'Vegetarian' dogs

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tamsinkb

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Ok - you may have to bear with me on this one ! all the recent discussion on here about different diets got me thinking about something that started on Christmas Eve (in the Pub
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) Let me set the scene..........

'It's the night before Christmas' etc and I'm in the local with a large group of friends when a local family walk in with 2 x 8 weeks old 'handbag dog' type puppies ( sorry don't know exact breed but I think they have some Chiuaua(sp?) in them )Story goes that the family's 2 daughters ( 18 & 21 yrs) have each been given a puupy for Christmas (possible head / desk moment?) and the pups were picked up from breeder approx 4 hrs before being taken to pub (why? Not really fair I think) One of the members of my group went over to 'croon' at the pups ( who were quite cute I have to admit) and asked if he could give them a bit of turkey from his plate. Now I fully understand the owners not wanting this to happen for a number of reasons (too rich, don't want to encourage random strangers feeding their dog etc) but the mother instantly had a go at my friend almost screaming at him that 'They are VEGETARIAN dogs and will never touch meat in their lives' and that none of their dogs eat meat (they have 3 others as a family all medium sized active breeds, that rarely get out for a walk and are generally cooped up in the house - you can hear the one of them barking all day - but thats a different rant).

Anyway, my question is - what do others feel about this?

I fully respect peoples right to not eat meat if they don't want to, I also understand that people have the right to feed their dogs however they want ( as long as it has no welfare concerns) but I do struggle a bit with the concept of a 'vegetarian' dog. I know for sure that I couldn't 'enforce' that on Bruce - he's too keen on roadkill
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I also know that non-meat food sources can be very beneficial to dogs but in my mind dogs are carnivores (primarily) and they are not making the decision about not eating meat - the decision is imposed on them - but I guess you could argue that all feed is 'imposed' on them so that argument is flawed!!

So - what do you think?

Tamsin
 
Yellow Dog was veggie as a puppy - his tummy couldn't cope with meat at all. He eats meat quite happily now tho
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I'm a veggie and the concept of not feeding my dog and cats meat didn't cross my mind tbh, it's what they're meant to eat.
 
That made me roar with laughter, the vegetarian bit, not the young pups in the pub bit, they sound like utter morons!

A farmer friend was telling us just the other day about his neighbours in the posh house across the road from his farm (across being half a mile up a long drive, not your average across the road house at all!). Their dog went missing, turned up at his so he called them and they came down for it. Before he found the dog it had got at a just dead newly born calf left on the back yard waiting for collection and the dog was covered in blood and gore as it had torn open the calf's stomach and was munching away at it so he thought he'd better get the hosepipe out before they came for their dog. They arrived with many apologies and a bottle of wine for him but wanted to know why the dog was so wet. There was a look of shock and disbelief on their faces as the woman says - wait for this, you'll love it!
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"Oh no, it couldn't be our dog, he wouldn't do such a thing, he's a vegetarian!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Derek just told them that perhaps they'd better tell him he's a vegetarian as he obviously didn't know he was!
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Dog sneaks down to his place pretty regularly and is most put out that there isn't often a calf on the table for him so he helps himself to the cat food instead, it must be the only time he can enjoy a meal!
 
Talking about roaring with laughter ....... I read your bit about "Oh no, it couldn't be our dog, he wouldn't do such a thing, he's a vegetarian!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" burst out lauhging, causing Bruce who was asleep at my feet to leap up and run around barking - not something he does regularly!
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I know a vegetarian family who's dogs are also veggies. Makes sense to me, if they don't want to eat meat why feed it to their dogs. The dogs are incredibly healthy and are fed a diet that ensures they get all the nutrients they need. The dogs are happy IMO and seem thankful they are being fed. I can understand why people would think it mean or silly etc though, I don't eat meat but my cat does and it does feel wrong to me, but my cat has always eaten meat and can't tell me if he'd like to stop so....
 
Dogs as I understand it can live on a vegetarian diet but cats are a different matter. I was always led to believe that a cat needed meat in its diet or it would die. I will stand corrected if wrong!
 
Peanuts and Beezle, my large dogs, were both on a vegetarian diet for quite a long while, and they were in absolutely splendid form -- and the vet always confirmed they were in great condition. We switched from a mainstream brand (Forza10) to a vegetarian diet very gradually and it seemed to work perfectly fine. I do think it depends on the dog -- mine had always adored fruit and vegetables and were/are always very enthusiastic about their food (whether vegetarian or not).

As far as I know, dogs are completely fine on a meat-free diet, while cats are not as they need taurine.

We had to go back to a fish-based diet when we got Florimell, as she is very very fussy and the vegetarian diet just didn't work with her.
 
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I know a vegetarian family who's dogs are also veggies. Makes sense to me, if they don't want to eat meat why feed it to their dogs. The dogs are incredibly healthy and are fed a diet that ensures they get all the nutrients they need. The dogs are happy IMO and seem thankful they are being fed. I can understand why people would think it mean or silly etc though, I don't eat meat but my cat does and it does feel wrong to me, but my cat has always eaten meat and can't tell me if he'd like to stop so....

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Yes agree with this, and the other issue is that a vegetarian person would not necessarily think it is fair to prioritise a species over another.

It is scientifically proven that dogs can get by just fine with a vegetarian, indeed vegan, diet. Cats are a different matter because of the taurine and the reason why our cat has never stopped eating a fish-based diet.
 
