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Environmental impacts of food consumption by dogs and cats

journals.plos.org

41–50 of 95 posts

Re: Environmental impacts of food consumption by dogs and cats

#41
post #2

Clickbaity title. Original: Environmental impacts of food consumption by dogs and cats Anyway,it's not like the article seems like being a particularly good one, while it cites the concept that meat fed to pets is (largely) not suitable for human consumption, doesn't take into account the actual related impact and vaguely talks of post-processing the non-suitable parts. The IMHO terrible part is this one: >And much p…

Thanks, we've updated it from “Pets consume 30% of all meat products”.

Re: Environmental impacts of food consumption by dogs and cats

#43
My dogs get human grade food. None of this 'maybe good enough for people' stuff. They get real meat and vegetables that are in a recognizable form. They also don't get table scraps. This means my dogs aren't eating dodgy Chinese proteins, and also aren't fat (you may have noticed but most of the food we eat here in the US is terrible for us).

Re: Environmental impacts of food consumption by dogs and cats

#45
post #6
post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>> Your cat and/or dog is probably too fat Slightly above 50% of US pet dogs and cats are overweight.

So, on average, they're in better shape than their owners. https://www.niddk.nih.gov/health-information/health-statisti...

I know my dogs are. They get lean meat and veggies and very few empty sugars and carbohydrates. They're lean and in excellent health for their age. Me? Very much the opposite.

Re: Environmental impacts of food consumption by dogs and cats

#46

So the big question is, why do some many keep dogs? Is it mostly loneliness? If so, should we build towns that makes people less lonely?

Dogs are great companions, they've been bred to be that way for thousands of years, they're not going to be engineered away.

Re: Environmental impacts of food consumption by dogs and cats

#47
post #43

My dogs get human grade food. None of this 'maybe good enough for people' stuff. They get real meat and vegetables that are in a recognizable form. They also don't get table scraps. This means my dogs aren't eating dodgy Chinese proteins, and also aren't fat (you may have noticed but most of the food we eat here in the US is terrible for us).

[deleted]

Re: Environmental impacts of food consumption by dogs and cats

#48
post #43

My dogs get human grade food. None of this 'maybe good enough for people' stuff. They get real meat and vegetables that are in a recognizable form. They also don't get table scraps. This means my dogs aren't eating dodgy Chinese proteins, and also aren't fat (you may have noticed but most of the food we eat here in the US is terrible for us).

[deleted]

Re: Environmental impacts of food consumption by dogs and cats

#49
post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

One thing that can help a lot is to give dogs and cats more vegetables. In particular, they love brassicas, especially brussels sprouts and broccoli. Either mixed in with their regular food or as a treat, it helps fill them up with very few calories - and really good for them too. If you haven't tried this, I recommend it. Simply microwave some brussels sprouts or broccoli until tender, let cool, and either chop it u…

Dogs yeah, they're omnivores as far as I understand. Cats though are straight up carnivore, and while they might enjoy the taste of some veggies, and some stuff can help with their digestion, they don't really get much nutrients out of vegetables, and a large portion of veggies are downright harmful to them.

Dogs picked up the ability to use some starches for nutrition around the time humans started to farm. http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2016/11/how-farming-changed-d... Wolves (from which we domesticated dogs) have only a tiny ability to digest starches. Dogs that were bred in mostly hunting communities like the Siberian Husky do not have the ability to digest starches well, same as wolves.

Re: Environmental impacts of food consumption by dogs and cats

#50
post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> meat fed to pets is (largely) not suitable for human consumption 30% unsuitable for human consumption? This choosiness is a just one more sign of affluence and one of the habits we have to get rid of if we want to improve our ecological footprint. Go to a rural village in a developing country and you will see them using 95% easily. This is just

The choosiness is also culture-dependent. I have eaten pig feet, pig stomach, shark fin, unidentifiable organs and very bony meat at somewhat upscale restaurants in China. I'm sure there are some foods that are seen as basically inedible in China, but those do not necessarily coincide with Western tastes. A lot of this is probably influenced by perceptions of "poor-people food" (like lobster) instead of being based i…

> A lot of this is probably influenced by perceptions of "poor-people food" (like lobster)

Since when is lobster considered a "poor-people food"? That is the exact impression I get when it's the most expensive entree on most menus.

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