Coming from Texas A&M University, this article from the Veterinary Department, “Should Your Pet Be A Vegetarian?” kind of surprised me. It came out in their newsletter, and the article discussed planning a well-balanced vegetarian diet for pets. Why? What is this world coming to anyway? Since when do pets have to stand for a cause? Why can’t they just be our beloved companions? Here is an excerpt from the article…
There are so many human vegetarians that some of you may have wondered if your beloved four-legged friend is able to share the same passion and cause as you. If you have ever been interested in having your pet become a vegetarian it should be helpful to know the certain nutritional needs that your pet has, in order to make the right decision regarding vegetarianism. There is no scientific basis on the idea that a specific breed of cat or dog would fare better as a vegetarian, it is simply an issue between the species. In the Canine world, being a vegetarian has no negative effect on their nutritional needs.
“Dogs are opportunistic carnivores” said Dr. John Bauer, M.L. Professor of Clinical Nutrition at the Texas A&M College of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences, “which means they will eat meat when they have the chance or when no other type of food is available. For wild dogs, prey is not guaranteed, so especially in the colder seasons dogs will eat more plants and vegetables as meat is difficult to find. As for pet dogs, they can easily be converted to vegetarians, and if done properly, it is just as healthy as an omnivorous diet is for a dog.”
Dogs have the same types of protein balances in their bodies that humans have, therefore making it easy and safe for them to convert back and forth from a vegetarian diet to one of an omnivore.
“One problem with having your dog become a vegetarian” said Dr. Bauer “is that it is easier to feed him meat and vegetable based diets, without having to worry about protein types. There are commercial plant and vegetable based diets around for dogs, which seem to work well for the animal’s health and overall well-being.”