ago

            Look at the research before getting emotional.

            While it seems dogs need atleast some meat, the scientific consensus is cats can be healthy with a vegan diet and proper supplementation.

            I’m not vegan nor do I have a cat, but this debate interested me and I’ve read a couple literature reviews and big papers on the subject.

            Cats aren’t what they were 15’000 years ago. Domestication has turned them into an entirely different species.

            • @vxx
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              94 months ago

              The thing I’m wondering whenever I see this discussion is:

              Should a vegan have a pet that kills for fun?

              Should they keep it inside all day to stop it from killing?

              I don’t get why a vegan would want to have a cat at all.

              • @[email protected]
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                4 months ago

                Unless you live somewhere with little native wildlife the general rule amongst conservationists is that cats should not be let outside. They have already contributed to the extinction of many bird species.

                That being said, in america, people let their cats out in general. In western europe, not so much.

                • @Hagdos
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                  24 months ago

                  Could you please tell that to the people living in my corner of western Europe? Would be nice not to have to shovel car sit out of my garden anymore.

                  • @[email protected]
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                    14 months ago

                    cats live far longer and healthier on average when kept inside. Even most vets (atleast in europe) recommend it.

                    Also, please keep lemmy civil.

    • @[email protected]
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      114 months ago

      Cats are obligate carnivores. They have evolved to eat meat and only meat. A vegan diet can and will kill them.

      • @[email protected]
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        -24 months ago

        if cats are carnivores then why does mine eat corn every chance it gets, sometimes going for fresh corn over refrigerated steak?

        • @[email protected]
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          54 months ago

          Same reason people sometimes chew on paper.

          Actually if you’re american, corn is also in cat food because it’s freaking everywhere so cats can associate it with food

      • @BananaCoffee
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        4 months ago

        My bias is minimal; I don’t practice veganism for myself of my pets.

        I think your opinion is completely ignorant. While there isn’t clear scientific evidence that conclude a vegan cat diet is better, there is isn’t clear scientific evidence to conclude it is inately worse. So, is your opinion based in reality or your intuition?

        “However, there is little evidence of adverse effects arising in dogs and cats on vegan diets.”

        Domínguez-Oliva, Adriana, et al. “The Impact of Vegan Diets on Indicators of Health in Dogs and Cats: A Systematic Review.” Veterinary Sciences, vol. 10, no. 1, Jan. 2023, p. NA. Gale Academic OneFile, dx.doi.org/10.3390/vetsci10010052. Accessed 29 Aug. 2024.

        Naturally, organizations such as the ASPCA tend toward caution and advise against vegan diets, but your statement reaches far beyond that point.

        Edit: I recognize my comment is a bit condescending. I do not mean to discourage discussion. I am genuinely curious and encourage your feedback. Please let me know if I’m missing something important here.

          • @BananaCoffee
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            -14 months ago

            That article basically says what the study says. There is no real evidence that a vegan diet is healthier for cat; they point to owner bias as the cause of any perception that these studies show it is healthier.

            My point was that there is no evidence that a vegan diet is impossible for a cat. I wouldn’t try it because we don’t know it’s safe, but we also don’t know that it’s necessarily unsafe. I’m just bothered by people who jump to “vegan diet equals dead/tortured cat” because we don’t have any evidence that supports such a dramatic claim.

            • @[email protected]
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              24 months ago

              Nah mate. You literally said " there is isn’t clear scientific evidence to conclude it is inately worse" and then tried to link to a faulty science study that got debunked.

              Vegan diets for cats are notoriously difficult due to the fact it runs completely counter to the diet a cat has evolved to process. If you’re so dedicated to the vegan ideal that you will attempt to force an obligate carnivore - key word obligate - to consume a diet completely contrary to its digestive system then why are you keeping a pet in the first place?

              • @BananaCoffee
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                04 months ago

                Sorry for my imprecise response. The article you linked is talking about the “Vegan versus meat-based cat food…” study specifically. I was refering back to the study I referenced in a previous comment, “The Impact of Vegan Diets on Indicators of Health in Dogs and Cats: A Systematic Review.”. The systematic review is essentially a big picture analysis of 16 other studies, 6 specifically about cats. The “Vegan versus meat-based cat food…” study was not included.

                The systematic review says there is not enough evidence at this point to say whether a vegan diet is better or worse. I still stand behind “there is isn’t clear scientific evidence to conclude it is inately worse”.

                I’m not putting any pets on a vegan diet. First, I don’t personally follow any vegan practices even for myself. Secondly, it’s risky at this point, and I don’t have enough resources (time, money, attention to detail) to minimize those risks. I keep pets because animal shelters kill animals that they do not have the capacity to support. I can imagine others, even those who practice vegan lifestyles, would commonly cite a similar motive.

    • @Cryophilia
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      34 months ago

      Jesus, stop downvoting someone for asking a question what the fuck is wrong with you people

    • @[email protected]
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      13 months ago

      What’s wrong with depriving a cat of something it has evolved to need and can die or be in bad health without?