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.

Ellen DeGeneres' Vegan Dog Food Is NOT Advisable

http://www.dogster.com/lifestyle/veg...og-health-food

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!

I was posting resources to show its not simply an opinion. Dogs are not made to be vegetarians and I understand that you have your personal feelings but you also get the choice to choose which foods that you eat and if you feel bad like possibly missing a vitamin bad you can help your self a dog can't. It is especially important that a puppy is getting everything they need or there growth can seriously be messed up. Just because other people do it dosen't make it right or best for the dog even if that person has gotten lucky. You should not force a dogs system to do something there not meant for. I do hope you do some research and don't just base it on opinions. In fact I strongly suggest you consult with a vet nutritionist.

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.

I see, and can understand your dilemma if your reasons are ethical and have to do with not consuming other animals. I do think it's possible (in fact, I *know* it's possible) to maintain a proper protein balance with a vegan diet - it will just take a lot of effort and learning on your part to figure out how to balance it properly.

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.

And when she does consult with a vet nutritionist she'll learn that for $25 an adult vegetarian diet can sustain her adult dog. It really doesn't matter what sources of protein are used if the amino acid requirements of a dog are met. Hate to tell you but your vet tech is wrong.

I can tell you that having fed my dog vegetarian food for five years, she looked lovely and perfect labs. She's turning 15 in three months so it didn't kill the little carnivore. I also feed eggs and fish to my dogs. Perhaps an egg diet would work for your pup... Excellent source of amino acids, easy to make, etc. there are commercial options ...I already mentioned purina HA.

I impose my dogs lifestyle choices on them all the time. I'm their owner so I get to choose. I do support a vegetarian diet for dogs IF it is properly balanced as a home cooked diet or a commercial food that is labeled for puppies in this case. I suppose she wasn't that hard pressed to find support after all. :)
My dogs love eggs and legumes and are very healthy, living long lives.

I meant 'majority support' as opposed to any (sorry for retrospective clarification) and I know we all impose our lifestyle choices on dogs but I was speaking specifically about diet. In addition, I stated I am conducting some pseudo meta-analysis re: vegetarian diet for canines due to my own inexperience re: the subject. Also, I updated to state that there are research studies going on re: vegetarian diets and posted one specific to dental hygiene. Finally, dogs eat meat and plants and I don't think that was in dispute by anyone.


I would really rather not see this post digress into an 'us and them' debate since we are all here to learn. I believe Ann and some others have already pointed the OP to some vegetarian options.


Like anyone else, I'm entitled to my opinion :)

Believe me, your dogs in particular eat WAY better than I do, on a daily basis :D! I've seen what you cook since you posted pics here, and it's amazing.

You do know that dogfoodadvisor is run by a human dentist right? He also doesn't rate by how good the company is and quality control and such is a whole heck of a lot more important then ingredients. Blue Buffalo has serious quality control issues and to many of the life source bits can make your dog very sick it also appears there ingredients might come from China. Merrick has quality control issues.

I would advise anyone who decides to choose a dog food by using the list that the dog food advisor recommends as "excellent' to Google two of the companies listed above.... Merrick and Castor and Pollux. Merrick owns Castor and Pollux. I used to use it way back before I realized that a safe dog food for my pups is more than a list of ingredients. Google Merrick and FDA. I did and I can only say it is a company I personally would never do business with. Purina is one I would, and do, use.

Sorry to go off the topic here. It was just that I felt I should comment about that one company. The only dog food companies I rely on and trust are: Hill's Science Diet, Purina and Royal Canin. Many of my pups are on RX foods from the above.

I don't really know anything about vegetarian diets for dogs, but 107barney's comments do make sense to me. If I were considering a vegetarian diet I would definitely speak with a vet nutritionist....but I do that for my pups for other diets as well.

Indeed! Her knowledge on dog nutrition is vast and she does have healthy dogs and feeds them well! :) I often go to Cathy with questions about foods for my pups.

I feel I feed mine well, but felt a bit like a loser after viewing those photos. LOL

It wasn't one at my vets office it was a friend who is one. And she says a dog who needs it medically can thrive on it but that a healthy dog should not be on it because it is not optimal. We are talking a puppy with growing to do so it would be not an option for her to just make up a diet a vet nutritionist would need to be involved. I disagree that vegetarian food is ok and good for a healthy dog let alone a puppy.

Taylor you like anyone can have your opinions but you're always posting it like its "fact"
I'm simply stating that dr Remillard sells vegetarian diets - and she disagrees with you about this and I'll listen to her over you. Sorry. The OP wants to feed vegetarian food, she doesn't want everyone to tell her she's doing something "bad" or harmful by that choice and she isn't.

Teddykins of course you're entitled to your opinion, I never said you weren't. As for your research, I have to wonder who made the vegetarian diets in question. Dogs have to have their amino acids and other nutrients met. If the diet (any diet) is deficient, it can lead to problems. We have yorkies- bad teeth will be more the result of anatomical misshapenings to the jaw than to some other factor if you ask a vet dentist. I have a four year old fed high protein meat for life with 10 teeth pulled at age three. What can ya do?

I never posted it was a fact but there are several vets who feel the same as I do. It's amazing you bring up food and people want to tell you how stupid and dumb you are but someone brings up bad breeding and these people disappear. It's hard to believe people care so much about there dogs to fight about food yet not bad breeding hmmmmm......... Maybe I should just add myself to the list with Jodi and Lynzy this is such bs. I am not an idiot and I refuse to be treated like one!

But if it's different then "theirs" you will be made to feel stupid and like your a horrible person for your opinion. It's so ridiculous but sense it's reversed this time it won't be called out.

What's your problem today? You posted incorrect. I corrected it for the OP. You keep saying a puppy can't have growing needs met by vegetarian food and hats not true. Purina HA is labeled for all life stages. that's just one. If I have time, I'll come back and find others. I haven't had time to look at RC vegetarian but that may be also labeled as all life stages. What are you talking about with breeding - missed what you're referring to there. And why are you bringing Jodi and lyzny into it, the might not even care all that much about what a vegetarian person chooses to feed their puppy as long as it's balanced.

I hate forums, sometimes, for the misconstrued intent that is sometimes projected by the nature of forum limitations. Also, this is not the first time I have posted in haste to have my post questioned so I apologize and will try to get it through my thick head to not post between other tasks.


What I MEANT to say is my opinion was my opinion which was stated reactively. Following the OP's post, I started to research vegetarian diets for canines and I have yet to come across anything since I just started checking it out this morning. So, I've hardly had time to come across any conclusive studies (assuming there are any) or consider any studies at all but came across ONE study re: teeth. Of course, ONE study is just ONE study and means nothing in the grand scheme of things but I thought I would post it in case someone wanted to query the results with their vet who may have different insights/advice.


So, I am always open to new lines of thinking but I admit that I am biased towards my feelings re: animal and human relationships so it may take me longer (if ever) to come around to some consensus re: removing meat from a canine diet. BUT, I found the whole thing interesting and I do not want to make blanket statements or judgments especially since, as I admitted, I am not educated on the matter. Rather, I posted a reactive opinion based on my own bias.


I don't even know if this makes sense but I wish the OP good luck in finding a vegetarian diet since I am going to be no help on the basis of my feelings alone..lol


Hope everyone has a good day and thanks, as always, for stimulating conversation x