The Animal Person Minute: When Vets Shock

There I was, with Emily at the homeopath, and I nearly forgot to ask her about the vegan cat thing. She asks if I’m still a vegan, if the dogs are still thriving as vegans, and then asks what I’m feeding Emily, these days.

Now, three people in the past week have e-mailed me to warn me about Emily eating fish. "Would YOU want to eat the flesh of someone who’s lived in there?" is the usual reason. Mercury, loads of other toxins, and for farm-raised fish there is the reality that they live in poop. Hmmmmm. The homeopath said the same thing, and also that fish foods tend to have more fat in them and Emily, shall we say, doesn’t need extra fat in her food.

And then the whopper that sent my jaw straight to the floor: "You know, if she likes it, don’t be shy with giving Emily some of the food you make for yourself or the dogs. Some of my very first clients had cats that ate a much higher amount of veggies and grains than is in most cat food. They home cook and their cats are some of the healthiest I’ve ever seen."

I like clarity, and all that was a bit vague for me, so I came out with THE question:
"How do you feel about Emily having some vegan food each day. Like maybe 50%."
"That would be great for her."

At which point I scooped my jaw up from the floor.

Here’s the clincher, though. This is what the vet, who has seen Emily and examined her, both in the traditional way and in a non-traditional way (she does energy work), said about Emily. Just Emily. No one else’s cat. And when she said my dogs would do well as vegans, she was talking about my dogs. No one else’s dogs. (She did, however, say that she is transitioning more and more of the older dogs in her practice from raw to vegan and noticing their conditions are improving.)

Emily is out of the fish business, now. But the moral of the story is: I can tell you what works with the animals in my home all day long, but that’s not all that helpful to you. Even if I were a vet, it wouldn’t be that helpful to you, unless of course I had examined your animals. What I do think is transferable are lessons like: find a homeopath, find an open-minded traditional vet educated about nutrition, go to the vet(s) armed with questions and information and take an active role in the care of your animal companions, and remember that everyone is an individual and may need different care or food than the individual next to them, living in the same house.