Vegetarian Dog Food

[rubiton]

Yes thought it was cats who had to have meat to survive (remember an animal planet episode of some collector who feed them some kind of cereal). The cereal collectors dog looked better than the cat but wasnt exaclty thriving but thik they said dogs could survive butcats cant. However wouldnt it be better for the dog to thrive (rather than just survive) on a balanced diet.

For gawds sake don't let your friend buy a cat in case they come up with some crazy notion that meat diet could be replaced - trying to restrict the dogs diet is bad enough.

[Beatrice]

Interesting to read that people still think that dogs need meat and are exclusively carnivores - myths prevail! Dogs are omnivores and eat (and are more often than not healthy on) what's available, and it does not have to be meat.

I've fed my lot of five dogs a non-meat diet for years and they are all fit and healthy and in better shape than before. There is a very good product around called "Veganpet" which I use as the base topped up with veges, pasta, rice, lentils, beans. They love fruit as treats, or I bake very simple but scrumpous dog bikkies.

[Kirislin]

Suggest she rehome the dog and get herself a rabbit or guinea pig.

[fifi]

Interesting to read that people still think that dogs need meat and are exclusively carnivores - myths prevail! Dogs are omnivores and eat (and are more often than not healthy on) what's available, and it does not have to be meat.

I've fed my lot of five dogs a non-meat diet for years and they are all fit and healthy and in better shape than before. There is a very good product around called "Veganpet" which I use as the base topped up with veges, pasta, rice, lentils, beans. They love fruit as treats, or I bake very simple but scrumpous dog bikkies.

I think its obvious we are all aware of the dog as an omnivore - but if you look at the diet of wild dogs, even if it's small reptiles, insects or carrion, they will seek out a meat source.

While I'm fine with being a vego, I think its animal abuse to deny a prey species their basic dietry variety.

I really think that if you feel the need to turn an animal into a vego - get a species that ALREADY IS ONE !!

fifi

[raz]

I really think that if you feel the need to turn an animal into a vego - get a species that ALREADY IS ONE !!

fifi

Very good advice, Feef. What's the point of feeding textured vegetable crap to a meat eater JUST TO MAKE YOURSELF FEEL GOOD? Absolutely ridiculous.

[persephone]

I think its obvious we are all aware of the dog as an omnivore - but if you look at the diet of wild dogs, even if it's small reptiles, insects or carrion, they will seek out a meat source.

While I'm fine with being a vego, I think its animal abuse to deny a prey species their basic dietry variety.

I really think that if you feel the need to turn an animal into a vego - get a species that ALREADY IS ONE !!

fifi

:rolleyes:

[Sezy]

This is from a website GreenPet (website)

Vegetarian Diet for Dogs

While some people choose to raise their dogs on a vegetarian diet for ethical reasons there are a number of important factors to consider when making the change over.

It is generally easier to start a puppy on these foods, than it is to change an older dog’s eating habits, but some dogs are more than happy to eat meat-free meals, while others may flatly refuse.

Dogs are not strictly carnivores; they are omnivores and can survive on quite a varied diet as long as they get all the essential nutrients they require.

Cats, however are carnivores and cannot survive on a vegetarian diet, it is not only harmful to their health, but I believe it is cruel to deprive them of their natural food source.

To raise dogs on a vegetarian diet does take a bit more time and effort but they are often much healthier than those raised on unbalanced diets.

If you are preparing healthy vegetarian meals for yourself, then you can easily feed many of these same foods to your dog, but remember that onions are toxic to dogs!

We all know that we need to eat a variety of foods to keep healthy, but how many of us actually calculate the exact amount of protein, carbohydrates, vitamins, etc; we eat on a daily or weekly basis? I know I certainly don’t, and it is no different for our canine friends either, so don’t stress out over exact quantities.

Canines are natural scavengers and will feed on what ever is available to them at the time.

So once you have the basic ground rules, it is not that difficult to prepare healthy meat-free meals for your dog, as long as you are aware of their basic nutritional needs.

Dogs have higher protein requirements than humans, and this protein requirement can be adequately met with legumes and other vegetarian sources. The amount of protein required ranges between 12% - 40%.

Dogs can find starchy foods (grains) difficult to digest, and excessive amounts may cause digestive problems, arthritis, obesity and other degenerative health disorders.

Vegetable fibre must be finely minced or ground for your dog to digest if properly. This means it will need to be minced in a food processor or you may use the pulp from vegetable juices or lightly cook and mash them.

Supplementation is needed to reduce the risk of deficiencies. Two important amino acids that may be lacking in vegetarian diets are taurine and L-carnitine, and a deficiency of these nutrients can cause serious health problems.

