Are questions about feeding companion animals on-topic?

Question

Are questions about feeding companion animals on-topic for this site? The subject of vegetarian cats or dogs, for example, tends to be an inflammatory topic and some vegetarian forums will discourage or block that discussion outright.

We did briefly touch on this question a couple months ago when a question was asked about Vegan biscuits/snacks for dogs. This led to a question here in Meta ("Vegan diet for carnivores") where some heated opinions were shared, but the question was unfocused and was largely in context of the original question that was asked.

I feel that this question is worth revisiting in a more focused way, because I noticed a post last week asking about "Vegan fish" and Quorn products for pets. It seems likely that over time we'll get more questions from vegans and vegetarians who are thinking about what to feed their pets.

Ideally I would like to see the on-topic page amended with some text that clarifies specifically whether questions about food for pets are on-topic or not.

Answer 1

I think yes, they are.

The topic of our site is Vegetarianism lifestyle and as long as the pet question is related to it, they are on topic here.

The answers would differ from Pets site but I think they shouldn't be considered off topic. Some people here may have asked themselves the same questions and may have done some research they would share with us.

Globally, a question being on topic on another Stack Exchange site doesn't necessarily mean it is off topic on the site where it is being asked.

Answer 2

No, I don’t think questions about feeding companion animals are on-topic here. I believe the Pets SE is a more appropriate venue for that kind of question.

There is already a thriving beta Q&A site called Pets. According to their on-topic FAQ they focus specifically on the care of animals in a domestic setting, while excluding discussion of wildlife and livestock. They have a laser-sharp focus, and there's a good chance that experienced professionals (eg. veterinarians) would be frequenting that site. For that reason, perhaps it would make sense to move questions about companion animals to that site instead.

We can take a couple of examples from this site as precedent. One person asked Is it consistent with veganism to own a pet? and the question was closed as opinion-based, rather than off-topic. It seems like questions about the role of companion animals in society could be a good fit here because expertise with animal ethics and moral philosophy does not strongly overlap with animal care. Of course the questions would still need to be precise.

More directly, another person has asked Is it possible to feed a cat or a dog under a vegan diet? and the question remained open with one short answer. One commenter pointed to an identical question on the site for Pets which got significantly more attention.