I recommend talking with Opus 4.6 (with extended thinking on) regarding this feeling of doom. I found it frank and to the point.
Xing Shi Cai
Karma: 250
Vegan Open Mic — Vol. 2 (English Edition)
What if there is no reliable data by that time?
Your story makes me feel more hopeful. Thanks!
Someone asked me if we can feed pets vegan food and keep them health. I asked ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, and Grok to research on this topic and used ChatGPT to merge their reports into one. Here’s the result. Below is summary of the lengthy report.
Summary of the report
In recent years, as awareness of environmental protection and animal welfare has grown, more and more pet owners are considering whether dogs and cats can also follow a vegan or vegetarian diet. This article systematically summarizes the current scientific research on this topic, focusing on the nutritional and physiological differences between dogs and cats, the feasibility and risks of plant-based diets, and the latest positions of authoritative animal nutrition organizations.
Can Dogs Eat a Vegan Diet?
Dogs are facultative carnivores, meaning that although their ancestors were wolves, they have evolved a significant capacity to digest plant-based foods during domestication. For example, dogs possess multiple genes for starch-digesting enzymes (such as AMY2B), allowing them to efficiently utilize nutrients from grains and plants.
Research shows that if a plant-based diet is properly formulated and supplemented with adequate nutrients, dogs can maintain good health. Dogs can synthesize certain nutrients typically obtained from meat, such as taurine and vitamin A (by converting β-carotene). However, to ensure safety, it is generally recommended to supplement key nutrients in vegan dog food, including taurine, L-carnitine, vitamin B12, vitamin D3, etc.[1]
Experimental evidence supports this conclusion: from sled dog performance tests to blood and heart checks in healthy dogs, multiple studies have found no negative health effects from plant-based diets. Some even indicate that dogs on plant-based diets may have a lower incidence of certain conditions, such as obesity, skin diseases, and digestive issues.
Conclusion: Dogs can remain healthy on scientifically formulated vegan or vegetarian dog food. However, homemade recipes are discouraged—commercially certified products combined with regular veterinary check-ups are recommended.
Can Cats Eat a Vegan Diet?
Cats are obligate carnivores, which means their physiology is highly dependent on animal-derived nutrients. Cats cannot synthesize many essential nutrients, such as:
Taurine: Found only in animal tissues. Deficiency can lead to blindness, heart failure, and other severe issues.
Arginine: Deficiency can rapidly cause hyperammonemia, which is life-threatening.
Vitamin A (retinol): Cats cannot convert plant β-carotene into active vitamin A.
Arachidonic acid: An essential fatty acid found only in animal fat.
Vitamins B12 and D3: Rare in plant sources and must be synthetically supplemented.
Although modern vegan cat foods usually supplement these nutrients, cats have a narrow nutritional tolerance. Even slight imbalances can lead to serious health issues. For example, some studies show that cats fed vegetarian diets without taurine supplementation experienced a rapid drop in blood taurine levels within weeks, resulting in cardiac and neurological symptoms.
Surveys show that some cats on commercial vegan diets appear to maintain normal health, but these reports rely on owner observations and lack long-term follow-up. Still, no significant increase in health issues has been observed in vegan-fed cats compared to others.
Conclusion: Vegan diets for cats are not entirely impossible, but the risks are high and the requirements are strict. International veterinary associations generally do not recommend vegan diets for cats, except for medical reasons under strict veterinary supervision.
Reliability of Commercial Vegan Pet Food
Can plant-based pet food provide “complete and balanced” nutrition?[2] Some studies have evaluated the composition of commercial vegan pet foods. While some meet nutritional standards, others fall short in protein, amino acids, or vitamins, or have incomplete labeling.
Homemade vegan pet meals are especially prone to errors. One study found that most DIY vegan dog food recipes popular online lacked several essential nutrients.
Experts therefore recommend:
Choose commercial products that meet AAFCO (Association of American Feed Control Officials) or FEDIAF (European Pet Food Industry Federation) standards.
Avoid formulating diets yourself, unless guided by a professional veterinary nutritionist.
Conduct regular blood tests, especially for indicators like taurine and vitamin B12.
Environmental and Ethical Considerations
The meat content in traditional pet food has a significant environmental impact. One study estimated that meat consumption by U.S. pets accounts for about 25% of the country’s total meat use, generating approximately 64 million tons of CO₂-equivalent greenhouse gases per year. Globally, pet food contributes around 1.1%–2.9% of agricultural greenhouse gas emissions.
If more pets adopted vegan diets, it could significantly reduce land use, water consumption, and carbon emissions. Many environmentally conscious pet owners hope to reduce their pets’ ecological footprint by changing their diets.
However, some argue that pet food uses a large amount of human food by-products (like organs and bone remnants) that would otherwise be wasted. So if pets switch to plant-based diets, the human meat supply chain might remain unchanged. Therefore, the environmental benefit remains debatable.
Veterinary Organizations’ Positions
The views of major international veterinary organizations are as follows:
WSAVA (World Small Animal Veterinary Association): Clearly opposes feeding cats vegetarian diets; dogs can be fed plant-based diets with caution.
