[Shawna]

Christopher E,

I would agree that the amino acids requirements of the canine can be met without meat in the diet however there really shouldn’t be any questions in anyone’s mind that a fresh food diet is worlds healthier than a highly processed diet. We would absolutely laugh at our pediatricians if they told us to only feed our children fortified cereals as their primary diet let alone only diet. I believe it would take a very knowledgeable and dedicated person to create a vegan fresh food diet for canines.

Additionally certain carbohydrates (all grains, legumes and vegetables from the nightshade family) have lectin proteins that, in susceptible people and pets, can cause a wide variety of disease. Potatoes and wheat, as an example, are known to aggravate, or even cause, rheumatoid arthritis. In humans, wheat has been shown to influence a form of kidney disease called IgA nephropathy and recently has been shown in Border Terrier dogs to cause a type of “cramping” syndrome. Prolamins like the gliadin protein in wheat and the zein protein in corn have been shown to cause gut permeability. If the gut is permeated a whole host of diseases can result. In humans the cognitive decline associated with Alzheimer’s disease is being linked to insulin resistance in the brain and high fat ketogenic diets are being looked at and used as treatment.

I’m not suggesting that every dog, or human, will have an issue but it is relatively common and the illnesses that result are often not attributed to the food eaten.

• This reply was modified 10 years ago by Shawna.
• This reply was modified 10 years ago by Shawna.