Can Rats Be Vegan?
Can pet rats be vegan? Is it healthy? Is it ethical? Safe? Environmentally friendly? Is it something we should teach our pets from a young age or allow them to explore on their own? After all, you shouldn't force your beliefs on your pets, right? What if they get messed up with the wrong crowd and the next thing you know, they're attending PETA rallies and smoking American Spirit cigarettes? Wait... let's not get off track.
As a vegan, I know first hand how much controversy surrounds the idea of one’s pets also following the vegan diet. I can understand how one would be skeptical of the idea of dogs and cats being vegan, but more specifically, I have seen fights break out on Facebook and other forums, over the topic of vegan rats.
This is typically due to a huge misunderstanding of what the word “vegan” actually means. Many people associate veganism with skinny, lethargic hippies who lack essentially nutrients in their diet. This could not be further from the truth. Most vegans who eat healthy are perfectly fit and have absolutely no health, weight or nutritional problems that stem from their lifestyle choice to abstain from animal products.
I’m not going to go too much in detail about the ethics behind why people choose to be vegan, or choose to feed their pets a vegan diet. If you want to learn more about veganism itself, or about pets being vegan, please check out Bite Size Vegan, an educational website and YouTube channel run by an incredible woman named Emily, who has an endless supply of educational vegan videos, as well as a playlist specifically about vegan pets.
For now, let's just focus specifically on feeding pet rats a vegan, or plant-based, diet. ("Plant-Based" doesn't sound quite as scary, does it?)
Of course, if you search “vegan rats” on google, you’re going to come up with a lot of sources claiming that rats shouldn’t be vegan. Some even claiming that rats absolutely can not thrive from a vegan diet whatsoever.
I’ve looked through a ton of these sources, and not one of them provides any evidence as to why rats cannot eat a plant-based diet. They all stress that animal products or, more specifically, “animal protein,” is important in their diet and they cannot be healthy without it because rats are omnivores. But claiming that they need meat because they are omnivores is just a claim, not evidence in itself. Not one of them explains why animal matter is more important, or even as important, as plant matter.
As a vegan, I know first hand how much controversy surrounds the idea of one’s pets also following the vegan diet. I can understand how one would be skeptical of the idea of dogs and cats being vegan, but more specifically, I have seen fights break out on Facebook and other forums, over the topic of vegan rats.
This is typically due to a huge misunderstanding of what the word “vegan” actually means. Many people associate veganism with skinny, lethargic hippies who lack essentially nutrients in their diet. This could not be further from the truth. Most vegans who eat healthy are perfectly fit and have absolutely no health, weight or nutritional problems that stem from their lifestyle choice to abstain from animal products.
I’m not going to go too much in detail about the ethics behind why people choose to be vegan, or choose to feed their pets a vegan diet. If you want to learn more about veganism itself, or about pets being vegan, please check out Bite Size Vegan, an educational website and YouTube channel run by an incredible woman named Emily, who has an endless supply of educational vegan videos, as well as a playlist specifically about vegan pets.
For now, let's just focus specifically on feeding pet rats a vegan, or plant-based, diet. ("Plant-Based" doesn't sound quite as scary, does it?)
Of course, if you search “vegan rats” on google, you’re going to come up with a lot of sources claiming that rats shouldn’t be vegan. Some even claiming that rats absolutely can not thrive from a vegan diet whatsoever.
I’ve looked through a ton of these sources, and not one of them provides any evidence as to why rats cannot eat a plant-based diet. They all stress that animal products or, more specifically, “animal protein,” is important in their diet and they cannot be healthy without it because rats are omnivores. But claiming that they need meat because they are omnivores is just a claim, not evidence in itself. Not one of them explains why animal matter is more important, or even as important, as plant matter.
Disclaimer: I don't know if a forum post actually counts as a "source," but this is one of the first things that popped up on Google when I was searching. Even though this post does go on to disprove this theory and confirm that rats can, in fact, live on a plant-based diet, initially seeing this can draw people to jump to conclusions.
One website even said that rats shouldn’t eat a lot of soy, and therefore shouldn’t be vegan. I actually had to laugh at that, for two reasons:
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Let's break it down.
Brown Rats (Rattus Norvegicus) are biologically omnivores. Which means, they can eat both plant and animal matter. In the wild, rats can and will eat just about anything they find, for the sake of survival. Wild rats eat fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, grains, bugs, animal carcasses, smaller mammals, small reptiles, birds, and the local humans discarded food from trash, restaurants, slaughterhouses, etc.
More specifically, rats are Opportunistic Omnivorous Scavengers. Not obligate omnivores. Meaning, they go searching, or scavenging for their food. They don’t go out hunting for small mammals or bugs to chase and kill. They will prey on smaller, living animals (for example, mice) that intrude on their home turf, but it's mostly a territorial trait to protect their homes and families.
Even more specifically, rats are considered “Granivores,” (AKA, "Seed Predators." Isn't that hilarious?) meaning they should eat whole grains and seeds as the bulk of their diet.
