Veggie Pup

To several posts-

King parrot-My dog is not eating white bread and gravy. I don't just feed him a bowl of potatoes and wish for the best. I wouldn't have adopted him if I wasn't going to provide a happy and healthy home. Just becuase you had A (one) friend that may have done a vegetarian diet wrong for their dog does not discredit vegetarian dog feeding in general. A simple google search of "vegetarian dog" and the company "vegedog" will result in the viewing of many a healthy vegetarian dog. I have friends (personally ) and people online, all with vegetarian or vegan dogs- all healthy. I can attest from personal experience a positive change in coat, demeanor, and energy. You argued ethics and nature. A dog chasing a rabbit is more "natural" than eating from a bowl, yes. But having a dog in your house in the first place is far from natural. I would at least hope you have the basic decency to not let your dog kill another creature just because he can. Unfortunately, I cannot make you be a decent person. I hope at the very minimum that the rabbits aren't fenced in while you get off on your dog killing them.

icedteaprincess- I agree. Cats in the US are here because of us (people). They do not belong outside or declawed. Indoor cats live longer, healthier lives, and do not damage local wildlife. The nature argument is not as valid as the ethical argument for many people.

cynical otter- I have never heard of anyone resonable telling a lion not to hunt. Lions have no sense of ethics and kill only out of necessity. We as people can control our actions, but not the actions of necessity of wild animals. I am glad i have a choice. A lion really does not.

 

Of course they are, they'd escape otherwise.

Duh!

 

Dogs are not herbivores. Just look at their mouths, it is so obvious.
I would never put my dog on a vegetarian or vegan diet. I feel that they enjoy, and they need meat. My dog likes to eat carrots, broccoli, and bananas and they are a great snack, but she loves her meat. We need to honor our pets for what they are, and not try to be such fussy over dramatic humans.
I remember reading a vegan dog food brand that had a slogan about helping your animal on a karmic level. I consider myself a spiritual person, but seriously that is just stupid.

 

Dogs are omnivours (sp?) and need to eat meat and some veggies, period. People are supposed to eat meat too, that's why we have canine teeth. Dogs are where the term "canine teeth" came from.

I fully support people who choose to be vegetarian. It's hard to make sure you get enough protein though.

Dogs eat some veggies, but they can't digest too many. My dog had pancreatitis so he can't eat much meat fat. Because he doesn't get much fat his hair started loosing it's shine and he started shedding a lot. So I have to give him flax oil so he can get some fatty acids. Don't make your dog a vegetarian it's not a good idea.

As far as cat's go they are almost strict carnivors. I keep my kitties inside. I don't really want to have to scrape their dead bodies off the road or find there body parts after a wild animal kills them.

 

Just because you "feel" they need meat does not make it so. Has anyone at ALL even googled "vegetarian dog" before making comments? I am not going to tell someone what to feed their dog but this is getting tiring. Suddenly everyone is a vegetarian dog expert w/o even looking up anything.
I suggest the book "Obligate Carnivore" but I don't expect anyone to read it since a 2 second google search is apparently too difficult. Feeding your animal vegetarian when you are vegetarian is neither fussy nor overdramatic. It is logical. And he loves the food we give him. Why am I going to buy chopped up animals for my dog when I won't eat it and he doesn't need them?


And it is not difficult to get protein in a vegetarian diet for humans either. If you get enough calories (and aren't eating junk like soda and cheetos for your main meals) then you are most likely getting enough protein. Your body will also tell you what it needs

I am not sure if people are saying things just to get reactions or not....

 

Dogs are carnivores - they are made for eating meat, their stomachs are designed to digest meat, not veggies and grains. I don't eat much meat and I understand vegetarians who decide they don't want to eat it. BUT I think it is just wrong and egotistical to force another creature to eat vegetarian, if that creature is not a natural herbivore! It is cruel and unnecessary in my opinion. I feed my dog raw bones and meat, sometimes with pureed veg and a bit of grains, rice, egg and certain milk products. Additionally she gets different oils, herbs and garlic. My dog wouldn't even touch her food if it was vegetarian - because she knows what's good for her. If you are a responsible dog owner you feed your dog what it is supposed to eat, not what YOU think it should eat.

