I'm here to sully the Tofu Ghetto

[flvegan]

Today, in my vegan kitchen I cooked the following:

3 lbs London Broil steak (in cream of mushroom soup, no less)
3 dozen eggs

In my vegan fridge, I have 4 dozen more eggs, previously cooked chicken (boneless/skinlees, around 4 lbs worth).

In my vegan freezer, I have roughly 8 more lbs of said London Broil.

Sorry, I was feeling REALLY guilty and felt the need to come clean, so to speak.

Be gentle...

[LeftyMom]

1. Three Hail Marys and two Our Fathers.

Go and sin no more.

Oh, and chin scratches for your boy. Be sure to tell him I'm *still* finding dog hair in my laundry. :)

[peacebuzzard]

2. wow. Your pooches are salivating all day and eating large animals....

I cooked as well when I had a week at home a few days ago. One of my fur friends came down with a liver intoxication and quit eating and was very, very quiet. she previously was the most vociferous. And I had been purchasing the recall pet foods....I am still researching and purchasing and returning. Today I am taking back the Wellness (Old Mother Hubbard). My fur friend has recuperated and is eating well.
I am going to buy from Blackwood today.

It has been tough all around trying to figure this out. And I am down to one food container of the goodies I cooked last week for my dogs.

They will have to eat mass produced food because I am gone from their kitchen and home so much.

I understand. No guilt trip from me. Question though....at one point you had recommended Solid Gold. I thought their products were contrary to my general vegan philosophy because their flesh products included Bison. BISON!!!!?? I am trying to stick to the smaller animals for the flesh ingredients, chicken and fish.....

Do you still use the Solid Gold?

[flvegan]

3. Right now

the only meat-based kibble is Pet Promise for the kitty, and some Nutro for the dogs that can't tolerate the veggie kibble. The meat I'm cooking is for my great dane (he's fighting cancer, right now...and losing, sadly).

[peacebuzzard]

6. I am so sorry for the cancer fight in your Dane.

I had a family of Danes I raised for 17 years. I had bred my sweet male Dane with a female Dane I rescued who needed a home.( and this was in the 70's way before I was into the " neuter is cuter" stage.) I was just in the initiation stage of my life with the paw babies. I ended up keeping the whole litter because I couldn't find a qualified person to keep any of the pups. After life with 6 Danes I knew all of my subsequent critters would be neutered.

So I lived with my family of 6 until their final goodbyes. (until the next life).

After that it has just been a menagerie of whichever dog I happened across in dire need. Once again, I have 6, and it is a full house of rescue babes.

But Nutro is what I originally fed them, and have now sworn off. Which veggie kibble do you use?

The brands I have boiled down to is Merrick....they have an organic chicken but after seeing the video on the organic Monk farm CAV posted here, it makes you really wonder about the mass organic chickens. I have pet chickens here, and I could never feed them to anyone. They are pets.

Today I brought home Blackwood that my pet sitter has fed to my critters for 2 days now. It looks like a superior food. The brand I have is from farmed catfish. (sigh) and we all know what goes into farm fish food. Anyways, I am still trying.

But, if I could, I would certainly cook for all of us here. Time and money does not permit me to do so for now.

A kiss and hug to the sweet little Dane from me. Thank god for you in his life.

[LeftyMom]

4. I know you didn't ask me, but I can't pass up an ethics discussion.

My thought on this is that if an animal can be veg or vegan that's the way to go. Barring allergies and other health issues, dogs do fine on properly planned vegan diets. I have a cat though, and while there are vegan cat foods out there, I am not confident in them at all.

So those of us with animals to care for who need an animal-product based diet have to get into the thorny issue of balancing what's best for them and least harmful to other animals. I know some people who choose inexpensive by-product heavy foods on the assumption that they're comprised largely of wastes from human food production and additional animal suffering is minimal. My thought is that while I have a responsibility to my cat, I need to feed her healthy food, so I can't see doing that personally. Myself, I try to go with meat-based foods from larger animals for my cat, with the reasoning that fewer animals suffer that way and that poultry is particularly problematic due to confinement issues. The food she gets most often is venison based. I don't like feeding fish-based foods because our oceans are such a mess from overfishing and pollution, but my kid sister gives her a can of tuna every now and then as a treat.

[Critters2]

7. LM, as usual, you've made me stop and think

I hadn't considered the comparison in suffering re: larger vs. smaller food animals. An important point worth considering. One more thing to add to the mix of issues when choosing cat food. My cats all get chicken-based foods (Pet Promise or various Wysong varieties for flutd, weight loss, sensitive stomach). I'll have to give this matter some thought.

Thanks!

[ThomCat]

5. I'm sure your dog(s) really, really appreciate it.

:)

I'd do the same for my cats.

Fortunately, I order their cat food in bulk twice a year, delivered to my door. All the stuff I have in the house is from prior to the scare, and apparently a safe brand (so far).

[Critters2]

8. So, it's absolution you're lookin' for, eh?

Well, you've come to the right place. In my tradition, we call it an "Assurance of Pardon", and I do it professionally! So, consider yourself forgiven. Especially in light of your poor dog's struggle with cancer.

Seriously, I can relate. Both of my previous dogs died of cancer--one, cancer of the spleen; the other lung cancer (probably because his previous owners smoked, according to my vet). In both cases, I did everything I could to keep them healthy and comfortable. I wasn't veg when I had my first dog, and not as committed to it at the time my second, Spartacus, was sick. But if I had been, I still would've cooked ANYTHING to help them.

It's only right and natural you'd do the same. No need to feel guilty. You're a wonderful guardian to the animals you know and love, and a great advocate for those you don't. More than most people will ever do.

Just take care of your dog. Whatever it takes.