vegetarian diet for dogs advice please

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Oldred

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Has anyone tried feeding a ready made vegetarian dog food to their dog? If so, what were the resutls, good or bad and what did you feed. Or are there any fish based dog foods that are not too rich? Any advice much appreciated. I have one lurcher (needs fattening up) one GSDX (needs slimming down).
 
Is there a particular reason why it has to be Piscaterian/vegetarian and not just low fat? At this moment I am on a Pascoes (www.pascoes.co.uk) low fat/country mix (not vegetarian) and our dog seems to have taken to it well! He is not overweight but we have to keep him on the leanerside of lean as he has arthritis setting in.
James Wellbeloved do a Fishy one I am sure. I think that one food will not do both dogs as their feed requirement is so so different. maybe feed them seperately?
Doubt this helps but good luck!
 
Thanks Polaris - main reason is I am vegetarian/piscatarian so buying and using dog food has become a bit of a problem to me but obviously my dogs must have a good diet. When you look at veggie manufactures publicity they extoll the virtues of vegetarian diet for dogs but I wanted an independent view of actual users. I will look out the fishy one you mentioned.
 
I really accept your views however I don't agree a dog should be vegetarian as a rule (dietry complications is acceptable) I also get a strong feeling that your dogs health comes first with you so that's where the importance lies. I think a fish diet could be an acceptable substitute....
I shall try to drum up some veggie dog food however...
http://www.innocentanimalproducts.co.uk/index.php
http://www.veggiepets.com
http://www.judgeschoice.co.uk/dog-food/vegetarian-dog-food.asp
http://www.dealtime.co.uk/xDN-pets--pt_food_and_treats_type_vegetarian-30281

Some that you might want to look at.
Best of luck.
 
i dont agree with feeding dogs vegetarian diets. quite happy for people to be vegetarians but i dont think those views should be enforced onto a natural carnivore. people have always been omnivores, so cutting out meat is not a problem, but cutting meat out of a carnivores diet is just not natural. i just dont believe we should enforce our views on food onto our animals. a fish based diet would be perfectly acceptable though - we put lots of allergic dogs onto fish and potato diets and they are fine on them.
 
whats the difference between a dog eating a food with "meat" in it, and "fish" in it?

How can fish be vegetarian - its still a living beings flesh after all.

I also would add that unless dog has medical reasons for being fed on vegetables only, they should really be fed on what there digestive system is designed for.
 
I agree with wench- I don't really understand the "fish-eating vegetarian" thing either. I appreciate that for a few dogs' health issues, a vegetarian diet is a necessity; but unless that is the case, it would seem wrong to me to feed a natural carnivore a veggie diet, purely because of one's own principles. (Which obviously do not apply to your dog who has no such qualms.) Of course, veggie dog food manufacturers are going to advocate a veggie diet- it's in their best business interests.

If it's not the actual feeding of meat to your dog that bothers you, but the unethical practices that lurk behind (some) manufacturers' food testing, perhaps you could opt for a brand which does not involve itself with this.
 
I would also have to agree with the others comments im afraid, I also feel that dogs should have meat in their diet although they are not true carnivores as dogs also need carbs and vitamins,minerals etc from veg,rice,potatoes etc.Cats however are true carnivores and need only meat/fish in their diets.However we supply our clients with egg and rice,whitefish and rice,salmon and rice and there is also a brand of food called burns which do naturally organic feeds.Have a look around just as long as you purchase a complete balanced diet then im sure it will be fine.x
 
sorry agree with the above dont enforce your lifestyle on your dog, they are natural carnivores and require essential protiens and ammio acids from meat!!

and personally saying your a vegetarian but eat fish is totally pointless, fish is till another creature
 
I totally disagree with feeding a healthy dog who has evolved over thousands of years to thrive on meat- a vegetarian diet.

Morals are a fine thing and I respect your decision not to eat meat but gosh, don't deny your dog the food he needs.

The jack russell we had when I was still living at home (v old dog now lol!) has a sensitive tummy and eats Chappie which I believe is fish based if not entirely fish based, which he does well on.
 
My query was really - has anyone any experience of a dog on a vegetarian but it would seem nobody has tried it or has any scientific evidence re nutritional aspects. Dogs need protein but doesn't that come in many forms? Millions of humans thrive on protein and amino acids etc from grains, pulses, seeds, nuts, eggs etc out of choice. Is there a scientific reason why dogs can't, (I would seriously like to know now!) rather than a knee-jerk reaction that they can't? I also wonder how much actual meat there is in a can of dog food. My cans say 6% of 100g (i.e about a teaspoon)!

