From Philosophical Vegan Wiki

Intro...





Facts and information

Adopt don't shop

Generally it is preferable to adopt pets from local shelters and have them neutered than it is to buy pets like a commodity from pet stores. The pet stores sources are breeder mills where animals are bred in often unacceptable conditions in cages etc and excess animals are often culled.

Even in rare cases where pet stores source from cruelty-free breeders, there are many animals in shelters that are actually in need of a forever home so it is better to adopt them than buy from pet stores.





Spay/Neuter your pet

Spaying and neutering can help to reduce the desire to roam that make your cats happier as indoor pets. . . the only thing more cruel than leaving a cat intact with a powerful sex drive and keeping it away from any mates would be to let the cat out doors to breed multiple generations of feral kittens who are doomed to suffer follow the Golden Rule here assuming you could never have sex you had no way to release any sexual frustration remember cats don't even have porn would you rather have a stronger sex drive or a weaker sex drive in such a situation I would want to be spayed or neutered to reduce my suffering.





Diet

As the public becomes increasingly aware of the harmful consequences of animal agriculture against public health, animal welfare, and the environment, people are to opting to switch to a more vegetarian diet. For both ethical and health reasons, many people also choose to feed their companion animals vegetarian diets. Although the concept of feeding companion animals a vegan or vegetarian diet can be a controversial one, it remains veterinary consensus that dogs and (female) cats can not only be healthy, but thrive on such a diet [1]. As with any diet fed to companion animals, it is imperative that pet owners proceed under the guidance of a trained professional (their veterinarian) and select nutritionally complete pet foods that meet AAFCO guidelines.





Health Effects

Although there exists no long-term studies or systematic reviews of RCT's on vegan companion animals, there is a growing body of evidence (numerous controlled-feeding trials and population studies) indicating that dogs who are fed nutritionally complete and reasonably balanced vegan diets are just as healthy, and in some cases more healthy, than dogs being fed a conventional diet. For dogs, during standardized clinical examinations, no abnormalities are detected that are associated with a well-balanced vegetarian diet. Vegetarian show comparable levels of iron and B12 relative to dogs fed on conventional diets [2]. Some vegetarian are reported to have healthier and shinier coats. A study on sprint-racing Siberian huskies being fed an exclusively maize gluten and soybean diet found them to be in excellent physical condition, with none having developed anemia or other health problems[3].



Vegetarian Cats

While the research indicates that some cats can survive on a plant-based diet, veterinarians generally advise against it (particularly for male cats) until more thorough research is conducted. Although vegetarian and non-vegetarian dogs show comparable levels of nutrient profiles, vegetarian cats present abnormalities in significantly lower folic acid values, relative to cats fed a conventional diet [4], potentially putting them at increased risk of health problems. Because cats are obligate carnivores, they require all nine amino acid profiles, including arginine and taurine, which is found naturally in meat products and in supplements. Even cats (males in particular) who are being fed adequate plant-based diets are susceptible to developing feline lower urinary tract disease, due to the abnormally high alkaline pH of plant-based proteins relative to meat-based protein [5]. Vegetarian cat-owners should correct for urinary alkalinisation through appropriate dietary additives and make frequent check-ups with a veterinarian, should it occur.



AAFCO Feed

AAFCO Dog Food Nutrient Profiles

The Association of American Feed Control Officials is a non-profit organization that sets nutritional standards for both animal feeds and pet foods in the United States. For any dog or cat food to be considered “complete and balanced," it must meet the standards set by AAFCO. However, AAFCO neither enforces its standards nor 'certifies' pet food brands as generally nutritionally whole and complete, so it is dependent on the owner to purchase pet foods specially formulated to meet the standards of the AAFCO nutrient profiles.



Recommended Pet Foods

Brands to buy...

You could also feed male cats partly vegan, and partly freegan meat. Insects or worms might be another option to freegan meat, which are less sentient and more sustainable than tetrapod meat.





Economics Impact

An economic vegan is someone who practices veganism with the intention of reducing their economic impact on the production of animals (see Freeganism to learn about economic vegans who eat scrapped animal products). A steady rise in demand has resulted in record levels of beef, pork, and poultry being stored in U.S. facilities [6]. Pet food is one of the largest contributors to meat consumption globally. America’s dogs and cats consume about 25% of all meat sold in the U.S. alone. A recent study investigating the environmental impact of pet food also found that American pets consume enough meat that they alone would be the fifth most meat-consuming nation in the world [7]. A focus on a plant-based message for pets may be an effective way to cut into demand in the U.S..





