Bad food for dogs - good food for dogs
 

I am an animal lover and so I am vegetarian, aspiring to be vegan someday. I can't stand having to touch chicken etc for my puppy. When I am making fruit salad, she likes to have a few sticks of apple and pear.
I was making vegan lasagna today and she stole a bit of onion and mushroom, and she seems fine.
I know that having a balanced vegetarian diet is good for dogs, but my parents don't want Tally being a veggie dog. So...is it okay to feed her bits of fruit and veg as snacks everyday? Can anybody point out what good this will do her? Possible harms? food I should be avoiding? (I already know about grapes)

It's totally fine for you to feed your dog veggies as part of a well balanced diet. Please do keep in mind though, that for a totally healthy dog, you will have to feed it meat protien, as that's just part of who they are. People can take vitamins to suppliment our diets, dog's are more difficult to judge.

Here is a general list of foods (as found by a general "Google"):

[B]Some foods dogs should not eat[/B]

If your dog has ingested any of these foods, get veterinary help immediately
[B]Grapes and Raisins[/B]: Grapes and raisins can cause kidney failure in dogs. As little as a single serving of raisins can kill a dog
[B]Onions[/B]: Onions destroy red blood cells and can cause anemia.
[B]Chocolate[/B]: Chocolate can cause seizures, coma and death. Baker’s chocolate is the most dangerous. A dog can consume milk chocolate and appear to be fine because it is not as concentrated, but it is still dangerous.
[B]Coffee, Coffee grounds, tea and tea bags[/B]: Drinks/foods containing caffeine cause many of the same symptoms chocolate causes
[B]Macadamia Nuts[/B]: Macadamia nuts can cause weakness, muscle tremor and paralysis.
[B]Animal fat and fried foods[/B]: Excessive fat can cause pancreatitis.
[B]Bones[/B]: Bones can splinter and damage a dog’s internal organs. [B](it should say: cooked bones)[/B]
[B]Tomatoes[/B]: Tomatoes can cause tremors and heart arrhythmias. Tomatoe plants and the most toxic, but tomatoes themselves are also unsafe.
[B]Avocados[/B]: The fruit, pit and plant are all toxic. They can cause difficulty breathing and fluid accumulation in the chest, abdomen and heart
[B]Nutmeg[/B]: Nutmeg can cause tremors, seizures and death
[B]Apples, Cherries, Peaches and similar fruit[/B]: The seeds of these fruits contain cyanide, which is poisonous to dogs as well as humans. Unlike humans, dogs do not know to stop eating at the core/pit and easily ingest them.
[B]Raw eggs[/B]: Raw eggs can cause salmonella poisoning in dogs. Dogs have a shorter digestive tract than humans and are not as likely to suffer from food poisoning, but it is still possible.
[B]Salt[/B]: Excessive salt intake can cause kidney problems.

I hope this helps!

Your parents are right. Dogs are not herbivores, but carnivore/omnivore, and are designed to eat meat.

You don't have to give her raw meat. A high quality dog food is fine for her and has everything she needs to stay healthy.

If she likes fruits and veggies, they are fine for treats and snacks, but make sure the main part of her diet is food for dogs.

Fruit & Veg.
 

I chop up into tiny pieces all sorts of veggie's (except for the ones not good for her) and add to my dog's meals. She also loves munching on a whole carrot and shreds it better than any grater could. As for fruit so far I've fed her small pieces of apple and oranges. You should try her with a small piece of each to see what your dog likes. You might be surprised!

Okay thanks.
I'm a little surprised because many dogs survive fine on a veggie diet, but I guess it would be their instinct to eat meat.
I'm going to feed her these fruits and veggies as snacks only.
Thanks! :)

My dog is allergic to meat protein and is on a totally vegetarian dog food. She's doing great. You do have to make sure that they are getting enough protein, though, and if not, supplement. Cooked eggs are also good for protein.

I'm sorry, I just had to post this....

Lol Lol Lol!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Isn't it great? I laughed forever (my brother is a vegan.. I'm still a carnivore so I sympathise with the kitty...)

