Raw VEGAN Dogs -- anyone here doing this?

[Miss Marie]

Cooked bones are very bad to eat. I cringe when i think about all the cooked rib bones we used to give our dogs when I was a kid.

Ani Phyo feeds her dog a vegan diet. I don't agree with it, but it may be working for her dog -or it may not be, even if her vet thinks it's ok.
A large portion of veterinarians don't know enough about dog nutrition(like human doctors don't know much about human nutrition)

Some do, but don't always rely on a vet for their nutritional advice. There are quite a few vets who think that feeding raw meat is very dangerous and deadly to our pets. Unless your pet has an immune disorder or problem, that's simply not true.

It's important to do a lot of your own research from many different sources. :)

[revdrcyn]

I supplement my Jack Russell's organic dog food with green smoothies - I follow Victoria Boutenko's guidelines for pet smoothies -- my pup loves them!

[brydee]

I really recommend reading the book natural nutrition for dogs and cats by Kymythy R.Schultze.
I read a really interesting link a while back about how we have changed dogs brains and in some almost ruling out the hunting instinct, i found it interesting but it also saddened me deeply.
However I do believe that some of the more smaller tampered with breeds could do okay on a mainly vegan diet than the older breeds. I think the ultimate diet would be barf but a raw vegan or vegetarian would be better than feeding processed food. how about trying vegetarian instead of vegan? raw eggs are brilliant.
To feed a dogs and cats just vegan food with no other option I personally feel is very selfish, not enough 'research' has been done to see in the long term how it can effect them. It is our own choice if we want to be vegan and we have seen and know the health benefits, there is much infomation around.

[Mindy Sue]

I feed my Dachshunds raw meat every day. Along with about a tablespoon of mashed up raw veggies/fruit - what they would get when eating an animal. I don't believe in feeding a dog/cat nothing but fruit/veggies. My opinion only

[kjduf]

I have three mini dachshunds too! We just got our third one 2 weeks ago, she was rescued from a puppy mill.

I feed my babies Blue Buffalo. For treats I give them veggie's. They absolutely love them, especially carrots.

[maria84]

i guess a good wipe of the dog's mouth with vinegar is a good way to end the meal? i wouldn't imagine my dog liking it but i'm thinking about the germs that don't get digested, then again, he smells all kinds of weird things on walks.

my avatar is my dog, samson. he normally doesn't wear his hair up

[anneh]

Keep in mind that Ani Phyto's dog was in bad shape when she got it and therefore being fed ANY type of good diet would make a difference short term. I often read people saying how much better the vegan diet is for their dog vs the poisonous dog foods sold at pet stores. But keep in mind that you don't have to feed the crappy dog food, my dog eats fresh human grade meat and vegetables or sometimes the Honest Kitchen dehydrated food which is human grade. Long term feeding a dog vegan may not work so well for these dogs. I ran into someone the other day whose dog had been vegan for some time but was now coping with bladder stones because of the diet I do know of some successful vegetarian dogs, they do of course get eggs/cheese and other non meat animal products plus I know other people who cook for their dogs and include cooked boneless fish which I do also or they give canned salmon (salt rinsed off) or sardines that are canned in water/no salt (both of those come with safe bones and are sufficient in calcium). Main thing is that if raw meats with bone are not given (they are usually ground together, Primal is a great one) then a source of calcium must be used, for those occasions I use Animal Essentials calcium. anne

Cooked bones are very bad to eat. I cringe when i think about all the cooked rib bones we used to give our dogs when I was a kid.

Ani Phyo feeds her dog a vegan diet. I don't agree with it, but it may be working for her dog -or it may not be, even if her vet thinks it's ok.
A large portion of veterinarians don't know enough about dog nutrition(like human doctors don't know much about human nutrition)

Some do, but don't always rely on a vet for their nutritional advice. There are quite a few vets who think that feeding raw meat is very dangerous and deadly to our pets. Unless your pet has an immune disorder or problem, that's simply not true.

It's important to do a lot of your own research from many different sources. :)

[Miss Marie]

Been doing the raw thing for a little over a year now . .