Variety is the key to getting a good balance in the diet, and you will be less likely to run into deficiency problems.

Take note of your dog’s health & appearance, and if they fail to thrive on a vegetarian diet then consider adding some bones or meat to their diet occasionally.

The most common mistake many vegetarians make when feeding their dogs, is to use predominantly cooked foods and lots of grains. It is extremely important to include plenty of fresh raw foods also. It is a good idea to add a good digestive enzyme supplement to the meal to help overcome digestive problems.

So what do you feed a vegetarian dog?

Vegan protein sources~

Legumes such as lentils, beans & chickpeas will need to make the basis of the protein sources for your dog. Soy beans are a good source of protein, but soy foods such as soy milk & tofu do not agree with many dogs, and there are varying opinions on the health benefits of soy foods, so I prefer to avoid them, or use only moderately rather than as a regular addition to the diet.

Other Vegetarian protein sources~

Although I don’t usually recommend dairy products for dogs, small amounts can be used as an additional protein source. Select only organic dairy products such as raw goat’s milk, natural yoghurt or cottage cheese.

Free-range eggs are a good source of protein and can be fed raw, including the shell if your dog likes them. You should restrict the amount of eggs used and not feed them every day. Three times per week is sufficient.

Carbohydrates~

Vegetables – zucchini, broccoli, celery, cabbage, brussel sprouts, cauliflower, bok choy, kale, carrots, pumpkin, sweet potato, squash, green beans, etc. Vegetables such a pumpkin and cauliflower can be steamed and mashed before serving, while all others may be minced and fed raw.

Brown rice, rolled oats, barley flakes, millet, quinoa, buckwheat. Rice and other grains will also need to be well cooked first. Rolled oats may be soaked overnight in water to soften before feeding. Vets all natural Complete mix food is ideal as a substitute for grains and vegetables in a convenient blend with added extras that is simply soaked in water for 24 hours and mixed with your protein source.

Sprouts and fresh ripe fruits. Fruit must be well ripened and sprouts should be minced in a food processor before using.

Fats~

Essential fatty acids are important and can be found in cold-pressed oils, avocado, coconut, flax seed oil and flaxmeal.

Extras~

Additional high nutrient foods and supplements such as Greenpet supplement are recommended to add that extra boost to your dogs diet, to help prevent deficiencies.

Carob powder is a rich source of calcium and other nutrients.

Nutritional yeast is very high in many vitamins and minerals but some dogs may be allergic to yeast.

Tamari is a natural soy sauce, and can be used sparingly to enhance the flavour of veggies until your dog gets used to eating them.

Wheatgerm is a highly nutritious food that contains many vitamins and minerals.

Flaxseed meal is a great source of fatty acids and fibre.

Kelp (seaweed meal) contains a wealth of minerals.

Dolomite is a good source of calcium and magnesium.

Spirulina, green barley and alfalfa are all very rich in chlorophyll and also contain a large amount of vitamins and minerals.

Greenpet nutritional supplement powder is an excellent low-allergy supplement that contains many of the above ingredients.

PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER ~

Here are some recipes from the book “Vegetarian dogs toward a world without exploitation” by Verona re-Bow and Jonathan Dune.

2 cups cooked lentils

1 cup cooked pinto beans

1 cup wheatgerm

1 tsp calcium carbonate

3 Tablespoons cold pressed vegetable oil

Fresh minced vegetables with added kelp, alfalfa and zinc.

2 cups cooked brown rice

1 ½ cups wheatgerm

1 cup rolled oats

1 cup finely minced greens

1 cup minced carrot

1 tablespoon cold pressed vegetable oil

1/8 teaspoon kelp

pinch alfalfa powder

1 ¼ teaspoon calcium carbonate

Mix together all of the above adding enough water to combine and moisten all ingredients.

2 cups rye flakes

1 ½ cups oat flakes

1 cup rinely chopped or steamed greens

½ cup minced carrots or other vegetables

¼ cup nutritional yeast

2 Tablespoons cold-pressed vegetable oil

1 teaspoon calcium carbonate

¼ teaspoon kelp powder

The above recipes serve one medium sized dog for one day (2 meals).

The following supplements may be needed ~

Taurine – 13mg per kg of bodyweight

L-carnitine – 25mg / kg bodyweight

Zinc – 20mg for medium sized dog

Calcium carbonate, dolomite or eggshell powder (you can make this yourself using free-range egg shells – allow to dry out, then blend in a food processor until fine)

Vitamin B12 – 100mcg monthly or bi-monthly

Provide hard foods for dogs to chew on – Whole carrots make good chew toys and some dogs love to eat them. Healthy muesli biscuits can be made up for treats also.