Reasons for not eating meat but eating fish are really decisions based on emotions since again facts regarding suffering and quality of life etc are scanty. Its really an emotional judgment that a fish's life is probably more pleasant than a factory farmed pig, chicken, calf who not only usually lives in overcrowed, stressful, restricted and smelly conditions but also have a brain size and intelligence akin to our dogs and horses. Everyone who is an animal lover makes an emotional judgment of sorts. If you have a dog as a pet, why has that particular animal anymore right to life and cossetting than the farm animals we slaughter to feed them. It is not really logical in many ways if you think deeply about it.

Regarding 'its not natural' rather than scientific reasons for a dog not to have its protein via meat, again, when you think about it - what is natural in a pet dog's life? If it is to have a 'natural' life shouldn't he/she be allowed to breed, always be with its pack, not have bits of his anatomy chopped off, be free to roam at will - i.e not be 'adapted' to fit in with human's lifestyle preferences?
 
Excuse my complete lack of science, but I believe there are specific vitamins (I think it's some of the B vitamins, but once again, apologise for blonde moment) that can only be obtained from meat protein. I'm sure if you google you'll find something that makes more sense.
I'm afraid I agree with the others that you shouldn't enforce your own lifestyle choices on your dog. Sorry.
 
I think that you probably could have a balanced vegetarian diet for dogs-anything essential could probably be added. Diet though is about more than balanced nutrition-its about gratification for any species including horses and dogs. whether the satisfaction a dog may feel from eating meat can be replaced with soya or another source of protein I dont know-it certainly doesnt do it for me!
My dogs love butcher's bones-I dont think any treat could replace them and I wouldnt deny them it, it fulfills a basic need or them. If you hold such strong views about killing meat for food/handling meat then why buy yourself a carnivore-why not get a rabbit? I eat meat-its all locally produced and free range-you dont have to be a vegetarian to make a point. While you talk about welfare for farm animals why not think if the welfare needs of your vegetarian dog are being met?
The fish thing is nonsense-its been proved that they can feel pain and thats without the damage to the environment that intensive fishing causes.
 
[ QUOTE ]
millons of humans manage because humans are omnivores!!!!
dogs are carnivores!!!

[/ QUOTE ]

am agreeing with you! just saying that it would be probably be possible to have a nutritionally balanced diet for dogs-not that I think its right. just dont see why someone would foist their values on their pets instead of chosing a different species of pet or why the hassle is justified!
 
wasnt aimed at you LF was meaning oldreds comment

"Dogs need protein but doesn't that come in many forms? Millions of humans thrive on protein and amino acids etc from grains, pulses, seeds, nuts, eggs etc out of choice. Is there a scientific reason why dogs can't,"
 
A carnivore is 'flesh eating animal', an omnivore 'an animal that eats both animals and plants'. Dogs would appear to be in practice an omnivore since in the wild they would eat the contents of their prey's (herbivore) stomach and intestine which would be plants. All prepared dog foods include (mainly) cereals, vegetable, rice etc. so they can obviously digest them and get nutrition from them or they would be surviving on the 6% animal protein in the dog food!

I get the feeling people who eat meat regard someone who does not eat meat as a personal attack on their morals and animal loving credentials. Just as you might choose not to eat veal or horsemeat but eat beef for not very logical reasons, I choose not to eat fowl or meat. My point about eating fish was that they have a better life, not necessarily a better death, than farm animals. The impact of commercial fishing (how did we get onto this from a dog food query?) on the world compared to agribusiness farming using chemicals to produce tons of cereal protein so it can be fed to herbivores to produce a fraction of the protein via the animals that the cereals had in them in the first place is a whole other issue!

I would only consider imposing my lifestyle choices regarding feeding on my animals if it made no difference to their health and happiness.
 
I'm vegetarian (and don't eat fish), and I feed my dog meat... wouldn't even consider not. Just because I choose not to eat meat, I wouldn't make my dog disadvantaged. Just as I wouldn't force it upon any future children I have! Pretty sure it's not possible to feed them a vegetarian diet and keep their diet 100%, it's very unnatural to them to not have any meat in their diet.
 
Erm, a true vegeterian doesn't eat fish either!! I certainly don't. Basically, if it's got a face, I don't eat it !!
I would not however impose that on my dogs, who are fed a 'normal' doggie diet (albeit dried food, as I hate touching tinned!) nor have I imposed my veiws on my children, partners either. Personal choice!!
 
Someone once told me that they ate fish even though there were vegetarian because fish were stupid... They swam into the nets didn't they! Pointed out that most nets are invisible underwater. Also Fish farms have been proved to be full of disease from the stress that the fish undergo. So not that healthy either.

Our dog has Valuemix, got a lot oceral in it but also some sort of meat thing, he likes it.
 
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