Our domestic friends are lucky enough that they do not have to scavenge for their food, which means we can make sure they are getting all of the essential nutrients they need in their diet without having to settle for a dead bird they found in the woods.
Contrary to popular belief, there is absolutely no difference between “animal protein,” and “plant protein.” Protein is just protein. Carnivorous animals can not thrive from a plant-based diet due to their inability to digest plant matter. It has nothing to do with protein itself, its about whether or not they are able to properly digest plant fibers and absorb the nutrients. ("Animal Protein" also goes hand in hand with nutrients like taurine, which most carnivorous animals need; but again, it's not the protein itself; it's what kind of nutrients are in the meat.) Apart from that, where do you think the animals eaten by predators get their protein in the first place? (The answer is plants.)
Omnivorous animals don’t have to worry about this.
Many people assume that the word “omnivore” means they have to eat both plants and animals. However, omnivore just means they can digest both plant and animal matter, if necessary. So because they are omnivores--unlike carnivores--pet rats have absolutely no problem digesting plants and absorbing nutrients from plants.
Not to mention, rats require an extremely low protein diet. A healthy rat block or mix for an adult rat should consist of 18% protein or less. Excess protein in a rat’s diet can cause a number of problems ranging anywhere from hair loss to seizures. Which is why, if you were to make your rats a homemade mix, you want to go easy on the high protein foods like sunflower seeds and peanuts. (I don’t know of any rat mix recipes that call for beef jerky.)
What are a rat's dietary needs?
A rat’s diet should look something like this:
50-60% Grain
10-20% Fruit
15-20% Vegetables
11-18% Protein
If you ask any experienced rat parent or expert, they will tell you that the 3 best brands of food for rats are Oxbow, Mazuri and Native Earth.
(Edit: Native Earth, AKA Harlan Teklad, has now been discontinued as per the company's funding.)
Lets take a look at the food I feed my rats. This brand of food is called Native Earth, or Harlan Teklad, depending on where you live. This is one of the highest quality rat blocks on the market, and it is widely known to promote longevity, health, good weight, and even reduce the risk of tumors.
If I told you I fed my rats Native Earth as a staple diet, and their treats consisted of various cereals, fruits, vegetables, pasta, and the occasional potato chip, you’d probably think, “Hm. That sounds great. Your rats must be very healthy.” But what if I told you that all of these things are…. wait for it… VEGAN!!
Brown Rats (Rattus Norvegicus) are biologically omnivores. Which means, they can eat both plant and animal matter. In the wild, rats can and will eat just about anything they find, for the sake of survival. Wild rats eat fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, grains, bugs, animal carcasses, smaller mammals, small reptiles, birds, and the local humans discarded food from trash, restaurants, slaughterhouses, etc.
More specifically, rats are Opportunistic Omnivorous Scavengers. Not obligate omnivores. Meaning, they go searching, or scavenging for their food. They don’t go out hunting for small mammals or bugs to chase and kill. They will prey on smaller, living animals (for example, mice) that intrude on their home turf, but it's mostly a territorial trait to protect their homes and families.
Even more specifically, rats are considered “Granivores,” (AKA, "Seed Predators." Isn't that hilarious?) meaning they should eat whole grains and seeds as the bulk of their diet.
Our domestic friends are lucky enough that they do not have to scavenge for their food, which means we can make sure they are getting all of the essential nutrients they need in their diet without having to settle for a dead bird they found in the woods.
Contrary to popular belief, there is absolutely no difference between “animal protein,” and “plant protein.” Protein is just protein. Carnivorous animals can not thrive from a plant-based diet due to their inability to digest plant matter. It has nothing to do with protein itself, its about whether or not they are able to properly digest plant fibers and absorb the nutrients. ("Animal Protein" also goes hand in hand with nutrients like taurine, which most carnivorous animals need; but again, it's not the protein itself; it's what kind of nutrients are in the meat.) Apart from that, where do you think the animals eaten by predators get their protein in the first place? (The answer is plants.)
Omnivorous animals don’t have to worry about this.
Many people assume that the word “omnivore” means they have to eat both plants and animals. However, omnivore just means they can digest both plant and animal matter, if necessary. So because they are omnivores--unlike carnivores--pet rats have absolutely no problem digesting plants and absorbing nutrients from plants.
Not to mention, rats require an extremely low protein diet. A healthy rat block or mix for an adult rat should consist of 18% protein or less. Excess protein in a rat’s diet can cause a number of problems ranging anywhere from hair loss to seizures. Which is why, if you were to make your rats a homemade mix, you want to go easy on the high protein foods like sunflower seeds and peanuts. (I don’t know of any rat mix recipes that call for beef jerky.)
What are a rat's dietary needs?
A rat’s diet should look something like this:
50-60% Grain
10-20% Fruit
15-20% Vegetables
11-18% Protein
If you ask any experienced rat parent or expert, they will tell you that the 3 best brands of food for rats are Oxbow, Mazuri and Native Earth.
(Edit: Native Earth, AKA Harlan Teklad, has now been discontinued as per the company's funding.)
