When we first got mice, I knew absolutely nothing about their nutritional requirements. So, when it came to feeding them, we decided to simply share what we’ve been eating for nearly 10 years – a raw vegan diet. For the rats, this meant feeding them a good variety of seasonal foods that included fruit, leafy and wild greens, greens, some soaked/sprouted grains, legumes, and a dry mix of whole grains, seeds, berries, and nuts.
The mice seem to really enjoy the food I have been feeding them and they all seem healthy and have grown into nice, normal sized mice. They rarely needed to visit a vet.
As I began to learn more about feeding my mice, I started adding some things like live mealworms and some fish. They never looked really good after eating these foods and every time they ate live worms or bugs their behavior would involve some carpet tearing or biting! It also became more “wild”. This led me to conclude that since they were domesticated rats living in a household situation where pet rats, live meat or even dried meat wasn’t really necessary, provided their nutritional requirements were met. When we were not fed meat, they were always more peaceful, tender and satisfied. Thus, their diet became primarily raw vegan. Neither my partner nor I have been eating dairy products for a long time for health reasons, and therefore this has also been excluded from their diet.
Today, all of our mice enjoy a variety of food in season as we feel this allows for a good variety of nutrients throughout the year such as root vegetables and pumpkin in the winter and more fruit and vegetables in the summer months. Of course, there are always individual needs to consider as well. Every mouse is unique which I am sure you already know!
Of course, I’m always learning and I believe this will never stop (thankfully!). As rat caregivers, we all always want the best for our rats and providing them with a healthy diet is at the top of our lists. Diet is never a fixed thing. It is constantly evolving as our mice need to change from day to day, season to season, during growth and reproduction cycles, and throughout pregnancy and old age.
I’m not advocating never feeding mice or meat or fish if that’s what you want to do. I am simply saying that their nutritional needs can be met through a vegan diet if well taken care of and I hope to be able to help my rat caretakers down this path if they so choose.
Then there are the health and ethical considerations that may support the trend towards vegetarianism. There have also been nutritional studies (involving rats/mice) that suggest that a calorie-restricted diet can help improve health and increase longevity.
Calorie restriction occurs naturally when you follow an effortless raw vegan diet. This can help avoid obesity which is often associated with breast tumors in females.
I’m sure our rats could live much longer with fewer diseases, lumps, etc. I don’t have enough data yet within my own collections, but I do know a woman in Australia who has mice that live for about 4 years or longer and are fed a plant-rich, plant-based diet. She has mice with fewer tumors and health problems and they all appear to be healthy and developing. Of course, there could be genetic factors involved as well. It would be nice if there were more people feeding their mice a plant-based diet so we could collect data in the years to come. If you are interested in collecting data on feeding rats a plant-based diet, please contact me.
There’s also a lot to consider these days when it comes to how we feed ourselves and our pets, for example, the agricultural industry has been linked to advances in global warming and water shortages. Then there is our polluted seas where our fish come from. Part of the reason I chose to become a vegetarian was due to environmental considerations.
Just have a look at these stats:-
* It takes about 300 gallons of water per day to produce food for a plant, and more than 4,000 gallons of water per day to produce food for a carnivore.
* You can save more water by not eating a pound of meat than you can by not showering for an entire year.
* A plant food can be produced on only 1/6 of an acre of land, while it takes 3 and 1/4 of an acre of land to produce food for a carnivore.
* Vegetarians and vegans save more than 100 animals per person per year.
Statistics borrowed from http://www.goveg.com.
Another reason people choose to be vegan or to feed their pets a vegan diet is due to how people feel about the lives of animals raised for food and treatment.
My personal food choices reflect my sense of the right to life for other animals.
I do not want to consume products/foods that involve intentional suffering on another animal to feed my pets or to feed myself.
This is the reason why rats are fed a plant-based diet. If I could offer my mice a nutritionally complete plant-based diet that promotes health, longevity, and well-being, and cause no harm to the animals in the process, why would I choose otherwise?