You know what must be nice?

52 thoughts on You know what must be nice?

1. When I worked for the vet I saw more pets get sick from people making their own pet food than from the OMG CONTAMINATED PET FOOD incidents. Not that making pet food is bad if you feel like it and have a clue, but there are plenty of packaged dry pet foods where the secret ingredient is science. This works better than love and ignorance.

2. The vet I worked for in high school actually recommended against pet owners making their own pet food, since it’s so hard to get the right balance of nutrients to keep the pet healthy. It’s so easy to end up with a dog who’s losing teeth or has kidney problems because something’s off or missing from his homemade diet.

   I’ll admit that I do go kind of cheap with my dog’s food, although we chose it partly because he was having skin problems and it came highly recommended. But he’s a mix and tends to be pretty hardy with or without fancy food. He did go through a stage as a puppy where he wouldn’t eat anything that wasn’t served on a bed of spring mix (minus the radicchio, because he didn’t like radicchio), but he’s over that.

   I did like Ms. Laino’s assertion that her dog food was more nutritious than commercial dog food because her “ingredients are organic.” Oh, that’s right! How could I forget the magic of organic food that for some reason has more nutrients than other foods. She does love her dogs more than I do mine.

3. … although we chose it partly because he was having skin problems and it came highly recommended.

   To clarify: We chose is largely because it cost little money.

4. I am actually a vegan and after first being sceptical on vegan pet food I was convinced after informing properly on the advantages and disadvantages. The pros for vegan pet food are the same as people who make pet food themselves, because cats and dogs get the worst kind of meat and its full of flavor enhancers or artifical colors which can make your pet sick.
   Of course you have to prepare the food yourself or pay lots of money. Plus you need to get the right supplements to make sure they arent lacking any important nutrient. But I guess the risk of feeding your pet wrongly is lower than when you simply make something from scratch.
   Well another advantage of my decision: I won’t get a pet before I have enough time to a) cook for it and b) take care of it. Feeding it from can food gives one the impression that one doesn’t need much time to keep a pet when actually you DO.

   But don’t get me wrong: I’m happy when people are taking good care of their pet no matter what they feed them as long as they’re happy. And: I hate that kind of attitude too. As if you’re torturing your pet because you don’t have enough time/enough money/both to attain to their silly standards. Reminds me of similar discussions about taking care of your children.

5. So I don’t have an animal (beyond an awesome and longlived guppy) at my house and am unsure how interested I would personally be in making my own food for an animal in my care, but I read a blog (of a pretty hippie persuasion, I concede) where a women does describe making her own catfood and explains the process behind it. She also provides helpful links. So, just in case anyone out there is interested in making their own pet food: http://myplasticfreelife.com/2008/10/less-impact-cats-eat-homemade-food/

   She does not specify total cost, so I can’t actually comment on that. I also have no idea how much pet food typically costs as again, I don’t have an animal at home myself. The impression I get from the blog is that she is somewhere within the middle class, but likely on the higher end. Also, the time invested seems to fall within the normal make a meal for the family range. Although I will make one note that this blogger does not have children so likely has more time and money to devote to her cats.

   Basically the whole point I am making with this comment is that I think for a decent number of people this is perfectly attainable. Maybe a little silly, but certainly within the realm of doable.

6. Our cats absolutely do not care what we feed them, as long as it is SMELLY. IT MUST STINK.

7. My vet actually recommended Purina (unless my cat developed a stomach issues, in which case, the Science Diet at the vet’s office would be preferable). I’d rather spend my time using my laser pointer to give my cat something to chase and/or give her scritches than make pet food.

8. Our kitties get kitten kibble, with the occasional treat of raw meat or kitten milk. We’re cheap, and they’re healthy and happy, so it doesn’t seem like a big problem.

