Vegetarian Pooch

Hey!

I wasn't real sure if I should post this here or the pets one, but hey, I figured that more people who read this forum would be more able to help me or at least respond to me here than there, so I'm posting here...

I am a vegetarian, have been for nearly two years now (yay!), but my dogs are still all omnivores. I always assumed that it would be unhealthy for them to make the switch, but my recent reading on the topic has proved otherwise. Even so, it is a very mixed crowd out there with some vets and other trusted officials on the matter either being gushy and enthusiastic about the results, or others scoffing at making a creature once so dependent on meat completely vegetarian.

I haven't looked that much into it yet, and I know that it will take a lot more research and time and money, but to me, it's well worth it. However, it isn't worth if it is going to injure my dogs in anyway. I grow all my own veggies so that will also help to cut back on the prices, but I will still have to buy some of the expensive but completely necessary supplements to go along with the diet.

I have spoken to my vet, and she said that sometimes it works out fabulously and the dog actually turns out healthier than when it started but she has also seen cases where the opposite happened and it made the dog sick. She says she doesn't know that much about it, herself, or whether or not the dogs got sick because the owners simply didn't pay enough attention to their diets, but she urges me to think long and hard about the switch and be extremely careful about it. In other words, she says it's possible, but she certainly isn't thrilled with the idea...

Any thoughts?

 

Animals like cats and dogs eat meat and hunt by instinct... the way I see it is I just wouldn't mess with their natural animal nature. Just my opinion though.

 

My friend works in a pet store and she told me they do sell vegetarian dog food, so obviously there's enough people buying it to market it. I do agree with mlo here, but I do think animals are more aware than we know. Maybe feed them both types of food for awhile and then put out a bowl of each and see which they'd rather eat. I think your dogs would know what is healthier for them than you would.

 

I agree with ryno, if you're going to do this at all give them a choice in the matter.