Among the different options that we have at our disposal to properly feed our dog, we can choose whether or not to include meat products in their diet using what is known as vegan food.
Vegetarian dog food consists of the preparation of the feed by the manufacturer, without using any product of animal origin. Making a totally vegetarian formulation. But … is it healthy for our dog?
Index of contents
- 1 Is vegan dog food healthy?
- 2 What benefits does vegan dog food offer?
- 3 Animal or vegetable protein?
- 4 Risks of vegetarian dog food
Is vegan dog food healthy?
To answer this question we must first study our dog’s digestive system, which is fully developed to eat and digest meat products, not vegetables.
The dog’s jaw is designed to eat meat, its sharp teeth and butcher grinding wheels are fully designed for scraping, cutting and chewing meat. Her stomach and intestines are also prepared to eat meat, having a hard time digesting plant products.
So obviously, a dog is neither prepared nor adapted to be fed solely and exclusively with vegetable products. While it is true that you can tolerate and assimilate certain vegetables in small amounts, most of your diet should be meat.
So the answer is no, a dog cannot have a healthy and balanced life if it is exclusively fed with vegan feed. We must understand and accept that your body is not ready for it.
What benefits does vegan dog food offer?
In reality, vegetarian food does not provide any benefit to the dog, quite the opposite. Feeding a dog exclusively with vegetables is condemning it to suffer from nutritional imbalances and health problems.
Humans are omnivores, which means that our body can assimilate practically any food, be it animal or vegetable. So we can choose to eat everything, meat or vegetables.
It is totally respectable to choose the option of eating only vegetables, but it is not to force a carnivorous animal like the dog to be a vegetarian only because of the beliefs of the person who feeds it.
Do not make the mistake of trying to make your dog vegetarian, because he is carnivorous and needs to feed on animal protein to be in good health and meet his nutritional needs.
Animal or vegetable protein?
Unlike plant proteins, animal proteins contain all the necessary essential amino acids, so they become proteins of high biological value.
Any carnivorous animal needs to include between sixty and seventy percent of high-quality, animal-derived protein in its diet. So feeding a dog exclusively with vegetable protein is a big mistake.
Vegetable proteins are good for humans because we can digest and assimilate them, keeping a balanced diet we can do without meat products, but this is not the case for dogs. They need meat proteins in their diet.
You will be interested in knowing healthy fruits for dogs: Fruits for dogs
Risks of vegetarian dog food
Vegan dog food is entirely made with vegetable products, among which cereals are used and very often. Using cereals in the formulation of a dog food is not a bad thing, but always in small amounts (very small).
The vegan feed is made up mostly of cereals, which means an incredible excess of carbohydrates. The use of legumes is also excessive, from soybeans to lentils or chickpeas … which produce many digestive problems when used excessively.
A dog fed with vegan feed will not only have a more delicate and precarious health, but will also be much more likely to be overweight. Mainly due to excess carbohydrates.
Reflect and assess for a moment whether it is worth applying vegetarian life to a dog, which is one hundred percent carnivore. It doesn’t make any sense, don’t do that to him because inadvertently you’re torturing him.