I sympathise with the kitty. The punchline is a little macabre to me since, while a dog can be fed on a carefully structured vegetarian diet, to do the same with a cat *will* kill it. Their bodies are simply too well equiped to handle meat. I just want to insure that everyone on this forum (including the lurkers) know this. It would be horrible to lose a pet through such good intentions.

I just feel that even with kids, you decide [I]your[/I] diet restrictions, but you shouldn't force all those around you to do it too. Dogs and cats are carnivores and only when they are starving in nature do they eat veggies (not a top priority for them). I have never seen a nature video of a lynx who has been starving all winter because of the lack of rabbits, eating a plant of any kind. They eat rodents.

My dad didn't eat any meat (only fish) when we were growing up but we still have meat all the time. Yes, people have problems with the morals of eating meat but a normal person can't tell if a cat is lacking in some things. Cat food is so high protein, I don't know how you would be able to replicate the protein content with veggies only. I don't know about cats but I know soy can cause excess gas in dogs which can lead to bloat...

I just came across this and figured I'd put it up for contemplation..

[quote]Though meat eaters by nature, dogs seem to adapt to a plant diet reasonably well, the main challenge being to make the stuff palatable enough that they'll actually eat it. (A recommendation from the Vegetarian Society of the UK: spice it up with--bleagh--Marmite.)

Some believe dogs have a greater need for meat-based nutrients during stressful times of their lives, such as puppyhood and pregnancy. During these times, and maybe all the time, you might want to use diet supplements or a specially formulated veggie pet food such as Nature's Recipe. Only a fanatic would keep a dog on a veggie diet if it obviously were failing to thrive.

Cats are another story. It's dangerous and probably futile to try to feed a cat a vegetarian diet. If denied meat at home cats likely will go hunting for mice and birds and whatnot. If unsuccessful, they may suffer serious health problems.

Cats require specialized micronutrients abundant in meat but not readily available from other sources. For example, cats that don't get enough of the amino acid taurine (only good source: meat) will suffer retinal degeneration and eventual blindness. Other nutrients they obtain primarily or solely from meat include arachidonic acid, vitamin A, vitamin B12, niacin, and thiamine. Cats also require more protein and less fiber than a typical vegetarian diet provides. (All this info comes from the Vegetarian Society of the UK, incidentally.) [/quote]

source: [url]http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a960426.html[/url]

Haha!! That comic is too funny! Once when I was buying dog food I saw a lady picking up every package and reading the labels. She asked me if they ALL had meat in them. I said, uh, yeah, probably. She said that she was a vegitarian and didn't want her pets to have meat. I told her I didn't think that was possible. She was just like, YUK!

I thought that was the craziest thing I'd ever heard. That was a few years ago. I think that unless your pet is allergic to meat like cactusflower's , you shouldn't try to make them be vegitarians. Meat is the most natural protein source for them, like a good meat based dog food.

Cats need taurine
 

[QUOTE=Beetlecat] while a dog can be fed on a carefully structured vegetarian diet, to do the same with a cat *will* kill it. [/QUOTE]
This is absolutely true, cats require taurine (only found in animal tissue) to survive...I saw an episode of Animal Precinct once where a well-meaning cat owner tried to raise her multiple kitties on rice(all she could afford)...most suffered blindness caused by nutrient deficiency - it was horrible to see. DO YOUR RESEARCH!

Dogs are omnivores (both meat and veggies) but they don't need that much meat to survive, they need mostly vegetables and a small amount of protein.
Cats on the other hand are carnivores.
A mostly veggie diet for a dog is fine as long as he gets his protein elsewhere, but it's always safer to feed a good quality dog food because everything he needs is balanced for him.

