Animals are a driving factor for a lot of people, regardless if it is your pet or you want to help or make the life easier for animals, either case it is apparent that many people love them. For vegans, one of the considering factors of going on the rather difficult lifestyle change could be in consideration for these animals who cannot speak for themselves. I know several people who have turned to veganism because they love animals and don’t want to cause them any harm, heck they even have vegan pets who they have also put on their lifestyle choice.

Now this is where the debate comes in, for many of you, I‘m sure you’ve heard about the whole vegan pets debate as to how you cannot force a predominantly carnivorous animal to be without meat. I’ll admit this is a rather heated debate among regular pets and vegan pets, but it really is because we all have a passion for animals that we continue to discuss it now. So just to shed a little light on the topic, I wrote down a few of the favorite animals that we usually have in our houses, and I want to make sure that they are classified as a possible choice for vegan pets or otherwise.

Dogs – Considered man’s best friend, this is perhaps one of the most debated vegan pets out there. However it is in their nature that they are omnivores, so technically speaking they should be able to survive on a steady diet of vegan options and continue to live healthily as one of the ideal vegan pets. Among the animals on the list, this is one of the more meat loving animals but that is because they are exposed to it, it is possible to feed them a vegan diet and they will continue to be healthy.

Dogs can possibly be on a vegan diet since they are omnivores.

Cats – This is even trickier than the last, research has shown that cats are primarily carnivorous meaning that a diet of meat of some kind must be introduced to the animals’ diet. However I have several vegan people who will attest to cats being great vegan pets who are healthy and strong to this day. I’m on the fence here and I think further research is needed, so if you are considering on adopting a few animals but want them to be vegan pets, hold off on the cat decision for now.

Rabbits – One of the more popular options for vegan pets, after all it only eats vegetables so changing it to a vegan diet is not at all impossible. So if you’re looking for a good option for vegan pets, this is the one you want to gravitate towards.

Small birds – I’ll admit this is a little broad, however getting into too much species of animals can really get exhausting. As for which can be vegan pets, usually small birds like parrots, lovebirds and a number more are good options, it’s not like I know a lot of people with pet vultures, eagles or hawks, those need meat and won’t make very good vegan pets.

Fish – Again, much like birds the list differs quite a bit. If you get a piranha or a shark, well that would be a bad idea for your choice for vegan pets but if you stick with small fish animals, goldfish, monitor fish and more, you can definitely manage a vegan diet for them.

Rabbits live in a plant-based eating habit.

Hamsters – They say that these little balls of fluff and cuteness are a definite go for the vegan pets category, which is likely as they don’t really eat meat. However as animals, I know for a fact that they sometimes eat their young, for whatever reason is not really known to me, but if that’s a concern for you regarding it as an option for vegan pets, I just wanted it out in the open.

Turtles – Another omnivore on the list of animals, the turtle may not be that easy to make predominantly a vegan. After all if a bug or something crawls into the vegan pets home, well it is likely to eat it and that pretty much cancels your vegan plans, so maybe not the easiest option out there.

Well that’s a pretty short and comprehensive list, but hope it helps you decide if you want to adopt one of the animals above and if their diet can suit your beliefs. Vegan pets in essence don’t exist as being a vegan is a choice, and usually animals will instinctively eat vegetarian or some meat, so if you have vegan pets, that is entirely up to you and your decision alone. Make a smart decision and make sure that your pet gets the proper care. Stay healthy!