If cats and dogs don't have to eat vegetables why do I?

[windowall]

Don't get me wrong I like vegetables actually but when things are rough I only want to eat the same thing for all of my meals which is usually peanut butter sandwiches, crackers or plain rice with soy sauce.

 

[MrSpock]

Do you seriously want a nutrition lesson?

The title is funny, but your post is somewhat troubling. Neither cats nor dogs would do well on such a diet as you describe (although peanut butter is good). In WW2 many prisoners of war were given a diet of only rice and eggs, and some of those were denied the eggs as punishment. When deprived of the eggs for long enough they would go blind before dying.

When things are rough it can be difficult to keep motivated, it's too bad that decent nutrition is necessary to feel good physically and that the two are so closely tied in other ways. I'm sure you realize that you need protein. I hope the sandwiches aren't on wonder bread. Not sure what else to say, but please look after yourself better.

 

[windowall]

Do you seriously want a nutrition lesson?

The title is funny, but your post is somewhat troubling. Neither cats nor dogs would do well on such a diet as you describe (although peanut butter is good). In WW2 many prisoners of war were given a diet of only rice and eggs, and some of those were denied the eggs as punishment. When deprived of the eggs for long enough they would go blind before dying.

When things are rough it can be difficult to keep motivated, it's too bad that decent nutrition is necessary to feel good physically and that the two are so closely tied in other ways. I'm sure you realize that you need protein. I hope the sandwiches aren't on wonder bread. Not sure what else to say, but please look after yourself better.

Oh no I don't need a nutrition lesson but thank you. I know cats and dogs can't digest vegetables properly and that a lot of them are poisonous to them and could hurt them. I guess that was my attempt at a joke.

I eat a healthy diet normally and am careful about nutrition because I have a lot of sensitivities but when I am shutting down I find that I only want to eat simple things with no variety. I was just pointing that situation out but maybe its not relatable.

 

[tree]

In the wild, cat and dogs and other carnivores do
eat vegetables, in the form of stomach contents
of their prey.

Plus, dogs eat berries off bushes.
And cats eat catnip.


When a person is under stress (aka "when things are rough")
it makes sense to eat food that is comforting. A simplified
menu can be comforting because it's dependable, you know
what to expect, there's less "challenge" to it.

I don't know about anyone else, but I don't care for "challenging"
food. Food---I expect it to make me feel better while and
after I eat it. If it takes considerable effort mentally or physically
to select, prepare, chew, & swallow it, count me out.

 

[Kirsty]

VERY good question. I know, why is it that cats and dogs don’t have to eat fruit and vegetables and humans do?

 

[ZebraAutismo]

I don’t know my Gran’s dog love apples and once stole a whole punnet of grapes. Maybe their jealous they don’t get any fruit.

 

[Tom]

Actually I do feed my 4 dogs at least a little fruit and/or veggies daily. Look it up and you will find its good/healthy for them (and often Vet recommended). They are scavengers by nature and did eat and will eat just about anything. Humans came up as Omivores with fruits and veggies as part of the diet all along and probably long before that in ancestor homins, if you subscribe to evolutionary theory.

So in a way your ancient Hominin Mominin is telling you to eat your fruits and veggies.

 

[Fitzo]

I don't know about cats, but dogs do well on vegetables. I cook my dogs a mixture of mince, rice and vegetables which I have been feeding them (along with other things) for the last nine years. They are both very healthy.

 

[tree]

My cats love cooked sweet potato and squash.
They also enjoy nutritional yeast.

Some cats I have known liked to eat cooked corn
off the cob. I don't know any cats that like fruit.

My mother used to cook carrots for her dogs.

 

[pjcnet]

Because cats and dogs are carnivores meaning they naturally only eat meat, while we are omnivores which means we naturally eat both meat and vegetables, however with the right diet we can remain very healthy without meat, but it wouldn't work well the other way around. Yes, cats and dogs can eat certain non meat products, but it's not necessary or natural and if they didn't eat meat they'd normally become ill (yes, there's a few vegetarians that have tried to prove this wrong using specialised protein diets with special additives to attempt to substitute for what is normally in meat, but it is going against nature in their case).

Regarding eating the same things, well I have to discipline myself to change foods because unlike most NTs I am happy eating exactly the same thing every single day and this is more common with aspies, but of course that's not usually healthy. Everything should be eaten in moderation with variety to increase the chances of your body getting everything it needs.

 

[Mary Terry]

Dogs and cats both eat grass. Dogs like many kinds of fruit and routinely eat it in the wild. They are not pure carnivores like cats. I once had a dog who carefully picked blackberries with his teeth to avoid the thorns on the bushes.

