[Naturella]

Hey, Joe, if you’re even still here. Although I entirely second Melissaandcrew’s statement of fact that dogs are carnivores, I just want to throw my 2 cents in there.

First off, PERSONALLY, I would not feed a dog a vegetarian diet. That being said, I also believe that if something “ain’t broke”, it doesn’t need fixing. So if your dogs are doing fine on a vegetarian diet, then hey, it is what seems to work for them… THAT being said, this may be just temporary. Because I don’t feel that a vegetarian diet is species-appropriate (as Melissaandcrew said, herbivores need to eat plant matter, not meat, and it is the total opposite with carnivores, but the same idea), I would not lie to your vet because should an issue arise, it may well be the diet’s fault. If you were feeding, say, balanced raw meat-based diet and your vet did not approve of that, I would probably choose to respectfully not discuss my dog’s nutrition with the vet. But because I see the diet that you feed as deficient in the main thing dogs need – animal protein source in their diet – I would probably put it out there, and as long as your dogs remain healthy, I would respectfully defend it to the vet as a choice of their diet. But definitely disclose it, because there is a risk of the dogs becoming unhealthy down the way should they continue to eat species-inappropriate food.

And we do not mean to bash anyone – on the contrary – I believe that we all do what we perceive as best for our companions. But we can always learn from each other, and we can all do better. Hope this helps.

• This reply was modified 10 years, 1 month ago by Naturella.