DIVE DRY WITH DR. BILL #899: KEEPING THE KIDS CLOSE BY

[WeRtheOcean]

I got my dog after I went vegetarian, and the funny thing is, even though I fed him only premium dog food, he still subscribed to the universal doggy belief that my food was more exciting than his!

 

[MikeInDorset]

Vegan here. We feed our dog the right dry food for her constitution, which contains some percentage of animal. We can thrive on a vegan diet. She would not.

 

[davehicks]

As I understand these things, unless your pet is a plant then it's not vegan.

Sorry!

 

[tep]

Felines are "obligate carnivores", in that they must eat meat. They are unable to synthesize certain amino acids and proteins and must therefore get them from meat.

Dogs are not obligate, but what some call "scavenger carnivores". As we all know, they will eat just about anything. They CAN survive, but not thrive, on a meatless diet. They will be missing certain trace nutrients from a vegetarian diet and develop one of several deficiency illnesses.

Our vet (and the local groomer) have had to specifically watch for malnourished cats and dogs based on inappropriate vegetarian diets. It's been becoming an increasing problem as more people "go veg" (which can certainly be good for humans), and want their pets to do the same (a very bad idea). A few years ago they saw maybe one case a year, now they are seeing 3 cases a month where a pet is seriously malnourished due to a vegetarian diet.

 

[annasea]

I know of a former diver who went vegan after being vegetarian for many years, apparently. His cat died at approx. 15 and spent her last few years on a vegan diet created by a vet. Both the dry and canned versions from this vet's line contained enough nutrients/supplements to compensate for the lack of meat--apparently. She died from kidney failure, IIRC, which is not at all uncommon in cats, and extreme stress as evidenced by her back leg that she'd gnawed down well past the fur in one spot. I have no doubt that she was miserable eating that slop... day after day after day... He's got a dog now who is on the same regimen, but he doesn't touch my heart so no need to comment on him.

I loved that kitty and wished I'd known more about cats at that time, as I would've asked for her to come live with me--and would've transitioned her back to the correct diet consisting of primarily raw food. Fortunately, I live in a progressive province that has a whole whack of raw food companies, so no lack of variety, as my current feline companion could attest to.

"I sincerely wonder if any of the vegans or vegetarians who read my columns feed their dogs or cats a vegan or vegetarian diet. I understand that those of you who have bunny rabbits most likely do. If so, how do you justify letting your fine furry friend eat what you won't?"

I think the question should be more along the lines of...

How do you justify imposing your lifestyle choices on a living creature that would reject them otherwise?

 

[agilis]

I know of a former diver who went vegan after being vegetarian for many years, apparently. His cat died at approx. 15 and spent her last few years on a vegan diet created by a vet. Both the dry and canned versions from this vet's line contained enough nutrients/supplements to compensate for the lack of meat--apparently. She died from kidney failure, IIRC, which is not at all uncommon in cats, and extreme stress as evidenced by her back leg that she'd gnawed down well past the fur in one spot. I have no doubt that she was miserable eating that slop... day after day after day... He's got a dog now who is on the same regimen, but he doesn't touch my heart so no need to comment on him.

I loved that kitty and wished I'd known more about cats at that time, as I would've asked for her to come live with me--and would've transitioned her back to the correct diet consisting of primarily raw food. Fortunately, I live in a progressive province that has a whole whack of raw food companies, so no lack of variety, as my current feline companion could attest to.

"I sincerely wonder if any of the vegans or vegetarians who read my columns feed their dogs or cats a vegan or vegetarian diet. I understand that those of you who have bunny rabbits most likely do. If so, how do you justify letting your fine furry friend eat what you won't?"

I think the question should be more along the lines of...

How do you justify imposing your lifestyle choices on a living creature that would reject them otherwise?

The idea of forbidding a pet cat, or any other carnivore, from eating meat is incredibly ignorant and unforgivably cruel. People who would stoop to this kind of miserable behavior should be prosecuted for animal cruelty. I have reservations about forcing children to exist on a strict vegan diet. When I was in graduate school I lived for a time in a campus housing community that was a mixture of single students and married students with young children. It was the early 70s, and there was still a kind of 60s ethos that permeated the place. Upstairs from me lived a couple from India, high caste Hindus who were strict vegetarians. They were so extreme that they refused to allow the university to spray their apartment for roaches. Their two little boys had no use for the dietary restrictions that were imposed on them. Romey and Rahool would make daily rounds of the apartments begging for hot dogs, hamburgers, and cold cuts. No one I knew had any hesitations about giving them what they wanted.

 

[JamesBon92007]

One thing I learned about dogs and their diet is that they tend to develop food allergies which may be due to eating the same thing day after day. Dogs, in general, would become allergic or otherwise uncomfortable with, say, chicken so then the dog food manufactures would start selling us lamb instead. Eventually lamb would become a culprit and then they'd say to feed your dog fish or turkey or whatever. One of my dogs could not eat corn--she would get "hot spots" and lay on the floor pulling out her fur. I'm not sure how much of it might be due to the corn being genetically-modified but nevertheless I made sure she didn't get any more corn. At one point she was getting some super-expensive fish and potato dog food. With my most recent dog, I finally became disgusted with the quality of the premium dog foods and cooked her food from scratch using the same ingredients that I ate. It ended up costing less and I knew what she was eating. She lived way beyond her "expiration date" as one vet put it. I fed my dogs meat and grains and some vegetables because they are omnivores. From what I have read in the past humans need certain B vitamins that don't exist in plants so they need to take vitamin supplements in order to be healthy. Well, the supplements are made from animals so that tells me we are omnivores, not vegetarians. My personal diet, it turns out once I learned what "vegan" meant, is almost vegan but with some meat and fish but that's due to an intolerance of such things as dairy from cows and high cholesterol which means I don't eat very many eggs. So naturally I ended up with a Vitamin D insufficiency because much of our Vitamin D is added to dairy products and eggs. And, of course, when I had my bone density scan it turns out that I am deficient in calcium. My doctor told me to start taking calcium supplements and three weeks later I passed a huge kidney stone. I'm supposed to eat foods high in fiber due to my cholesterol problem but now they're telling me I might have some other condition and need to stop eating fiber and crustaceans. One of the main reasons I take trips to Puerto Vallarta is for the shrimp! I suppose my conclusion might be that no matter what, something you eat is probably going to be bad for you, at least when you are getting on in years. Personally I wouldn't deprive a child or a dog meat while I still believe it to be necessary for good nutrition but I suppose that belief could change. If an adult wants to risk being deficient in somethingorother because they don't like the idea of eating meat then that's just fine since it looks like, sooner, or later, we may all end up deficient in something anyway.

 

[JVos]

Cats and dogs are created as carnivores. Both have a short Large intestine. Humans are created as herbivores having a long Large intestine.

 

[drbill]

Cats and dogs are created as carnivores. Both have a short Large intestine. Humans are created as herbivores having a long Large intestine.

Well after four surgeries, mine is not long any more!

 

[pauldw]

Cats and dogs are created as carnivores. Both have a short Large intestine. Humans are created as herbivores having a long Large intestine.

I have sharp, pointy teeth. They were put there in order for me to rend the flesh of beasts. Which happen to be a lot more tasty than vegetables. Dogs, people, we both need our canines and incisors for a reason.