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I know a vegetarian family who's dogs are also veggies. Makes sense to me, if they don't want to eat meat why feed it to their dogs. The dogs are incredibly healthy and are fed a diet that ensures they get all the nutrients they need. The dogs are happy IMO and seem thankful they are being fed. I can understand why people would think it mean or silly etc though, I don't eat meat but my cat does and it does feel wrong to me, but my cat has always eaten meat and can't tell me if he'd like to stop so....

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Yes agree with this, and the other issue is that a vegetarian person would not necessarily think it is fair to prioritise a species over another.

It is scientifically proven that dogs can get by just fine with a vegetarian, indeed vegan, diet. Cats are a different matter because of the taurine and the reason why our cat has never stopped eating a fish-based diet.

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Now i didn't know that, I also know of a family on youtube who help animals. They are vegetarians as are their dogs and at first they kept the cats on meat and then they too became veggies. One of their cats recently died
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Now you have said about the taurine factor i think i will warn them to look into it more. The cat did seem healthy before.
 
I do appreciate that there are specifically prepared Vegetarian diets available for dogs - I am sure they are properly balanced etc and that there would be no welfare issues by feeding them - my 'issue' is that 'dogs will be dogs' and when out walking I couldn't stop Bruce sampling 'natural 'sources of meat such as the decompsing seagull he proudly carried for about 3 miles last week!

As for my cat - no chance! If i tried to stop her catching and eating rodents I think she would take a chunk out of me instead and eat it! She is a rather lean mean hunting machine
 
Yes TKB, I agree on both counts. Our cat also hunts and catches plenty of mice -- she surely gets her taurine that way
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But I don't think the idea of feeding a vegetarian diet to your dog is strange or stupid. Not at all. In fact I firmly believe that some of the cheaper commercially-available foods are far less natural
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Hmm, this is quite i interesting. I am veggie as are my family but I would never really consider feedinga dog a veggie diet being that they are naturally a carnivore. However, haveto say we do feed them mainstream dog food (ie pedigree chum) and I get the impression many on here do not believe this is that good for dogs either!

We have one dog who is very fussy and we have tried various foods yet he always loks at it first, then looks at us before eating it - almost like he suspects we've poisoned it!

I think he'd be much happier if allowed to just catch and eat his own 'dinner' (he has in the past - rabbits a favourite obviously). However, he also is very happy to scoff any guinea pig food I may drop. Hmm, wonder if he would enjoy a similar diet himself?

We have neighbours who feed a similar food stuff to their dogs (the people are not veggie, they're dogs are!). Do people on here think it does work with some dogs then to feed them a veggie diet? We do gve ours sardines occasionally as well as a treat which he does like - they are not 'poisonous'!! Lol
 
I can deal with veggies, their life their choice. I don't like vegetarians who have vegetarian kids, by default. Not fair IMO. Same with dogs.

I'm sure the dogs will survive, and for some no doubt they're better without meat, but it just seems a bit moronic to subject your views on someone/something who can't speak up. Much like overly religious/musical/horsey parents I guess.

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But what if, like me, you have a weird, sensitive dog who doesn't seem to be able to cope with meat? And as FB says, a lot of commercial dog food is just water, mulch and ash!

Does anyone feed Favour? We used to and I can't recall seeing anything that looked like it had less meat content
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LadyT, it certainly can work with some dogs. As I said both of my large dogs adored their veggie food and they did prefer it to what they had before (in that they ate it more happily). They had a varied diet, partly what we cooked for ourselves (pasta, rice, lentils...) and partly bought commercially (but a very ethical brand, no meat or fish, everything from organic farming and, more importantly, not tested on animals). Then when we got Florimell she clearly showed her disgust at the veggie diet and we changed all three back to fish (purely because it really is much easier to get the same food for all three rather than 2 different types, but in the future I would definitely consider switching Peanuts & Beezle back to the veggie diet considering they were doing so well when on it).
As I said however I already knew that they adored most fruit and veg... Peanuts drools when I eat an apple
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Tinkerbee, I don't agree. I could easily turn your argument around to say that I was forced to eat meat and fish, which I couldn't stand, by my parents (both meat-eaters) for many many years before I finally managed to become vegetarian
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But what if, like me, you have a weird, sensitive dog who doesn't seem to be able to cope with meat? And as FB says, a lot of commercial dog food is just water, mulch and ash!

Does anyone feed Favour? We used to and I can't recall seeing anything that looked like it had less meat content
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In that case you are making the best choice for your dog, not imposing your moral/taste beliefs on him.
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But how is choosing a healthy diet for your dog 'imposing you moral beliefs on him'?

Honestly, do you really think it would be better to feed him some cheap dog food with 4% meat content, which is what the vast majority of people do at least in this country?
 
This is an interesting discussion and brings to mind something I was thinking about not so long ago.

Most poeple would, IMO, refer to dogs as carnivores but to my way of thinking they arent. I would describe them more as omnivores and as such they should be capable of living albeit short term on a vegetable based diet.

Cats are a different matter as they really do need the high fat and tourine that meece and birds provide.
 
As a vegetarian I would not impose my views/diet on my dog...they are born as carnivores (unlike us
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) and have no moral or ethical considerations when it comes to what they eat.

I think it's very odd to even consider forcing animals to be 'vegetarian', except of course for health reasons and under the guidance of a vet.
 
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