The Great Debate

[persephone]

Ok...

are they, or are they not?

I believe they are carnivores.

I also know that they will eat fruit/veg matter in small quantities, either as incidental, when consuming organs...or as choice, because of taste, or when meat is in short supply.

I believe meat/bone is the main diet.

have fun

Edited May 7, 2008 by persephone

[Guest The Warden]

Voted.

I feed very little veges. Maybe once a week.

[~Anne~]

Carnivores who would eat a small amount of plant and vegetable matter in the wild. I feed approx 75% meat and meat products, the rest is vegetable/plant matter.

[~*Shell*~]

Carnivores who eat plant matter are omnivores. I don't think it matters how much meat or veges they eat to be called an omnivore. They become malnourished on a diet of strictly meat and need the nurtients and minerals out of vegetables to survive healthily...

Edited to add: This came from our vet, not from my own research but I know that Zero came to us quite sick and the vet told us he had something along the lines of scurvy (not a vitamin c deficiency though). We had to feed him a lot of silverbeet, spinach and a little bit of broccoli to get him better.

Edited May 7, 2008 by ~*Shell*~

[wylie]

The term for dogs is "obligate canivores'.

Which basically means that there diet consists of meat and bones however they will eat fruit and veg at times but it is not an essential or needed part of there diet.

Guess its like us and Maccas its not needed or essential as part of our diets either. LMAO!!!

[Kavik]

Dogs are not obligate carnivores like cats. I voted for omnivore, but now thinking I have changed my mind to carnivore, just not obligate!

[Cavandra]

They are Carnivores, as taught in Biology in schools, & even in the Dictionary as such............The confusion that some call them omnivores is due to the fact they are scavengers, they will eat anything, however, they need nothing more that meat, organs & bones to live on, whereas Omnivores MUST have all food groups, Dogs do NOT NEED all food groups for general well being.

You get many morbidly obese people actually classed as suffering from Malnutrition, this is due to them usually consuming large amounts of carbs & Protein & low to zero in fruit & veg.........Omnivores need all food groups to stay healthy.

Dogs fed an omnivore diet eventually will get sick or bad skin etc from excess carbs (rice, pasta, starchy veg), and too much grains & cereals...These are human diets given due to people humanising their dogs, helped along by advertising by mega billion $$ pet food industry who use these cheap fillers to maximise profits.........

[horus]

Dogs are carnivores. Their teeth are designed for grabbing and holding, ribbing and tearing. They do not have flat molars which are designed for chewing vegetation. Dogs can occasionally browse on vegetable matter or gain nutrients from the stomach contents and/or flesh of other herbivores and omnivores that do eat vegetation.

[KitKat]

When i was feeding barf by the book my dogs lost weight, lost condition and had to eat heaps to not look starved - so i went back to kibble with extras and they gained weight, gained condition and ate less. I also tried just raw meaty bones - eg turkey necks one night, roo tail the next, lamb the next, chicken the next and so on, they got the occasional egg and that was about it - they stayed in good condition, stayed at a good weight and looked great as well. So for me it's either a kibble with extra's diet (eg kibble with stuff, kibble or meaty bones) or just meaty bones as diets for my two boys - depends on the budget and freezer space at the time

[Guest Tess32]

To me they are carnivores and mostly everything I've read has said that.

But either way, I feed about 5% vegetables. Is BARF 30%? That to me is a huge amount of vegetables. I still feed them at all because I figure they are a bonus and might do some good.

If I put the vegetables over the meat, Reilly spends 5 mins shaking it off....the other two eat them up.

[The Spotted Devil]

Dogs are omnivores - they are capable of conserving nitrogen (from amino acids/protein) and use some hind gut fermentation, similar to a horse.

Cats are obligate carnivores. They are unable to conserve nitrogen should their protein intake drop or be of poor quality.

I have had this discussion with several animal nutritionists who all agree. As do all the journal articles I've read.

ETA: I'm not saying we should be feeding large quantities of grain/fruit/veg to our dogs - this is not about diet, but definition.

Edited May 7, 2008 by The Spotted Devil

[kamuzz]

Dogs are omnivores - they are capable of conserving nitrogen (from amino acids/protein) and use some hind gut fermentation, similar to a horse.

Cats are obligate carnivores. They are unable to conserve nitrogen should their protein intake drop or be of poor quality.

I have had this discussion with several animal nutritionists who all agree. As do all the journal articles I've read.

ETA: I'm not saying we should be feeding large quantities of grain/fruit/veg to our dogs - this is not about diet, but definition.

Quick google search seems to confirm this. It's a lovely phrase "obligate carnivores".

One of my dogs loves mushrooms and asparagus. The look on his sister's face when she tries a piece - priceless.

[felix]

Biologically, dogs are carnivores.As simple as that.

Carnivores.

And this.

Ok, no more.

Cheers

Edited May 8, 2008 by felix

[Guest The Warden]

TSD: What journal are you looking in? I can only find stuff on racoon dogs

[Nekhbet]

Biologically Canines are considered carnivores because of their dentition and digestive system. The fact that in the wild they consume digest from ruminants/herbivores doesnt technically make them strict omnivores.

Dogs are definately NOT obligate carnivores. Felids are.

[Danielle]

Scientifically, dogs are classed as Carnivores, simple as that.

They are not Obligate like cats, but they are still under the classification of Carnivore.

Sorry to burst the bubble, but Ive done studies on Canine Nutrition and yes, they are carnivores.

They do eat plant matter yes, but most of their diet consists of meat. If you look at a dogs teeth structure they are different to humans or bears (omnivores), they dont have the flat molars for crushing and grinding plant matter or grain.

Its a real "ify" one, but they are still scientifically classified as Carnivores whether we agree with it or not.

[Danielle]

The term for dogs is "obligate canivores'.

Which basically means that there diet consists of meat and bones however they will eat fruit and veg at times but it is not an essential or needed part of there diet.

Guess its like us and Maccas its not needed or essential as part of our diets either. LMAO!!!

This is actually untrue.

Obligate means - restricted to a particular host, substratum or mode of nutrition.

So, an obligate carnivore would ONLY eat meat, for instance a cat.

Dogs are not obligate carnivores, they DO eat plant matter, but this does not scientifically place them in an Omnivorous category, they are still considered Carnivores, but NOT obligate.

[Guest The Warden]

Our cat eats grass.

[griff]

My cats eat grass

and every day choose to munch out on Parlour Palms , meat , cat kibble.

so there fore my felines are not obligate carnivore.

[Guest Tess32]

Individuals in a species may always have weird tastes. Some dogs love poo, doesn't make them poovores