I've been talking to people who seem to think they can feed their dogs only vegetables, everything I know says this is wrong but the more I look I keep fonding more who say it. What I know is they have short intestines, high acid no enzyme digestives so they need some meat. Any thoughts guys?

I have done a lot of research on this as of now in my own quest for a similar thread.

"A nurse shark at the Birmingham National Sea Life Center in England appears to have become the world's first vegetarian shark after developing a palate for heads of lettuce and other veggies, TreeHugger reports." (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/05/17/florence-shark-vegetarian-photos_n_1524623.html)

there's a lot of documentation on the Lion called little Tyke. She reportedly lived off coocked grain and eggs! She lived a full happy life with her american owners

"'Little Tyke: The True Story of a Gentle Vegetarian Lioness', Georges Westbeau, 1986, Theosphical Publishing house.

ISBN 0-83560-605-8. The title pretty much describes the book. It is a rather remarkable (And hard to believe) story, but cats are cats.... 115 pages, B/W photographs. May be hard to find. "
(http://www.lionlamb.us/lion/lionbook.html)

"you(humans) will die without plant foods as the brain cannot survive without carbohydrates. There are no carbohydrates in meats so your brain will become damaged very quickly (within two weeks) and death will follow sometime later (nobody knows for sure how long until death). "
(http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20110109091735AABczTz)

I am still looking if a dog or a cat can live their lives on vegetables only but my conclusion thus far is it's a lot more possible for them to make the switch than us the other way

Domesticated dogs are omnivores.. And unlike cats, who are a true carnivore, dogs can survive off a vegetable diet.

however; there is no point to subject our animals to our own beliefs of vegetarianism. Animals eat animals.. that's just the cold, hard truth.

I also wouldn't base your decision on a freak of nature of a lioness eating vegetables and surviving.. Cats eat meat.. they need the protein values that are in the meat to survive.. So all we know, this lioness who ate just vegetables was probably supplemented a lot of proteins. And since this story was written in 1986, that lioness probably didn't live its full, long life.. Medicine and research has advanced a lot since 1986, tamed big cats probably live longer due to the extensive medical care they are receiving..

The dog is a descendent of the wolf. Note that, for the most part, preyed upon animals,rabbits,mice etc are vegetarians, always eating, while the fox, wolf etc. eat them and are mostly carnivores. Do not make your dog a vegetarian .

Be careful about mixing vegetarian with partly vegetarian, like the lion living on grains and EGGS, which are not vegetables. Back in the 60s I had a neighbor with a German Shepard who supposedly got nothing but cottage cheese, also not a vegetable. I see no reason either to subject carnivores to veggies only or to even practice on pets.
This is not to say I don't give my dog a portion of my fresh green veggies several times a week. My cat isn't interested. And she's responsible for all the mouse, chipmunk, and bird carcasses out in the yard every day. (Yes of course I wish she would discriminate.)

It would have to be a very intense diet with many different sources of protein and vitamins. Yes dogs can survive with out meat, but they wouldn't in the wild. They would search for dead animals or even feces of other animals with meat sources in it. I wouldn't risk the idea just to support a vegetarian belief. Dogs prefer to eat meat and really should have it in their diets to support a healthy balance.

They can technically - I've seen a few dogs with severe food allergies that only maintain on diets where the protein source is not meat.
In fact, Royal Canin JUST introduced a new diet in Canada called Anallergenic - the protein source is.. guess this. FEATHER PROTEIN (can you call that meat?). Crazy huh? Apparently the diet has been in production for the past 10 years and has a near 100% success rate with dogs with food allergies. Crazy concept, but very interesting..

Sounds comparable to hotdogs lol Hoofs and tails... Belk.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Aurora_Bell

Sounds comparable to hotdogs lol Hoofs and tails... Belk.

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Ohh I know... but some people are desperate to try anything when nothing else has worked...

That food is balanced though and is designed for animals that literally cannot eat meat.

Yes dogs can survive without meat, but what's the point? So te "tree hugger" can feel better about her carnivorous cat or dog that is not eating another animal?

Unless there is a medical reason, animals don't need to be on a strict veggie diet..

That's just my thoughts..