Another question: how well can dogs do on an all-vegetarian

[Mary Plummer]

...diet? My question of the day comes from meeting up with a woman and her shepherd mix on our afternoon walk. I've only met this woman once before, about a month ago, and she'd just taken in this dog from the pound. At the time, the dog was happy and looked pretty healthy to me. Today, however, the dog looked terrible! She had big clumps of fur missing, was a lot thinner, and just looked to be moving in slow motion. The woman, all excited, told me all about how her "naturopathic practitioner" (not a vet) recommended that she start her dog on a no-animal-products diet, because it would be more "pure," and how her dog would start to look worse before better, because of the "poisons" working their way out of her system. I didn't quite know what to say to this!! All I could think of to ask was whether or not her dog was getting enough fats in her diet. She said she got a "little bit" of safflower oil. She asked me if I wanted the name of her practitioner, and I said No thanks, I was happy with our vets.

Now, I know dogs are technically omnivores, but it seems to me that this poor all-veggie dog wasn't doing too well. The recommendations we've gotten are to choose a dog food with a meat source as the main ingredient, etc. And I've never found the "it will get worse before it gets better, because of the poisons working out" to be very convincing. What do all of you feel about this?

[Traci]

Unfortunately, you will never hear a 'natural' or 'veggie' alt medder ever admit that their dog isn't doing well, ever. This is a classical case of denial at it's best. And don't even get me started on 'detoxification', what a bunch of crap.

This 'practitioner' needs to be reported, taken out back and given a lecture (amoung other things!). I can't believe the owner is so gullible and trusting in a quack who obviously has no animal/veterinary background.

UGGHHHH!!!

[urge to herd]

Hi, all - have just returned to the Internet after a lay off of 4 weeks - we moved, and that's how long it took our DSL provider to get us back up and running. Don't ask.
Anyway, Shoshone the Itchy Dog went to a veterinary dermatologist on 4/28. We got a course of antibiotics for a bacterial skin infection, and some kangaroo/oats kibble, to do an elimination diet. Well, Her Highness absolutely refused to eat the kibble - went 72 hours w/out food, lost a bunch of weight - called the Dermatologist and he traded us a bag of vegetarian kibble for the kangaroo stuff. Luckily, Shonie really likes the stuff. BUT - it's low in protein, (18%) and it's only for a few weeks, to see if she's allergic to animal proteins, basically.
I do explore the alternative approaches quite a bit, but I'm with Traci on this one - dogs are CARNIVORES, for pete's sake - look at their teeth! No way I would permanently put my dogs on a vegetarian diet.
And, it's great to be back!

Ruth
Samantha, Shoshone, n Buzz

[davet]

benefit from some vegetables in their diet..it is not a requirement but in the wild, the dogs or all canines ate their prey but also ate their stomach contents of their prey and most of their prey were herbavoresk, ie dic dic, gazelles etc..veggies are ok but they are relatively deficient in the reaquired protein that is needed....some dogs and some people live on it but personaly that is not living...

[Mary Plummer]

Mr. Blue looked so GOOD to me next to this poor other dog! His coat is shiny and soft, his eyes are bright, and he bounces when he walks. I know he's still a bit pudgy (although he's lost a tad!), and his allergies are bad, but overall he looks like a healthy, happy hound dog (says his absolutely unbiased person Urge to Herd, it's great to see you back! In Shoshone's case, you're doing this under a vet's care and advice, and I sure see the sense in it for allergy testing. Plus, I'm sure the diet from the vet has all the essentials in it. I wish I saw this lady more often, so I could watch her dog's progress, or lack thereof, and talk to her more. I wanted, but refrained, from saying what was on my mind, which was something like "If you've got a problem with a pet eating meat, why the H*** did you get a dog??" And I sure hope she doesn't have a cat!

[k9Karen]

My brother's Cocker Spaniel eventually ended up allergic to all meats (I think they even tried emu or ostrich and other exotic stuff at one point or another) and was put on an all-veggie kibble for about the last 6 or so years of his life. He just recently passed away at the age of 16 1/2 (natural causes. probably heart failure - died in his sleep), so, obviously, if it's properly balanced the dog can do fine. A home-made diet, however, I would immediately be suspicious of.

[JMM]

Hill's d/d egg and rice diet for Mikey. He is doing SOOOO WELL. He likes the food and no bad reactions to it. Of course, Mikey has medical problems to warrant not using a diet with meat as the protein source.



Think he looks okay?

[Mary Plummer]

...steamed veggies and boiled rice. She said she was having a tough time giving up eggs and cheese, but could "do it for the sake of her dog." I was pretty horrified; I'm wondering whether that poor dog is getting any protein at all. I would feel a whole lot better if I knew this dog was under a vet's supervision and on a properly balanced diet!

[Julie B.]

sure doesn't sound like he's getting enough nutrients in his diet. boiled rice and steamed veggies ain't gonna cut it. I am a vegetarian (it can work for people, davet! ), but I would not make that choice for my dogs. btw,JMM, your dog is BEAUTIFUL!!

[k9Karen]

Think he looks okay?

I think he's gorgeous!

Looks like he's definitely on the right food - he likes it and he's doing well on it, what more can you ask?