After feeding raw meat/bone/organs from the grocery store, then moving onto grinding my own from whole rabbits and such(wanted more complete food source with the brains and all) - I grew tired of dealing with the smell/mess/divisions/packing every month.

I've been feeding whole prey model for 2 months now and LOVE it. It costs an arm and a leg - but the dogs are doing great on it.

I feed them once a day and just give them a whole(appropriately sized) thawed guinea pig or rabbit - fur and all.

No mess & it's a much more complete meal than just muscle meat/organ/bones from the grocery store.

I no longer have to give them bones to chew on(which wears their teeth down pretty quick) I've come to realize that the FUR on the animal actually does a wonderful job of scrubbing the teeth clean.

The dogs are lean, their coats shiney and NO GAS - woop! woop! :)

They still get many fruits and veggies - and seasonal stuff, such as acorns from the oaks. They are very happy dogs - which makes me happy too. :)

[MagicalCats]

Hello Green Woman!
I'm not a dog owner but a cat owner and feed my cats a vegan diet.

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

Cats are obligate carnivores. You're going to find yourself with some extremely sick cats down the road even if you do use supplements such as Taurine. The grains and vegetables involved in a vegan diet do not digest in a cat's system like they could in a dog's and a human's. This is why people turned to raw food originally in pets as opposed to commercial pet food. It's mostly a "catcentric" diet since they are the obligate carnivores of the household. Please read further on this and what happens to kitties when they are fed copious amounts of grains and vegetables. Pancreatitis and Inflammatory Bowel Disease can occur which ultimately leads to not only death but a very painful one. If your cats have thrived and loved this diet so far it is understandable as it only starts to wear on the system later. Please check ibdkitties.net for the story of Alex. Alex was not on a vegan diet but an unsuitable one. I am very concerned for your furbabies as I am a cat lover and a raw feeder myself. I know it must be hard for you to want the best for your kitties and be a vegan. You have to really be "into the meat" to feed a cat raw food/frankenprey model. It involves alot of meat handling and ripping up and whatnot. I do have information on alternatives to that if you'd like to contact me just let me know. It will involve handing a product made from meat but not so much touch and smell.
The bottom line is, your cats have to eat other animals. It's nature's way. They aren't like us humans who do it for profit or malice.

[RSQdogs]

Beneful is not a good food and can cause serious health problems including seizures due to artificial flavoring and coloring. There are some good quality kibbles if you really have to use one. Check out dogaware.com regarding diet. If having seizures join canine-epilepsy.com for great forum and information on natural alternatives :)
[QUOTE=ferb;622026]and i am seriously considering putting him on a meat diet, right now he eating beneful dry food, with occasionally a little seizure's once in a while, he enjoys the chicken and lamb.

[RawSar]

Cats are obligate carnivores. You're going to find yourself with some extremely sick cats down the road even if you do use supplements such as Taurine. The grains and vegetables involved in a vegan diet do not digest in a cat's system like they could in a dog's and a human's. This is why people turned to raw food originally in pets as opposed to commercial pet food. It's mostly a "catcentric" diet since they are the obligate carnivores of the household. Please read further on this and what happens to kitties when they are fed copious amounts of grains and vegetables. Pancreatitis and Inflammatory Bowel Disease can occur which ultimately leads to not only death but a very painful one. If your cats have thrived and loved this diet so far it is understandable as it only starts to wear on the system later. Please check ibdkitties.net for the story of Alex. Alex was not on a vegan diet but an unsuitable one. I am very concerned for your furbabies as I am a cat lover and a raw feeder myself. I know it must be hard for you to want the best for your kitties and be a vegan. You have to really be "into the meat" to feed a cat raw food/frankenprey model. It involves alot of meat handling and ripping up and whatnot. I do have information on alternatives to that if you'd like to contact me just let me know. It will involve handing a product made from meat but not so much touch and smell.
The bottom line is, your cats have to eat other animals. It's nature's way. They aren't like us humans who do it for profit or malice.

Hey no more worrying here. Luckily, not really, it only took a few weeks for my little kittens to have health problems (it wasnt my choice to put them on the vegan diet, long fights with the BF and after reading so many stories of other vegan cats I thought it could be possible) Thankfully the kittens weren't deathly sick but were able to recover smoothly and since then had switched to a raw meaty diet.