BVA (British Veterinary Association): In a 2024 policy update, acknowledges that dogs can be fed vegetarian diets with proper management, but still strongly advises against vegetarian diets for cats.
AAFCO: Does not evaluate ingredient sources—only requires products to meet nutritional standards.
Expert consensus: Open to vegan diets for dogs but strongly discourages them for cats unless under professional supervision.
Summary: Dogs—Yes; Cats—Not Recommended
Dogs can thrive on a vegan diet if it is scientifically formulated and properly supplemented.
Cats are too physiologically dependent on animal nutrients. Even if they appear healthy in the short term, the risks remain high. Therefore, the mainstream veterinary community does not recommend vegan diets for cats.
For pet owners hoping to reduce animal harm or their carbon footprint, the safest approach is:
Choose certified commercial vegan dog food for dogs;
Maintain a meat-based diet for cats, or proceed cautiously with veterinary support;
Conduct regular health checkups for all vegan-fed pets, and closely monitor for physical changes.
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Taurine: An amino acid derivative especially crucial for cats; Vitamin B12: Essential for nervous system and red blood cell formation, not found in pure plant sources; Vitamin D3: The animal-derived form is more bioavailable, and cats cannot synthesize it from sunlight.
- ↩︎
“Complete and balanced”: Refers to meeting the minimum nutrient intake standards set by organizations like AAFCO.
This is a bit of late reply. I have tried to take some of my family members and friends to vegetarian restaurants. Sometimes they are open to try it. Sometimes they outright refuses to go because “it is a waste of money” even if I promise to pay. I guess the lesson is that there no method that works universally. We just got to try different methods on different people.
The original reports can be found here: https://u.pcloud.link/publink/show?code=kZiW1f5Zf9YhpJUeHqfPVbuv9Afhozu1XSgy
I have also written a short summary.
Recently I got curious about the situation of animal farming in China. So I asked the popular AI tools (ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity) to do some research on this topic. I have put the result into a NotebookLM note here: https://notebooklm.google.com/notebook/071bb8ac-1745-4965-904a-d0afb9437682
If you have resources that you think I should include, please let me know.
I have $20 in unused RunPod.io credit (cloud GPU service) that I’m not using and can’t refund. 😢 I’d love to donate it to someone working on any useful — whether it’s for running models, processing data, or prototyping.
Feel free to message me if you want it.
From the perspective of the long term, helping humans to improve how they govern themselves, might be the necessary condition for any other causes. Without it, even miracle scientific breakthrough will not produce positive outcomes.
Here’s a story about a Japanese Buddhist monk who dedicated his life to suicide prevention: https://tricycle.org/magazine/ittetsu-nemoto/
International AIDS Society President Beatriz Grinsztejn, referring to cuts worldwide, said: “The U.S. funding cuts are dismantling the system. HIV treatment is crumbling. TB services are collapsing… Lives are on the line.”
Clearer thinking has a good mini course on this topic: https://www.clearerthinking.org/post/things-you-should-know-about-suicide
Passcode 953293
Sorry I put the wrong time zone.
Sorry all. I accidentally chose the wrong time zone. It’s 9AM Chinese Central Time on Feb 21.
I thought CST on this website mean Central Time, so that is why I set the wrong time.
When you join the meeting, the host will let everyone in.
Adrian Tchaikovsky, the science fiction writer, is a master at crafting bleak, hellish future worlds. In Service Model, he has truly outdone himself, conjuring an absurd realm where human societies have crumbled, and humanity teeters on the brink of extinction.
Now, that scenario isn’t entirely novel. But what renders the book both tear-inducing and hilarious, is the presence in this world of numerous sophisticated robots, designed to eliminate the slightest discomfort from human existence. Yet, they adhere so strictly to their programmed rules, that it only leads to endless absurdities, and meaningless ordeals for both robots and humans alike.
Science fiction writers, effective altruists, and Silicon Valley billionaires have long cautioned, that the rise of sentient, super-human artificial intelligence might herald the downfall of our own species. However, Tchaikovsky suggests a different, perhaps more mundane, and even more depressing scenario. He proposes that precisely because robots, no matter how advanced, lack free will, and cannot exercise their own volition in decision-making, they will not only fail to rescue us from impending environmental, political, and economic crises, but they will also be incapable of replacing us, by creating a better world of their own.
And, I believe, that is Tchaikovsky’s final warning to humanity. I hope that future historians, if they still exist —since there aren’t any left in Service Model —will regard him as a mere novelist, one who tries to capitalise on the general unease concerning advancements in artificial intelligence. Yet, I fear he may indeed be onto something.
I see. Thank you!
Reading about existential risks, then talking with normal people—it feels like multiverse travel. Most people don’t register the danger. Not the immediate risks like climate change or nuclear war. Certainly not AI.
I remember a clip from Cunk on Earth, a British mockumentary. Philomena Cunk, the fictional TV host, asked an expert if it feels comforting that we don’t have nuclear weapons anymore. The expert said no—every major power has them. When Cunk realized this is true and how terrible this is, she broke down and cried.
That’s the reaction people should have. When someone says “the Earth is getting warmer” or “AI video models are improving,” people should cry. Instead they talk about it like it’s happening on another planet.
That is the hardest part when I think about these things.