cat-care-and-welfare

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Reblogging to respond to later.

Attention Vegan/Vegetarian Cat Parents

Want to feed your cat a diet that is ethically/environmentally conscious, but that you are certain is still healthy for them? Check out the Science Diet formula for Sensitive Skin and Stomach. I just learned about it, apparently it is mostly vegetarian (eggs and rice). BUT, it has passed AAFCO feed trials, which is basically the gold standard in veterinary nutrition. So, you can be sure that the food will give your cat everything they need. The oldest cat they ever raised at their research center (which is a paradise for the cats and dogs there, you can check it out online) lived to be 25, which gives me a lot of confidence in their food.

I know some of you want to feed your kitty companions purely vegan diets. But, if you made a diet for a cat with only vegan ingredients (and synthetic additives to make up for lack of animal products), you would need to include highly digestible protein at twice the level of dogs of the same size, provide pre-formed vitamin A (cats cannot use B-carotene at all), and add taurine, arginine, methionine, cysteine, tyrosine, carnitine, arachidonic acid, and vitamins B-12, thiamin, D, and niacin. That still leaves a deficiency in omega-3 fatty acids that cats need for brain development, including EPA and DHA. Cats need calcium in forms they can digest, usually organic forms or chelated to amino acids, not as calcium carbonate (chalk).

Theoretically, feeding your cat a vegan diet is possible, but it’s extremely difficult to do, and is going to be extremely risky. Because no matter how well formulated the end product is, you can never be sure of the nutrient bioavailability, and know how much your pet is actually benefiting from the food. It’s also going to be a very large volume of food, so if you have a cat with a small appetite, or that is a picky eater, that could pose further issues.

So, I am telling you about this food because I think it is a great option/compromise. It has a much lower impact, ethically and environmentally, than conventional cat foods, and you can also be certain you are feeding your cat something that will help them live a long and healthy life. Check it out!

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Eating grass may be a sign of stomach upset. If she's shedding, see about brushing her more often. See may have hairballs she's trying to clear.

Vegan wanna be kitty

I don’t feed my cat a vegan diet for a few reasons, but when I see how much grass from the garden she eats (like a LOT), when I spot her chewing on an iceberg lettuce I just placed on the kitchen table, and when her best friend is a rabbit, I start having the feeling that maybe she wants to live cruelty-free.

Or maybe she’s a grass-eater-hugger pussy.

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Why I am Against Purchasing Hermit Crabs

Hey friends you probably know me from my betta fish post, but guess what? I’m back to share the hard truths about the hermit crab industry!

1. Hermit crabs don’t readily breed in captivity so they are all wild caught

Yes those hermit crabs you see crammed into small wire cages on the boardwalks, or you see in small tanks at the pet store, were once completely free until they were stolen from their proper home to be sold as “cheap” pets.  You tell me what is better: a tiny plastic tank or an entire beach?

2. They are forced into painted shells to sell more easily

Hermit crabs would rather lose a limb than be pulled out of their shell, so how do sellers get them into those pretty painted shells?  They crack the shell, drill holes in them, freeze the crabs to near death (sometimes actual death) to slow their reflexes, and that’s only naming a few methods.  They are then either stuffed into, or left with the painted shells as their only option.  Not only that, but painted shells are extremely dangerous to the crabs as they will chip and either irritate the crabs body within the shell, or be eaten by the crab and you’d better believe that stuff is toxic! Here’s a good list on other reasons why painted shells are bad.

3. They are kept in awful conditions prior to and often after they are sold

They are placed in an overcrowded box without enough resources to share.  Not only that, but hermit crabs need a lot of humidity, and this enclosure holds none.  When you purchase a hermit crab from this type of place you absolutely are not rescuing it.  You are giving that establishment more money to do this to more crabs.  Buying these guys is supporting a cruel industry.  After they are sold you are often given something along the lines of this 

which, again, is too small and does not hold enough humidity.  The minimum tank size for a hermit crab should be 10 gallons.  They also need a few inches of substrate for molting.  They are also often kept alone which is a big no no! Hermit crabs are extremely social and should always be in groups.  In these conditions they often live a few months while in the wild these guys have a lifespan of up to 30 years!

I already own hermit crabs!!

That’s okay!  This post is not an attack on you! Here are some care sheets on how to properly care for a hermit crab so it could potentially live a full life x x x and please never release your crabs into the wild, that goes for any pet.

But I REALLY want a hermit crab!

If you are planning on keeping it properly cool, you can still do that! The unfortunate, yet convenient, thing about animals is that people often decide they don’t want their pets anymore.  Adopting a previously owned pet is always more ideal than buying (especially in this case).  You can often find them online, I personally use craigslist.  This is what real rescuing looks like!

