Any Vegetarians doing raw?

[trixie]

I'm wondering if there are any vegetarians here that feed their ferrets raw? I've been veg for about a year, but reading about all the benefits of feeding ferrets raw makes it seem the best thing to do. I don't think I could ever give them whole or live prey, but I'm sure packaged meat I could do as I recently used boiled chicken in a soup recipe. I felt dirty and icky afterward, but I did it!

Anyways, my questions...

How do you feel about buying meat and supporting the meat industry that you boycotted before? (This is more for the moral vegetarians I suppose, not the health ones)
How do you deal with handling meat? I know it was a pretty nasty experience for me and I used latex gloves and nearly scrubbed my hands raw afterward with alcohol and peroxide.
How did you justify it to yourself? Did you even have to?
Did you feed raw before becoming veg or after?

Thanks so much

[spiritualtramp]

Ohhh this question is exactly FOR ME! I've been vegetarian for most of my life.

Boycotting the meat industry is a major part of being vegetarian, but for the carnivores in my house, I buy organic/free-range meats or meats from local farms as much as possible. This way I am circumventing the disgusting USDA system and providing more healthful meats to my fuzzies. Morality isn't the only or even main reason I am a vegetarian, but it does play a role in it.

Handling raw meat to me is like handling anything else sort of gross, or overwhelming. I used to work in a bank, and the money became just an object to count, not MONEY. Same thing here. Their meat becomes just something for them, that's all. I have knives specifically for their meats, a cutting board and blender all for their foods. And the bottom shelf of my fridge is ONLY for thawing meat. To clean up, I use a 50/50 vinegar/water mix. I'm not a big hypochondriac but I do make sure things are clean and no cross-contamination happens.

I suppose the biggest thing is to just face your fears/disgust/repulsion head-on. I used to gag when touching meat; now I butcher and chop bones no issue. I've turned it into a learning experience: taking the time to appreciate the animal that has given its life for my pets, and learning about its body while cutting it up. Justifying it is not even a question. If ferrets (or cats) were not domesticated, they'd be hunters. They would eat meat. Nature justifies itself for us here. You have to be spiritual enough to be able to know the sacrifice you are making, but also in a way to know and recognize the connectedness to the earth that you get by feeding them naturally.

I started out being vegetarian before I had a political statement to make, and before I really understood my own moral compass (I was a toddler.) But I instinctively knew at that time that something felt wrong, I got sick every time I ate meat, and so my parents opted to raise me vegetarian. But as I grew up and learned more about the choice I made at that time, I was able to see how it backed up my own feelings about the policies and politics of the meat industry.

So: vegetarian for my health, and for the health of the earth/as a statement on the conditions of the meat industry and raw feeder for their health, and as a statement on the conditions of the pet food industry.

I hope this helps, and I appreciate that you are going ahead with raw feeding despite your own qualms. That's what makes a wonderful ferrent! The compassion to do what is right even if your own gut abhors that idea!

[trixie]

Thanks so much!

I'm definitely going to go ahead with getting them on a raw diet. I've decided that once I get a job (since mom is the only one working right now) then they'll be full on raw. Gloves when handling meat, I don't think I'm going to separate knives and boards right away though. Mom's an omni and cross-contamination bothers me, but I've learned to live with it. Once I can though, I'm getting all my own pans and knives.

I also think I found a family run butcher shop to buy from, checking them out this weekend, so hopefully that works out. If not.. Well, I'll keep looking.

Thanks again for all the awesome info

[lnsybean44]

I am not a vegetarian but when I first started feeding raw meat I didnt like to handle it at all. I am now so comfortable with it that I can handfeed my boys just about anything.

Anyway my point for posting was that even though I am not a vegetarian, I still have separate knives/cutting boards for meat. I do this for human meat too. If you were to introduce a meat only board into the house your mom might consider using it as well. My roommates have adapted quite nicely and like it alot better with this segregation (esp since we dont have a dishwasher). All of our meat things have red tape on the handle or are red themselves. Goodluck! I am glad you are giving it a try.

[spiritualtramp]

Befriend the butcher, he might be willing to give you good deals on "scraps" and "unusable" cuts of meat - unusable to humans but hey, the ferrets will use them just fine!

Good luck!

