One of the many considerations to keep in mind when you acquire and care for a dog is which type of dog food to provide him: dry or canned dog food? There are a huge number of different formulations of food that are designed to help dogs in a wide variety of different situations. These foods may be specialized according to age, health condition and many other categories as well.
One of the less commonly seen varieties of canned dog food is vegetarian dog food. While cats are carnivorous animals and require some of the proteins and other nutrients in meats in order to survive, dogs are omnivores, like humans. This means that, with the proper attention to diet and nutrition, your pet can enjoy a vegetarian diet and still be healthy and happy.
Requirements of a Vegetarian Canned Dog Food
Many of the nutrients that your pet receives through his food are found in non-meat sources anyway. Most canned dog foods contain a number of different vegetable products and grains in order to provide your pet with the necessary fiber and other nutrients that he needs and which cannot be found in meat products. Therefore, a good vegetarian dog food will contain the many different nutrients that are found in plants and which are already found in most dog foods. The vegetarian canned food will thus need to substitute in a different source of the nutrients that are found in meat.
The primary nutrient in meat that your pet receives is protein. There are a number of non-meat sources that can also provide the proteins that your pet needs. These include soy products, beans and more. Rapeseed protein and canola based proteins are among the most common plant-based protein sources found in vegetarian types of dog food.
Transitioning to a Vegetarian Dog Food
If your pet is used to eating a standard meat dog food, you may have a hard time transitioning to a new type of food unless you go about it the right way. You'll need to be very careful to transition your pet slowly from one type of food to the other. This will not only ease his change in diet for his appetite, but it will also make digesting easier on his body.
Begin by adding in a small portion of the new vegetarian food in with a meal that is mostly his old food. Continue this for a week or so. Next, up the level of vegetarian food and lower the level of standard food. Continue doing this for several weeks until your pet is comfortable eating entirely vegetarian food.
For additional recommendations of vegetarian canned food options that will suit your pet as well as possible and which will not provide him with any health risks, consult with your veterinarian. Most pet foods stores and organic groceries contain vegetarian canned food for dogs too.