Raw VEGAN Dogs -- anyone here doing this?

Hello all... I was considering feeding my two fur babies (Pomeranian and Poodle puppies) raw following the BARF diet, however I honestly can not stomach or be near raw meat, nor do I want it in my house for my own health reasons.

I was reading about Ani Phyo's dog, and that she feeds a large dog 100% raw vegan foods and it's a health animal.

I know dogs are naturally omnivores, however my puppies seem to prefer carrots, bananas, green smoothies and chopped greens to their Kibbles, and I'm wondering if I would be doing them a service to make their diet at least 75% Raw Vegan.

I need advise. I'm absolutely terrified of doing anything wrong with their diets. I lost a very beloved dog to a very stupid mistake (left him at a "professional kennel" - never again) a year ago and am pretty protective of my two little guys that are left.

I can't find anything solid out there about feeding Dogs primarily raw VEGAN diets... I need help if I'm going to do this "right".

Hello Green Woman!
I'm not a dog owner but a cat owner and feed my cats a vegan diet.
I use this brand: http://store.veganessentials.com/ami...ood-p2246.aspx

They also have vegan kibble for dogs as well: http://www.veganessentials.com/catal...n-dog-food.htm

This brand seems to be very popular for both cats and dogs.


I do believe that it is possible to transition these animals to a vegan diet

They must be adorable. Got any pics around?

I feed my 11yo Terrier Addiction Raw Dehydrated Dog Food. It gets reconstituted with warm water. I don't have to handle or smell anything nasty, and she gets the benefit of raw venison, veggies, and fruits with NO grains. It has been so good for her. Cleared up all her skin and stomach problems.

For snacks I give her dehydrated sweet potato. She also loves avocado, banana, red pepper, carrot, and radishes. She won't eat greens without dressing. She is crazy for kale chips. :)

This is my own personal opinion - I do not think it is right to feed cats/dogs a raw vegan diet. There is no way I would do this to my 3 Dachshunds. They are raw, but they do eat meat. I don't like it, but they need the meat in their diet to thrive.

dogs are omnivores. this means that they have all the equipment to eat both flesh foods and non-flesh foods. they do not however REQUIRE flesh/meat or animal products to survive and thrive. many people now feed their dogs on a vegan diet and dogs are able to thrive on a properly planned vegan diet.

green woman check out 30bananas a day, there was a great thread on there but it got inadvertently (sp?) deleted, i know prad is working on resurrecting it... if you see the thread by anne, you can see where prad posted how you can temporarily access the old thread. (prad has been feeding his dogs vegan for over 10 years...he uses the recipes and supplements from Harbingers of a New Age (which are cooked recipes), *but there are also some people on there feeding their dogs raw vegan.* i fed my dog Evolution vegan dog food when we lived in the states though i think the recipes in "vegetarian dogs: towards a world without exploitation" (book is vegan) are fresher, better and healthier than a dry kibble. thats super that your pups seem to like the raw veg...my pup doesnt seem to digest raw veg very well. i feed her a complete vegan dry food along with fruit, cooked veg, wheat germ, ground flax, and occasionally recipes from the veg dogs book) ... id love to try a higher raw diet with her like any phyo does but im just not in the position to be able to get quality nuts etc right now. any phyo also has the recipes she uses in the back of on of her books.
sorry if accessing the vegan dog info I am talking about sounds confusing. but the point is that i dont think you have to have meat in your house for your pups to thrive.

good luck

kaybee

Hi Green_Woman,

I can tell you what my experience with feeding raw vegan to a dog is and I hope this will help you decide what you wish to do.

Before I got my dog I already decided that she was going to eat a natural raw diet, as I believe raw is best, and I wanted her to be happy and healthy so she could stay with us for the longest time possible. I have read everything I could find about feeding a dog raw vegan and was hoping that I would really not have to feed her meat. I've been a vegetarian for 18 years and a raw vegan for 13 and I really didn't want to handle raw meat.

The breeder fed her pasta, rice, milk, cottage cheese... with veggies and a bit of meat, all cooked, of course. When I brought her home she stunk the house up. I let her be the first day, but it was unbearable, so I gave her a bath the next. I started feeding her plenty of bananas, persimmons, dates, oils, nuts, seeds, apples... and she ate them all! It was like she was eating for the first time. Needles to say, I was very happy.

Then I started noticing things.

1. She devoured every poop she could find - the smellier the better. It would be like you were looking at a starved dog. My stomach turned every time. I asked around (mostly vets), and they all told me that she was missing vitamins and minerals and recommended I supplement with a multivitamin as it is always difficult to know which vitamin is missing. Hm, that didn't fly well with me, because first of all, she was getting plenty of vitamins and minerals, and second, what can vitamins in a pill form do for your dog (or you)? Absolutely nothing good, if you ask me. So, I tried experimenting with more of this less of that... but nothing worked. She was too young to obey and everyone I met told me that it was normal for a dog to eat poop. I would agree that it may be normal to an extent (for some dogs), but mine was eating all the poop in sight including her own!

2. She had to go out to poop 10 - 12 times a day (24 hours)! and the poop was very loose, abundant and smelly.

3. Her coat was beginning to lose its shine.

4. She lost weight when she should have been gaining tremendously (at 8 weeks old).

5. She was hungry all the time - begging for food.

6. Her breath smelled something fowl.

7. Her eyes lost that little spark that's so typical of young dogs.


All that in just 10 days! That was enough for me. I went to the supermarket and bought chicken necks (she was still too young for a more substantial bone) and some beef. She licked the bowl clean!!