Although I have been a vegetarian myself for almost 20 years, my personal philosophy is to allow each species to eat the foods they are designed to thrive on. In my experience working as an animal naturopath for many years, is that dogs who eat raw bones are healthier in the long-term than those fed on very restricted diets, but this does not mean that there are many exceptions to this rule, such as a Border Collie named Bramble who is 27 years old and eats a vegan diet consisting of rice, lentils and organic vegetables. Said to be the world’s oldest living dog, Bramble is still alert and active and goes for a walk four times a day near her home in Bridgewater, Somerset in England.

So feed your dog’s with healthy food, give lots of love and rest assured that you are helping to significantly reduce the amount of animals killed for pet food each year.

More information and receipes available in “Vegetarian Dogs” book which is available in our online store.

[Guest Tess32]

Interesting to read that people still think that dogs need meat and are exclusively carnivores - myths prevail! Dogs are omnivores and eat (and are more often than not healthy on) what's available, and it does not have to be meat.

I've fed my lot of five dogs a non-meat diet for years and they are all fit and healthy and in better shape than before. There is a very good product around called "Veganpet" which I use as the base topped up with veges, pasta, rice, lentils, beans. They love fruit as treats, or I bake very simple but scrumpous dog bikkies.

Yes myths do prevail apparently.

Dogs do NOT process carbohydrates like we do and have no need for them at all, hence absolutely no need for pasta and rice, which is the equivalent of nutritional filler.

Dogs ARE carnivores, not ominvores, they just aren't obligate carnivores like cats.

"Dogs have recently been reclassified as Canis lupus familiaris by the Smithsonian Institute (Wayne, R.K. "What is a Wolfdog?" www.fiu.edu/~milesk/Genetics.html), placing it in the same species as the gray wolf, Canis lupus. The dog is, by all scientific standards and by evolutionary history, a domesticated wolf (Feldhamer, G.A. 1999. Mammology: Adaptation, Diversity, and Ecology. McGraw-Hill. pg 472.). Those who insist dogs did not descend from wolves must disprove the litany of scientific evidence that concludes wolves are the ancestors of dogs. And, as we have already established, the wolf is a carnivore. Since a dog's internal physiology does not differ from a wolf, dogs have the same physiological and nutritional needs as those carnivorous predators, which, remember, "need to ingest all the major parts of their herbivorous prey, except the plants in the digestive system" to "grow and maintain their own bodies" (Mech, L.D. 2003. Wolves: Behavior, Ecology, and Conservation.)."

[Flaves]

I was in picking up my RC and was chatting to the staff about new Royal Canin varieties for this "market" and I don't think this is the one I saw but perhaps similar http://www.royalcanin.us/products/productdetail.aspx?ID=87 but from my (admittedly very limited) understanding, unlike cats dogs are not strictly carnivorous and do cope on a properly balanced veg diet.

THis food is mainly used for animals which have a sensitivity to animal fats/proteins which are resulting in allergies

[witheverythingiam]

Dogs are omnivores, not true carnivores. Cats are obligate carnivores.

Dogs are Carnivores my friend - hence being born with CANINES to help hold onto & rip apart their prey.

-WithEverythingIAm

[Bubbly]

Humans are omnivores. To thrive our diet must contain both animal and plan materials. We cannot make our own B12, and no plant makes it. Humans must eat animal products of some kind to get b12 and thrive.

Cows are herbivores, they thrive on grass and forage. People do feed protein supplements in feedlots - to finish them faster but it is not optimal for their health, the do not thrive.

Cats are obligate carnivores as they cannot synthesize taurine, have no way to handle a large glucose influx into their system (their livers lack the ability to act as a glucose sink), and cannot down regulate the breakdown of body proteins given a low protein diet. They MUST eat meat on a regular basis or they will have major irreversible health problems and/or die.

Dogs are not omnivores, they are carnivores. They have no nutritional requirement for plant products.

Dogs are a little more hardy. As already pointed our they are wolves that look and act a bit different. They can survive when meat is not available longer than cats can. They can survive on a diet that contains plant material and animal materials. A dog will not thrive on a veggo diet no matter how careful you are (unless they have very serious metabolic abnormalities).

Feeding an omnivorous diet our pet carnivores is like akin to feeding your horse a nice bowl of stew. Feeding a veggo diet to them is akin to feeing your horse (cow, sheep etc) a meat based diet.

For more information on why dogs are NOT omnivores:

http://rawfed.com/myths/omnivores.html

http://www.thewholedog.org/artcarnivores.html

I agree with Kirislin, if someone isn't happy feeding their pet carnivore meat they should rehome it and get a herbivore pet.

