Does anyone feed their dogs a vegan or vegetarian diet? I read here http://environment.uk.msn.com/green-living/article.aspx?cp-documentID=10264940 that it is growing in popularity and wondered if any of you have "swapped bones for broccoli". Is it a safe diet for a dog? Can their dietary needs actually be met without meat?
My two get sniffing and their enthusiasm grows at the merest whiff of meat, although they do love cheese  and eggs too. I'm not sure I could deny them their meat even though I'm a veggie!

I don't have any experience of veggie dog food but it sounds un-natural to me, dogs are meat eaters by nature and it doesn't seem right to feed them on vegetarian food.

I agree it sounds totally unnatural. I have been told that cats can go veggie and dogs cant or maybe it was the other way around something about there ability to digest veg and missing vitamins Does anyone else know ?

I very stupidly decided to try my 2 dogs on vegetarian dry complete diet a few years ago,the protein came from soya and wheat gluten,they were only on it for about a week as they were losing weight,pooing out loads and after about the 4th day were being sick so it was a complete disaster,I just chucked the rest of the food away!
A veggie diet based on things like eggs and cottage cheese might work better though.

> I agree it sounds totally unnatural. I have been told that cats can go veggie and dogs cant or maybe it was the other way around something about there ability to digest veg and missing vitamins Does anyone else know ?

It's cats - there are specific vitamins/minerals in meat that they can't do without, taurine is one of them.

Dogs and Cauliflower Cheese, hmmm I don't think so, more Meat and Spud pie :)

I can't stand the thought of dogs being on a vegetarian diet.It's a complete oxymoron! Dogs and cats are carnivores,not herbivores
I think a lot of dogs suffer due to the low meat content in most commercial foods as it is,letta lone sticking them on a completely vego diet.

There is no way I would ever consider putting my pets on a vegetarian diet. Even though my dog loves sweet potato and green beans, I think her health would be seriously compromised by a meat free diet. Dogs lived way before we made them pets, I think we interfere enough already without starving them of a food source they have always had. I can understand that a vegetarian/vegan may be 'grossed out' by feeding meat to their pets, however IMO that is something they should have considered before getting a meat eating pet. Please don't take this as an attack on the OP- more so on those who would consider this a viable feeding option!

It's a rather confusing article that seems to merge giving your dogs vegetables as part of their diet and feeding a vegetarian diet.

Mine enjoy there meat too much, they get veggies too, but meat first!!

Ditto what others have said, my lad enjoys his veggies (not too many sprouts though - wind!), but LOVES his meat!!!

I think we have responsibility to feed our animals a diet appropriate to their needs, regardless of our own food preferences/beliefs. I wouldn't like to hear of a vegan dog, unless it was for a mdeical reason for example.

Claire

> I think we have responsibility to feed our animals a diet appropriate to their needs, regardless of our own food preferences/beliefs. I wouldn't like to hear of a vegan dog, unless it was for a mdeical reason for example

indeed. dogs are not made to survive on veg alone, you'd have to suppliment them to the hilt and denigh them something they love!

Thanks mastifflover I knew it was one or the other.
Barf feeders include veg some dairy and fruit , but thats a long way from pure veggie. Mine are raw feed plus some veg and diry on occasion. Some schools of though say that only meat is needed but entirely veggie does seem abit off.
Humans can chose how or what they eat but our anomals relie on us.
By the way I was vegetarian for many years that was my choice but felt that my animals need meat so have always fed them that way .
I love snakes but feel that I would find it very difficult to feed them mice etc so haven't had them as pets. I agree that you need to take all that into consideration when getting animal.

My experience of feeding a vegetarian diet to my dogs(now how could anyone have been that stupid!)has taught me to avoid feeding any food with wheat gluten in it(I couldn't believe the effect it had on both my dogs) and soya(huge amounts of poo produced-it obviously wasn't being digested) so maybe some good came out of it.I now realise dogs need a meat-based high protein diet-but sometimes we have to try these things!

dogs are not designed to be herbivores - period!

Unless it was for specific intolernaces to meat I think ti immoral to expect a carnivore to live as a vegetarian.

A dog is an omnivore a cat is pure carnivore. A dog is designed to be a hunter and scavenger. It needs a high protein diet to thrive best but can subsist on a diet that mixes good protein with other food sources like some fruit and vegetable matter. A dog's dentition shows that it is primarily meat orientated, with large canines for ripping meat and molars for grinding bone. A dog also has a short digestive tract. Again this indicates meat. A vegetable eating mammal has the longer gut needed for digestion of cellulose etc.., Consider how may stomachs a cow has!

Anyone who suggests feeding a dog on veggies alone, would, I think, will end up with an animal with malnutirition. However, as scavengers, dogs are made to subsist on whatever they can get hold of.

We make our dog food and although it includes veggies meat is by far the main ingredient! My boy loves his meat - raw or cooked he loves it! Our girl on the otherhand isnt always keen on it, she refuses raw meat and can still be fussy when its cooked depending on what it is. Sometimes I think if given the choice she would go for veggies over a piece of meat. Despite this I make sure meat is the main part of my dogs diet as I believe this is what is best for them.

We have four dogs, one of which is allergic to all animal protein (including eggs and dairy) and is therefore on a vegan diet! Flash has been on a vegan diet for over two years now and is doing fantastically well! No-one would ever guess that he is vegan as he is the perfect weight, shiny coat and very well muscled with bundles of energy (he is a saluki).

Flash is on a vegetarian dog food (Benevo), but gets supplements. Just a vegetarian/vegan dog food alone is not enough in my opinion and experience. Flash also gets Missing Link Vegetarian which gives him lots of important trace elements and also omega 3. In addition he also gets cold-pressed nut oil which again provides him with additional omega 3 and 6. He also gets fresh food like all our other dogs, excluding any animal product of course.

I personally would not chose to feed a dog on a vegetarian/vegan diet other than for medical reasons! However, looking at Flash and how well he is doing on a vegan diet, I wouldn't condemn people that do... as long as they make sure that it is a good diet that gives the dog everything they need - a dry vegetarian/vegan food alone does not provide that in my opinion!

Vera

That is very interesting.
I am vegetarian myself and have always preferred herbivores. I am not a fan of cats, ferrets and other carnivores except for... dogs. It is a big effort for me to feed mine tripe and even the smell of the dry food is hard enough. But there it is, they are my wolves and I couldn't bear to put their health at risk for my own convictions... A veggie dog would be my dream but in the meantime, I respect where my dogs come from and although I believe other omnivores -like us- can live very well without meat, I couldn't do that to my dogs. As a matter of fact, I don't think I could do that to my own children (when i have some) before they can decide to turn veggie themselves. I would encourage them to alternative sources of protein and keep meat to a bare minimum but wouldn't bar it completely from the start.