Some questions for vegans about animals:?!

I'm not a vegan per say, I eat eggs from my own chickens and milk from my own cow, all are treated w/ respect and are free range, but still it would not be considered vegan by most. My lifestyle, however, is vegan.

1. I don't use chemical pest control, I use humane animal catchers to capture any mice and catch other bugs and put them outside. I do have cats, though, and they kill the mice, but when it concerns me I can't kill an animal, no matter how small.

2. Obviously not, that's a form of cruelty, and completely defeats the purpose of animal rights. My cats and dogs eat meat, it would be completely cruel to deny them that.

3. Yes. I don't wear or use leather in any way. I use synthetic saddles on my horses and use synthetic shoes. The only real material that my clothing is made out of is organic cotton. Like I said, I live a very vegan lifestyle; 99% of everything I use and own is organic, natural and does very minimal impact on the environment and animals.

4. My children aren't vegan/vegetarian. They can eat whatever they want, but due to me being the main parent and cook at home, we eat a generally veg diet. I've never gotten any crap from anyone I listen to (doctor has never commented on them being unhealthy due to diet and my kids don't go to school), only the occasional comment from people who don't understand most things about my way of parenting. They're easy to ignore - I know my kids are healthy and my husband is a physician, anyway.


If you would like to know any more about my organic lifestyle, you can send me an email through the link on my profile :).

Hi, I hope my answers help:
1) Yes, I try to get rid of pest with little harm (for example, I have a spider catcher that catches and releases spiders alive), but I also have a cat that kills mice, so I cannot always win.
2) My cat eats animals.
3) I wear old leather (for example a leather belt I bought at a used clothing store).

1. Being vegan has affected the pest control aspect of my life only a little bit. I do my best to "rescue" spiders, moths, beetles and most other insects in my apartment. However, I will not deny that I dislike cockroaches and flies and will not hesitate to kill them on site. I've never had to deal with rats as pests (I've had them as pets though), but when we had wild mice sneaking into our cupboards a few years ago we used humane traps, where the mouse can crawl in but not out, and then we'd release them somewhere else they'd be happy. That was actually before I went vegan. I've just never seen the point of exterminating rodents, I love rats and mice!

2. No, I wouldn't feed a carnivorous animal a vegan diet. That would sort of defeat the point of being vegan for animal welfare/rights. But if I had an omnivorous pet (a rat, for instance) then yes, I would exclude meat from their diet as they don't need it. Neither cats nor dogs are omnivorous, they are both carnivores. I've heard of some people feeding their dogs vegan but I would not do it myself if I had a dog.

3. Yes! Leather is definitely not vegan! It's an animal product and vegans don't use animal products. Wool and silk are not considered vegan either, although personally I think wool is debatable (I still boycott wool, I just wouldn't think it's *necessarily* unethical to buy wool).

4. I don't have children. My doctor doesn't know I'm vegan, and my psychologist asks me about it once in a while (am I getting enough iron, protein, blah blah blah). I just politely explain that yes, I am healthy, yes I have good nutrition, yes I will have a blood test if I get worried (like I shouldn't have a blood test when I get worried if I eat meat?).

If you want to learn more about vegan nutrition, see this website;
- http://www.veganhealth.org/
This website is also helpful for finding what foods to eat for certain vitamins/minerals;
- http://www.healthaliciousness.com/ (On the right hand side you'll see "Top Ten Lists" - click one of the options to see the Top Ten Foods list for it)

I hope you do give veganism a try. Personally, going vegan opened me up to a whole new world of information, nutrition, cooking, and ethical ideas. My whole view on life in general has changed for the better. It feels great! Also, don't feel as if you have to suddenly drop all animal products. You can make a slow transition, for instance one week you can cut out red meat, the next week white meat, the next week fish/seafood, the next dairy, et cetera, and all that time you can be educating yourself on how to live a healthy vegan lifestyle. Just a suggestion. (:

1. it should. we are more careful at taking preventative measures so that we dont have to hurt the little guys :-)

2. yes. dogs are naturally omnivores so they can easily be healthy vegans. cats are naturally carnivores, there is not yet enough conclusive research to show whether or not a vegan diet is hazardous to their health or not. vegans should avoid adopting animals that require them to kill and exploit other animals for their companion animals.

3. yes---and wool, fur, feathers, etc.

4. many people are uninformed about veganism. my mother (who is a nurse), my old dermatologist, and miscellaneous others have put down veganism. however, my doctor and my dogs veterinarians have said that it is a perfectly healthy diet. (although ive definitely heard of anti-vegan doctors. it just depends on how much voluntary nutritional training your md has gone through---as they are NOT required to be fully trained in nutrition to get their license. ive NEVER heard of a nutritionist saying anything negative about veganism)

any other questions you have about veganism may be answered here: http://wayfaringvegans.weebly.com/