No, cats cannot be vegan, not even vegetarian, they NEED meat! I feel bad for putting them on the vegan *&%$ but it was the only way to prove to my BF that MEAT is the ONLY choice.

Anyways, its been well over a year, we picked up 4 other kittens and all are happy and healthy on the raw meat diet, with some chlorella which they go crazy for. :)

[susaninparadise]

My Bichon Frise was diagnosed with bladder stones at the age of 3. She had to be operated on twice to have them removed. We had kept her solely on a diet of prescription dog foods for dogs with bladder problems. Yet the problem continued to reoccur.

Finally, I did a lot of research and decided to put her on a vegan diet - Wysong vegan dog food.

I am so happy to say that everything about her changed. She immediately lost weight, going from 15 pounds to a trim 12 pounds. And she had so much energy. She never had another bladder problem or operation.

She was with us until she was 15. We have another Bichon now and feed her meat until she was 3 and now she is on a vegan diet and doing very well.

I highly recommend a vegan diet to anyone for their dog.

[RSQdogs]

glad your doggies did ok on it as the ingredients are not suitable for dogs as main ingredients are Ground Corn, Ground Extruded Whole Soybeans, Corn Gluten Meal, Ground Wheat, Oat Groats, Ground Brown Rice, Cane Molasses, Tomatoes, Ground Flax Seeds, Sun-Cured Alfalfa Meal, Dicalcium Phosphate, Wheat Gluten, Rice Gluten, Barley Sprouts, Canola Oil, Soybean Oil, Dried Yeast - the company has also had several recalls http://www.wysong.net/moreinfo.php

My Bichon Frise was diagnosed with bladder stones at the age of 3. She had to be operated on twice to have them removed. We had kept her solely on a diet of prescription dog foods for dogs with bladder problems. Yet the problem continued to reoccur.

Finally, I did a lot of research and decided to put her on a vegan diet - Wysong vegan dog food.

I am so happy to say that everything about her changed. She immediately lost weight, going from 15 pounds to a trim 12 pounds. And she had so much energy. She never had another bladder problem or operation.

She was with us until she was 15. We have another Bichon now and feed her meat until she was 3 and now she is on a vegan diet and doing very well.

I highly recommend a vegan diet to anyone for their dog.

[blue_soda025]

I personally wouldn't agree with feeding your dog a vegan diet. There is more evidence that dogs were meant to eat animal tissue (just compare their teeth with herbivorous animals such as cattle) than there is that they don't need to eat meat. If you want to feed a healthier or more natural diet, I would go with the BARF diet. At the same time, I have heard of dogs that actually don't do well on a raw diet and thrived on a good kibble. It really all comes down to what works for your dog. Different dogs are sensitive to different things. I find it very difficult to hear about people forcing certain diets on their dogs which just clearly aren't working for their dogs, and they continue to do so just because of certain beliefs they have about that particular diet (not saying any of you are, but just from what I have heard in the past).

[Mothergoose]

As a petsitter I have a client whose vet put her dogs on a vegetarian diet with RD dog food from Science Diet that is a prescription dog food. Her dogs had several allergies and many health problems come and go. Since I have seen the dogs on this diet, they have slimmed down quite a bit, have a shiny coat and seem very healthy. A vegetarian diet is tricky to feed a carnivore so some supplements need to be added to keep their amino acids balanced properly. Also we must address their digestive tract being short and highly acidic as many predators are. Cats are tricky too because they need a certain amount of taurine in the diet or it effects the central nervous system.

Carefully do this and watch for strange symptoms so deficiencies can be addressed quickly so damage is not done. Since this is not the "natural" diet for predators, we must be careful....also it can be done with applomb with study. There are still health risks to anyone consuming meat so it is understandable to investigate the vegetarian diets for other animals besides humans. I currently feed my dog a raw diet of meat and I feed my horse the most natural diet a horse can eat with good pasture, alfalfa, beet pulp and some flax seed. Others feed horses feeds that are processed for various reasons.

Go as natural as possible to assume the best diet for the animal.