Guest guest Posted March 9, 2008 Report Share Posted March 9, 2008 Does anyone feed their dog as a Vegan? If yes, what? If no why? Please just got a little pup and need help in what to feed it, the children are real excited about the new addition!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 9, 2008 Report Share Posted March 9, 2008 My dog is fed dog food. I am a strict vegetarian, but it is more due to the human body than to the poor treatment of animals. Humans have an extremely long digestive system, and meat takes sooo long to pass, that it ends up rotting inside of you. Dogs are carnivorous creatures and have a very short digestive system. Their bodies were made to consume meat. I know this probably doesn't help much, but it is my justification of it. Cassie Colin Hammond <nilochammond wrote: Does anyone feed their dog as a Vegan? If yes, what? If no why? Please just got a little pup and need help in what to feed it, the children are real excited about the new addition!!!! Be a better friend, newshound, and know-it-all with Mobile. Try it now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 9, 2008 Report Share Posted March 9, 2008 Hi Colin, We use Harbingers of a New Age's VegePet supplements to feed our cats a vegetarian diet - I'm not sure if it's vegan, but I think so. They have supplements for dogs, cats, puppies, kitties and lactating dogs and cats. They also have specialized things like pH balanced supplements, digestive enzymes, etc. We've used their products for 18 years. James Peden is the owner of the company, and has also helped us a ton with different pet health/diet questions we've had through the years. Really great guy! Congrats on your new family member! Lorraine On Behalf Of Colin Hammond Saturday, March 08, 2008 5:52 PM Dog Question Does anyone feed their dog as a Vegan? If yes, what? If no why? Please just got a little pup and need help in what to feed it, the children are real excited about the new addition!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 10, 2008 Report Share Posted March 10, 2008 Dogs are natural predators, they are meant to eat meat. I personally think it's a bad idea to feed a dog a vegan diet. It's just not natural for them. I recommend finding an organic dog food, or make your own dog food using organic local meats. There are lots of websites that could help you make your own. Lori Be a better friend, newshound, and know-it-all with Mobile. Try it now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 10, 2008 Report Share Posted March 10, 2008 I cannot remember if it was vegan, but it was at least a vegetarian diet. We switched back because she kept getting crystals in her urine. We use Wellness brand. IT is a very simple blend for dogs. On Behalf Of Colin Hammond Saturday, March 08, 2008 8:52 PM Dog Question Does anyone feed their dog as a Vegan? If yes, what? If no why? Please just got a little pup and need help in what to feed it, the children are real excited about the new addition!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 10, 2008 Report Share Posted March 10, 2008 Dogs are actually omnivores and can easily adapt to a vegan diet. There is another for veggie pets that you might want to join as well. I had a maltese that I transferred to a vegan diet because of some health issues he was having at the time. He thrived on the diet - we fed him a lot of homemade food with lentils, brown rice and chickpeas that he really loved. We supplemented with Evolution kibble. He lived into his teens and was only supposed to live to be 8 due to some health issues. Commercially available vegetarian/vegan foods include Dr. Harvey's, Harbinger's of a New Age (Vegepet), Yarrah Organics, Three Dog Bakery Vegetarian, Happidog, Wacki Dog, Nature's Recipe, Natural Life, Dick Van Patten's Natural Balance, Wow-Bow Vegi-Krunch, Evolution, Medi-Cal, Green Ark, HOANA recipes and others. We can even buy Natural Balance at PetCo locally, but most of the others you have to buy online. Susan , " Colin Hammond " <nilochammond wrote: > > Does anyone feed their dog as a Vegan? If yes, what? If no why? Please > just got a little pup and need help in what to feed it, the children > are real excited about the new addition!!!! > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 10, 2008 Report Share Posted March 10, 2008 Thank you for your Answers so far, any Aussies out their can help? > > Does anyone feed their dog as a Vegan? If yes, what? If no why? Please > just got a little pup and need help in what to feed it, the children > are real excited about the new addition!!!! > > > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 10, 2008 Report Share Posted March 10, 2008 we don't feed our dogs vegan because i think it's unfair to expect them to eat a diet that is unnatural for them just to make our human selves feel morally superior. we do feed them pet promise which is free of byproducts, growth hormones or factory-farmed animals. i do admit feeling bad about it but it's all about balance. my