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Vegetarian diet Hi everyone, I pick up my yorkie at the end of the month/beginning of July. She will be my first one. Georgia was born April 1st and the breeder is feeding her Royal Canin. I plan on changing her food to a grain free food, possibly a vegetarian food. Is any ones dog here vegetarian? Has anyone had any luck? If not, what do you feed? I would like to do soft and hard or possibly make my own food and have kibble on the side. Thanks :) |
Hi and welcome to YT :). Whatever you do here, just please know that you have to be *truly* careful in balancing a diet in a young *puppy*. Adults can handle some reasonable imbalance, but in puppies - you can actually cause significant damage if the diet isn't properly balanced while there is still growing and maturing going on. If you want to cook yourself, then go to www.balanceit.com to get a correctly balanced recipe. Otherwise, I'd either continue Royal Canin for a while (don't ever switch a pup's food when they first come home to you), and/or switch to a grain free after she settles in. I happen to think Natures Logic is a great kibble...as is Wellness Core, Solid Gold grain frees and Wee Bits, Orijen/Acana etcetera. Personally...I do think a species appropriate diet for dogs/canines does include animal or fish protein....vs vegetarian (which dogs are not). I'm a pescatarian so I get it, but for my dogs...I do like them to have meat. |
The pup needs to stay on what it's been fed for a few months before you make any changes. In my opinion from what I have read and been told by a vet tech you absolutely should not feed your dog vegetarian unless it is required for health reasons. |
May I ask why you want to feed her a vegetarian diet? |
I am a vegan myself, due to ethical reasons and because its a healthy way to live. My sister has 4 maltese that are vegetarians since being a puppy. Her oldest will be 13 in July. |
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No offence but I can google the good and bad of anything too. I am looking for personal experience from those in the group that have tried or are feeding a vegetarian diet. Thank you! |
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In my opinion, it is wrong to impose your lifestyle choices as a human onto animals which cannot speak for themselves and are made up differently than we are, biologically speaking... Dogs enjoy meat as part of their healthy DOG lifestyle. You will probably be hard pressed to find anyone on this forum who supports a vegetarian diet for dogs despite being vegan/vegetarian ourselves. |
My friend is a raw/organic/grain free/added sugar free/vegan. Basically she eats vegetables, fruits, and nuts. She believes this is the best diet for her body and it's a good ethical choice. She feeds her dog raw meat because she believes it's best for his body. If you insist on feeding your dog a vegetarian diet please wait until your dog is 1-2 years old (my yorkie grew a lot between her 1st and 2nd birthday) and use a supplement like balanceit. Balanceit will give you recipes using cottage cheese, yogurt, or egg as the protein. I don't believe this is a good diet for dogs, but it's better than winging it yourself. A better option would be feeding your dog some dry food made from meat and 1/2 a balanceit recipe for dinner. Btw royal canine isn't a bad food, many of our members use it. |
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I really cannot recommend highly enough that you consult www.balanceit.com for a custom homemade balanced recipe. Have you checked for vegan kibbles or canned or anything like that? Bc they may be properly balanced already. You may want to be sure they're AAFCO certified dog foods, btw. I'm not even sure there are some AAFCO certified vegan dog foods out there...but worth a try looking...? |
Royal Canin is an average quality dog food but it uses corn filler which has absolutely no nutritional value for a dog. Corn also boosts the protein percentages on the label but it can not be metabolized by a dog so it is worthless. Wean your dog off the high priced corn stuff and switch to a good grain free food. Check out DogFoodAdvisor.com . Some excellent grain free brands are Blue Buffalo, Castor and Pollux, Evo, Merrick, Orijen. Avoid all Purina products. |
Dogs are not vegetarians. |
This subject prompted me to evaluate some research re: a vegetarian diet for canines but I came across this paper: Indian Journals I have access to the full paper if anyone is interested. Basically, this paper suggests that cavities are higher for dogs which are provided a vegetarian diet compared to those who are not.. Just something to consider and keep an eye on since Yorkies are not known for their pearly whites under normal circumstances, anyway! |
Of course your dog can eat a vegetarian diet. Dogs font have a requirement for meat. In fact, egg can a better choice than meat. I have one dog who mostly eats eggs. I have another who was on a vegan diet for about five years due to allergies. Your puppy has special growing needs and a veterinary nutritionist should make this diet for you. That will cost you a professional fee. You coul feed kibble until age 2, then purchase a $25 vegetarian diet from petdiets. For now, if you really want to feed vegan food to your puppy, purina HA is suitable. Your vet will need to OK it. I suggest you visit petdiets and the ask the nutritionist section where you can ask a qualified professional for info as you make your choices. Balance air is also good, but may have limited options for a puppy. Good luck. |
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