[trixie]

I've talked to her about starting to introduce raw maybe once a month. Once I get a steady job then I plan to go full on raw. Mom decided she's all for separate cutting boards and while at Walmart yesterday found a simple small one that would be great. Even started talking of using a kitchen scale and showed me a set of simple knives she mentioned I could use. I really didn't think she'd get into it after showing her disgust at watching the ferrets rip apart chicken wings. (It took a lot for me to not compare it to her at the sports bar on wing night)

Now if I could just find a good job...

[suzieszoo]

I am not a vegetarian, however, I am rather particular about my meats. I only eat meat that is labelled "humanely raised" such as Springer Mountain chicken for example. I have considered vegetarianism, but to be quite honest, did not feel it was appropriate for me from a nutritional standpoint. But this is not about me...I say "I" a lot, but, the thinking here is about all the little creatures:)

Stay with me a bit on this, because it seems a bit off topic, but the intentional point is not....

I admittedly have a "bit" of a food obsession A very moral standpoint I might add .....

I won't feed an animal in my care anything I would not eat myself, however, like you all, I research the nutritional requirement and wish to provide my animals with foods that are species appropriate. (LOL I do not eat mice, but if I did, I feel mine are a clean food!!)
I already raise "feeders" for my snakes, so it is not a stretch for me to provide for my new ferret...(when I do transition her to feed naturally- only have had her 1 week.) My "feeders" have access to fresh foods, large homes with running wheels etc., RO filtered water, are handled regularly, have a pleasurable life and are not inbred. I feel they are raised without fear, and I feel their death is normal, quick and honorable for the continuing of life of the other animals in my care. I feel love for them. These little beings are not disregarded as unimportant to me.....they are among the most important. Their health and well being is crucial to the health and well being of the next. Their quality of life is as important to me as the next as well.

Food for any of us should be considered seriously, be it plant or animal. You can love a garden plant, bring it to flower and fruit, harvest and eat it. No difference! Plants do not have features, cute expressions, eyes, ears, fuzzy whiskers....BUT they ARE living things and beings that sacrifice for the life of others. Their parts are so different from ours, that we feel no repulsion in chopping up a tomato, for example, which may be repulsive, horrifying, and gory to another tomato looking on with the same internal parts!

We see what foods and proper nutrition can do to change the health of our little friends, and every step of the food chain, right down to the quality of our soil, effects US as well.

If you oppose the factory farm industry, and the suffering of animals for profit, raise your own HUMANELY -or - find a humanely operated, local family farm to buy from. If this is not an option for you, >appreciate< the poor creature that gave its life for the continuing of another life and do not loathe it-because then it gives itself to disdain, and its life is wasted. This bothers me the most, the repuslion associated with "gross meat" and disassociation with this inhumane slaughter. If you buy it you support it. Simple. It perpetuates from there.

Appreciate what that animal had to go through to make it to the store, to your pet's -or YOUR plate. That you spent your money to get it there, and the people who brought it to be will continue bringing them as long as you continue to pay for them. Why is this chicken's life worth less than your ferrret's? Not trying to cause sore feelings here- just showing an area that gets overlooked. Now consider the growth hormones, steroids, antibiotics, artificial lighting, horrible air, feed, water quality-no access to normal behaviors, stress hormones....etc- now, I do not want to eat this animal, nor feed it to my pets. I do not want to pay them to continue this abuse and bring on more!

So much is superficial, uneducated, shallow, un-noticed or just unappreciated, but mostly HIDDEN from us.....which is why things are the way they are nowadays.

Every choice matters- the choices matter MORE in the moment you KNOW you are making a choice that can make a difference. I know I am making a difference.

[fuzzymom]

I am not currently vegetarian but I was vegetarian/vegan when I switched my kids over to raw.

How do you feel about buying meat and supporting the meat industry that you boycotted before? I do not buy the organic/free range/humanely raised meat mainly because either I cannot find it or it costs way too much (we are single income home right now) When we are more financially stable any meat we purchase will be humanely raised and slaughtered.

How do you deal with handling meat? Handling meat to me has become routine. I've never really thought of it as gross or horrible. I just view it as my ferret's food, though I always take a moment to thank the animal.

How did you justify it to yourself? Did you even have to? I know what my fur kids need and I want the best for them. Even if I am not comfortable feeding myself meat, my kids need it and I cannot deny them what their body needs.

Did you feed raw before becoming veg or after? I was a vegetarian before I began feeding raw. I was vegan for a time.

Personally I'd like to raise my own animals as feeders (rats, mice, gerbils, hamsters, quail, etc). I could guarantee they are humanely raised and slaughtered and fed an appropriate diet.