dogs are rescues and they'd be dead now if we hadn't taken them in; our setter was due for euthanizing the day after we found her. our cat is also a rescue. but in taking them into our home we agreed to keep them healthy and safe and part of that is feeding them as cleanly and normally as we possibly can. if we could afford it we would probably feed them the BARF diet, but as it is we do the best we can, feeding them this particular feed and also giving them fresh greens in their bowls and giving them fresh fruit like apples occasionally. in the future when we have a homestead i think we may actually put our dogs on a vegan diet, though not the cat - but i'm not entirely sure what that would look like. that's pretty far down the road. for now we do the best we can with what we can afford. for right now the most important thing to me is that the food our dogs do eat is free of chemicals and byproducts; we'll figure out the rest as we go. i do think it's not normal for dogs and especially not for cats to have a vegan diet, but i understand the pangs of conscience that arise when you try so hard to do right by animals in your life and yet you have to keep your omni/carnivorous animals healthy. good luck with whatever our decide! chandelle On Sun, Mar 9, 2008 at 12:12 PM, Lorraine <ldemi wrote: > Hi Colin, > We use Harbingers of a New Age's VegePet supplements to feed our cats a > vegetarian diet - I'm not sure if it's vegan, but I think so. They have > supplements for dogs, cats, puppies, kitties and lactating dogs and > cats. They also have specialized things like pH balanced supplements, > digestive enzymes, etc. We've used their products for 18 years. James > Peden is the owner of the company, and has also helped us a ton with > different pet health/diet questions we've had through the years. Really > great guy! > Congrats on your new family member! > Lorraine > > > <%40> [ > <%40>] On > Behalf Of Colin Hammond > Saturday, March 08, 2008 5:52 PM > <%40> > Dog Question > > Does anyone feed their dog as a Vegan? If yes, what? If no why? Please > just got a little pup and need help in what to feed it, the children > are real excited about the new addition!!!! > > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 10, 2008 Report Share Posted March 10, 2008 Yes we feed the dog who lives with us vegan. She has eaten ghee in her life and maybe a bit of cheese or yoghurt before she came to live with us. She eats scraps (loves watermelon!!)-or i cook up a batch of lentils, rice or barley and veges which lasts her a few days- and " Veganpet " www.veganpet.com.au veganpet She only started having the veganpet biscuits a couple of yrs ago and she is now 12 or 13. Her previous family used to give her some kelp, maybe flax, and brewers yeast I think, with whatever else they were giving her...beans, tofu, lentils, rice, veges... We have also used the vegedog supplement mentioned by someone else and found that great. Both companies also do a vegecat supplement. Have found the Harbingers one more successful for cats. And their vege yeast supplement was great. Good luck with it, it's easy really, just some people may give you a hard time for it. It's not 'natural', but neither is conventional petfood. , " Colin Hammond " <nilochammond wrote: > > Does anyone feed their dog as a Vegan? If yes, what? If no why? Please > just got a little pup and need help in what to feed it, the children > are real excited about the new addition!!!! > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 10, 2008 Report Share Posted March 10, 2008 Hi, My dogs are mostly vegan. I don't consistently restrict the treats they get, but I feed my dogs Evolution Dog food as their main diet. It is vegan and you can buy it here (http://www.petfoodshop.com/). My husband was reluctant first about the switch (for reasons similar to what people have mentioned here, ie, don't want to force my dogs to eat what is not best for them because of my politics, etc) - but in the end we realized we didn't have any real proof that a vegan diet wouldn't be healthful for my dogs (just a lot of opinions from non-objective people), and so we decided to try it out. (Before we had fed them Wellness, and also Merrick.) I think it's similar to the backlash you get about vegan pregnancy. You just have to be really tuned into your own body (in this case your dog's) and keep in mind that while you're bound to get lots of well-meaning advice from people, most of it will not be completely objective. All you can do is try it out and keep your eyes open to whether it is working or not. In our case, it turns out that both of our dogs do much better on this vegan dog food than on any of the others. Their stool is much more regular and they both have more energy. Only catch is I think the website is the only place you can buy the food and it takes a couple of weeks to arrive, so you want to buy it well in advance of running out. At least for my dogs, my take on all this is that it is healthy for them. I think domesticated