Exercise

It's important you exercise your pets to the full range their bodies needs, with big dogs that can mean two 1 and half hour walks every day. Also using lots of interactive toys with them each night.





Indoors vs. Outdoors for Cats

The biggest issue with letting domestic cats outdoors is they are highly skilled predators that are glutenous for enjoying the hunt more than the food, which means often torturing their prey and giving you half-dead animals as presents. Unlike the common ancestor they share with wild cats which are quick killers, consume all their food and have a working niche that is threatened by domestic cats.

Secondly cat fights from living so unnaturally close together and road accidents from living near a busy road, so you have to consider the long healthy life you could be depriving the cat of or long drawn out painful death or injury.



Some potential solutions

You can build an outdoor enclosed cat run and some inside the house to effectively increase your cats play area.

You can test to see if they'll walk with you on a leash.

And if you still want to let your cat out, the RSPB recommends one step you can take towards limiting the carnage:

Keep your cat indoors when birds are most vulnerable — at least an hour before sunset and an hour after sunrise — especially between March and July when baby birds may be out of the nest waiting to be fed. Also, keep your cat indoors after bad weather to allow birds to come out and feed.





Waste

Dogs and particularly cat feces can be quite toxic and produces a lot of methane if left on a landfill to rot, finding an allotment or empty plot of land far away from houses to hot compost is the best solution.





Activism

Effective Activism

Adoption/Rescue

Adopting pets probably does not qualify as effective altruism due to the large cost and small impact.

It's also not entirely clear whether adoption is good for a cat or not (even among consequentialists, this is debated). The ideal case seems to be rescuing two (Citation needed) female cats from no kill shelters which are fed vegan (let meat eaters adopt the male cats and feed them the meat they may need to avoid urinary issues) kept indoors to prevent them from killing animals or being harmed themselves, and with enrichment like a cat patio or other activities. Yet we do not know what extent of boredom, confinement, or isolation over a lifetime make it better to have been euthanized. Be mindful that adopting an animal and making it miserable is probably worse than not adopting at all and keep in mind the difficulties involved in providing for the animal before making that commitment.





Donation/ other Activism

With respect to donation and volunteering, a disproportionate amount of current effort and money is devoted to pet rescue, so in terms of contributions to any efforts (even more effective ones like TNR) the point of diminishing returns is probably reached much sooner than with funding efforts to reduce farmed animal suffering.





Personal Growth/Virtue Activism

Existentialists see mountains of food waste, a disorganized network of rescue efforts and an untapped reservoir of compassion that simply needs to be directed towards simple tools for ending the suffering of these domesticated animals. By making the choice to be good industrious owners, we affirm that it is a valuable thing to do for our pets and those around us.

If you have the capacity and heart to, adopting the most vicious, scarred, mangey looking old pets from low demand, over-populated, no kill shelters is the most ethical choice you can make, but so long as you're not increasing demand any will do for getting used to having pets and extending that carrier capacity of caring homes.

Enticing feral cats with freegan/vegan food will significantly improve their well-being to know they can have a food source they can rely on. Feeding may also result in increased fertility, so should only really do this with a mind to being able to trap, neuter and release, but you can call groups up in your area to know what percentage of the feral cat population they've been able to neuter in your area.





Word usage

Some vegans and pet lovers argue that the terminology we use to refer to pets and the adoption process is also important, and promote terms like "animal companion" rather than pet, and dog/cat/etc. "parent" rather than owner to break the linguistic conventions that reinforce their status as property rather than family members.

It's unclear what, if any, effect this has on social psychology, but evidence of marketing efforts to push these terms may suggest it does have an effect on the bottom-line for pet services, and thus at least the depth of owners' pockets when caring for them which may be a reflection of mindset.





Policy

Campaigns, petition your representative to...





Alternative Perspectives

Deontologists hold a variety of views on the subject, from no responsibility and always wrong to own them, to total responsibility and always right to feed them meat and let them hunt.

This view can be very attractive to people, because we like to see ourselves as separate from nature, and see natural things as morally neutral or good even when they can be cruel or harmful to individuals. It's very easy to overlook the consequences and brush them off as nature doing what it does.