9. Wow! How did cats and dogs and other animals ever survive before the organic food people got going?

10. We make our dog’s food but feed Purina to our cats. Does that make me speciesist (specist?)

    Seriously, the reason we do it is because we raise meat animals and also do some hunting, and usually have a surplus of meat. So it became much cheaper to feed our dogs a primarily meat and bone diet (mixed with appropriate veggies and such–which are usually store bought frozen ones and definitely not organic, horror of horrors–to make sure all their needs are being met) than to buy store-bought food, especially since we usually have around 10-15 of the critters and several have allergies so most of the cheap Ol’ Roy type foods are out unless we want itchy, stinky, shedding monsters. We don’t actually usually cook it unless I’m adding rice or I forget to pull some out of the freezer in enough time to thaw, instead I just mush up all the raw ingredients and they love it. Takes a few minutes more than feeding kibble but nothing significant. The cats have much more detailed nutritional needs and we only have 2 of them, so in that case it’s easier just to buy the kibble.

    We’ve been doing it for about 5 years now and really, except for the 3 dogs that have food allergies, there’s not too much difference. Of course we’ve got hardy ranch dogs that also routinely eat all sorts of nasty dead things they find on the trail, so I’m not sure they’re the best case study.

    I love my dogs but I really can’t imagine going out of my way to make organic gourmet meals for them. It really must be nice to have that much free time and money.

11. Pingback: Food Politics: Jan. 20, 2011 « Speaker's Corner

12. After the last tainted food scare (which killed a neighbor’s dog), the SO and I spent 3 months making homemade food for our dog after extensive research and a consilt with her vet. It was tremendously difficult to get the vitamins and minerals correct. And after all that work she was never as shiny and bouncy as she was on her (admitedly expensive, partially organic) kibble.

    Instead of people working so hard trying to figure out enough animal medicine to keep their pets alive how about we regulate the industry a bit and change the rules of liability so that killing a pet is a little more serious than dinging a car?

13. What Kristen J. said.

14. Seconding Kristen J.

15. There is a difference between cat and dog food – cats are carnivores and dogs are omnivores. A lot of dog food has crappy fillers for the first few ingredients, and cat food doesn’t, simply because cats cannot eat it.
    But I see no reason to feed my dogs much beyond some high-quality kibble with canned food for flavor.

    And previous dogs we’ve had have lived to 15-16 years of age on *gasp* grocery store pet food.

    Lastly, a minor point, before judging vegan dog food, remember that vegans might love their dogs, but they might be unwilling to sacrifice other animals that their dog may live eating meat. This wouldn’t work with a cat (carnivores again). As long as there’s enough protein in the dog’s diet, it can live a healthy amount of time. Why does any one dog deserve to be rescued from the pound so that hundreds of chickens can die to feed it? Tis better to be rescued and vegan and perhaps living a slightly less satisfying, meaty life, than to be euthanised as a puppy.
    (Not saying I agree with this, but I understand the perspective)

16. Veterinary technician here – PLEASE don’t feed your cats vegan diets! Cats are obligate carnivores, and it’s very unlikely that you can get enough protein into them from plant-based sources, not to mention all the other nutrients they need.

    Personally, I don’t cook for my critters because 1) I don’t have the free time to cook nutritionally balanced food for 1 65# dog and 3 cats and 2) I am perfectly happy with the organic, human grade ingredient, grain-free brand I feed all of them.

    FWIW, one of my coworkers cooks for her Chihuahua (after tons of research), but she makes a big batch and then freezes most of it, so it’s less frequent work.

17. I have enough issues with making dishes from scratch for myself (disabling condition with pain/fatigue as main issues); I cannot imagine having to spend time making food for my aging Yorkshire Terrier (who, to be honest, seems pretty happy with his “senior” dog food and the occasional bit of dog-safe human food).

    I mean, good for these folks if that’s what they want to do, but it’s not realistic for all pet-lovers.

18. I’m vegan and I cook fancy, mostly organic food for myself, but my cat gets nothing but regular dry cat food. The expensive kind, though 😉

19. We feed our dogs a combination of cooked meat (beef, chicken, liver, etc.) and dry dog food. That way they get their nutrients and a substantial amount of protein.

    Our dog food bill has actually gone down— no, it’s not organic, but they love it. Since we’re able to spend the time and energy cooking it (which obviously not everybody has), it works out pretty nicely.

