Vegetarian dog food

[Citygirlrurallife]

Does anyone feed their dog a vegetarian (kibble not home made) diet and have a recommendation for a manufacturer? One that does samples would be great so I can check with my DDog before committing. One that fulfils all needs of vitamins, proteins etc and also supplies toppers if poss?

we’ve tried herbie and wilde and it went down well

I'm not sure 'survival' is any kind of barometer for happiness either.

In nature, wolves, coyotes, foxes, stray dogs etc can eat veg but they want meat. They hunt meat. That's what they want.

I'm sorry but I completely disagree.

The dog I know that has to have a vegetarian diet still wants meat. Her owners wish they could feed it to her because she clearly enjoys it and wants have it.

If you put a dog in a room with a steak and a plate of vegetarian dog food, I bet 99% of them would go for the steak:

Your dog may be healthy enough on a a vegetarian diet but that doesn't mean it's what it would choose if given the choice.

I believe that dogs should eat meat and if you're not willing to facilitate that as the owner then you shouldn't have a dog.

Exactly.

Dogs can survive on all sorts of food, but that doesn't mean they're happy or thriving.

Our vet recommended a couple of different ones to try. She did actually like it but she’s a very good eater. Can your vet not help?

I despair of these people who try to impose their ideologies upon those who don't have a voice
You might as well go into the jungle with some apples and pears for the lions.
See how well that goes

If her dog required a vegetarian diet because of allergies, I would assume she'd have included that in her opening post.

@Citygirlrurallife for goodness sake!! Are you for real? dogs are not and never will be vegetarians! they are carnivorous by nature!!

I don't know of a single dog food brand that gives 'samples'. They run a business ffs. I'd love to see Butternut Box or Bella and Duke give out free samples to every randomer who wanted to 'test if their dog liked it'

But that's beside the point; dogs are carnivores. Give them veg as part of a balanced diet but don't restrict it to just veg. If that's what you want, get a bloody rabbit.

I put MIL dog on a vegetarian diet when I was forced to have it in my house - it was raw fed and we are a vegan family , I told dh the alternative was kennels as mil was unwell and she said nobody could look after it except dh. It was raw fed and apparently HAD to sleep on a bed with people. We got him a crate in the utility and he had a vegetarian diet for the 2 weeks. Was totally fine and actually lost some worthy as he had been awfully overweight so his vet was happy

And I’m not anti dog I was just anti that particular dog (spoilt and snappy and not good around kids hence needing crating )

*lost some weight

Sadly I don't think she is. People are viewing dogs as accessories and substitute children and want them to fit in with their lifestyle

Back in the day our husky x (no longer with us but lived to 17 yrs old) ate v-dog crunchy nuggets. He did also eat house scraps though, some containing meat. (I'm sure these also would not have been mn approved.)
I've known plenty of other dogs fed on v-dog & they all seemed perfectly healthy, but I imagine they also got scraps too (hippy dogs....)

@ImfromVega
Your actions told us you were "anti that particular dog".
You didn't need to post again.

I think there’s a bit of cognitive dissonance for those who think that it’s unnatural to feed a dog a vegetarian diet and dog owners who do so are necessarily “cruel” but think it’s perfectly reasonable to domesticate wild animals and keep them as pets.

Your dog may be healthy enough on a a vegetarian diet but that doesn't mean it's what it would choose if given the choice.

There is a massive difference between this statement and the ones labelling a vegan diet as cruel or saying a vegan dog is not loved.

Those are the comments I take offence at.

Yes, there are cons to a vegan diet. There are cons to every single aspect of pet ownership - it's very nature is all a long list of compromises on the part of the dog.

By all means people should feel free to really dig down into the pros and cons of the diet (though I note no one actually has over and above their own opinions) but I am not standing by while people indirectly label my dog as simply suviving a life of cruelty.

Oh come on, this is a ridiculous comparison. Your average Labrador wouldn't be surviving in the wild! Dogs started becoming domesticated over 20,000 years ago and have entirely evolved to live as pets - we're not imprisoning wild animals.

Feed the dog meat OP.

Dogs haven’t been ‘wild animals’ for a very very long time 🙄

Thanks - we’ve tried Yora but it didn’t go down very well unfortunately. Def up for trying other insect based food though if anyone has recs

Thankyou will check out v-dog

My old dog lived to the ripe old age of 16. I fed her various brands of vegetarian kibble. Before Brexit (I'm on the continent) I ordered Benevo and Yarrah from the UK. When that because unfeasible I switched her to Lukullus, which is an amazing German brand from Zooplus. I don't know if it is available in the UK but I highly recommend it! My new pup is on a fish kibble but I'm hoping to transition her to vegetarian kibble after her second birthday. My best advice is to try a few brands until you find the right fit. But do read the labels carefully - I would steer clear of any kibble that is primarily corn-based. Good luck!

Super helpful - Thankyou

A vegan friend fed her cat a vegan kibble which claimed to meet all the cat’s nutritional needs. Put loads of research into it, not just a whim. The cat nearly died and she changed her mind.

Great, thankyou for the recommendations

Yeah you’re right - I mean it wasn’t the intention but I have at least finished the last of popcorn in the house watching the hilarity ensue