We all love our pets. Once they come into our homes, they become part of our families, our lives. And we treat them as such. 

Trupanion

However, there has been a growing concern about how we treat our pets, especially cats and dogs, who are primarily carnivores. 

Omlet

Cats are obligate carnivores, which means they need to eat meat to survive. Meat provides cats with an essential amino acid called taurine, as well as vitamins A and B, arginine and arachidonic acid. 

Cats

Without these nutrients, cats develop a chain of serious health problems including eye and liver problems, birth defects and heart failure.

In the United Kingdom, owners who feed their cats a vegan diet can be prosecuted under the Animal Welfare Act. The risk of death is very high if cats are fed a meat-free diet.

Imgur

So this is not even an argument. You don’t feed your cat meat, he/she dies. 

Huffpost

Dogs, however, can ‘theoretically’ live on a plant-based diet – though that doesn’t necessarily mean they should.

The domestic dog is actually a subspecies of the grey wolf. This makes them a good subject to get an idea of what kind of diet they have in the wild. 

The west Coast reader

Now, despite being highly successful hunters, grey wolves’ diet varies according to the environment they live in and the time of the year. The Independent reports about a study of these wolves in Yellowstone Park, US, which found that during the summer their diets contain small rodents and birds as well as larger animals like elks and deer

Living with the wolves

That being said, plant matter is also very commonly found in their diet with 74% of all wolf dropping containing traces from the grass. 

The problem with such studies, however, is that they cannot access how much of the diet is made up of plants. So the level to which wolves and by extension dogs are omnivores is still unknown. 

The Spruce Pets

Now, it’s not that dogs can’t eat fruits and vegetables. But they have a significantly higher daily protein requirement than humans. Finding the right ratio of nutrients with a vegan diet is incredibly difficult.

According to Michael Fox, former president of the U.S. Humane Society and author of ‘Dog Mind, Dog Body’.

The vegan diet also lacks some essential fatty acids that are only available in animal products like butter and fish oils.
Dog Time

If the diet is not constructed properly with all the nutrients in the right ratio, it could potentially be fatal for your dog. Like, an amino acid imbalance can lead to some serious heart problems. 

Blue Cross

And even if you find the right ratio of proper nutrients to feed your pets, they might not be able to digest it properly. 

Both dogs and cats both have a short intestine length and are predisposed to do best on diets composed of quickly digestible foodstuffs like protein. Neither animal has many of the specific enzymes required to digest complex plant proteins. 

Mother Nature Network

Look, most processed pet food already all the animal proteins your pets need. So if you have a problem with cooking meat because of the smell and the mess, just get a packet of dog or cat food. 

Wisegeek

We understand if you are vegan, but please know that your pets might not be. 

If you keep a bowl of beans and a bowl of chicken in front of your pet, both having similar nutritional values, which bowl do you think they will go for?

You don’t believe me, watch it yourself:

You cannot eliminate thousands of years of evolution because you find it morally challenging. 

We all love our pets. So let’s do right by them.