do you feed your pets fruits and veggies?

I guess this is a funny question, but if they are good for us, are they not good for them? Should I encourage my cat to eat grass rather than laughing hysterically when he does?

Wed. Jun 6, 4:41pm

The nutritional needs of your cats are drastically different than yours. Cats are carnivores and lack the digestive enzymes to break down vegetable matter - if you could get a cat to eat fruits and veggies - it would probably make them sick. You simply cannot impose your purely human viewpoint of what is and is not a 'good' diet onto other speicies. It doesn't work that way. Please do some research on the specific nutritional needs of your cat before you inadvertently torture them in a well-meaning attempt to 'make them healthy.'

Your cat likely eats grass to alleviate gastric discomfort due to hairballs, or because of some nutritional deficiency (see the link).

Link

Wednesday, June 06, 2007, 5:19 PM

^-- Also - if the grass contains pesticides or fertilizer it could pose a hazard to your cat.

Wednesday, June 06, 2007, 5:21 PM

Many cats eat grass (you can get cat grass). My little guy trys to steal cantaloupe whenever I have it. I gave it to him once, just to see what he'd do, and he loved it (wouldn't shut up after that)

Wednesday, June 06, 2007, 5:24 PM

special cat grass for a cat is OK. My dog sometimes eats grass, too.

Cats and dogs aren't human and they shouldn't eat our food. Even if they beg for it. If you give in to them, you probably give in to yourself.

Nutrition for pets should be as important as your own... read their food labels and feed them according to their weight.

Wednesday, June 06, 2007, 5:57 PM

playing devil's advocate to the above post (which i do agree with) - pet foods weren't invented until recently. dogs and cats survived for centuries on our table scraps, trash, and what they could find in the yard long before we invented pet food.

Wednesday, June 06, 2007, 6:03 PM

Some human fruits / veggies are poisonous!

Be careful! Talk to your vet before feeding your pet people food. Grapes/raisins can cause kidney problems, chocolate can kill a small dog or cat because of the caffeine in it (would probably just give a large dog GI problems)... some things are okay like carrots, but talk to your vet. Dogs being overweight cause the same problems it does for us... arthritis, diabetes, heart problems, etc. If you love your dog, give them only things that keep them in good health!

Wednesday, June 06, 2007, 6:20 PM

5:57 here

You're right, pet food isn't that old and animals will survive on table scraps.

'Survive' isn't the same as 'thrive' and doesn't mean a 'long and healthy' life..

Kinda like PEOPLE!

:)

Wednesday, June 06, 2007, 6:23 PM

My dog likes compost....

My dog eats just about anything - although we feed him expensive scientifically balanced pet food. He seems to get more enjoyment from picking over the compost heap. He especially likes apples & goes mad when he sees us eating them :-)

Thursday, June 07, 2007, 5:55 AM

My dog could very easily be a vegetarian. She loves apples and carrots. She'll sit at my feet when I'm peeling or chopping veggies and hope something falls on the floor. Oh, and popcorn! She can't get enough of that either. I know about raisins and grapes though. We don't share those with her. :o)

Thursday, June 07, 2007, 6:47 AM

my dogs go absolutely nuts for apples. their mouths drool and leave puddles whenever they watch me eat one, but it doesn't happen with other food. i'll usually give them the core when i'm done (please, no lecture about cyanide in apple seeds. i know).

as for them rooting through the yard - i always figured that they have better noses and better instincts than i do, and they know what they need to eat. at least i thought that until they found the gopher poison spilled in the shed and ate it. i had to take them to the dog ER. then they readily ate activated charcoal without any prompting. they got admitted to the dog ICU for the night and released the next morning without any ill-effects. now i just think my dogs are idiots who will eat anything they can find - including poison and charcoal.

Thursday, June 07, 2007, 9:38 AM

I wholeheartedly agree that dogs are idiots. Loveable ones, and great companions, but they're definetly not the best nutritionists.

Thursday, June 07, 2007, 10:01 AM

9:38 again

in my dogs' defense....the poison had to taste good enough to get the gophers to eat it, right?

Thursday, June 07, 2007, 10:04 AM

My dog eats grass, ice cubes, snow, hardwood charcoal, nails, staples, the skin and fuzz off of tennis balls and the occasional rock. he supplements this with the occasional slow moving bunny. None of this you would suspect from a super cute little cocker spaniel.

Thursday, June 07, 2007, 10:10 AM

it's neither fruit nor veggie but one of my cats goes crazy for two things- tiny marshmallows and gummie bears. it's so funny to watch her chew/lick them to death... but she doesn't get them anymore as we don't have them in the house anymore. :( poor kitty!

the other cat is like a dog, will eat anything... sushi! stop eating carpet fuzz!!!!

Thursday, June 07, 2007, 11:05 AM

My dog goes CRAZY for the leafy part of celery stalks. He is a 2 year old weimaraner and is sensitive to the additives in many dog treats. My vet suggested using baby carrots, apple pieces and celery as treats instead. Whenever I pull celery out of the fridge he runs circles around me until I share. Once he gets his "treat" he wanders around the house for 10 or so minutes with the celery stalk hanging out of his mouth like a cigar before finally chomping down the entire thing. The best part is that he thinks he's getting people food and it's the part I would normally just throw away!

Thursday, June 07, 2007, 1:26 PM

My dog LOVES cheese! And, she goes crazy for popcorn, but she never actually eats it - she just carries it around and puts it places! So we kinda stopped eating it, b/c she'll beg and be annoying for it, but then if we give it to her, she makes a huge mess!!

She also likes carrots.

At a training class we went to, through a local rescue group, they taught us that some tricks/obedience items require "bigger reward" items than others - like, listening to us when we're in the middle of the park which is full of distractions needs more than when we're in our quiet living room. They gave the dogs hot dogs or cheese for "high reward" items, and cat treats for "lower reward."

Thursday, June 07, 2007, 5:31 PM

i dont feed my dogs people food, but they get little scraps of carrots whenever i make a salad. i accidently drop carrot shavings each time, and they get them. they don't beg for anything else, but carrots! whenever they hear me cutting any vegetable, they run in to see if i am possibly cutting their fav., carrots!

Thursday, June 07, 2007, 11:36 PM

a few years ago i made a great cooked carrot dish for a large thanksgiving party. my dog got into the leftovers. she pooped orange for 2 days.

Friday, June 08, 2007, 5:19 PM

My vet also recommended baby carrots, apples, cheese for those "high rewareds" and/or a kong toy stuffed with peanut butter to keep the dog busy when we're going to be away for a large part of the day.

Friday, June 08, 2007, 10:12 PM

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