Here’s a video and an article that covers this whole post very well.  (I normally do not support PETA for reasons I won’t mention here but I found these to be pretty good resources).

So please keep this in mind the next time you see hermit crabs for sale!

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He almost looks like an upper mid content wolf dog to me. He doesn't have the lanky, leggy appearance wolves do and he has quite a short muzzle for a wolf.

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We all want the best for our pets, but life sometimes gets in the way when there is a sudden illness or accident that leaves us facing large vet bills we were not expecting. Maybe we have to move and we are wondering how the pet is going to come too. A job loss can make it hard to feed ourselves and our beloved pets. Luckily, there are resources out there to help you through hard times.

#1 – IMOM

This all-volunteer 501©(3) charity helps people cover vet bills when they just can’t do it themselves. They also help with spay/neuter and have a staff on hand to answer questions or get you the resources you need for any issues with your pet.

#2 – YouCaring.com

Youcaring.com is a free crowdfunding site that focuses on raising money for people who need it for personal reasons – everything from education to pet expenses. Each month, they have over 2,000 crowdfunding campaigns for people needing help with pet care costs. Recently, Cheryl Dohn raised more than $8,000 on her campaign (goal was only $2,500) to help her dog Roxy Mama.

#3 – RedRover

RedRover.org has grants for people who need financial support. This can be for an animal you rescued (and are fostering) or your own pet. They also have a program that helps with disaster relief, criminal seizures and hoarding cases.

#4 – Harley’s Hope Foundation

This nonprofit’s mission is to ensure low income pet parents and their companion or service animals remain together when issues arise. Some of the services they offer include: Pet Assistance Fund, Service Animal Aid Fund, Senior Services Project and Medical. More can be found on their website.

#5 – ASPCA

The ASPCA has two programs in New York City: Spay Neuter Operations and Cruelty Intervention Advocacy, which helps those facing relinquishment. In Los Angeles, they have a free spay/neuter clinic. They not only have their own programs, but can also connect you to different resources.

#6 – Breed Specific

Many breed rescues and groups have specials funds available for owners who need financial assistance. A few examples are the Special Needs Dobermans, Labrador Lifeline, and Pitbull Rescue Central. (H/T:Chewiesays.com)

#7 – Brown Dog Foundation

After going through the experience of not being able to care for her dog with cancer, Carol Smock (along with six others), started Brown Dog Foundation to help others avoid the situation Smock found herself in back in 2006. It’s a public charity “that provides funding to families who find themselves in similar situations – a sick pet that would likely respond to treatment, but due to an unforseen circumstance, there is not enough money immediately available to make it happen.”

#8- Disease Specific

Another route is to look for groups that help with specific diseases. For example, Canine Cancer Awareness,The Magic Bullet Fund, Helping Harley Fund, and Muffin Diabetes Fund. (H/T: Chewiesays.com)

#9 – The Pet Fund

The Pet Fund provides financial assistance to owners whose pets need veterinary care. In addition to their own programs, they have a lot of resources on their site, including links to many area and/or group specific programs that may fit your needs.

#10 – Banfield Charitable Trust

The Banfield Pet Hospital has its own programs for owners that can’t afford their pet’s care. Of course they cover emergency surgeries, but they also cover routine, preventative care.

#11 – Meals on Wheels

Many people do not realize that Meals on Wheels also helps people feed their pets. Sponsored by Banfield Pet Hostpital, the Meals on Wheels Pet Program was created to make sure seniors were able to provide food for their pets.

#12 – The Onyx & Breezy Foundation

Another privately run nonprofit started in memory of the founder’s dogs, this foundation has a host of programs including helping people with medical bills. They also donate to many other programs, including cancer research, and they are a good resource for information if you need help finding a grant that fits your situation.

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They are not misinformed. They are choosing to ignore information that does not agree with their stance and feelings. It is common sense cats are highly carnivorous and need meat to thrive. Cats being fed the borderline vegan diets that are cheap pet foods is killing cats: Cheap food over years ends up afflicting them with diabetes, obesity, renal problems, dental problems, and more. How can someone position themselves as THE animal rights activists, but then do this? Why does the vegan community allow well known vegans to get away with this? If a prominent vegan were to kick a cat, they would be shunned, but several prominent vegans feed cats and dogs vegan and people look the other way. 

If you feed your pets “vegan pet food”, you deserve to be force-fed your own shit <3 <3 <3

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No your cat cannot be fed a vegan diet.

This is a biological fact not an opinion. Not an agenda or bias. It is pure scientific fact. You cannot feed your carnivorous pets a vegetarian or vegan diet.  Especially cats. Cats are obligate carnivores which means that they live on a solely meat based diet that is biologically essential for their survival. 

