Re:Carnivorous dogs and other animals

[Guest guest]

Hi all,

 

The ethical discussions are all very interesting regarding what to feed

dogs and cats. I'd like to bring in some medical/nutritional facts from

a veterinary viewpoint:

 

Nutritionally speaking, vegetarian or non-vegetarian is all about our

protein source, and more specifically, the amino acids in that protein.

Things are complicated by how the protein was treated (heat/alkaline

etc) which may denature the amino acid, and the balance of the different

amino acid intake as well as a host of other things (nutrition is very

complex!) which affect absorption and bioavailability.

 

A body requires all 20 amino acids to be able to rebuild cells. Humans

and dogs can synthesise 10 of these 20 in their liver, and must intake

the other 10 in food: egg white provides all of these 'essential amino

acids' (in fact all amino acids, except glutamine, asparginine &

glycine, which are 'non-essential'), making it an excellent protein source.

 

Dogs have similar protein synthesis to humans, and so, medically

speaking, CAN survive well on a well-balanced vegetarian diet. Dogs are

classified as omnivores - like humans, they can conserve nitrogen while

fed a low protein diet and can excrete excess nitrogen when eating high

protein diets.

 

Cats, however, are obligate carnivores; they do not have the ability to

conserve nitrogen and must eat a protein-rich diet. They also have less

ability to synthesise their own amino acids, and require arginine &

taurine (a 'sort-of' amino acid, which, in other mammals is made from

the breakdown of methionine, with the help of cysteine) to be provided

in the diet.

 

Arginine is found in meat, seafood & dairy products, as well as grains,

seeds, chick peas and cooked soybeans.

 

Taurine is found mostly in meat and fish, but also in eggs & dairy

products.

 

As a vet, the recommendations I therefore make are:

1. A cat (big or small) absolutely cannot be vegan, and it would be very

difficult to balance a vegetarian diet to provide all essential

nutrients without overloading on others. Cats are best fed on a diet of

meat and fish.

 

2. Dogs are best fed on a combination of animal and plant proteins to

get the right balance, but it is possible (with careful planning) to

provide a balanced vegetarian diet from plants, pulses and eggs.

Carbohydrates are uneccesary and nutritionally poor so should only be

added for animals with a very high energy requirement (for example

working or frisbee-obsessed dogs) - they are simply sugars used to

produce energy, and naturally dogs intake very few sugars; it's these

sugars that lead to obesity due to energy overload and conversion to

fat: I usually see this with rice, and often also with dogs fed a lot of

fruit. (Jiggs - I do think manufactured dog foods are too high in carbs,

as they are cheap bulkers and give a glucose surge and therefore feeling

of satiety)

 

3. Though I have been trained that a manufactured pet food - dried

kibble or canned - is the most balanced diet to feed an animal (Sean -

the list on the pack of food is the availability of that food after

treatment, so can be believed - presumably!), I cannot accept that it is

the best option. In fact, we only started seeing cases of cats with

urinary tract issues in Thailand when feeding manufactured pet foods

suddenly became popular. It IS, however, very convenient, and yes - my

cat eats dried cat food (I would choose wet if she were male), but she

manages to supplement with the occasional gecko or rat which I feel

helps to keep her teeth clean and her life more interesting!

 

If an animal owner is willing to cook their own food, I would actually

be happier with this, as long as they make the effort to ensure it's

balanced. (No reason to change, Jiggs!)

 

I have heard many people for and against BARF diet - the vets usually

against due to Salmonella and risk of bone blockage of or damage to the

gut. I don't recommend it, but am happy to hear success stories as in

Sean's case.

 

I do recommend ox shin bones for dental health, but remove the marrow,

boil 20 mins initially and then 10 mins daily for about a week to avoid

bacterial build up.

 

I do offer my Hong Kong clients a recipe (available on request!) for

homemade dog diets as an alternative to manufactured (much to my boss's

chagrin). I once developed a vegetarian recipe that was balanced in

nutrients, but I created it only for short-term use (as a trial in an

allergic dog) as I could not test bioavailability and absorption. I have

no problem with a client choosing to feed their animal a manufactured

vegetarian diet, as I expect it to be balanced - do not have many

patients on these diets, so cannot comment on their health status).

 

Cats can be fed a range of meats and fishes

- I presume, as mentioned previously, freshwater fish is far more likely

to be natural than seafood, but in general fish should be a supplement

rather than a mainstay: they cannot survive on purely raw fish (it must

be cooked to deactivate the thiaminase which results in thiamine

deficiency, but a lot of the other amino acids (and thiamine!) are

denatured to an extent when cooking); have also read that too much tuna

has deleterious effects.

- mice, rats and geckos are best!

 

Hope that's helpful,

shevaun