Umm, you know this thread is a year and a half old right? :o

LOL, I love the cartoon. :crazy:

[QUOTE]Dogs are omnivores (both meat and veggies) but they don't need that much meat to survive, they need mostly vegetables and a small amount of protein.
Cats on the other hand are carnivores.[/QUOTE]

er, sorry but NO. While cats are OBLIGATE carnivores, dogs are adapatble carnivores - but carnivores nonetheless. they need mostly protein to survive and an *optional* small amount of vegetables. they do not need grains and in fact do much better when not fed any at all. Please do your research next time before submitting such statements. :pawprint:

While a dog could technically survive on a vegetarian diet, they won't thrive on it. I've only heard of one dog that was allergic to every meat protein and went on avoderm vegetarian because of it.

Living on what you force your dog to eat, and thriving on what they should eat is a giant difference. And suggesting to people that dogs should be omnivores is a really crappy piece of advice considering how little grain a dog really needs, and how much meat shoudl comprise the diet.

mafiaprincess... :highfive:

I agree... Every dog is different. If your dog craves veggies, it could be lacking in some sort of veggie-related nutrient, but that doesn't mean meat can or should be cut out entirely.

Wow, onions? thanks for that advice, I had no idea.... not that I make a habit of feeding them to my dog, but I certainly never panic if I drop a slice while I'm making dinner. Good to know.

...
 

I'm glad that chocolate is on this list. Surprisingly enough, some people just don't have a clue.

Has anyone read any novels by British author Jilly Cooper? They're usually horse-related, which is why I love them. Anyway, I am pretty sure that she has dogs of her own, which is strange, because in most of her books, characters often feed their dogs chocolate. I was shocked the first time I read that and had to re-read it again!

I swear sometimes pets should come with an owner's manual!

[QUOTE=glitterless;347608]
I swear sometimes pets should come with an owner's manual![/QUOTE]

To some people a pet parenting course should be manaditory!!! :rolleyes:

I am vegan
 

My husband and I are vegans but we do make that exception for our 2 dogs, cat and fish. It is better for them as far as I am concerned to not be changing there food. My dogs get little bits of veggies and fruit. I don't give them a lot because I am not sure on some fruits because of the acid content in some of them, and they get the runs if they get too much. My cat only eats olives.(only 1/2 of one) she cries and cries for one as soon as we take them out. Our fish get watermelon. Don't worry about the guilt factor about being veggie,(we did try them on a pure veggie dog food once but they wouldn't even touch it.)
Remember that you are doing a great job yourself and you should be proud of that. I had a hard time with it before but I know my dogs get ill when I change their food, so they are on the same stuff since they were pups. My cat won't touch anything but what I've been feeding her since a kitten - not even treats. Good luck in whatever you decide.:)

Trinite that was a really helpful post, i had no clue that rasions were bad

Here's [url=http://lacetoleather.com/fataltodogs.html]another, more comprehensive list[/url] of dangerous foods for dogs, with detailed explanations.

Also, many people are unaware that using cocoa mulch in the garden is dangerous to dogs. They are attracted to the chocolatey smell and taste, and if they eat it, they get poisoned by the theobromine - the same chemical that makes chocolate toxic.

[QUOTE=Trinitie;112038



[B]Tomatoes[/B]: Tomatoes can cause tremors and heart arrhythmias. Tomatoe plants and the most toxic, but tomatoes themselves are also unsafe.
[B]Avocados[/B]: The fruit, pit and plant are all toxic. They can cause difficulty breathing and fluid accumulation in the chest, abdomen and heart
[B]Nutmeg[/B]: Nutmeg can cause tremors, seizures and death
[B]Apples, Cherries, Peaches and similar fruit[/B]: The seeds of these fruits contain cyanide, which is poisonous to dogs as well as humans. Unlike humans, dogs do not know to stop eating at the core/pit and easily ingest them.
[B]Raw eggs[/B]: Raw eggs can cause salmonella poisoning in dogs. Dogs have a shorter digestive tract than humans and are not as likely to suffer from food poisoning, but it is still possible.
[B]Salt[/B]: Excessive salt intake can cause kidney problems.

I hope this helps![/QUOTE]

about the eggs: if there's no salmonela it's fine? I can get biologic eggs it's fine sow??

Raw eggs from a good source are good for a dog -- i eat raw eggs myself too, always have... As long as they are from a good source and are fresh it should be fine