    Then again, our dogs share what we eat unless it’s dangerous for them. Our house is ruled by pups.

20. I hope the feeding-dogs-only-vegan-food quip was in jest–since I thought vegans the preachy, judgy ones.

21. I once thought I might try prepared raw food for Junebug, to see if it helped her allergies any. I bought a package of raw rabbit patties (they were on sale, even!), thawed one out, and put it in her bowl.

    She looked at me as if I were insane.

    The cats, too, sniffed at it suspiciously, and I *know* they’ve tasted fresh blood.

    Not wanting to waste the food, I cooked it to see if I could salvage my investment by mixing it in with dry food. I didn’t like the idea of raw meat hanging around in my refrigerator.

    Junebug loved it, once it was cooked. So did the cats. It was then I realized that the raw diet experiment had come to an end, because if my damn dog didn’t like raw meat, goddammit, she could eat kibble.

22. Cats are carnivores… why is she feeding them vegetables? I feed my cat Avoderm because it doesn’t have corn or chicken by-product meal. It’s one of the least expensive natural cat foods I can find. Wet cat food is far too expensive and messy to feed everyday. As long as a cat has plenty of water dry cat food can be fine.

    As for vegan pets: NO! Cats and dogs need to eat meat.

23. zuzu: I once thought I might try prepared raw food for Junebug, to see if it helped her allergies any. I bought a package of raw rabbit patties (they were on sale, even!), thawed one out, and put it in her bowl.

    Abbie is the same way. When someone gave her a raw food treat she sniffed it, made a grumpy noise and went into rest mode (what she does when she really, really, really wants something). Then again when she killed a squirrel last spring she brought it over to me and looked at me expectantly as if I was supposed to make it into food. I don’t disbelieve that dogs as a species are built to eat raw, I just don’t believe that family pets who have only eaten cooked food necessarily *want* to eat raw food. Of course she does want to eat goose poop so gourmet, she is not.

24. Kristen J.: Then again when she killed a squirrel last spring she brought it over to me and looked at me expectantly as if I was supposed to make it into food

    Lol, I once read that animals do this to demonstrate their relative superiority via their comparative hunting skills. There’s a tiny chance your dog gave you the squirrel and was like, “Yeah? What can you do?” and was scoffing.

    I don’t know if it’s true because I’m pretty sure it came from cracked.com, but I love the idea that this could be true

25. My three former feral cats have been raw fed since I’ve owned them which is almost three years. It’s incredibly easy. They eat mainly chicken quarters with organ meats and turkey, lamb when it’s on sale, duck and rabbit and fish. I’d like to get some goat but haven’t sourced it locally. The best part is that their poop doesn’t stink – which is a big deal when you have three cats and two litter boxes. I fed them evo – a ‘raw’ protein only kibble – when I was going out of town and didn’t want to make things hard on my per sitter but I could tell from the other side of the house when one of them took a crap. Ugh! I freeze and thaw out only what will get eaten in two or three days. Had no problems so far.

    Raw also worked wonders on my inlaws’ dog who had various food allergies.

26. PrettyAmiable: Lol, I once read that animals do this to demonstrate their relative superiority via their comparative hunting skills. There’s a tiny chance your dog gave you the squirrel and was like, “Yeah? What can you do?” and was scoffing.

    Ha! Well, then I win, because I had organic chicken in my bag which she promptly begged for in exchange for the dead squirrel. Humans FTW!

27. I don’t have any pets, so I can’t comment on that, but as for myself? I’ll take canned mac-n-cheese over “grass-fed osso buco and biodynamic polenta” any day. Even if I wanted organic anything, I can’t afford it. *rolls eyes*

28. I don’t think there’s anything silly about writing 650 words about making your pet’s food, actually.

    Personally I get irritated at both ends of the spectrum (kibble is evil vs raw is evil -and cooking meat for animals… well, meh). It’s pretty simple IMO – raw is better if you *do it right*, kibble will ensure you don’t screw up your animal if, like most people, you don’t feel like researching and preparing raw food.

