ugh! No! Have you ever seen a dog wander into a corn field and start munching? Just like we have evolved and eat foods we shouldn't, dogs have too. Dogs are meant to eat meat, not veggies and certainly not commercial dog food.

Just like when I see shopping carts filled with nasty processed foods, it pains me to see people following the herd and feeding their dogs what they've been brainwashed into by slick advertising. Making homemade meals for your dog is certainly a step up (even if it includes veggies) but it is not optimum

A typical meal for my dogs,....

All the neighborhood dogs are jealous ;-) They have NEVER been in better health - no doggie smell, less poo, bright shiny teeth. the 4th bowl is cut up because our 15 yr old Australian Shepherd doesnt care to work through the bones as much anymore.

Dogs and humans eating what they should,..it's a beautiful thing!

I think my brain just melted.

When is the last time you saw a nature documentary with a bunch of wolves or wild dogs eating salad? They hunt, they kill, they eat everything from the animal.

If you want your dog to be sickly and depressed the rest of his/her short life, then a vegan diet it is. But happy dogs are meat eating dogs.

Put some meat down and put some veggies down. Let the dog choose :)

I know a vegan who feeds her dog a vegan diet. Seems like a clear case of animal cruelty to me. Incidentally, the little dog stinks much worse than any other dog I've encountered. I can only imagine the sorts of maladies it must endure.

Troll post is troll.

Sure, go for it. If you don't mind your dog eating your shoes, dirty jeans and underwear, digging through the neighbors trash, eating the neighbors cat, losing it's hair and developing a serious attitude problem. But hey, you're just making an obligate omnivore/carnivore go vegan because you love animals, right?

Anyone who feeds a dog or cat a vegan diet is guilty of animal abuse. Give a dog the choice of a meaty bone and a carrot and see what happens.

Dogs are opportunistic carnivores. They will eat veggies and fruit in the wild when prey is unattainable or just fast until they find something better, even mice. For dogs, a raw diet comprised of 80% meat, 10% bone, 10% offal is optimal. Occasionally, for variety you could offer some fruits or veggies, but not in lieu of their raw meat/bone/offal centered meals.

Cats are even bigger carnivores. They will stalk and hunt until they kill something.

In the US, most veterinarians have been brainwashed by the kibble companies into believing their overprocessed "balanced" pellets are just what pets need. The dog food companies are usually large sponsors of vet schools and have a lot of influence over what is taught.

Animals need a species appropriate diet, whether cat, dog, or ferret.

My dog loved veggies and fruit - and meat. We fed him grated carrots, lettuce, celery, sweet potatoes, potatoes, peas etc. he loved apples, strawberries and watermelon - but hated raspberries. We were told by our veterinarian to add in fresh fruit and veggies and his health dramatically improved, his coat was shinier and his breath was better, we then started to stop feeding him the dog-food and made his food ourselves (which was actually really easy) liver, kidney, heart and canned mackerel.

I think every dog would be different, but why not try fruits and veggies. Be careful - there are some that are dangerous for dogs (I can't quite remember off the top of my head - but a google search will let you know)

My dogs will eat fruits and vegies, but a vegan diet? Ludicrous!

Soon after going Paleo I realized that gee, my cat has the same problems I had--he was overweight, kind of lethargic, and not the lean, mean shiny hunting beasty he was when he was young. So I resolved to try and make the cat go paleo too. I mean these are critters designed to basically eat meat, meat and more meat. And that's it. I go to the local big box petstore and try to find anything resembling a natural cat diet. Rows upon rows of dry cat kibble with picture of corn and wheat on the packaging! Then food promoting various anti-oxidants: cat food with blueberries or cranberries, flaxseed, carrots, peas, various other veggies. And good luck finding wet cat food that doesn't have wheat gluten as one of the first 4 or 5 ingredients. So, like us, our pets becoming a dumping ground for the by-products of big agra. Yep, cats and dogs fattened up and metabolically disordered by eating food made of corn, wheat and soy.

"Dogs have evolved to a degree..."

*facepalm*

Serendipity! I read this question yesterday and it started me thinking - I have two lurchers who pinch our food regularly but keep leaving their commercial grain-filled kibble. I know it's not good for them but wasn't sure where to start to change. Then I popped in to the local library for something else and spotted this book - Natural Nutrition for Dogs and Cats by Kymythy Schultze. Natural nutrition apparently means a species-appropriate diet! It even includes a food pyramid with raw meat at the bottom then raw bones then raw vegetables. My only question now - as a non-American - is how much raw meat is 1 cup? I'm assuming it's about half a pound. I was slightly astounded that nowhere in the book does anyone mention following this logic with humans. Oh well.