Carnivore, Vegetarian and Vegan Dog Diets

There is a large variety of food and ingredients that can be excluded or included from a vegetarian diet for pets particularly dogs depending on the person's approach of feeding a pet. Most of the time, it generally means that meat such as beef, lamb, poultry, pork, and sometimes fish sources are not included in the diet charts. Foods of animal origin such as egg and dairy products are excluded in some more restricted diets.

The example is a "vegan" diet where all the ingredients of food which include minerals and vitamins are excluded if they are extracted from animals. In spite of this vegan food can be very nutritious if foods are carefully combined in appropriate proportions.

The nutritional requirements for humans are very different from those for dogs. Hence, a vegetarian diet which is suitable for a human's nutrient needs may be completely insufficient where dogs are concerned. Developing such diets for dogs is very difficult but possible. In cooperation with CVM, The Association of American Feed Control Officials (AAFCO) has developed the AAFCO Dog and Cat Food Nutrient Profiles, which specify the known nutritional requirements for these species. When it comes to using only ingredients that would meet the definition of a vegetarian diet (especially a vegan diet), formulating a dog food chart to meet all these requirements is not a simple task in any case.

The protein and calcium needs of the dog and cat are much higher than those for humans. But all these nutrients are provided by animal-derived ingredients most easily. Some plants like soy are very high in protein but the amino acids inside the protein are not balanced as they are for most animal-derived ingredients. Dogs also require a nutrient source of vitamin B12 which is a substance not found in most of the plants. All the animals need this nutrient but the plant eating animals like cow generally make this by their own in their body by the action of some kind of bacteria, this isn't true in the case of dogs.

Feeding such a diet carries an element of risk to the health of the animal so the pet owner must consider the possible consequences of choosing these types of diets and should take care of what his or her own pet wants to eat. Hope this information was informative and thanks for visiting Doggie Herbs Dog Supplies