    I do have a BIG problem with vegan or vegatarian diets for cats and dogs though. Dogs may be nominally omnivores but they need a much higher percentage of protein in their diet than humans. Even if it is possible to keep your PREDATORY animal alive without animal protein, can we just not?

    I have no problem with vegatarianism or veganism, and in fact only eat free range chicken (and no other meat) myself, but it makes me upset that people would force that on their animals.

    Also, raw is totally affordable in the US. Not so much here in NZ. :/

29. DanaR: Even if it is possible to keep your PREDATORY animal alive without animal protein, can we just not?

    Except that many commercial kibbles rely on a large portion of non-animal protein sources and of course some dogs can’t properly digest animal protein, so many dogs don’t really eat that much meat at all. I’ll admit its a LOT more work to find a veg/vegan diet for dogs that includes all the appropriate nutrients (especially if you don’t supplement with bones), but its do-able. A good friend of mine has a labradoodle who is allergic to all types of animal protein (even eggs!) and she gets around just fine. Cats I have no information on, but dogs can live healthy, happy lives on veg/vegan diets.

30. @Kristen J.

    Cats would be a bad idea — as mentioned, they are obligate carnivores, are quite a bit worse than even dogs at digesting plant life and proteins and are totally unable to synthesize certain nutrients from a vegan diet. You can feed them a 100% vegan diet in the same sense that with a careful diet and nutritional supplements, a human could live off of 100% meat: it’s not good for them, and there really isn’t a compelling reason to try? If you can’t get over the ethics of meat-eating pets, then you should probably not adopt a cat, at least until vat-grown meat costs substantially less than four million US dollars per kilogram. Even dogs are kind of iffy in that sense — you run some of their internal organs ragged. They’re omnivorous but they are much closer to the pure carnivore end of the scale than humans. But with care at least they won’t starve if you give them a carefully crafted diet of actual food.

    I think it’s notable that even PETA says without saying that you might just have to give in and feed your cat or dog meat in their article about feeding carnivorous pets vegetarian diets:

    http://www.peta.org/issues/Companion-Animals/meatless-meals-for-dogs-and-cats.aspx

    After switching dogs or cats to a vegetarian diet, monitor them closely to make sure that their new diet agrees with them, especially if they are still puppies or kittens. Watch for chronic gastrointestinal and skin problems, and note any new health problems. Most dogs and cats’ health improves on a vegetarian diet, but occasionally an animal may not thrive, so use common sense if this occurs.

    (my emphasis)

    I kind of find that funny in light of article on the betta fish which says not to try to feed them a vegetarian diet because they are naturally omnivorous. But they do conclude that you should just not own betta fish at all. Anyway, I digress.

31. Feeding cats vegetarian/vegan diets is pretty close to animal abuse. The poor kitties will typically try to get more proteins by eating bugs and so on and lack of taurine will cause them to slowly lose eyesight.

32. If you want an animal with whom you can share your vegan lifestyle, get a guinea pig, not a dog or a cat. Guinea pigs will quite happily clean up your broccoli stems, kale scraps, and extra carrots. You don’t have to worry that your doing your pet any harm by applying your food choices to it. Everyone’s happy.

    As for cooking for a dog or cat… dog, maybe. My dad cooks up batches of cheap hamburger for our mutt and adds it to the kibble. But most cats I know are so picky that I wouldn’t bother working hard to cook them something. There’s a 50% chance they’d turn their nose up at it. Better to let them snub the cheap stuff.

33. No good can ever come of reading NYT trend pieces. I think the Sulzbergers made a deal with the devil whereby the New York Times would become the U.S.’s paper of record but all trend pieces would always be embarrassingly bad.

34. I confess to raising a wry-ish smile at stories of dogs who turn up their noses at food. I have a Labrador; he’s eaten everything from rugby boots to walls to plush toys. (That last involved a trip to the vet, as the galumptious hound had swallowed it whole.)

