Can dogs be vegetarians??

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My boss's boss at work is Indian (not sure what religion), I don't think him and his family have lived here that long (he has worked lots of places around the world) but he's refreshingly really into all the british culture and it constantly asking me about my pets!!! He thinks it's amazing I have a horse and work full time, bless him.

Anyway he keeps telling me he's under "immense pressure" from the wife and kids to get a dog, but he wants to responsible and is worried about all the usual dog commitment issues, but also, they are all veggie and he says "what would I feed the dog?"??

Can dogs have a veggie diet? I'm not sure he even knows you can buy them a big bag of dry food that isn't really "meaty" to deal with...

Not really sure what to advise him? He's an incredibly nice and intelligent man and I'm sure him and his family would make good dog owners. Just not sure what to advise him!!

Oh and they want a Westie, would one be a suitable match for a busy working family with older kids?

What do you think?
 
Seems very unnatural to me, but I do know dogs that are veggie - or rather their owners force them to be :rolleyes: . One dog takes every opportunity to eat dead animals when out walking much to his owner's displeasure, which makes me want to give it a high 5 :D
 
I know of a vegetarian famiy who's dogs are vegetarians. I am a vegetarian and my cat eats meat, even if he could have a vegetarian diet and be healthy (can't due to kidneys or something), I don't think I would change his diet. As I know his choice would be to eat meat. :)
 
Absolutely, yes they can!! The idea behind it is that it's not really fair/ethical to prioritise certain species over others.

My dogs were on a vegetarian diet for a few years, because Peanuts was allergic to anything containing meat - her coat was awful (despite a specific supplement!) and the dandruff unbelievable. We switched them to a 100% vegetarian, organic, not tested on animals kibble that they LOVED and thrived on, Peanuts' coat changed completely,and they adored their food.

Then when we got Florimell two years ago we had to switch again as she didn't like it. So they are now fed fish, which I feel is an acceptable compromise.

It makes me laugh when people say it's not natural -- feeding a dog cheap kibble bought in Tesco's with 3% 'meat content' and who knows what other 97% is NOT natural either, but most people do it and nobody complains about *that*! At least we knew the veggie feed we fed was really good quality, and I think Peanuts' condition spoke for itself. And they both adored their food...

Anyway, there are a few good links your boss might want to have a look at.
Here is the British Vegetarian Society's guidelines for vegetarian dogs:
http://www.vegsoc.org/info/dogfood1.html
and the UK vegan Society:
http://www.vegansociety.com/lifestyle/cats-and-dogs/
As somebody else said...Dogs are fine on a vegetarian, indeed, vegan diet, but cats need taurine (see UK Vegan Society note - the Vegan Society of the UK are very good at answering queries and have access to good scientific sources).
 
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My cats are piscatarian (eat only fish) and they thrive on it. The dogs sadly wont eat fish - or they would be the same. Only because I know that the meat used in most dog and cat food is the dregs and is never ethically treated.

I used natures diet for the dogs as I wrote to them about their meat sourcing and they wrote me an excellent letter back explaining their values.
 
Adult dogs can live on a carefully worked out vegetarian diet however growing puppies cannot.
However if the dog has any intolerances it may need a change of diet and then it will have to be fed meat or fish in some form.

If you want a vegetarian pet get an animal for which plants are the natural diet. Most of the vegetarians I know feed dry foods to their dogs and cats so they don't have to handle meat.
 
Going to be controversial here!!! Look at the list of ingredients on a lot of dog food packs and most dogs eat much more veg than meat anyway, some of the cheaper stuff only has meat flavouring.

BUT!! Already with that we are seeing problems that are on the increase, allergies and intolerances, some of which are very severe, colitis, loose stools, skin conditions, more varieties and severe forms of intestinal cancer etc..

We all know that the niche in evolution the dog exploited was to hunt or scavenge the meat of other animals, during that process which took Millions of years unlike us the dog specialised. Where a Human can exist on either, or, or a mix a dog finds it much harder to change it's whole system and whilst yes it can "exist" on vegetables it does so as a poor second choice and there will be consequences of some kind not always readily visible and not always apparent in that generation.

Plants are a poor source of the essential elements a dogs needs, that's why animals eating a veg diet eat so much for so long each day and GRIND their food to get at the best of those poorer nutrients. The dog naturally has a good big meal that can last for days that it tears and swallows but cannot chew (grind).

The protein in meat is a very high quality and different to that found in plants, meat proteins are very easy to get at for the dog using it's specialised short fast gut which is normally highly acidic to help this process. A healthy digestive system in a dog needs those elements which are not available in plants to function normally, if not it has to make adjustments which are not ideal and have consequences. A dog has NO requirement for carbohydrates in it's diet.

I would never advise anyone to feed a dog this way and there is no way I would subject a dog of mine to this drastic a change in diet unless the veg is cooked or ground in some way the dog can get very little from it and it will always be poor quality.

Like I say it may appear to work but if I had an aversion to meat quite frankly I would look for a pet that suited that aversion and not force a meat eater into this kind of change, I would make the change not expect them too!
 
I wouldn't personally try to make my dog a vegetarian. They are built to eat a varied diet but their staple food is meat. I think everyone should strive to research food and buy their pet the best they can afford which also fits with their lifestyle.
 
You could suggest that they get a rabbit.

They are naturally veggie, can be house trained and walked on a lead with a harness if you want to. And some varieties are nearly as big as a westie!!!
 
Hi..Not read any of the replies, but yes Dogs can be vegetarian.. Infact not many people know but about 60% of a dogs diet supposedly in the wild would be fruit/veg type stuff!! I read about it somewhere!

Cats on the other hand cannot.x
 
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heidirusso said:
Hi..Not read any of the replies, but yes Dogs can be vegetarian.. Infact not many people know but about 60% of a dogs diet supposedly in the wild would be fruit/veg type stuff!! I read about it somewhere!

Cats on the other hand cannot.x
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How did you figure that one out? It most certainly was not 60% fruit and veg!
 
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