It is not uncommon for a dedicated vegetarian dog owner to desire that his dog follow his diet. Based on religious or moral values, there are some dog owners who would insist that their dogs be feed a vegetarian food only. While I’m not against vegetarian diet for humans, since it is proven to a certain extent that we humans can survive on a vegetarian diet. Nevertheless, it is still debatable if dog owners should make their dogs go vegan, since studies shown that it might not be healthy for dogs to a very large extent.
Our dogs are closely affiliated genetically to their ancestors, wolves, and they are one of the few true carnivores that exist in the animal planet. Meat makes up a significant portion of their diet and is a hugely important element that is not advisable to be left out totally. Proteins offer by meat are usually too difficult to replace with vegetables and fruits.
While some claims have been made for dogs being able to thrive on diets that consist primarily of tofu that provide plenty of vegetable matter protein. That protein is not high quality enough to be metabolized by your dog. In fact, fresh fruits and vegetables snacks are often recommended for dogs that must lose weight only because these vegetable base snacks add very few calories to your dog’s system.
Some humans feel that feeding a meat based diet to your dog is wrong simply because we like to have control of our environment around us, in fact, we impose our wills upon our dogs who really have no choice, since you are the one who bring home the food. Given a choice, a dog would surely choose to eat meat rather than vegetables.
It is important to remember that even if you feel that eating meat is “immoral,” your dog has no morality; he is an amoral creature who lives his life based on his desires, not on right or wrong. He eats meat because he needs to eat and it tastes good, not because he believes he has a right to do so or not.
To conclude, if you still choose to feed your dog a vegetarian diet, there are several soy-based diets on the market now. It is recommended that you purchase one of these diets and follow the serving suggestions made by the company strictly. It is also strongly recommended that a veterinarian be consulted before shifting him to a vegetarian diet. Your dog should also make frequent, regular visits to the veterinarian until you are certain that he has adjusted to the new diet.