 

Just because some website tells me to feed my dog vegetarian is GOOD for the dog, does it mean it's a fact? I'm sorry, but I don't believe everything on the internet. There are just as many sites telling you the opposite, so I think it's a bit presumptuous of you to say that people are not informed. The dog is a NATURAL carnivore, as said before. Why change a diet that is natural for your dog, just because YOU think you know better? Fine if your dog enjoys his food, but I reckon if there was a bowl of veggies and a bowl of fresh meat, even your dog would go for the meaty one. That's the problem with the whole thing. The dog doesn't get a choice, it has to eat what you feed him. YOU have a choice about what you eat, so it's fine. Eat grass if you want. But to force your opinions and ideas about a healthy diet on an animal, is just wrong.

 

I don't feel my dog should eat meat, it's a fact that he should eat meat. If you want to risk your dogs life and feed him what he shouldn't be eating go ahead. It's like feeding your goldfish cherrios and expecting him to survive on it.

 

Ok well the reason why i even made this thread was because I heard people talking about how there dogs are vegetarian so since Iam a veg and I have certain belifes and all I became curious about what people know about veggie dogs and if its healthy for dogs to be that way ... Cloey( my pup) is Not a veg shes eatting normal doggie food .... All Iam doing is trying to see what might be BEST for Cloey. I think it would be a wise idea to talk to the vet and see whats best for her and see what they may think about this ... I really do appreciate everyones oppinions and help. I will post on here and let you all know what the vet says about it


thanks alot
Peace
Katy

 

Unnecessary and cruel? look up some info on the meat industry. our vet seems to have different opinions than all you "experts". My dog is healthy and I am not risking his life. I think this advice coming from people who eat 100 animals a year is appalling.
Egotistical? Come the fuck on. I am so sick of personal attacks when someone doesn't agree. Look at the name calling on this thread.

Either way I don't know anyone on here so I have nothing to prove to you. Obviously our opinions are different. My dog (and my friends' vegetarian dogs) are healthy and happy. I offered my personal experience, didn't say I was an expert on anything, I just know that I have looked this up and wouldn't put my dog in danger. I probably won't comment any more on this thread.
And please be more intelligent than to assume I eat grass because I am vegetarian.

 

I've got a close friend that has two newfoundlands, & a border collie. One of the newfies has weird allergies, skin problems. They tried everything with the food. We now think it's most likely due to the scavenging the animal does around the property. Drinking standing water ect.
Mostly, I've noticed the dogs diets are omnivorous, the larger portion meat. They are all healthy, & two are growing old gracefully.
Dogs are evolving as humans breed, & care for them. Case in point, Jennasia's dog with the allergy to animal protein. Sorry, & no offense, Jennasia..I think it's really great that he lived, but in the wild, obviously, he most likely would've died.
That is my point, they aren't exactly wild anymore, are they? Which leads me to believe that while some dogs are able to thrive on a carefully planned, supplemented veggie diet, many probably wouldn't thrive on it.
I'm going to assume a vegan would be just as caring as anyone else and feed them what they can thrive on...Even if it means feeding them meat...? Am I wrong on this...Pamela?
No, I don't have hard data, just common sense. I don't think either side is completely wrong here. It quite literally is JMHO. I used to have dobermans.
The newfies occasionally catch rabbit's in the yard. Here, they can catch disease, or parasites that way. More likely parasites, since they get rabies shots.

 

Didn't you guys know?

Everything on the internetz is 100% fact!

 

I did just find a website recomending vegan diets for cats..A forum too. Sheesh!