dogs are actually scavengers more than predators (as someone suggested), which is why an omnivorous diet is easier on them than on cats. In the end, I don't thin dry kibble is ever ideal - they (and I probably) would be better off incorporating more raw foods into my diet. (And I do often give the dogs fresh carrots, apples, blueberries tomatoes and lettuce as treats, which they love!) But the honest truth is I don't think don't trust myself at this moment in my life to put consistent research and effort in to balancing out their diets from scratch while keeping them vegan, so the kibble I mentioned is a good balanced baseline. I would also suggest remaining flexible in terms of how you experiment with different options if the above one doesn't work for you. A vegan advocate friend of mine, for instance, once told me she gives her older dog vegan kibble, but then if the dog gets finicky she adds some egg (humanely raised, of course, not to diminish the controversy around that word) to her food on occasion. In other words, it doesn't have to be vegan or not vegan. If all vegan doesn't end up working for your particular pup and your lifestyle, even feeding your dog fewer animal products (making them a supplement rather than a baseline) will make a positive impact on the food economy, and (in my subjective opinion :-)) on your dog's health. Hope that's helpful! Good luck! Tara , " Colin Hammond " <nilochammond wrote: > > Does anyone feed their dog as a Vegan? If yes, what? If no why? Please > just got a little pup and need help in what to feed it, the children > are real excited about the new addition!!!! > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 10, 2008 Report Share Posted March 10, 2008 , " naomiwilkes " <naomiwilkes wrote: > > Yes we feed the dog who lives with us vegan. She has eaten ghee in her > life and maybe a bit of cheese or yoghurt before she came to live with > us. She eats scraps (loves watermelon!!)-or i cook up a batch of > lentils, rice or barley and veges which lasts her a few days- and > " Veganpet " > www.veganpet.com.au > veganpet Thank you Naomi Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 10, 2008 Report Share Posted March 10, 2008 Thank you Chandelle for your thoughts, but Dogs as said are omnivors, which means they can eat either vegan or a meat diet, btw when we all get to heaven what do you think dogs will be eating? Dead Animals? > > On Sun, Mar 9, 2008 at 12:12 PM, Lorraine <ldemi wrote: > > > Hi Colin, > > We use Harbingers of a New Age's VegePet supplements to feed our cats a > > vegetarian diet - I'm not sure if it's vegan, but I think so. They have > > supplements for dogs, cats, puppies, kitties and lactating dogs and > > cats. They also have specialized things like pH balanced supplements, > > digestive enzymes, etc. We've used their products for 18 years. James > > Peden is the owner of the company, and has also helped us a ton with > > different pet health/diet questions we've had through the years. Really > > great guy! > > Congrats on your new family member! > > Lorraine > > > > > > <%40> [ > > <%40>] On > > Behalf Of Colin Hammond > > Saturday, March 08, 2008 5:52 PM > > <%40> > > Dog Question > > > > Does anyone feed their dog as a Vegan? If yes, what? If no why? Please > > just got a little pup and need help in what to feed it, the children > > are real excited about the new addition!!!! > > > > > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 10, 2008 Report Share Posted March 10, 2008 Hi Colin, Firstly, congratulations on your new family member!!! We are Aussies also! My daughter and I have just rescued a dog, Emma , from a shelter a week ago. We use Veganpet which Emma loves! It has everything she needs and we don't need to supplement with anything else. We do add veggies and rice and pasta occasionally mainly just for variety. You can buy Veganpet from the website and if you have any questions the lady who owns the company, Sandy, is INCREDIBLY helpful and she is happy to chat on the phone. I get that some people have 'issues' with feeding dogs a vegan diet so we can feel morally 'superior' but that just isn't the case for me. I have always had issues with feeding dogs a vegan diet but I came to the conclusion that she would've been killed had we not resued her. Which is worse?!? Death or a happy healthy life that doesn't involve the deaths of others? Once I came to this conclusion I did HEAPS of research and found that vegan dogs are healthy and happy and as long as you do feed them well (ie with a suitable food not broccoli and rice all the time, lol) they will be fine. I found a vet to help guide me and she already had another vegan dog in her care (who she said was one of the most healthy dogs she had seen!) and she was wonderful and supportive of us. Don't let the naysayers scare you off! You CAN have a happy and healthy dog who just happens to be vegan! Bec P.S. Feel free to email me privatly if you like. , " Colin Hammond " <nilochammond wrote: > > Thank you for