Veganism for dogs

[Jen]

Howdy,
Just wondering if anyone had any input about and/or experience with vegan dogs.
We are switching our doggy friends' food to Evolution, but I was also thinking about cooking some for them as well.
Anyone use Vegedog(?) or any other supplements?
Just trying to get a handle on this.
Thanks!

[Jen]

Sigh...
I guess no one cares about vegan dogs.
Very sad.:(

[Erin Pavlina]

Don't give up Jen, the boards are still very new. VegFamily has never seemed to attract a lot of people with companion animals. Not sure why. Maybe they're out there and I just don't know it.

I know several people who are raising vegan dogs. I know it's possible. What would happen if you just switched his food to the vegan stuff?

[Jen]

Thanks Erin!
I was just teasing... ;)
I figured that your boards must be new if I got to use "Jen" as my user id! :eek:
I think it will be very popular very soon...since most people don't have that many other vegans to share with, at least in my experience!
Thanks for all of your hard work, :D

[Erin Pavlina]

Wow, an unsolicited compliment. Thank you very much! It's always nice to know one's efforts aren't going unnoticed. :)

[VeggieGirl]

Hi, Jen! :-)

Yep, many dogs seem to do well on a vegan diet.

I feed my own dog a homemade fresh foods vegetarian diet, following some veterinary balanced recipes. My vet has been very supportive & helpful.

It isn't vegan though, though *some* of the diet is vegan food.

When I thought about doing this, I checked out all the vegetarian/vegan prepared kibbles & canned foods I could find. In the end, I just wasn't satisfied with them.

I also learned along the way that my vet thinks feeding a fresh foods, homemade balanced diet -- which I hadn't ever considered -- is the best diet a dog can receive. I have tremendous respect for my vet; the high quality of care & expertise we've received has been impressive; and his own dog (my breed) lived a very long life. Soooo, I decided to feed homemade.

If I were going to feed a kibbled veg food now, my top choices would be:

1)Wow-Bow, Special Vegi-Krunch

*It's freshly baked to order & can be entirely customized!

2)Three Dog Bakery, Puppy Formula Vegetarian

*Vegetarian, not vegan (contains Parmesan)
*Soy-free
*It's freshly baked, high in healthful fat & protein & EFAs, has a good nutrient profile, & I like the ingredients better than some others.

*My dog has had this for a treat, and really liked it. It is flavorful & crunchy, gives a glossy coat, and stools were normal & fine (small).

3)IVD (Innovative Veterinary Diets)
Vegetarian Formula

*Prescription veterinary food

*Specially designed to be easily, highly digestible & to suit dogs with food allergies/intolerances.
*Soy-free
*EFAs added.
*Sensitive tummy/digestive system aid (FOS) added.

You can buy this in a few stores now, I think. Otherwise, it may be ordered through your vet.

4)Yarrah

*Another one to consider is Yarrah (Vegetarian Formula), a European food, as it is all certified organic. Vegan.

I highly recommend that you provide nutritional yeast with any veg dog food.

With homemade, I give a vegan multi-vitamin/mineral. I receive a free powder through my vet for use w/homemade diets, or I use Solgar's VM 75, in doggie dosage. So, I haven't had occasion to use the VegeDog supplement.

A good book for doing homemade is (vet, professor, & gastroenterologist) DVM Donald Strombeck's HOME-PREPARED DIETS FOR DOGS & CATS. It contains 200+ basic recipes, including doggie vegetarian & vegan, plus much nutritional information & even diets for various health conditions.

Hope this helps! :-)

Oh, and, for the record, I LOVE VegFamily!!! So we are out there. :-)

VeggieGirl

[Jen]

That was very helpful!
I bought another book, called Vegetarian Dogs, and it has lots of recipes, too. I think I'm going to try to make homemade, I know they would enjoy it much more!
Your vet isn't anywhere near Philadelphia, perhaps? Wishful thinking! He sounds wonderful!

[mikhel]

Hi, Jen...I don't have a dog but I do have two cats. I have been trying to switch them over to vegecat and they hate it. I could definately use some advice from others with vegan pets as well...

[thecatspajamas18]

I met a vegan dog recently. HE WAS 150 POUNDS. So, yes... dogs can thrive on a vegan diet. I think they were switching him back to regular dog food due to taste preference though.

For info on vegan dogs and cats, you could check out http://www.vegancats.com

I've heard that it's more difficult to raise cats on a vegan diet than it is for dogs. Dogs are naturally omnivores, but cats are carnivores pretty much, not counting the grass they usually eat (and then hack up an hour later). But as long as the animal is getting every nutrient it needs in the correct proportion, I don't see why they couldn't be vegan. If you're raising a vegan cat, make sure that youre feeding them a vegan food formulated for cats, because they need taurine (which isnt typically in plant foods, and needs to be synthesized). I don't know as much about dogs, but considering DOGS EAT ANYTHING, it shouldn't be too hard. If you're switching your companion animal from regular food to vegan food, you want to make the transition slowly, so that they don't reject the food; do this by mixing the vegan food into regular food in bigger and bigger amounts each day.

[thecatspajamas18]

Wow...ok... I went into the local pet supply store today and a salesgirl asked me if I needed help finding anything and so I asked if they had vegan pet food. All of the sudden, the man behind the counter is YELLING at me about how it's wrong, and that they have to eat meat to get taurine, and if they don't eat meat they'll DIE and blah blah blah....

Nice way to treat a customer...

Anyway, aren't vegan pet foods fortified with taurine? If they are, shouldn't he know that??

Maybe it just ticked him off that I had an Animal Rights tee shirt on. Sometimes people don't like us... oh well

[ariix]

Originally posted by thecatspajamas18

Anyway, aren't vegan pet foods fortified with taurine?
Yup. In fact, regular pet foods are fortified with taurine too cause the rendering process destroys it.
I hope you told him you were never going to shop in his store again if that's the way he treats customers!