 Peculiarities of vegetarian dog food
Added: 02/14/2006 |
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If you are already vegetarian you probably know about vegetarian foods consumed by humans. With a little sense human meals can be easily adapted to satisfy the animal. If your dog is vegetarian it should be given plenty of various vegetarian dog food and deficiencies will be unlikely. First, it's necessary to find out what your vegetarian dog likes. The smell and taste of the meals are especially important.
Some people believe that dogs belong to the last of carnivores; that's why they need to eat meat. However, the true facts about dogs' diet ambiguous. According to the recent scientific studies of dog food there exists the so-called "all meat disease syndrome," which means that animals (not only dogs) fed meat without any minerals and vitamins supplements develop general poor condition with soft bones and sometimes even die. The mentioned condition has been attributed to the lack of calcium, iodine and vitamins (particularly, A and B1).
Speaking about vegetarian dog food it's very useful to keep in mind that dogs prefer yeast products. In case these products are combined with flavoring supplements such as Barmene or Marmite, they become more attractive to dogs and provide them with extra vitamins and minerals. It's surprising that many dogs are fond of honey as flavoring (for examples, in cereals). That's good, but on the other hand it is very important to make sure that your dog receives all the important sources of protein, oils, fats, carbohydrates, vitamins and minerals.
It is a common knowledge that all dogs have shorter digestive tract than humans that's why they may not cope with some vegetarian dog food. But they really need a certain share of roughage including bran, vegetables, cereals, raw fruit and whole grain. It's important to know that boiling fibrous vegetables for about fifteen minutes always breaks down the fibers and, therefore, reduces the value of roughage and makes them more digestible for dogs. But too much cooking may destroy some essential vitamins (particularly, thiamine). Some chopped and grated vegetables are also rather useful components of the vegetarian dog food.
Speaking about potatoes as vegan dog food, it is worthy admitting that it can cause some digestive upsets in dogs. Such unpleasant dog conditions as obesity, digestive upsets, diabetes and bad teeth can be provoked by over-consumption of sugar or various sugary foods.
The owners of vegetarian dogs indicate that their dogs generally do well if they have two meals a day. However, such feeding regime is considered to be general and is adjusted to suit every animal. The mentioned two meals a day include a smallish breakfast and the evening meal (or main afternoon meal). Three or four smaller meals can include toy breeds. Such vegetarian dog food as muesli, porridge in milk or shredded wheat can be excellent decision for your dog's breakfast. They can be flavored with dried powdered yeast or honey (in case your dog likes that). In the afternoon the dog owner can make a selection from a variety of vegetarian dog food: cottage or grated cheese, nutmeat (either home-made or tinned), eggs, cooked lentils, textured soy protein, baked beans, etc.
It's worthy admitting that any vegetarian dog food may be combined with various supplements containing necessary vitamins and minerals for maintaining your pet's good heath condition. At the same time, dog food can be diversified with cooked vegetables such as cauliflower, carrot, grated or raw chopped fruit, wholemeal bread, brown rice and others.
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