your Answers so far, any Aussies out their can help? > > > > Does anyone feed their dog as a Vegan? If yes, what? If no why? > Please > > just got a little pup and need help in what to feed it, the children > > are real excited about the new addition!!!! > > > > > > > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 11, 2008 Report Share Posted March 11, 2008 vegan dogs (and cats - I have 2) can be very healthy. the world's oldest living dog, a 26 year old border collie, is vegan. , " bec_o_b " <bec_o_b wrote: > > Hi Colin, > > Firstly, congratulations on your new family member!!! > We are Aussies also! My daughter and I have just rescued a dog, Emma > , from a shelter a week ago. > We use Veganpet which Emma loves! It has everything she needs and we > don't need to supplement with anything else. We do add veggies and > rice and pasta occasionally mainly just for variety. > You can buy Veganpet from the website and if you have any questions > the lady who owns the company, Sandy, is INCREDIBLY helpful and she is > happy to chat on the phone. > I get that some people have 'issues' with feeding dogs a vegan diet so > we can feel morally 'superior' but that just isn't the case for me. > I have always had issues with feeding dogs a vegan diet but I came to > the conclusion that she would've been killed had we not resued her. > Which is worse?!? Death or a happy healthy life that doesn't involve > the deaths of others? > Once I came to this conclusion I did HEAPS of research and found that > vegan dogs are healthy and happy and as long as you do feed them well > (ie with a suitable food not broccoli and rice all the time, lol) they > will be fine. I found a vet to help guide me and she already had > another vegan dog in her care (who she said was one of the most > healthy dogs she had seen!) and she was wonderful and supportive of us. > Don't let the naysayers scare you off! You CAN have a happy and > healthy dog who just happens to be vegan! > Bec > P.S. Feel free to email me privatly if you like. > > , " Colin Hammond " <nilochammond@> > wrote: > > > > Thank you for your Answers so far, any Aussies out their can help? > > > > > > Does anyone feed their dog as a Vegan? If yes, what? If no why? > > Please > > > just got a little pup and need help in what to feed it, the children > > > are real excited about the new addition!!!! > > > > > > > > > > > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 11, 2008 Report Share Posted March 11, 2008 Tara, You mentioned that you feed your dog raw veggies and I was wondering if you puree them. I seem to remember (from back when I did all my BARF diet research) that dogs cannot break down the cell walls of veggies unless they are blended/pureed, etc. Not sure how accurate this is, but something you may want to look into if you want raw veggies to be a big part of their diet. Lori Never miss a thing. Make your homepage. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 11, 2008 Report Share Posted March 11, 2008 I'm not an Aussie, but I feed my dog vegan. I do it because I love animals--I love my dog, so why would I want any other creature to suffer? Especially since you can give a dog exactly what they need. I feed mine Pet Guard vegetarian feast canned food (from the health food store) and Nature's Recipe vegetarian food. I've showed nutrition labels to our vet and he said it's nutritionally sound. It just amounts to protein, which is amino acids--which can be obtained in a plant-based diet. Colin Hammond <nilochammond wrote: Thank you for your Answers so far, any Aussies out their can help? > > Does anyone feed their dog as a Vegan? If yes, what? If no why? Please > just got a little pup and need help in what to feed it, the children > are real excited about the new addition!!!! > > > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 12, 2008 Report Share Posted March 12, 2008 I agree with Cassie here.? I am vegan, but my dogs are/were carnivorous.? I feed them Wysong dog food.? It is very good & doesn't use the crap off the slaughterhouse floor.? I switch between the different variaties to avoid food allergies from developing.? Wysong does make a great puppy chow.? Because I feel that my dog needs more variety than the same thing meal after meal I cook for him.? One of the 3 meals per day that my dog eatsis vegan: brown rice (usually mixed with quinoi) warmed up with some veggies (I usually use whatever is easiest & most inexpensive for the season...frozen organic veggies right now), then I add some beans, & drizzle some flax oil over the top. My dog is very healthy & has a beautiful shiny coat.? As for feeding him human food, it has never been a problem.? I love to share my food with him & " everything tastes better when you share " .? He has great manners & rarely, if ever, begs.? Even though he is a golden retriever I have to beg him to clean up crumbs & leftovers (or tossovers) from my 18 months old son.? So giving him my human food has not made him more of a pig...actually just pickier.? This