People who avoid eating animals tend to share their homes with animal companions, and moral dilemma may arise when they are faced with feeding animal products to their omnivorous dogs and carnivorous cats. One option to alleviate this conflict is to feed pets a diet devoid of animal ingredients—a ‘plant-based’ or ‘vegan’ diet. The number of pet owners who avoid animal products, either in their own or in their pets’ diet, is not currently known. The objective of this study was to estimate the number of meat-avoiding pet owners, identify concerns regarding conventional animal- and plant-based pet food, and estimate the number of pets fed a plant-based diet. A questionnaire was disseminated online to English-speaking pet owners (n = 3,673) to collect data regarding pet owner demographics, diet, pet type, pet diet, and concerns regarding pet foods. Results found that pet owners were more likely to be vegetarian (6.2%; 229/3,673) or vegan (5.8%; 212/3,673) than previously reported for members of the general population. With the exception of one dog owned by a vegetarian, vegans were the only pet owners who fed plant-based diets to their pets (1.6%; 59/3,673). Of the pet owners who did not currently feed plant-based diets but expressed interest in doing so, a large proportion (45%; 269/599) desired more information demonstrating the nutritional adequacy of plant-based diets. Amongst all pet owners, the concern most commonly reported regarding meat-based pet foods was for the welfare of farm animals (39%; 1,275/3,231). The most common concern regarding strictly plant-based pet foods was regarding the nutritional completeness of the diet (74%; 2,439/3,318). Amongst vegans, factors which predicted the feeding of plant-based diets to their pets were concern regarding the cost of plant-based diets, a lack of concern regarding plant-based diets being unnatural, and reporting no concern at all regarding plant-based diets for pets. Given these findings, further research is warranted to investigate plant-based nutrition for domestic dogs and cats.

避免吃动物的人倾向于与动物伙伴同住，当他们面临向杂食性狗和肉食性猫喂养动物产品时，可能会出现道德困境。缓解这种冲突的一个选择是给宠物喂食不含动物成分的饮食——“植物性”或“纯素”饮食。目前尚不清楚有多少宠物主人在自己或宠物的饮食中避免使用动物产品。这项研究的目的是估计不吃肉的宠物主人的数量，确定对传统动物和植物性宠物食品的担忧，并估计以植物性饮食喂养的宠物数量。我们向英语宠物主人（n = 3,673）在线发放了一份调查问卷，以收集有关宠物主人人口统计、饮食、宠物类型、宠物饮食以及对宠物食品的担忧的数据。结果发现，与之前报道的普通人群相比，宠物主人更有可能成为素食主义者（6.2%；229/3,673）或纯素食主义者（5.8%；212/3,673）。除了一只素食主义者养的狗之外，纯素食主义者是唯一给宠物喂食植物性饮食的宠物主人（1.6%；59/3,673）。在目前不喂养植物性饮食但表示有兴趣这样做的宠物主人中，很大一部分（45%；269/599）希望获得更多信息来证明植物性饮食的营养充足性。在所有宠物主人中，最常报告的有关肉类宠物食品的担忧是农场动物的福利（39%；1,275/3,231）。对于纯植物性宠物食品，最常见的担忧是饮食的营养完整性（74%；2,439/3,318）。在纯素食者中，预测为宠物喂养植物性饮食的因素包括对植物性饮食成本的担忧、对植物性饮食不自然的担忧以及对植物性饮食完全不担心的因素对于宠物。鉴于这些发现，有必要进一步研究家犬猫的植物性营养。