Vegetarian Diet for Cats and Dogs
" My all 4 dogs are Vegan", Actress Alicia Silverstone has said to UK TV Show host Graham Norton.
According to ecorazzi site, she describes that, by switching their diet to vegan diet,their dogs stopped farting. (Read full story here.) On Jay Leno show back in 2001,she mentioned her dogs being vegan and described what the dogs eat.She said that her dogs eat green,broccoli,tomato,bananas, avocados and, she says her dogs got fat from eating avocado.
I would think that no matter what you feed,animals would fart.All living animals should fart, shouldn't they? There maybe a food that make them fart more than others but,it is hard to believe dog never fart on vegan diet.
So,why dogs fart?? According to pets.ca, dog fart because...
1> eating too fast: when dogs eat fast,swallowed air make it to intestine very fast, and more concentrated in quantity.
2> natural process of producing the gas through food digestion and absorption within the digestive tract
3>eating food that tend to cause gas such as beans
4>poor quality diet (hard to digest food served)
To combat the smelly gas from your dog, pet.ca suggest these to try.
1> feed smaller amount of food per sitting
2>feed your dog in quiet private area
3>exercise your dog to stimulate the intestine
4>feed the diet highly digestible
To read full article,click here.
So, I would think that taking meat out from dogs/cats' plate would not stop that farting.
Meat is highly digestible for dogs and cats. They would not have same type of teeth like we have.They have sharp pointy canine teeth to rip,tear meat and they have shorter intestine than human.They do not have teeth to grind foods.The dogs' digestion start from stomach while ours start in the mouth.
They have different needs of nutrient than human so,I think that assuming what is good for us is good for animals is not really a good for dogs or cats.
Vegetable has cell that dogs cannot break by themselves.,and vegetable and beans,fruits..excluding meat..I do not think we can provide protein amount they need.
In raw diet (including meat in meal) ,for example,animal heart is really good source of Taurine but how do they get it from vegan diet that feed legumes,vegetable,fruits etc?? How do they get Vitamin B usually high in meat?
Vegetable IS very nutritious for human,but I wonder if the owner that feed vegan diet know enough about vegetable's good/bad points. Like,potato is usually used as ingredient in grain-free kibble as main,but feeding big amount of potatoes,tomato,green pepper,eggplant etc (aka night shade family veg) can aggravate the inflammation in Arthritis dogs. And some vegetable interfere absorption of certain vitamins like spinach interfere absorption of Vitamin C. Some vegetable lower the function of thyroid..
Strange thing is that,avocado in vegan diet is there for Essential Fatty Acid according to "Animal Friends Croatia"(link here.).
If I give Essential Fatty Acid,I feed omega3 rich fish such as Mackerel or give Fish Body Oil capsule. That is already converted to be able to digest in dog body easily unlike plant based EFA.
To learn more on EFA,click here.
And pasta?? hmm, I see it is not meat but if you know how pasts is made,it is made with semolina flour with Egg. I thought that Vegan diet exclude egg/diary. I maybe wrong.
And bread... I see dog loves bread.My dog loves my home-made pizza crust when I bake them. I do not make pizza often just now and then, but when we have pizza night,she is right there with us,staring,quiet, be nice,sit pretty hoping she gets bread rain fall on her. But feeding diet dominated by bread/rice sounds like,to me, some dogs may react to it by itch (Allergy),yeast problems, obese etc.
While I was looking information on vegan diet for dogs to write this entry,I found out that you can get vegan diet dog food!!
First ingredient is brown rice,then some vegetables, and lots of synthetic Vitamin B .. The food is called "Natural Balance Vegetarian formula" but I prefer to give my dog REAL FOOD to give nutrient not by capsules made at lab.
To see the vegetarian kibble,click here.
I would think that people that feed their dogs/cats vegan diet may have some reasons why they do it:could be believing meatless diet remove fart from dogs like Alicia Silverstone, or could be from ethical reasons. However, I have to wonder if it really good for the dogs/cats??
What is your thought on vegan diet for dogs? Are you "for" or "against" and why?
According to ecorazzi site, she describes that, by switching their diet to vegan diet,their dogs stopped farting. (Read full story here.) On Jay Leno show back in 2001,she mentioned her dogs being vegan and described what the dogs eat.She said that her dogs eat green,broccoli,tomato,bananas, avocados and, she says her dogs got fat from eating avocado.
I would think that no matter what you feed,animals would fart.All living animals should fart, shouldn't they? There maybe a food that make them fart more than others but,it is hard to believe dog never fart on vegan diet.
So,why dogs fart?? According to pets.ca, dog fart because...
1> eating too fast: when dogs eat fast,swallowed air make it to intestine very fast, and more concentrated in quantity.
2> natural process of producing the gas through food digestion and absorption within the digestive tract
3>eating food that tend to cause gas such as beans
4>poor quality diet (hard to digest food served)
To combat the smelly gas from your dog, pet.ca suggest these to try.
1> feed smaller amount of food per sitting
2>feed your dog in quiet private area
3>exercise your dog to stimulate the intestine
4>feed the diet highly digestible
To read full article,click here.
So, I would think that taking meat out from dogs/cats' plate would not stop that farting.
Meat is highly digestible for dogs and cats. They would not have same type of teeth like we have.They have sharp pointy canine teeth to rip,tear meat and they have shorter intestine than human.They do not have teeth to grind foods.The dogs' digestion start from stomach while ours start in the mouth.
They have different needs of nutrient than human so,I think that assuming what is good for us is good for animals is not really a good for dogs or cats.
Vegetable has cell that dogs cannot break by themselves.,and vegetable and beans,fruits..excluding meat..I do not think we can provide protein amount they need.
