Vegan/Vegetarian diet for dogs?

My cat's a vegan :) I live in Australia but the brand is 'Veganpet' you can order it online also available for dogs but not sure if they ship to the US. I DO have a random recipe in 'Please Don't Feed the Bears! (A Vegan Cookbook)' for dog biscuits (random, huh!). Here it is...

Dog Biscuits Deluxe

2 cups whole wheat flour

1]2 cup soy flour

1]4 cup cornmeal

1]2 cup sunflower or pumpkin seeds

1-2 cloves garlic minced

1 tbsp nutritional yeast

2 tbsp margarine, melted

1]4 cup unsulfered molasses

1 tsp sea salt

2 eggs worth of egg replacer mixed with 1]4 soy milk

Mix flours, cornmeal, and seeds together. Add the garlic and yeast. Combine the margarine, molasses, salt, and egg replacer; set aside 1 tbsp of this liquid mixture and combine the rest with the dry ingredients. Add more soy milk, if necessary, to make a firm dough. Knead together for a few minutes and let dough rest 30 minutes or more. Roll out into 1]2 inch thick cylinder and cut into crescents, rounds, or sticks and brush with the remainder of the egg replacer mix. Bake at 350F for 30 mins or until lightly toasted.

Also here is a link to the VeganPet product site

http://veganpet.com.au/articles/

It also has information about dietary requirements for dogs. Hope this helps!!

Wrong to force an owner’s dietary choice onto a dog, that has a gut designed to break down and take nutrition from meat and eats vegetation/some fruit because of its opportunist scavenger nature and eating small prey whole. Dogs should have what they need to promote long term good health and that is not a vegetarian diet.

My black lab is 14 and his diet consist of a cup of oat meal, green beans, and tuna. He also eats apples and some dog treats through out the day.

I know this isn't vegetarian but I wanted to point out that dogs can live long healthy lives with meat in their diets too. It's good for their muscles when they get older because they need the protein.

Most dog food is very low quality. Its basically the by-product of stripping carcass mixed with low quality grain and/or vegatables. So switching to a high quality vegan dog food can be significantly better for your dog. The key is to get one with the right balance of ingredients.

Natural Balance is not a vegetarian company, so they still profit from killing animals. The rest of their range has meat and fish in it.

Personally I would buy AmiDog. I used this food for my cat (AmiCat) and it was the best food I could find. I bought big bags in bulk and it worked out about 50 cents a day. She was extremely healthy and all the local cats used to try to steal it because it tasted so nice.

just remember they need wet food, not just dry biscuits. I know for cats they need about 80% of their moisture from food, and it's pretty high for dogs too, but I don't think it's that much, but wet food is important, not just kibble/biscuits and dog treats.

You could look up how to make food yourself. Like meals with brown rice (definitely cooked) and vegetables or various kinds but you'd need to look up what dogs can't eat. Some food you'd think would be healthy is on the list. But yes, it's fine. The top causes of allergies in dogs are actually livestock animals and dogs on vegetarian diets tend to do really, really well and have fewer skin disorders and odors etc.

I can't answer your question. I just want to commend you for asking. And for putting your puppies health first and foremost.

I really have little knowledge on this ( and i don't have a dog) but I was under the impression that most dog food has very little "real meat" in it, anyway.

Of course it's bad for them, you don't see their ancestors eating a vegatarian diet.

My dogs long lived passed 12 years old on a omnivore diet and they did not develope problems till they died.

Like it or not you are forcing the change because it won't be a natrual choice for the dog. You should not have pets if you are on one hand so called care for animals yet force them to eat an otherwise unatrual diet on the animal.

Give the pet to a decent caring owner if your views/lifestyle conflict with having a pet.

Edit- best diet would be James Wellbeloved or equivalent to the origin you live in so google it.

So you are so intolerant, ignorant and narrow minded you are going to force your beliefs on your pets.

Utterly disgusting you are a utterly disgusting excuse for a human.

God help your dog