Quote:
Originally Posted by pstinard  Here's a pretty good link on vegetarian diets for dogs. It reviews one of the articles that I quoted above ( E. Kienzle and R. Engelhard. A field study on the nutrition of vegetarian dogs and cats in Europe.) vegetarian pet food for dogs and cats?
Overall, the website looks a little like a Dog Food Advisor for the U. K. I'll try to see if I can locate the qualifications and educational background of the website manager... |
Here is the abstract, IN SPANISH, of the article "
A field study on the nutrition of vegetarian dogs and cats in Europe":
¿Perros y Gatos Vegetarianos? Estudio Científico
Although it's in Spanish, it translates almost perfectly to English if you run it through Google translate. Here is the result:
Field study on vegetarian nutrition in dogs and cats in Europe
Engelhard, Radka, Ellen Kienzie, Radka Engelhard
University of Munich
ABSTRACT
This paper presents the results of interviews with owners who feed their dogs and cats with a vegetarian diet.
The study consisted of fifty four dog owners with a total of 86 dogs and five cats owners with 8 cats.
The owners provided information on the medical history of their pets. In a standardized questionnaire, these pet owners were asked to state their reasons for choosing a vegetarian diet and to provide a detailed description of their pet's diet.
Subsequently, the nutritional requirements were calculated for sixty-six adult dogs (11% lacto - ovo-vegetarian, 47% lacto-vegetarian, vegan 29% and 13% semivegetarian), 8 vegan puppies from a single litter, and for all 8 cats.
Pets were examined in their homes, and in most cases, blood and urine samples of animals were taken.
Moreover twelve brands of complete commercial food for vegetarian pets were investigated.
1. For most participants, the motivation to feed their pets a vegan diet came from religious and / or ethical conviction that humans don't have the "right to kill animals for food." Another reason was the concern that modern methods of meat production poses risks to the health of their animals.
2. Protein intake was insufficient for over half of the dogs studied and in many cases, the animals had a low rate of absorption of amino acids they contain. However, of those tested, all parameters for the plasma protein content (total protein, albumin and urea) were within the normal range for pets.
3 Typical errors in all nutritional homemade diets investigated in the study were found. Calcium needs were not met in sixty-two percent of the dogs, also for phosphorus, which was substandard about half of the dogs, This resulted in a Ca / P-ratio imbalance. In addition, seventy-three percent of the dogs had an insufficient intake of sodium.
4. In many cases, the supply of trace elements was insufficient. A large number of plasma samples also showed an insufficient amount of iron, copper, zinc and iodine, although there were no differences between the intake and content of plasma.
5. Of the vitamin contents measured, vitamin D was most often below the recommendations, especially for the vegan diet. Again, a reduced content of plasma 25-0H-Vitamin D is common, but here there was no direct correspondence with the intake of vitamin D calculated. Fifty-six percent of dogs showed an intake of vitamin B12 below the recommendations. Furthermore, the amount of pantothenic acid was often marginal.
6. Although some diets were unbalanced, no clinical problems were found in adult dogs.
7. At eight weeks, vegan pups weighed about half the normal for dogs of this age. The relationship between protein and energy of digestible raw protein 9.9 [g] / DE [W was also lower than the recommendations for older dogs .. In addition, their diet had insufficient iodine content. Other nutrients that were lacking were sufficiently provided by supplements.
8. In addition to the eight fed vegan mode (5 owners) cats who participated in the study, several other cat owners reported that attempts to feed their animals vegetarian diet failed due to problems of acceptance by the cats.
9. The protein intake for cats is was not very far below the requirements, although the quantity of amino acids they contain is often inadequate. None of the cats in the study were given enough taurine, although taurine-containing products were used. As was found with the dogs, minerals and trace element deficiencies were found, as well as vitamin D and B12 were found in the diets of cats. In some cases, the cats received too much vitamin D3. Vitamin A intake was deficient in all cases; and except in two cases, the cats had insufficient amounts of arachidonic acid.
10. One of the cats showed signs of atrophy of the retina and two showed reduction in the frequency of the estrous cycle.
11. The mineral and vitamin content of commercial foods prepared for vegetarian animals often do not provide a balanced diet for the nutritional needs of dogs. Only two of the twelve products that were analyzed can be recommended without reservation, while in two others, minor deficiencies were found. Always in the case of any home made diet for pets, vegetarian recipes must be carefully balanced. Owners should be informed about the use of supplements for cats and dogs. These diets are only acceptable providing that cats as well as dogs have their specific nutritional needs and food preferences taken into account; if not, this raises animal welfare issues.