My dog is allergic to most forms of protein so he eats a special dog food prescribed by the vet, supplemented with a thoroughly cooked mixture of green beans, peas, and lima beans which I prepare as recommended by the vet, and a nutritional supplement for his coat and bones. He is healthy. Dogs' digestive tracts are very short so the veggies must be very well done so they can absorb the nutrients before the food quickly passes through them. If I did not feed my dog this way, he would be bald, have lesions all over him, scratch and chew himself till he bleeds, be miserable and have to live on steroid shots.

Deaf children often have food issues just like autistic children and many of them insist on eating the same thing every day. In fact, many kids, NT and ND, do that. Most will eventually grow up, gain some emotional maturity, develop taste buds for a greater variety of foods, and eat more normal human diets, but some never do.

If you can't or won't eat a balanced diet, then take vitamins at the very least.

 

[Gritches]

Who's forcing you to eat vegetables? If you're forcing yourself, then good - that's how you do good things for yourself, by doing things you know are good for you even if you don't feel like it.

If someone else is forcing you - being incredibly resistant and obstreperous worked for me. Making sure they knew vegetables meant war before I even knew what war was landed me exactly what I wanted for every meal.

 

[SusanLR]

The Carnivore, Omnivore is the answer to the question as different species were created with different needs.
But, animals, like our pets do need a bit of vegetable mixed in for balance.
That's why so many vet recommended pet foods advertise a mix of veggies in with the meat.
And of course there's always the additional vitamins that can be added.
I'm not keen on fruit and I know I don't eat the proper amounts I should.
I'm a meat type person. Don't care much for sweets either.
But, I have a cabinet full of supplements and vitamins.
Sometimes it's easier to take a few extra pills than try to eat something you don't want.
Lots of options when you think of foods and needs for the body.

 

[Progster]

I do go through periods of eating the same food - or because I tend to cook in batches - but if I try to eat the same food all the time, I soon get cravings for certain foods. It's my body's way of telling me that I need to change my diet.

I love fruit and vegetables and have them with almost every meal.

 

[Bolletje]

My cats go crazy for cauliflower, broccoli and pumpkin. And vegan imitation steak, which apparently does a good job of imitating beef, as the cats are wildly enthusiastic about it.

 

[AloneNotLonely]

Dogs and cats can still produce their own vitamin C. In fact, most animals do. In the human evolutionary line, the ability to produce vitamin C was lost because human ancestors at one point in time never had a shortage of vitamin C in their diet, due to a frugivorous diet. What isn't used is lost.

No matter the case, I would never feed a cat plants. They can get serious health issues from this. Dogs actually do very well on plants. Dogs actually have very close micronutrient requirements to humans, a few exceptions are things such as high calcium requirements. Cats are carnivores and as such cannot use plant based Vitamin A and cannot make Taurine.

So if you were like a cat all of those foods would be an even bigger problem than they are now.

 

[Streetwise]

Don't get me wrong I like vegetables actually but when things are rough I only want to eat the same thing for all of my meals which is usually peanut butter sandwiches, crackers or plain rice with soy sauce.

Cats and dogs do eat vegetable matter, dogs eat things that are very very fatty or very sugary ,cats only eat a few types of vegetable matter but neither are considered omnivores .

 

[the_tortoise]

I can relate to wanting to eat only one or two things -- "food jags".

When I have prolonged difficulty keeping my diet varied/nutritionally complete, I take supplements.

 

[windowall]

I think it's fine to feed dogs and cats certain veggies but I know they have problems digesting others. Steaming them with rice and meat is a healthy option for dogs. I haven't seen a similar diet for cats though.

The fruits / veggies I saw at my vet that are known to be toxic to animals:

Dogs: Onions, chives, garlic, raisins/grapes, cherries, chocolate, apricot, salt, gum, avocados, nuts, mushrooms
Specific to cats: Milk, bones/fat

So it seems to be some stone fruit, alliums, caffeine, chocolate, lactose, mushrooms (probably due to wild mushrooms being often poisonous, not sure about store bought shrooms), nuts (maybe they have allergies too?). I'm guessing the bones/fat for cats is a digestion thing and the bones are a physical hazard.

 

[GrownupGirl]

It's funny and sad at the same time how people think all non-human animals have the same nutritional needs as humans. What might be perfectly fine for us to eat could be bad for them, and vice versa. Dog and cats are carnivores, it is perfectly natural for them to be meat eaters, but I believe humans were meant to be omnivores. I even heard that some vegans have ironically killed their cats by putting not letting them eat meat at all. I suggested such people get a pet rabbit or guinea pigs instead. I even heard of at least one nut-job vegan causing her baby's death because she wouldn't give it milk, not even her own, and of course that's just inexcusable.
That's just the way nature made livings things, in order for something to live something else has to die, whether it's a plant or an animal. It's not very pleasant but that's how it is.