Lets take a look at the food I feed my rats. This brand of food is called Native Earth, or Harlan Teklad, depending on where you live. This is one of the highest quality rat blocks on the market, and it is widely known to promote longevity, health, good weight, and even reduce the risk of tumors.
If I told you I fed my rats Native Earth as a staple diet, and their treats consisted of various cereals, fruits, vegetables, pasta, and the occasional potato chip, you’d probably think, “Hm. That sounds great. Your rats must be very healthy.” But what if I told you that all of these things are…. wait for it… VEGAN!!
Take a look at the ingredients:
Ground wheat, ground corn, wheat middlings, soybean meal, corn gluten meal, soybean oil, calcium carbonate, dried brewers yeast, dicalcium phosphate, iodized salt, L-lysine, DL-methionine, choline chloride, niacin, vitamin A acetate, biotin, pyridoxine hydrochloride,thiamine mononitrate, vitamin D3 supplement, folic acid, menadione sodium bisulfite complex (source of vitamin K activity), vitamin E supplement, vitamin B12 supplement, riboflavin, calcium pantothenate, ferrous sulfate, magnesium oxide, manganous oxide, zinc oxide, copper sulfate, calcium iodate, cobalt carbonate, chromium potassium sulfate. It even says on the bag that this food is completely vegetarian. |
While vegan and vegetarian are not always interchangeable words, I like to say that not all vegetarians are vegan, but all vegans are vegetarian. Kind of like squares... yea... vegans are squares.
Out of all three of these brands, Oxbow is the only one that makes rat blocks that are neither vegetarian nor vegan. However, the only obvious non-vegan ingredient in Oxbow Regal Rat is fishmeal, which is meant to supplement omega-3 acids. This could very easily be replaced with beans, sesame seeds, kale, or any other plant-based omega-3 source, and would provide the exact same nutrition.
Finally, any recipe for a healthy, nutritionally complete homemade mix also contains solely vegan base ingredients: Whole wheat cereal, oats, rice cereal, flax seed, pasta, banana chips, etc.
Rat experts will tell you that if you feed your rats a good quality block or mix, rats do not need any extra foods in their diet. Some will recommend supplementing the blocks with some fresh fruits and vegetables, grains or cereals. You can feed your rats lots of things to supplement their diet, or as a treat, but as long as you are feeding them a nutritionally complete staple diet, you don’t have to! If the blocks or mix you’re feeding are high enough quality, any extra food is only a treat and is in no way essential to their health.
So why is it that all of the ingredients that go into any healthy rat diet are completely vegan, but the same people who tell you what these ingredients are will tell you that rats "absolutely cannot be vegan under any circumstances whatsoever"?
To sum that up, if you say you feed your rats Native Earth, Mazuri, or a homemade mix, nobody bats an eye. Say you feed your rats a vegan diet and suddenly everybody loses their minds!
Out of all three of these brands, Oxbow is the only one that makes rat blocks that are neither vegetarian nor vegan. However, the only obvious non-vegan ingredient in Oxbow Regal Rat is fishmeal, which is meant to supplement omega-3 acids. This could very easily be replaced with beans, sesame seeds, kale, or any other plant-based omega-3 source, and would provide the exact same nutrition.
Finally, any recipe for a healthy, nutritionally complete homemade mix also contains solely vegan base ingredients: Whole wheat cereal, oats, rice cereal, flax seed, pasta, banana chips, etc.
Rat experts will tell you that if you feed your rats a good quality block or mix, rats do not need any extra foods in their diet. Some will recommend supplementing the blocks with some fresh fruits and vegetables, grains or cereals. You can feed your rats lots of things to supplement their diet, or as a treat, but as long as you are feeding them a nutritionally complete staple diet, you don’t have to! If the blocks or mix you’re feeding are high enough quality, any extra food is only a treat and is in no way essential to their health.
So why is it that all of the ingredients that go into any healthy rat diet are completely vegan, but the same people who tell you what these ingredients are will tell you that rats "absolutely cannot be vegan under any circumstances whatsoever"?
To sum that up, if you say you feed your rats Native Earth, Mazuri, or a homemade mix, nobody bats an eye. Say you feed your rats a vegan diet and suddenly everybody loses their minds!
Once again, rats are Opportunistic Omnivores, which implies that they can eat meat when it’s readily available for their survival, but that does not by any means, dictate that they have to.
If you look at it objectively, the only reason anyone claims rats cannot be vegan is because they are ignorant of the fact that a huge bulk of what goes into a rat’s diet, whether it’s a homemade mix or a commercial block, is already vegan by default.
As long as your rats are getting all of the essential vitamins and nutrients they need in their diet, it does not matter where those nutrients are coming from.
If you look at it objectively, the only reason anyone claims rats cannot be vegan is because they are ignorant of the fact that a huge bulk of what goes into a rat’s diet, whether it’s a homemade mix or a commercial block, is already vegan by default.
As long as your rats are getting all of the essential vitamins and nutrients they need in their diet, it does not matter where those nutrients are coming from.