Not only does the meat contain enzymes, amino acids, nutrients and other essential minerals, cats can’t utilize plant-based proteins at all. Cats require high levels of amino acids like taurine and arginine that plants do not provide and require vitamin D (D3) that is only found in meat. So while eating a vegetarian / vegan based diet might “fill” their stomachs they cannot get any nutrients from it as they are unable to break down plant matter. 

This is because of a number of reasons. Firstly plant matter if hard to digest and herbivores require special biological systems to be able to live on a plant-only diet. Such as an enzyme called cellulose that that breaks down the cell wall of plant matter and bacteria that live in their gut, that herbivores cannot do themselves. Cats instead have an enzyme called amylase that can be used to break down small amounts of plant matter. But it is only produced in small amounts and therefore cannot handle high levels of plant matter. 

There is also the fact their digestive tracts are vastly different from that of herbivores. 

As you can see, carnivores have a rather short digestive tract. This because the nutrients and energy in meat is easier to absorb then an animal eating a herbivorous diet.  

Herbivores therefore have long digestive tracts in order to lengthen the time the plant matter is in their body and therefore have a chance to absorb more of the energy. In fact ruminant herbivores have a hour chamber stomach and ruminant (regurgitate) their food in order to better break down the plant matter and absorb more of the nutrients.

The dental structure of a carnivore such as a cat and a herbivore is also vastly different as they are adapted for their different diets. Cats have teeth (incisors and canine) that are used for tearing flesh and holding onto prey. They have only one set of molars as shown and three sets of pre-molars. These teeth are used for grinding / chewing. Compared to that of a herbivore, it’s hardly enough to break down and chew a plant based diet.

A herbivore’s dental structure (horse) contain of mostly molars rather then teeth used for tearing / holding onto prey. As shown below, a horse has many sets of large molars and a large mandible. That allows for long periods of chewing and grinding down on tough plant-matter / grains ect. 

Your cat cannot live on a meatless diet  Any good vet will tell you this and if they don’t they are either not properly qualified or pushing an agenda. If you are uncomfortable with feeding meat to a cat or dog or any other carnivorous pet. Then don’t get that pet. Get an animal that lives on grains or plant matter because you should not own a cat if you’d rather put your own agenda / “morals” over that of an animals life and well being. 

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Yes, people feed their carnivores vegan. Check out my blog, where I attempt to talk dozens of people out of feeding their cats and dogs vegan, and I don’t always succeed. Not all vegans of course, but they exist enough that there’s commercial brands of vegan cat and dog food, and across the board meat allergies aren’t so rare that multiple manufacturers can sell them in pet stores across the US. The bulk have to be going to animals that could eat meat but their owner chooses not to. 

I know vegans are predominantly concerned (and rightly so) with the slaughter of animals for human consumption, but I really want to see more vegans get fired up about proper animal husbandry. Like I know that having a pet isn’t vegan in the first place, but that doesn’t stop 90% of vegetarian/vegan people from having an animal companion. I want to see vegans condemning the tiny wire hamster cages. I want to see vegans throwing a fit over the tiny betta fish tanks. I want to see vegans get upset about dry cat food. Yeah that’s right. I want to see vegans advocate feeding a cat other animals. Know why? Because the cat can’t oppress other animals. It’s no the cats choice to NEED animal protien. They don’t have a cecum, they can’t digest plant matter. Yes, the murdering of animals needs to stop. But I want to see animal husbandry become a vegan issue too.

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I know vegans are predominantly concerned (and rightly so) with the slaughter of animals for human consumption, but I really want to see more vegans get fired up about proper animal husbandry. Like I know that having a pet isn’t vegan in the first place, but that doesn’t stop 90% of vegetarian/vegan people from having an animal companion. I want to see vegans condemning the tiny wire hamster cages. I want to see vegans throwing a fit over the tiny betta fish tanks. I want to see vegans get upset about dry cat food. Yeah that’s right. I want to see vegans advocate feeding a cat other animals. Know why? Because the cat can’t oppress other animals. It’s no the cats choice to NEED animal protien. They don’t have a cecum, they can’t digest plant matter. Yes, the murdering of animals needs to stop. But I want to see animal husbandry become a vegan issue too.

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Attention people who don’t have horses:

Sorry to break in with this on a very much Sherlock-only kind of blog- I promise not to make a regular thing of this, but this is something that’s happened TWICE now. 

This is Beyli. He’s a two-month old foal and he’s adorable. He belongs to a friend of the family. 

So adorable, in fact, that a member of the public spent a nice afternoon feeding him. You feed the ducks and that’s ok. right? It’s a nice thing to do. 

They fed him turnip. He choked and gave himself a stomachache as a result.

