Vegetarian dog food
Pisces Cloud
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I'm wondering if anyone's ever fed their dog a vegetarian diet and if so did they see any health benefits? There seems to be a lot of opposing views with regards to this. One side saying that dogs need to eat meat and others saying that unlike cats they don't. Those for, usually cite Bramble, one of the world's oldest dogs, who was fed a vegetarian diet.
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As an aside, IMO it's a total no no for cats.
That's the same whether you feed them meat or not. Although as you say dogs needs are different to people's they are still omnivores and a balanced varied diet is best, unlike cats there is nothing special in meat that they must have.
One down side for the veggies is the whirl wind that comes with them, often we comment on the fog and have to open a window they are so windy. We laugh about it but some people would find that unacceptable.
I'm veggie. I feed my dogs a raw meat diet. They're not vegetarian. Their digestive tract isn't optimised for plant based diets. And the teeth are clearly those of a carnivore. They're not humans. They process food completely differently (take carbs, rice, oats etc. To us it can be nutritious. Dogs convert those to glucose which is why dogs fed a high card diet can have a crazy hour a little after meals because they have a massive dose of sugars) from us and what is healthy for us doesn't automatically make it healthy for them.
http://www.dogfoodadvisor.com/canine-nutrition/dogs-carnivores-omnivores/
http://rawfed.com/myths/omnivores.html
http://www.m.webmd.com/a-to-z-guides/features/vegetarian-diet-dogs-cats?page=1
Given that there are so many options for pets who don't eat meat. I wonder why someone should chose a carnivore for a pet then force them into being an omnivore. It doesn't make sense to me.
I do make sure they have good quality food though, I think it pays off in the long run.
I used to feed my dogs on offal (mostly raw) when I had a friend who was a meat inspector in a slaughter house! He used to bring me massive ox hearts, tripe - all sorts and all for free!
Oh, and they were only fed six days a week. One day a week all they got was a couple of dry biscuits (I know - poor things). Much better and more natural, especially on the diet they ate.
i am veggie and yet have a freezer full of whole chickens ;-)
Some dogs simply don't like meat, some may be allergic they are the only real reasons I would do it. But some do through distaste at the idea of feeding meat, or maybe expense of feeding it. My thoughts are as long as the dog is happy and healthy and enjoys it's food then not my place to judge.
I agree with this. Barkers has 4% meat, the rest is junk off the slaughter house floor.
You can buy frozen veg nuggets which we use in combination with meat. I would never stop giving my dog meat but some days he just has the veg nuggets with a little gravy.
As has been noted, cats cannot survive on a vegetarian diet.
My gran bred dogs and was convinced many of today's animal ailments are diet related such as skin disorders, kidney problems, obesity. She couldn't understand why anyone would feed their dog a product containing ash! Her dogs (and some were champions were fed tripe, heart etc)
I have the same thinking as your Gran. When I see the ingredients on some dog foods I'm literally amazed that these are classed as dog foods. But sadly the vast majority of people have zero idea what they're putting in their animals. And I'd probably be the same had I not got a dog with stomach and skin issues which lead me to look into and study pet foods.
The one that never fails to astonish me is chappie dry food. Not the wet, I realise the ingredients in the wet are dire but it has been shown to work wonders for some dogs with stomach issues. But the dry literally astounds me.
Chippy dry ingredients.
Cereals (min. 4% Whole Wheat),Derivatives of Vegetable Origin,Meat and Animal Derivatives (min. 4% Chicken),Oils and Fats,Minerals.
Seriously? What is that? Cereals? What cereals? What percentage? What derivatives of what vegetable? What meat? What animal is the meat derived from? What fats? What oils?
The ingredients are so incredibly vague because basically what they do is shove whatever crap is cheapest in it on the day it's being made, an vitamins and minerals to make it complete and sell it for £20 a bag. It's outrageous.
Wheat is known to be a massive allergen to dogs. Some foods (bakers) even contain BHT and BHA which are known cancer causing carcinogens. Why would they out that in a food fed to pets? Sad thing is most pet owners have no idea they're feeding things like that to their pet. It's like feeding your child McDonald's every meal.
I just wish people would do a little research, and learn what their pets need before just grabbing a bag of pedigree off the shelf. But when you have massive marketing campaigns by billion dollar companies you can't really blame them for not doing do because those adverts make you think you're feeding top notch stuff to your pets.