    We throw him a raw-food pattie in the morning, and a quarter of a chicken or a hunk of roo tail in the evening (occasionally stepped up, for variety, with a marrowbone or a bit of heart or a lamb neck). It takes maybe thirty seconds, plus hand washing time. Now and then, while I’m cooking human food, he gets treated to a whole raw egg in shell, a couple of bits of sweet potato, or an apple peel. Non-organic (the horror!). Cheapo fish oil capsules are his OMGNOWPLEASENOW training treat. This sort of diet does involve fridge space, though, which could be hard for apartment dwellers, but ok for us. (And then there’s the thing that most sanctimonious petfood discussers don’t seem to talk about – his poo is small, not particularly smelly, and dries up fast. It’s worth it for this alone, to me.)

    Some people really make things a lot harder than they have to be. And then seem to revel in it.

    And then there’s the other side of the equation – there are bad attitudes all over – vets who refuse to believe that anyone could actually sustain a dog on anything other than processed packaged food. I had one literally sneer at me, scold me about it being “impossible” to feed a dog a healthy diet without SCIENCE!!1! (um, unlike, say humans? Last time I looked, most of us didn’t live on monkey chow), and lecture me that since I had a child to take care of, I had better things to do. Her waiting room was festooned with dog-food propaganda (my dog needs bovine colostrum? Really?), and my business promptly went elsewhere.

35. Actually, Junebug used to happily gnaw on the frozen raw bones that the dogwalker gave her. Problem is, she would take them into my bed and leave them there if the marrow was very hard.

    And then, of course, she’d forget about them and they’d thaw. In my bed.

36. “If you want an animal with whom you can share your vegan lifestyle, get a guinea pig, not a dog or a cat.”

    My guinea pig’s been dead for two years, and I still miss him a little whenever there’s a pile of vegetable scraps going into the composter instead of his cage. They are little veggie-scrap-eating machines.

    “Do I think making your own pet food is a little bit silly? Yeah […].”

    The only people I know who’ve done more than make their own pet treats had dogs or cats with persistent digestive issues or skin problems due to filler/preservative allergies, mostly because it can be a bit of work and the work is front-loaded so you’re more likely to burn out. One of my cats would be perfectly happy to subsist on a diet of nothing but the turkey puree we make for her as a treat, eventually blindness or no, but she may also classify as having a clinical addiction to turkey, so she’s probably not a terribly good test case.

37. Before mousing over the link, as soon as I read the first two sentences of the blockquote, I fucken *knew* it was from the NY Times. It’s almost like they *want* to rile up the mobs with pitchforks and torches looking for grotesque rich people behaving like disgusting pigs.

38. Who has time for this?

    I love my cat, but I also enjoy having an income…

39. It’s not just the protein requirements that make cats obligate carnivores.

    Cats can’t synthesize taurine on their own, and without it, they’ll go blind.

    Cats will also voluntarily starve themselves to death (hepatic lipidosis is an awful way to die) when confronted with unpalatable food or under stress, which is why it seems kind of counterintuitive for PETA (of all people) to endorse tinkering with a cat’s food for reasons that don’t directly benefit the animal.

    I mean, if it’s one thing if a specific animal needs a specific diet, but to risk a cat’s life and health for a philosophical position seems counterproductive, capricious and needlessly cruel.

40. akeeyu: It’s not just the protein requirements that make cats obligate carnivores.Cats can’t synthesize taurine on their own, and without it, they’ll go blind.

    Cats probably shouldn’t be eating a vegan diet, but this argument is kinda useless since the taurine in cat food is added, because the taurine that was present in the meat is lost in processing. So it’s usually necessary to supplement taurine no matter what your cat is eating. (Cat food manufacturers do the supplementing for you.)

41. A vegetarian diet is fine for dogs. Not for cats. My sister’s dog had health issues that made eating meat dangerous and incredibly bad for him, and he was given vegetarian dog food and did very well on it.

    I feed my cats a combination of kibble and organic canned food. I don’t recommend feeding a cat an all-kibble diet because even though the dry food is better for their teeth, it’s a contributing factor to chronic renal failure.

42. My dog had horrible ear infections, and 3 different vets told us that the only relief for him was to surgically ablate his ears (seal up the ear canals) which would render him deaf.