The problem is that horses can’t really burp and horses can’t vomit. Their digestive systems are fine-tuned and when they go wrong, they go really wrong. Colic in horses is difficult to treat and in Beyli’s case, like many others, proved to be insurmountable. With pain medicine not working, after 4 hours of doing their best with no improvement, the vet called time on his suffering rather than let him go on to a very slow and painful end. 

A horse needlessly suffered and died because someone fed him the wrong thing. They weren’t necessarily malicious, they were just hugely ignorant. And worse, they were hugely entitled. There were already signs asking people not to feed the animals. As I said, this has now happened TWICE to the same family, and they’re by no means alone. 

PLEASE Don’t feed horses that don’t belong to you. 

Horses can have disorders, diabetes, allergies and dietry requirements and you have NO IDEA if what you’re giving them is acceptable or not. Even ‘safe’ things like carrot and apple could be ‘wrong’ for this particular horse. Grass clippings? Not okay. Grain? Not okay for a horse that hasn’t been regularly eating it. 

Don’t assume. i have seen walkers pull up random plants and offer them over the fence INCLUDING TOXIC, DEADLY weeds like ragwort. I’ve seen horses offered dog-biscuits and bread. I’ve heard of horses being regularly fed by strangers thinking they were being under-fed, when the horse in question was on a vet-given diet to control weight and other conditions. 

Don’t feed horses that don’t belong to you even little treats and things like sugar cubes because it gives them bad manners. They start biting and harassing people. It’s bad for their teeth and too much sugar is terrible for them.

In some places if the owner has liability insurance, if you can be identified, YOU will be legally responsible for the vet’s bills. And if you’re thinking ‘well, they’d never identify me’, then that’s besides the point. 

Please. You wouldn’t feed someone’s dog without asking, I hope. You definitely wouldn’t feed someone else’s child. 

TL;DR: Don’t feed other people’s horses. You can make them SERIOUSLY ill. Treat animals in fields like animals at the zoo: you’re welcome to look, but don’t meddle with their care. 

PLEASE DON’T FEED OTHER PEOPLE’S HORSES. 

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That doesn’t make sense. How can they be healthier when almost all shelter dogs come from those very same irresponsible breeders? 

When you’ve been vegan for over 3 years but your friends never bothered to find out what it means so you get fucking ignorant messages like this. Remember kids, adopt don’t shop.

God I need some vegan friends irl.

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If you would like to support OFSDS you can donate here http://oldfriendsseniordogs.com/donate.html

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New Etsy Shop: TheEthicalVulture [Link]

When I was vegan I was really bumnmed out, because I wanted to get into vulture culture, but much vulture stuff was from hunted animals. While I don’t have as much beef with hunting anymore, I still think everyone should be able to appreciate the beauty of animals who have passed on without compromising their morals or comfort. All animals in my shop have either been struck by cars, died of natural causes, or otherwise died not at the hands of humans intentionally. Leftover parts are returned to the wild for nature to take care of. I found I’m starting to have a surplus of animal parts, so I’m going to start selling them so more people can immerse themselves in this culture… Without the mess! I try to do everything naturally, ethically, and affordably. If you’re interested in natural, ethical, and affordable vulture culture stuff give my shop a browse! I’ll be adding more items today.

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I have a roadkill raccoon pelt up for grabs! This is a young raccoon that was unfortunately struck by a car. The pelt is brain tanned, which I now like a lot better than egg tanning! $35 + shipping as I’m an amateur.  [Link]

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Do you have any other pics? His face and fur texture alone seems to me he’s a purebred Malamute, not a wolfdog. But I can’t be sure without more pics. 

love this guy

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I know it seems like I’m overreacting, but there’s VERY good reason to not do it, actually. People will take this as a true example of a wolfdog, not knowing any better. This is how 100% dogs get put to sleep because they’re labelled wolfdogs and put down at shelters. Even if the staff know it’s 100% dog, it’s too big of a liability and there may be laws against adopting out wolfdogs to private owners. Rabies vaccines are also not approved for wolfdogs, so if the dog ever bites someone? They get put down and tested for rabies. Lastly, a lot of nordic breeds get shot by farmers and scared townspeople because they think a “wolfy looking dog” is an actual wolfdog or even a wolf. Not only that but people will pass off their husky shepherd mix as a wolfdog that “acts just like a dog!” People end up liking it and want their own wolfdog, and are ill prepared for an actual wolfdog that acts like a wild animal. A lot of wolfdogs are killed or in a sanctuary by their second birthday. So misrepresentation kills and harms a lot of dogs.  Go ahead and post in the Wolfdog tag, but make sure it’s an actual wolfdog or specify that it’s 100% dog and you’re using it endearingly. Don’t get upset if someone corrects you. It’s not out of aggression or contempt for you, but concern for animal welfare.  @polecat-flyer as well. 

New roommate. #wolfdog