Edited May 4, 2008 by Bubbly

[Steve]

You can feed a vegetarian diet but the most important thing you will need to remember, is to feed high quality protein. The amino acids which are in meat are essential nutrients, and if you're not feeding meats, you have to supplement them. You can get some of these from Aloe Juice, grains, tofu and beans eggs, dairy. But each and every protein source has a different amino acid chain and concentration. Oils are also an essential ingredient in a vegetarian diet. This is in my opinion a really bad choice and Id do all I could to talk her out of it but at least send her on a mission to research and try to cover at least most of it.

You have to remember that some amino acids are not usually found in anything other than meat . Aloe Juice has all of the known amino acids essential and non essential and is a good suppliment for a vegetarian dog but you just cant get enough in to be able to get enough of them from this source. So even adding suppliments such as Taurine and other amino acids they have been extracted from meat anyway.

You can argue till the cows come home about omnivore or carniovore but its a huge error to compare a human digestive system with a dogs .

We produce enzymes differently and its not about what the jaws or he gut is equiped for its the bio availability of nutrients and how they are absrbed into the bloodstream that will decide whether the dog can utilise them so they are in optimum health. There's lots of different types and sources of calcium but feeding some isnt a guarantee it will be able to be absorbed and used and calcium from animals is easier and most absorbable for a dog. If you change the type of calcium it needs different ratios of other minerals to do its job than it would if it was getting it by choice.[via chewing on a bone]

[Steve]

Aloe Vera Has vitamin B 12 . Last time I looked it was the only one that did.

[Jed]

Tell her to swap the dog for a rabbit.

A dog can survive on a vegetarian diet - but not in optimum health - and the problems arise in middle or old age, because over the years, he has not been receiving the full range of nutrients he needs in a form he can assimilate.

The greenpet site has all the ideas, but I would like the see the results of some studies - all the ones I've seen are very discouraging.

A dog is a carnivore, and not feeding him the diet his teeth and system was designed for is a form of innate cruelty - as bad as some of the more obvious cruelties.

[Steve]

Tell her to swap the dog for a rabbit.

Yep My thoughts too. :rolleyes:

[Bubbly]

Aloe Vera Has vitamin B 12 . Last time I looked it was the only one that did.

I was unaware of that. Thank you!

[mixy]

Hmm I am vegetarian but even I can see that feeding a dog fruit and veg is not going to work! I think they just need to get over it and feed the dog what it's supposed to eat before it gets ill.

[~Anne~]

I must admit to being a sceptic of vegetarian meals for dogs. However, in having said that, I have had one of my rescues adopted by a vegan who only feeds her dogs a vegan diet and the rescue has blossomed in her care. She truly is a very healthy and loved pet.

If you would like to be put into contact with her send me a pm and I will arrange for a swap of emails addys.

[Danielle]

I thoroughly agree that this is ridiculous to say the least!!!

What is she thinking???

This is cruel and potentially detrimental to her dogs health and very well being!

Dogs are carnivores, not omnivores. Dogs ARE very adaptable, but just because they can survive on an omnivorous diet does not mean it is the best diet for them. The assumption that dogs are natural omnivores remains to be proven, whereas the truth about dogs being natural carnivores is very well-supported by the evidence available to us.

Dogs can be omnivorous yes, they do eat plant based matter, but they are essentially carnivores, scientifically they are STILL classified as carnivores, so until the scientific community changes their views, "Dogs are carnivores" whether we agree or not.

All you have to do is look at the teeth structure of dogs. They are nothing like ours or lets say bears (another omnivore), with the flat molars at the back. Dogs teeth are different, they are structured that way specifically to eat meat, not to crush grain or plant fodder. Its pretty plain to see. Although I do agree that they do sometimes have an omnivorous diet (which is healthy), they still are classified as carnivores.

But this is besides the point, at least we all agree that dogs are NOT herbivores!

Does she want her dog to be in optimum health or just getting by???

As stated before, tell her to go and buy a rabbit!!!

Edited May 4, 2008 by Danielle

[sas]

Contray to popular belief, a dog can be fed on a Vegetarian diet.

I'm not a Vegetarian but I did put my dog on the Royal Canin Exculsive protein kibble for a while due to allergy issues, he was absolutely fine.

Here's some info on the product that people maybe interested in:

* This product was developed for sensitive dogs with food intolerance.

* Whether the amino acids come from animal or vegetable protein, the molecular structure is exactly the same. Dispite the fact that the dog is naturally carnivrous, the indentical nutritional content of vegetable and animal proteins means that perfectly adapted foods can be developed.

* 100% Vegetable protein - The exclusive diet limits the risks of food intolerance which can be expressed by both digestive & skin signs (diarrhoea..., itching...).

Edited May 4, 2008 by sas