    I read that many ear infections are linked to diet, so we switched Cuddles to V-dog a premade vegan dog kibble. He loved it and within 2 weeks the ear infections that had been plaguing him since we got him (he is a rescue) cleared up completely.

    Its been 3 years and we have an extremely healthy, happy vegan dog.

43. My best friend stacks this up every day for her (hundred pound) dog: a cup or so of cereal like Total or Special K; maybe 12 oz. of Dinty Moore Beef Stew; a cup of yogurt or sour cream; a can of vegetables like string beans.

    The dog–eleven years old–loves this meal. He has loads of energy and his weight has gone to a really healthy level for him.

    Sure, I think it’s funny. That’s a lot of “people food” and it’s kind of expensive. But she loves her dog and it’s working for them.

44. “If we did decide to feed our cats dry food, or some godforsaken brand like Friskies or Fancy Feast or Alpo, the cat should be taken away by CPS.”

    after 4 cats with urinary tract blockages
    (and knowing of many more)
    the vet said ‘no dry ever!’
    (or at least urinary tract dry and mostly wet.)
    your cat can die in 24 hours if blocked.
    mostly males but females too….
    and this is EXTREMELY common.
    fyi!

45. My partner is in the vet industry, and we’re crunchy, low-income hippie-ish types, so when our last dog starting have seriously expensive skin and GI problems, we started cooking for him. The cost was about the same as the vet bills, which plummeted.

    Now, we feed our pets raw diets, and they are super healthy, energetic, etc. Frozen, pre-packaged, well-formulated raw diets are available commercially, if you have the money; far cheaper is to do the research and take the time yourself. Either way, I think it depends on how you feel about the commitment you made when you got pets: are they members of the family, entitled to the same health care prevention and maintenance as the rest, or not?

46. Constance Lambson:Either way, I think it depends on how you feel about the commitment you made when you got pets: are they members of the family, entitled to the same health care prevention and maintenance as the rest, or not?  

    It also depends on how much money and time you have, even if you love your pets, if you’re sick too or you have kids, you simply may not be able to factor in that time and expense. If you can’t afford vet bills that aren’t emergency to begin with, chances are you can’t afford the food. Not being able to afford that and prioritising other expenses doesn’t mean you don’t love your pets. It’s a privilege if you can afford that.

47. Constance Lambson: Either way, I think it depends on how you feel about the commitment you made when you got pets: are they members of the family, entitled to the same health care prevention and maintenance as the rest, or not?  

    I’m sorry, I can’t hear you over the sound of your privileged judgment.

    This sounds an awful lot like the arguments used against (mostly low-income) parents that claim the only way they can really love their kids is by feeding them local, organic everything, and so the processed foods their situation requires are a form of abuse. Income aside, you have a major privilege: your husband works in the animal care industry. Right there, you have easy access to knowledge and information that most of the population doesn’t, and also doesn’t have the time to look for.

    It’s great that you can feed your animals really good-quality stuff. Really, I applaud that, and if I am ever in a logistical and financial situation that allows that, I may follow suit. Until then, keep your blanket judgment to yourself. I love my pets, and if the bright eyes, tail-wagging, and purring are anything to go by, they’re not too upset with me, either.

48. IANY: “It’s a privilege if you can afford that.”

    Isn’t the mere fact of having pets an expression of privilege? Is anyone on this board a shepherd or farmer, that keeps working dogs for economic survival? If so, those animals probably don’t eat kibble, and it’s not because they are “privileged.”

    If you can’t afford a pet, or you are not willing to make the required sacrifices, don’t have one. Yes, it really is that simple. You don’t get puppies or kittens as a result of rape, incest, or the condom breaking; you make a conscious choice, go out of your way, to take on the responsibility. Factoring in the long-term health care included in that choice, that responsibility, is basic; certainly no less so than in buying a car.

    And if your circumstances change, like mine did this year when I got laid off, you do the best you can, based on that basic commitment once made. Sometimes it’s to give up the pet; sometimes everyone eats differently and sees the doctor less. But how one balances that depends on real questions about the value of a person vs. a pet, why you got a pet in the first place, and how one answers those questions for oneself. Your answers may be different than mine. I don’t know, we haven’t had the conversation, but my answer is probably pretty clear by now.

