The mushrooming number of new vegetarian restaurants in Beijing indicates that more people are starting to pay attention to animal protection and the environment as it relates to what they eat. Some veg-heads are not satisfied with keeping the dishes on their table true to their philosophies and now are keeping an eye on what their pets eat, too. But it's not so easy to stop dogs and cats from munching on bones or fish, since they are born meat-eaters.

Veggie all the way

Wei Ke, 30, became vegetarian in 2010. She has two cats - one is a pure white chinchilla she's had since August 2010, right after she became a veggie, and the other is a stray cat she adopted last May.

"It was not that difficult for me to feed them only vegetarian food since before that I had already changed brands of pet food for them several times," Wei said. Before Wei turned to vegetarian cat food, she chose ones that were made from grains or corn. The first day she served them the newly-bought vegetarian cat food, they refused to eat it. The second day, they finished it all up, she said, since they were starving and got used to the flavor.

"I just want them to eat something clean; and based on my own experience, I think eating vegetarian food is good for their health," she said.

Besides vegetarian cat food, Wei also prepares potatoes for her cats.

"They like steamed potatoes. Each can eat two slices of potato," Wei said, adding that she doesn't think not eating meat has caused them to lose energy.

Long Kuan, a friend of Wei, has a dog and two cats at home that are all vegetarian. Her dog was one of the dogs saved by animal rights activists on April 15, 2011, from a truck on the highway which was believed to be transporting about 400 dogs to restaurants.

A veg since 1999, Long learned that eating meat can bring lots of disadvantages.

"The meat we eat today has changed due to mass production. The growing environment for those animals is shabby and they don't have enough space to move," Long said. "What's more, they are also fed with food which can accelerate the growth process, and the killing process is also a problem. Animals can release toxins when they are killed, so meat is bad for people's health."

According to Long, ingredients in pet food are often animal organs or animal parts that human beings don't eat, which, to her, is more terrible than the meat itself. That's why she feeds her pets vegetarian food only.

Besides the vegetable-based dog food, Long also cooks for her dog.

"Usually, we will share a dish. My dog loves eating pasta and chickpeas, so I mix chickpeas and sliced carrots with pasta for him," Long said.

Her dog also likes eating fried, sliced potatoes and carrots.

"Last time when I put a dish of this on the table, I went to fetch my chopsticks and came back to an empty dish and a lip-smacking dog," Long recalled.

Critical views

From pet-keepers' perspective, eating vegetarian food could help a pet develop a healthier living condition. But some veterinarians hold different views.

Hu Ge, a vet with 12 years of experience, said, "Dogs are meat-eaters. If you only provide the dog non-meat meals, it could do harm to its organs and what's more, dogs are very vivacious, so vegetarian food cannot provide as much energy as they require," Hu said.

Disagreeing with Hu, Long said that she has read many books on pet health, all saying that the best choice for a pet is vegetables, rather than meat.

"I also learned that meat contains acid which needs calcium to neutralize, which is bad for pets," Long noted.

Wang Tianfei, a pet nutritionist answered this question on his Weibo, saying that only providing vegetarian food for a dog long-term will cause vitamin deficiency.

"Pet keepers should provide some protein for vegetarian dogs as well as vitamin B," he wrote.

Ma Yingtao, distribution channel manager of Royal Canin, a pet food company, said that since the dog is a domesticated animal, it needs to eat meat because its meat-eater genes.

"[Vegetarian food] is good for dogs who have allergies to proteins. I think if people can use beans as a substitute for meat, that's acceptable, but those foods only provide low energy for pets," Ma said.

On the energy issue, Long disagrees again.

"Many vegetables are rich in protein which is enough for pets," she said.