is the 2nd dog I've fed this way. If I could stomache meat in my kitchen I would cook all of the meals for him.? But I think this dog food gives him what he needs better than I could. Good luck with your new puppy.? Wishing you lots of licks & laughter! Stacey Cassie Dixon <roxy87cabriolet Sun, 9 Mar 2008 9:16 am Re: Dog Question My dog is fed dog food. I am a strict vegetarian, but it is more due to the human body than to the poor treatment of animals. Humans have an extremely long digestive system, and meat takes sooo long to pass, that it ends up rotting inside of you. Dogs are carnivorous creatures and have a very short digestive system. Their bodies were made to consume meat. I know this probably doesn't help much, but it is my justification of it. Cassie Colin Hammond <nilochammond wrote: Does anyone feed their dog as a Vegan? If yes, what? If no why? Please just got a little pup and need help in what to feed it, the children are real excited about the new addition!!!! Be a better friend, newshound, and know-it-all with Mobile. Try it now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 12, 2008 Report Share Posted March 12, 2008 I also use Nature's Recipe the vegetarian formula. It's nice that most pet stores carry it and my dog does well on it. It is not vegan, just vegetarian. I'm not sure why so many people keep referring to dogs as canivores. I always thought they were natural omnivores...? Jill , " Cindy P. " <cpfeff1 wrote: > > I'm not an Aussie, but I feed my dog vegan. I do it because I love animals--I love my dog, so why would I want any other creature to suffer? Especially since you can give a dog exactly what they need. I feed mine Pet Guard vegetarian feast canned food (from the health food store) and Nature's Recipe vegetarian food. I've showed nutrition labels to our vet and he said it's nutritionally sound. It just amounts to protein, which is amino acids--which can be obtained in a plant-based diet. > > Colin Hammond <nilochammond wrote: Thank you for your Answers so far, any Aussies out their can help? > > > > Does anyone feed their dog as a Vegan? If yes, what? If no why? > Please > > just got a little pup and need help in what to feed it, the children > > are real excited about the new addition!!!! > > > > > > > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 12, 2008 Report Share Posted March 12, 2008 > >I'm not sure why so many people keep referring to dogs as canivores. >I always thought they were natural omnivores...? > >Jill > You're right Jill. Dogs are omnivores. Cats are carnivores. Although I know folks who have fed cats a vegan cat food (that includes a synthetic version of the essential amino acids that are only found in meat) and their cats have thrived. Other cats don't adjust as well, even after introducing it gradually. I know of a litter of strays that was split up into two foster homes, the ones fed vegan looked better, shinier coats and grew faster than the siblings fed regular meat based cat food. So that foster family switched to vegan cat food based on that experience. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 12, 2008 Report Share Posted March 12, 2008 Thank you for all your wonderful response and its great too see how passionate some are about there dogs, my wife treats ours like a baby, she loves the dog and so do the children. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 13, 2008 Report Share Posted March 13, 2008 I guess I only have 2 categories in my mind: meat eaters and veggies... Rebel does eat grass on many occasions, and after the baby, he has eaten peas, broccoli, artichoke hearts, avocado, and multiple other things he never would have even touched. He is such a great help in keeping the floor free of food particles Jill Wenzel <jillben2005 wrote: I also use Nature's Recipe the vegetarian formula. It's nice that most pet stores carry it and my dog does well on it. It is not vegan, just vegetarian. I'm not sure why so many people keep referring to dogs as canivores. I always thought they were natural omnivores...? Jill , " Cindy P. " <cpfeff1 wrote: > > I'm not an Aussie, but I feed my dog vegan. I do it because I love animals--I love my dog, so why would I want any other creature to suffer? Especially since you can give a dog exactly what they need. I feed mine Pet Guard vegetarian feast canned food (from the health food store) and Nature's Recipe vegetarian food. I've showed nutrition labels to our vet and he said it's nutritionally sound. It just amounts to protein, which is amino acids--which can be obtained in a plant-based diet. > > Colin Hammond <nilochammond wrote: Thank you for your Answers so far, any Aussies out their can help? > > > > Does anyone feed their dog as a Vegan? If yes, what? If no why? > Please > > just got a little pup and need help in what to feed it, the children > > are real excited about the new addition!!!! > > > > > > > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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