    “Until then, keep your blanket judgment to yourself.”

    Uh, no. I did not judge anyone. I put a question out there. You judged your own beliefs and/or actions, and blamed me for your defensiveness at the answer you got… from yourself.

49. Sorry, this was in response to MEGAN:

    “Until then, keep your blanket judgment to yourself.”

    Uh, no, wrong answer. I did not judge anyone. I put a question out there. You judged your own beliefs and/or actions, and blamed me for your defensiveness at the answer you got… from yourself.

50. Sorry, this was in response to Megan:

    “I’m sorry, I can’t hear you over the sound of your privileged judgment. ” “Until then, keep your blanket judgment to yourself.”

    Whoa, Ms. Kettle, oh, no. I did not judge anyone. I put a question out there. You judged your own beliefs and/or actions, and blamed me for your defensiveness at the answer you got from your own self.

    Also, look who’s talking:
    “Income aside, you have a major privilege: your husband works in the animal care industry.”

    You are wrong in about 4 different directions here, starting with all of your assumptions. In fact, I don’t even think you can hear *yourself* over all of the “privileged judgments” you’re so quick to credit others.

51. The leader of the Cat Lady class should watch Animal Cops on Animal Planet, and Pet Hoarding from the same station. perhaps if they saw the reality of true animal abuse, they’d realize how claiming buying the wrong type of cat food means a call to Animal Protection is an overreaction.

    I can’t stand these guilt trippers. I imagine the Cat Lady class leader, probably judges parents who’s kids aren’t perfectly fed, and wants to threaten them with CPS. Like those people who claim feeding your child french fries, is just as criminal as hitting them with a belt or burning them.

    Seems alot of people think exaggerating an issue will bring more attention to it or themselves. It just makes the person looks like an hysteric, needing to invent drama to make their lives seem worthwhile. With little to no concern about how their minimalizing the reality of a tragic situation upsets others.

    It’s like how any occupation that one involves themselves in for more than an hour, like a hobby, is now considered an addiction. Perhaps the people who throw the term addiction around like a buzzword, should meet with a parent who’s child died of drugs. See if they think an extra hour on the internet, compares to their child dying from a drug. I’m sure they’d tell you they’d perfer them alive with a food “addiction” or W.O.W “adddiction” instead of being dead.

52. Constance Lambson:
    Either way, I think it depends on how you feel about the commitment you made when you got pets: are they members of the family, entitled to the same health care prevention and maintenance as the rest, or not?  

    You judged your own beliefs and/or actions, and blamed me for your defensiveness at the answer you got from your own self.

    This question in connection with your description about what you choose to feed your pets, strongly implies that you think a pet who is “a member of the family” is fed the way you feed your pets. Maybe you didn’t mean to imply that.

    I do, in fact, consider my pets members of the family. I feed them. I pay for their vet bills. I get up at various hours of the morning to let them out or in. I play with them. I take them to places where they can play with other pets. I educate them to the degree required for them to interact with society. I love them even when they do things that embarrass or inconvenience me. Just because I do not make the same choices you do does not mean I don’t consider them members of the family. Yes, I got defensive, because someone on the internet was telling me that my choices meant I didn’t love my pets. Maybe I’m not allowing them to live in a pet utopia, where all food is raw and organic, but that’s just not a reality for me.

    Getting a pet is absolutely a conscious choice and a commitment. Everyone will negotiate that commitment differently. As long as an animal has enough food (of whatever kind), access to shelter, health care, and affection, I’m not going to nitpick much beyond that. You can, if you like.

    Constance Lambson:
    Also, look who’s talking:
    “Income aside, you have a major privilege: your husband works in the animal care industry.”You are wrong in about 4 different directions here, starting with all of your assumptions.   

    You mentioned your husband’s career in direct relation to your pet feeding choices. I assumed that meant his career had some influence on your decision. It’s not a ridiculous assumption to make, that a vet-related employee would know things about animals that the general population doesn’t. If his career in the vet industry had nothing to do with it, then I’m sorry I assumed that.

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