It took all of 3 days to get her back on track and we never went back. She hardly ever touches poop of any kind any more (but not eat, just a quick lick), she poops once or twice a day and it's very small, and 'condensed', her coat shines, she's the perfect weight, sometimes she will just eat once a day and not twice (I feed her twice a day - more in the morning and less in the evening), never begs for food, breath doesn't smell any more and at 18 months, her eyes just sparkle. And she doesn't stink any more.

Now, does that mean I don't feed my dog any fruit/veggies/seeds/nuts? Of course not. She loves sweet apples, dates, walnuts, Brazil nuts, pumpkin seeds, persimmons, green shakes, tomatoes, spinach, dehydrated foods I put together... However, she won't touch bananas, unless they're in a shake. :D

Since then I have read a lot of books on the subject of food for dogs and I think that while dogs can and do eat everything they are essentially carnivores. However, that being said, I've read of people feeding their dogs raw vegan with their dogs thriving on the diet, I would say, why don't you try and see for yourself. Just like people, different dogs tolerate different food differently. Mine cannot be raised on raw vegan, but I tried.

I understand your concerns about health. All I can say is that if your diet is optimal for you, you shouldn't have any health issues because of preparation of raw meat. When I prepare food for her, I wash everything with vinegar (for pickling) and I only use things that are just hers (like cutting board, knives...). Mind you, when I first started feeding her raw meat, I had my mother do all the slicing and dicing. :D It took me a long while before I could prepare her food myself. And to be honest - when I'm doing a major operation, I wear gloves, and when I have to mix her food I just use one finger and wash it thoroughly afterwards. :D

I still find it difficult to watch her eat dead animals, but I love my dog very much and I would not want her to suffer because of my beliefs.

On a rare occasion that she's come across kibble, she wouldn't touch the stuff. My vet was totally gobsmacked that such a young dog wouldn't eat kibble as most young dogs will eat anything you give them. And to this day she doesn't touch the stuff. Smart dog. :D

As far as I could see, dogs are very resilient. Judging from you post, you love your dogs too, so I assume you observe them a lot. Feeding the wrong (or right, for that matter) food for your dog shows some kind of signs very quickly, so you should be able to act accordingly.

When I take my dog out for a walk, I usually meet a lady whose dog has Lyme disease. They fed him all the best kibble - really top notch - and he was slowly but surely dying. For a year she took him to specialist after specialist, put him through many scary treatments (I'm actually surprised he survived the treatments!) and when the dog was still dying and the treatments were getting more and more ridiculous, she found the raw meaty bones diet. Fast forward a year later, the dog is healthy and happy – just a picture of health.

I wish you all the best with your dogs!

Lia

Dogs are scavengers, but obviously are carnivorous predators. They can eat whatever is in the guts of their herbivorous prey.

If you don't want to contribute to meat eating or touch raw meat, why not adopt a herbivorous animal instead? Maybe a bird or a guinea pig?

I've got a raw bone and flesh eating German Shepherd and a salad guzzling guinea pig. When he sees me come in the kitchen, he goes crazy waiting for some salad or a bite of my orange etc. He can eat as fast.. or even faster than me=)

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Originally Posted by Thick

a salad guzzling guinea pig. When he sees me come in the kitchen, he goes crazy waiting for some salad or a bite of my orange etc. He can eat as fast.. or even faster than me=)

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:::giggles::: I thought only mine did that. Whenever I walk into the bedroom with a salad or, well, pretty much anything really he starts squeaking up a storm until I share with him. :D

Thank you everyone for your input and opinions!

its very dangerous to try and feed a dog a vegan diet. People like Phyo and another one whose name escapes me (she wrote a book and even said dogs should have macadamia nuts) are not aware of the way a dog's digestive system works. Its highly important that their system be kept acidic vs alkaline like ours. Most dogs on a vegetarian or vegan diet develop bladder stones. You can buy a wonderful food called Honest Kitchen (info at thehonestkitchen.com) that spares you the problem of handling raw meats but feeds your dog the correct diet. As for cats, they are carnivores and its cruel to feed them otherwise, best for that owner to get a rabbit of similar vegetarian pet. lettuce head
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Quote:

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Originally Posted by Green_Woman

Hello all... I was considering feeding my two fur babies (Pomeranian and Poodle puppies) raw following the BARF diet, however I honestly can not stomach or be near raw meat, nor do I want it in my house for my own health reasons.

I was reading about Ani Phyo's dog, and that she feeds a large dog 100% raw vegan foods and it's a health animal.

I know dogs are naturally omnivores, however my puppies seem to prefer carrots, bananas, green smoothies and chopped greens to their Kibbles, and I'm wondering if I would be doing them a service to make their diet at least 75% Raw Vegan.

I need advise. I'm absolutely terrified of doing anything wrong with their diets. I lost a very beloved dog to a very stupid mistake (left him at a "professional kennel" - never again) a year ago and am pretty protective of my two little guys that are left.

I can't find anything solid out there about feeding Dogs primarily raw VEGAN diets... I need help if I'm going to do this "right".

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MintLia,

I like your open-mindedness!

Mary Kay

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Mary Kay

MintLia,

I like your open-mindedness!

Mary Kay

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Thank you, Mary Kay :)

:)


It seems some dogs thrive, some dogs don't.

Much like each individual in life. ;)

My raw friend feeds her dog raw and says that he is thriving. He is a big dog and eats a quarter raw chicken per day.

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