 

Aha..Hmmm...obligate carnivore... This has been sort of educational..Interesting essay here..
http://www.idausa.org/essays/obligate_carnivore.html

This part is about cats..I'd wait for actual research before giving my cats crystals in their urine..Then, this is two years old.

 

My initial intent was to throw some water on the flames..
Oh, well..Shit, maybe I shouldn't have wandered in here.
Seems to me the most sensible diet for dogs and cats is omnivorous with mostly meat..
Then again, I've never wanted to humanize my animals all that much.

 

Honey, you started the name calling in the first place, by saying people don't know what they're talking about and don't bother learning about the subject. I DID bother and it didn't convince me. As I said, maybe your dog is healthy and happy, and that's great. But at the end of the day, your dog would still rather go for a big junk of meat than for a veggie meal. I was just trying to make the point that YOU are able to choose your food, so if your vegetarian, that's great. But your dog doesn't get a choice, and that's what's wrong with feeding a vegetarian diet to your dog. Because naturally it wouldn't go for that kind of food. The grass eating comment wasn't because I thought you actually DO eat grass, it is called sarcasm, just to clear that up.
Also, while getting all annoyed about people assuming to know you, you should maybe stop assuming so much yourself. I do surely not eat 100 animals a year and I try to eat organic, free-range meat, eggs and milk products as often as I can, and will rather eat Vegetarian than anything from cruel mass production. I am also not someone who feeds her dog processed dog food with crappy contents, but fresh stuff where I know what's in it. So, before you get all defensive, maybe you should clean your own doorstep first.

 

Hmmm... most people that feel they need to point out to others "just how correct" they are.... Usually point others into the direction of reference material in support of thier topic.... instead of insulting people.

Speaking of google.... how do you justify your support and use of google... when they are responsible for bringing animal death and carnage throughout the world? How many anti vegan animal things does google involve itself into ever day? Leather sofas, leather auto interiors, pelts, parts, animal .... all thier ads that make it that much easier for people to utilize animals and animal by-products. But... I guess... some people are only true to the vegan cause out of convience or to what suits them.

A '2 second' google search provided me exactly the opposite in what you are trying to express. I happen to see more info and experts that denounce vegetarian diets for dogs (except for medical needs), than experts and info that are in support for vegetarian dogs.

But... I am sure you will argue that the thousands of vets that think a dog should be on a proper diet just do not know as much as your vet and the small percentage of vets that actually have your belief ...are the experts.

I called every vet in our area out of boredom. They all said the same thing. Veggie diets are most often used for medical diets for specific problems. They would not reccomend them for everyday nutrition.

But.... then, I guess they could have just saved all that money they spent to become vets... when they could have just performed a '2 second' google search to learn everything they went to university for After all... someone says something on the internet.... IT MUST BE RIGHT! OTHERS SAY SO!

Just like a vegan human.... to enslave another creature and force it to obey the human's beliefs that go against the creatures natural instincts! But hey... what can the animal do about it... it can not say no and it is forced to eat what is put in front of it. God forbid another human would do that to you! But I am sure you would be ok with that cause anyone can do a '2 second' google search and find that others do it also!

Az

 

dogs decended from wolves. essentially a dog is just a domesticated wolf with some slightly different traits. but i believe their nutrition needs are still the same. domestication cannot change that and since wolves are carnivores i think that should apply to my dogs as well. i am a vegan and i do not agree with meat eating, but that does not apply to non-human animals such as wolves and dogs. i think to ask my dogs to jump on the vegan wagon would be too much.....but i DO feed them organic free range dog food which is the best i feel i can do right now. dogs living with us as companions is hardley natural and so i must venture out of my comfort zone a bit in order to care for my dogs. now ive heard of healthy vegan dogs and i think thats great if someone can pull that off.....i personally would not feel good going that route.

 

I love you! I wish English was my first language so i could actually express myself properly. You made an excellent point.

 

Vegan cats! WTF! Stupid overly crunch people! They should not even have cats in the first place if they think they can do that to their pet!

WTF!