In raw diet (including meat in meal) ,for example,animal heart is really good source of Taurine but how do they get it from vegan diet that feed legumes,vegetable,fruits etc?? How do they get Vitamin B usually high in meat?
Vegetable IS very nutritious for human,but I wonder if the owner that feed vegan diet know enough about vegetable's good/bad points. Like,potato is usually used as ingredient in grain-free kibble as main,but feeding big amount of potatoes,tomato,green pepper,eggplant etc (aka night shade family veg) can aggravate the inflammation in Arthritis dogs. And some vegetable interfere absorption of certain vitamins like spinach interfere absorption of Vitamin C. Some vegetable lower the function of thyroid..
Strange thing is that,avocado in vegan diet is there for Essential Fatty Acid according to "Animal Friends Croatia"(link here.).
If I give Essential Fatty Acid,I feed omega3 rich fish such as Mackerel or give Fish Body Oil capsule. That is already converted to be able to digest in dog body easily unlike plant based EFA.
To learn more on EFA,click here.
And pasta?? hmm, I see it is not meat but if you know how pasts is made,it is made with semolina flour with Egg. I thought that Vegan diet exclude egg/diary. I maybe wrong.
And bread... I see dog loves bread.My dog loves my home-made pizza crust when I bake them. I do not make pizza often just now and then, but when we have pizza night,she is right there with us,staring,quiet, be nice,sit pretty hoping she gets bread rain fall on her. But feeding diet dominated by bread/rice sounds like,to me, some dogs may react to it by itch (Allergy),yeast problems, obese etc.
While I was looking information on vegan diet for dogs to write this entry,I found out that you can get vegan diet dog food!!
First ingredient is brown rice,then some vegetables, and lots of synthetic Vitamin B .. The food is called "Natural Balance Vegetarian formula" but I prefer to give my dog REAL FOOD to give nutrient not by capsules made at lab.
To see the vegetarian kibble,click here.
I would think that people that feed their dogs/cats vegan diet may have some reasons why they do it:could be believing meatless diet remove fart from dogs like Alicia Silverstone, or could be from ethical reasons. However, I have to wonder if it really good for the dogs/cats??
What is your thought on vegan diet for dogs? Are you "for" or "against" and why?
I have heard that a dog can survive on a vegetarian diet. However, I don't believe that a dog can THRIVE on a vegetarian diet. For optimal health I think they should be feed animal parts. I feed a biologically appropriate raw food diet to my dogs and the difference I've seen in them since our switch from kibble is amazing and enough proof for me. So, image the difference in a dog on a vegan kibble!!
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Hi,Laura. I agree with you. I don't believe that dogs can thrive on vegetable only diet. I think that vegetarian diet kibble has lot more synthetic form of Vitamins,especially Vitamin B which,normally dogs can get quite a bit from fresh meat. I prefer to feed my dog with form of foods that provide nutrient rather than relying on synthetic form of lab-made vitamins.
Switching to raw diet was kind of big step for me before really start feeding it. I was nervous about bone and all that,but like you say,my dog's change is great as well from the time she was on kibble. Especially black fur on my dog reflect the sun shine and make the area much more shiny and,she poop out really cute poop with sweet smell,and got really nice white teeth,and she got good energy,and really gets excited for meal everyday.Sometimes,she cannot wait to dig in and wait with drool..
What I like most about raw feeding is that you see what going in to your dog's stomach and then,if needed,you can tailor to your dog's need. And,unlike kibble,there are lots more variety you can feed;goat,buffalo,elk,rabbit,Ostrich,Emu etc etc so, dog can get different kinds of nutrient from different animal protein source and with the food form not processed form/synthetic vitamin form. Plus fresh food does not contain BHT or other preservatives,artificial coloring/flavoring or other fillers.
Last year,I went back to Japan to visit my family. In our country, dog diet seems to be changing as well. At book store,you saw many kinds of fresh food diet related books, and if you step in to pet store just to see what treat they sell, more shelf were with natural treats such as dehydrated pork gullet,tendon,dehydrated meat etc.Japan does not carry very colorful treats like US, they are more big on rawhide treats but its space seemed to be a little less. Moving to fresh food feeding is good change. I hope more and more people start feeding raw diet,and start reading food labels not just dog food/treats labels but human food labels as well. After switching my dog diet to raw diet,I started paying more attention to human food label as well,and I try to cook healthier for us human too.
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Dogs are carnivores. As Laura said, they may live on a vegetarian diet, but not thrive. A vegan diet doesn't bear thinking about. I suggest that anyone wanting to feed such a diet read Martin Goldstein's The Nature of Animal Healing : The Definitive Holistic Medicine Guide to Caring for Your Dog and Cat. As for feeding a cat, an obligate carnivore, a vegetarian or vegan diet, it doesn't bear thinking about. I hope the RSPCA was listening to Silverstone. Under the new care of animals act, she should lose custody of her animals. It requires a species-appropriate diet.
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Margot,
Thank you for suggestion on the book to read. When I have a chance to,I like to read.
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Hey, that was interesting,
That is hilarious, you actually gave tips to stop your dog farting!
I will try these on my cat tho...
She seems to do silent buy violent farts!
Thanks for writing about it
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Our dog Palette used to fart a lot more. Especially when stomach is stretched out: when she goes upstairs, when she stand up putting paws on chair etc. We have switched diet and it lessen the frequency of the fart, smell of the fart got changed a lot, not just size of poop or consistency. I feel it is something to do with digestibility.
On the talk of fart, many people fart on beans. This tip is for human. One thing I learned to lessen the fart with bean dish is ..
When I use fresh dry bean, I put bean into bowl,cover it with water and fill to about 1-2 inch higher than bean top. Then, put it in fridge over night and change water every 2 hours. Wash the bean very good next day and cook in crockpot for a few hours.
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