Vegan Pet Food

[Priest_of_Seitan]

I am putting together a material about vegan pet foods.

-I am aware of the fact there could be a meat eater, omnivore pet held on plant based food, If that food is checked and fulfil the standards of an animal nutritionist. I do believe in science and in the scientific method.
-I am stating that an animal cannot be vegan, so this is a caregiver moral question.

My issue is the following: when there is no affordable or accessible plant based pet food available for a pet caregiver, what is the ethical guideline to choose from the existing meat based animal food?

-Would you come from the consciousness point - so you should choose food which involves the most distance from human? (probably fishes)
-Would you choose some species which is the closest of the cats / dogs natural preys? (probably poultry)?
-Would you choose a biggest animal possible preferring the smallest death count? (probably cows)?
-Would you go with the lowest price (meaning the smallest margin for the industry)?
-Would you go for the higher price? (meaning the possibility of better welfare of those animals)?

I understand all of these option are vastly suboptimal, but at given circumstances which is the better guideline for your (imaginary) choice and why? Would you consider environmental, welfarist arguments also?

[brimstoneSalad]

-Would you go with the lowest price (meaning the smallest margin for the industry)?

This, because it's probably all byproduct, stuff humans probably wouldn't ever eat. With more expensive pet foods, animals were killed specifically for those pets as the food contains cuts that are considered commercially desirable or even just legal for human consumption.

[Jebus]

-Would you go with the lowest price (meaning the smallest margin for the industry)?

This, because it's probably all byproduct, stuff humans probably wouldn't ever eat. With more expensive pet foods, animals were killed specifically for those pets as the food contains cuts that are considered commercially desirable or even just legal for human consumption.

Don't you think such food is potentially harmful to the dog (or other pet)?

I would combine points 1 and 3, i.e. give the pet a large fish, such as tuna.

[brimstoneSalad]

Don't you think such food is potentially harmful to the dog (or other pet)?

No, there's no reason to believe that. Fear mongering over cheap pet food (which is also largely corn based, another good thing) mostly just serves as marketing for "premium" brands that cause more animal suffering and environmental harm.
Premium brands may even be more risky, as smaller companies that might not have as good standards for fortification or sanitation.

That is, no reason to think it's harmful aside from animal products being harmful in general (seem to be harmful to dogs, anyway).

I would combine points 1 and 3, i.e. give the pet a large fish, such as tuna.

The larger the fish, typically the more heavy metals through biomagnification/bioaccumulation.
Also, larger fish tend to be more intelligent.

If rope grown oysters aren't an option, I'd go much smaller: insects or tiny shrimp (though the later might have bycatch issues).

[Jebus]

@brimstoneSalad Thanks. That was very interesting.

[hiirhiir]

-Would you go with the lowest price (meaning the smallest margin for the industry)?

This, because it's probably all byproduct, stuff humans probably wouldn't ever eat. With more expensive pet foods, animals were killed specifically for those pets as the food contains cuts that are considered commercially desirable or even just legal for human consumption.

I don't think it's a default that all expensive pet foods contain human-grade meat. Usually they state it proudly on the package, as it is a selling point for most customers (e.g. Acana or Orijen). There are others which are expensive not because they contain human-grade meat, but because they are manufactured with a lot of expenses put into veterinary nutritionists, feeding trials, and marketing. Cheap pet foods are probably more likely to be nutrient deficient in some aspects as they spend less money on quality control, but around a third of pet foods on the market are nutritionally deficient anyway.

I know you didn't include it in the options in the original question, but I would prefer foods made with insect protein. Otherwise, an expensive food but with attention to that it would contain as little animal ingredients as possible, and to make sure the ones used are byproducts (for example diet foods or renal foods). But not poultry, as I think that's the worst option in terms of welfare and number of individuals involved...