vegetarian dogs
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| Dogs are not vegetarians, they are carnivores..... they don't really need vegetables at all. Some of the nutrients found in veggies and grains are needed to keep our pets living longer, but it's not really all that natural for them. Wolves will eat occasional leaves or twigs or berries if nothing else is to be found, and also when they know their bodies need particular plant material for parasite control, or some vitamin deficiency that they sense.
I'm not sure that tofu or any other protien and iron substitute would be sufficient for a dog. |
| http://www.vegsoc.org/info/dogfood1.html
i found this website, it has a meal plan and a lot of good information. there are actually a lot of vegetarian blend dog foods. there is a commercial one you can get at petsmart, probably for dogs with allergies. and there are a lot you can get through various animal rights organizations. i have read about a lot of very healthy vegetarian dogs, and used to know someone with a vegan alaskan malmute... i was really just wondering if anyone on this board had a vegetarian dog. |
| You can feed your dog a homemade diet but it takes a lot of effort and I would consult your vet first. Generally we wouldnt do this to a dog because most people dont know what their dog needs in terms of nurtients. I have a bunch of vet approved home made diet if you want to ask your vet it you could do this but I would not recommend making your dog vegetarian...In the wild they arent vegetarians and it jumbles up their natural metabolism and what they need to grow and live on. What generally happens what we see in the clinics is that peopel start their dogs on vegetarian diets and the dogs come up with all sorts of deficiencies or can form bladder stones or other things.
examples: give too much phosphorus in a diet can lead to nutritional secondary hyperparathyroidism give too much magnesium can lead to hyperflexion of the feet( where they pretty much walk on their "palms") give too little iron can lead to metabolic disorders give too much zinc can lead to poor skin conditions and too much zinc can lead to hemolytic anemia vitamin A excesses can lead to painful bone formations on their spine excesses of vitamin D can lead to mineralization of soft tissue and disruption of cell metabolisn and neuromuscular activity And on the list goes. Be very careful as to what you feed your pup..... generally the dog food is formulated by the companies to include all the nutrients they need for all stages of life. Let me know if you do want those home made diets but please ask your vet first. |
| My friends are vegetarians and they fed their Basset Hound Boca Burgers (vegan), cooked eggs and dog biscuits. He lived until 13 1/2 years old so I definitely feel that it's an option. I would just make sure he gets protein in his diet.
~VerveUp |
| With a dog like Walter, an all natural, even vegetarian diet might be just what the doctor ordered.....
Perhaps if you talk to your vet about supplements that could make up for the things he would be lacking? |
| Hi,
I read this with interest as in my foggy brain somewhere, I remember once reading that while cats can't become vegetarian as it will kill them due to their bodies needing meat in their diets, it's quite possible with dogs. I was suprised to read that that wasn't mentioned on the site you listed as doing so with a cat would be detrimental to their health. As a vegetarian yourself you probably know dietary needs far better than us and after an okay from your vet I think it's worth a try. Not wanting to give people the wrong info as I said most of the reading I had done on the subject is somewhere in my memory and not entirely clear at the moment. I tend to do a lot of reading on topics which interest me at that particular point in time, but will then forget it unless I'm using it at the moment. When Shaggy, my previous OES had immune defieciency thrombocytopenia (urg! took me almost a year to learn how to say it) and still can't spell it correctly,she was given very little chance of recovery. I visited the library and read as much as I could about diets and immune systems. As a result I put her on lots of beta carotene veggies , chicken and broth and supplements which boosted her immune system. It raised her very low blood count and she no longer needed blood transfusions and lived another 6 years after diagnosis. Shaggy ended up living until the ripe old age of 15 1/2. Oscar, Fe'line and Ralph (the three legged cat) lived until the ages of 21, 19 and 19. My previous cats (all five) lived until the ages of 21 and Snoopy my Samoyed/Lab lived until 17. Therefore I'm a big believer in diet to improve life span and ironcially before Blue, Merlin and Panda I never purchased the best quality prepared dog or cat food for them either. I did tend to give all of them a mixture of "people food" in small amounts over the years, with the storebought food. (Okay I'm waiting to hear the backlash.) Saying that, I did educate myself and used common sense when preparing the food. You'd also have to do it slowly, mixing in the new food in small amounts to his existing food so as not to get his stomach upset. Eventually replacing the new food entirely but it takes a while as doing it too soon you may have runny poop. Just last week I was viewing the Humane Society's website and there was a dog listed as being Vegetarian in his bio. So my advice would be to check the web for lots of various opinions, talk it over with your vet and then take it from there. One thing I have done with Merlin since he was a pup and now Panda is give them carrots to chew on more often than bones. They get just as excited over them as they would a bone. Good Luck to you! Marianne and the boys |
| Heather-
If you have access to Complete Holistic Dog Book: Home Health Care for Our Canine Companions (Paperback), by Jan Allegretti, Katy Sommers it has a section about this. If you can't find it let me know and I'll copy the pages and send them to you. |
Anonymous wrote: I would just make sure he gets protein in his diet.
That might mean a lot of beans! Phew! |
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