In millions of homes, humans aren’t the only creatures sitting down to dinner. So what's on the menu for pets—and what impact does it have on their health, as well as the environment? This episode, we go back thousands of years to figure out what our first furry friends ate, how that's changed over the years, and why. Is serving your dog raw meat and bones more ancestrally appropriate? Can cats be vegetarian? What goes into that dry, brown, extruded industrial kibble? This episode, Gastropod is getting tails wagging with a look at the what our four-legged friends should really be eating to stay healthy and happy. You'll have to sit, stay, and listen to find out what the best options are, for our pets and the planet!

Episode Notes

Rachel Kelly

Rachel Kelly works at the Michigan State University Center for Regional Food Systems. You can download her article, "Feeding the Modern Dog: An Examination of the History of the Commercial Dog Food Industry and Popular Perceptions of Canine Dietary Patterns," here.

Michael Coren

Michael Coren runs the Climate Coach column at The Washington Post, where he wrote about vegetarian diets for pets.

Emily Anthes

Emily Anthes is a science reporter at The New York Times and writes the column Pet Theory. She recently reported on the oldest genetic evidence of dogs, including what those dogs were eating, and has previously covered insect-based food and other alternative proteins for pets.

The Alfred P. Sloan Foundation for the Public Understanding of Science, Technology, and Economics

This episode of Gastropod was supported by a generous grant from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation for the Public Understanding of Science, Technology, and Economics. Check out the other books, movies, shows, podcasts, and more that they support here.

Transcript

Click here for a transcript of the show. Please note that the transcript is provided as a courtesy and may contain errors.