# Vegan dog food?!?!? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 30, 2019, 6:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vegan-dog-food/836286 "2019-06-30T06:06:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2019, 6:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vegan-dog-food/836286/1 "2019-06-30T06:06:24Z")
I saw an ad for this earlier today. I’ve heard of people feeding their pets a “cruelty free” homemade diet, but no, this was packaged by a major manufacturer! Has anyone else heard of such a thing? Cats are definitely obligate carnivores; aren’t dogs as well? ---
**Author:** ![mikecurtis](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mikecurtis/32/3284_2.png) [@mikecurtis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mikecurtis)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2019, 7:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vegan-dog-food/836286/2 "2019-06-30T07:13:44Z")
Dogs are omnivores. . [.but](https://www.rover.com/blog/is-a-vegan-diet-right-for-your-dog/) > [@](#): > > Dogs can live on a vegan diet, but that doesn’t necessarily mean they should. In an interview with WebMD, Dr. Cailin Heinze, VMD, a board-certified veterinary nutritionist and assistant professor of nutrition at Tufts Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine, puts it this way: > > ``` > “For dogs, certainly vegetarian and vegan diets can be done, but they need to be done very, very carefully. There is a lot of room for error, and these diets probably are not as appropriate as diets that contain at least some animal protein.” > > ``` ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2019, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vegan-dog-food/836286/3 "2019-06-30T14:50:46Z")
Don’t kniw about the vegan foods, but [you might want to avoid grain-free](https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/29/us/dog-food-heart-disease-fda.html). ---
**Author:** ![DinoR](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dinor/32/2821_2.png) [@DinoR](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DinoR)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2019, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vegan-dog-food/836286/4 "2019-06-30T18:36:53Z")
> [@nearwildheaven](#): > > Cats are definitely obligate carnivores Oh there’s people that feed their cats a [vegan diet](https://plenteousveg.com/vegan-cat-food/) too. It’s made difficult by their being unable to synthesize a lot of the nutrients they get from meat from other sources. It’s doable-ish thanks to chemistry and supplementation. Some use free range chicken as a not vegan but at least less cruel option to get the nutrients they need. This is the first major brand I’ve seen for either cats or dogs. Vegan diets for them is not a new thing, though. ---
**Author:** ![MacTech](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c0e974/32.png) [@MacTech](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MacTech)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2019, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vegan-dog-food/836286/5 "2019-06-30T19:52:13Z")
[We taught a lion to eat tofu!](https://youtu.be/6sM8pDH-HMc) Militant vegans/vegetarians are morons, dogs and cats are obligate carnivores and derive most of their nutrition from animal flesh. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2019, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vegan-dog-food/836286/6 "2019-06-30T20:46:31Z")
Dogs’ dietary needs are similar to humans’, so you could probably feed one on the same diet you’d feed a human vegan (though you would probably want to increase the protein). For cats, you _could_, in principle, come up with a vegan diet that met all of a cat’s needs, but you’d have to develop it from scratch, since there are a lot of nutrients that humans can synthesize, but cats need to get from their diet (and vice-versa, nutrients that humans need but cats don’t). And there’s no guarantee that either the dog or the cat would enjoy the diet you came up with for either of them, nor any guarantee that they wouldn’t find ways (probably non-vegan) to supplement it on their own. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2019, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vegan-dog-food/836286/7 "2019-06-30T20:47:06Z")
Dogs’ dietary needs are similar to humans’, so you could probably feed one on the same diet you’d feed a human vegan (though you would probably want to increase the protein). For cats, you _could_, in principle, come up with a vegan diet that met all of a cat’s needs, but you’d have to develop it from scratch, since there are a lot of nutrients that humans can synthesize, but cats need to get from their diet (and vice-versa, nutrients that humans need but cats don’t). And there’s no guarantee that either the dog or the cat would enjoy the diet you came up with for either of them, nor any guarantee that they wouldn’t find ways (probably non-vegan) to supplement it on their own. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2019, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vegan-dog-food/836286/8 "2019-07-01T00:49:36Z")
> [@nearwildheaven](#): > > I’ve heard of people feeding their pets a “cruelty free” homemade diet… It’s amazing how these same people are “cruel” to their own pets, by feeding them an inappropriate diet. ---
**Author:** ![Two\_Many\_Cats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8dc957/32.png) [@Two\_Many\_Cats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Two_Many_Cats)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2019, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vegan-dog-food/836286/9 "2019-07-01T01:13:44Z")
Please do not feed your cat a vegan diet. They aren’t built for it, and it is not natural for them. Felines of all sizes kill creatures to eat them. Accept that, or do not own a cat. Period. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2019, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vegan-dog-food/836286/10 "2019-07-01T01:16:57Z")
I disagree–feed your cats as many vegans as you can catch. (Check with your local game warden for quotas.) ---
**Author:** ![MacTech](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c0e974/32.png) [@MacTech](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MacTech)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2019, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vegan-dog-food/836286/11 "2019-07-01T01:54:14Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > I disagree–feed your cats as many vegans as you can catch. (Check with your local game warden for quotas.) Just make sure they’re grass fed, hormone free, and free range “Humanely” raised is optional 😉 ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2019, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vegan-dog-food/836286/12 "2019-07-01T02:04:58Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > And there’s no guarantee that either the dog or the cat would enjoy the diet you came up with for either of them, nor any guarantee that they wouldn’t find ways (probably non-vegan) to supplement it on their own. A happy, well-fed cat that enjoys her diet will play with the mouse/bird/etc for a while rather than make it quick… ---
**Author:** ![TRC4941](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trc4941/32/6792_2.png) [@TRC4941](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TRC4941)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2019, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vegan-dog-food/836286/13 "2019-07-01T14:44:05Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > Don’t kniw about the vegan foods, but [you might want to avoid grain-free](https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/29/us/dog-food-heart-disease-fda.html). I just came across this article last week. I was glad to see it. In the last 15 years or so, people were going cuckoo over grain vs grain-free dog food. You were deemed an unfit pet owner if you fed your dog the “wrong” dog food. I was always skeptical about it. Way back when it all started I read an article written by a scientist of some sort that said something along the lines of - the wolves that evolved into the domestic dog were the wolves that hung around human settlements eating whatever scraps of leftover food they could find. Much of that food was plant-based. Dogs have been eating plant-based food along with meat from the beginning. And yes, I know, there are some dogs that do have allergies and must eat a certain type of dog food. ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2019, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vegan-dog-food/836286/14 "2019-07-01T16:38:41Z")
> [@DPRK](#): > > A happy, well-fed cat that enjoys her diet will play with the mouse/bird/etc for a while rather than make it quick… Such is the nature of cats. That’s called Nature. There’s nothing inherently wrong with it. ---
**Author:** ![jz78817](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jz78817/32/1028_2.png) [@jz78817](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jz78817)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2019, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vegan-dog-food/836286/15 "2019-07-01T17:09:49Z")
> [@MacTech](#): > > [We taught a lion to eat tofu!](https://youtu.be/6sM8pDH-HMc) > Militant vegans/vegetarians are morons, dogs and cats are obligate carnivores and derive most of their nutrition from animal flesh. IIRC dogs aren’t _obligate_ carnivores, the way cats are; and can subsist on a wider range of foods. Also IIRC cats get plenty of nutrients from plant matter, they just rely on their prey to partially digest it for them (eew.) at any rate, being vegan and owning a pet which is an obligate carnivore seems rather dissonant… maybe just don’t have a cat? there’s all sorts of tame, fluffy critters which are herbivores. Guinea pigs can be quite amusing.