He's not vegan. He typically eats Pet's Promise Daily Health kibble, which is made without any animal by-products. All the information I've read leads me to believe that dogs can lead a healthy life as a vegan since they're natural omnivores (like humans). But honestly, vegan dog food is expensive. Considering that I also have six kitties to feed, packaged vegan dog food isn't really an option. Plus, I get nervous about messing with Datsun's nutrient intake ... even if it is completely safe to feed him a vegan diet.Then, a few weeks ago, I was contacted by the Book Publishing Company (the publisher of many great vegan titles, like The Uncheese Cookbook, Tofu Cookery, the New Farm Vegetarian Cookbook and more). They asked me to review a few of their titles, one of which was The Simple Little Vegan Dog Book by Michelle A. Rivera:
This cute little volume is loaded with information on what dogs can and cannot eat (no to onions and chocolate, yes to brown rice and pumpkin). And it's filled with recipes for creating delicious home-cooked vegan meals, treats, and special occasion cakes for your pooch.I've decided that, rather than switch Datsun to a totally vegan diet, I'll feed him his Pet's Promise kibble in the mornings and a home-cooked vegan meal every evening. The recipes in Rivera's book make large quantities (and I'm even doubling those cause Datsun's a big guy), so you can freeze individual portions for quick weeknight meals.
So far, we've only tried one recipe — Snoopy's Great Pumpkin, Rice, and Beans:
It's simply canned pumpkin blended with red beans and brown rice. Since dogs don't need salt, it has no added seasoning. But I sampled the dish before passing it on to Datsun and it was pretty darn tasty. As you can see, Datsun agreed:
He licked his bowl clean and then begged for more. Even the cats (who are definitely not vegan) were totally jealous. They inspected his bowl after he finished eating, hoping for a crumb or two.I'll be posting dog food dishes that I try from the book pretty regularly. Next on the agenda is a big batch of dog biscuits. Datsun and I will let you know how that goes.
Update: So one of my very observant commenters (thanks Susan!) noticed that my link to the Pet's Promise website pulls up a letter from the company stating that their products will no longer be available after January. Suck! Since I'd like to feed Datsun kibble at least once a day to supplement his vegan meals, anyone got any suggestions on a good natural dog food that doesn't cost a million bucks? And preferably is available at Whole Foods?
37 comments:
You are so freakin' cute! I can't believe you are now making vegan meals for Datsun too! I agree, it does sound tasty! I'll try it out on Drew. Ha!
Aw! You're an amazing dog owner, Bianca! What a lucky pooch! I'd eat that too.
Datsun is adorable! I used to cook for my dog too- and people marveled over her shiny coat. I can't wait to see what you make him next!
That's so sweet of you!! Datsun is lucky to have a mama who will make him vegan dinners :)
And, that definitely sounds like something I'd eat too, haha.
i feel the same way about our dogs - i'm not sure if think dogs are naturally vegan. so instead of feeding them reg. dog food all the time, i add in vegan substitutes like brown rice and pasta. it makes me feel better, and it really makes the store bought dog food last quite a bit longer!
I do the same thing! In the states our dogs were vegan but here there is no vegan dog food to be found. Even high quality dog food can be hard to find, so when we get it we stock up. BUT, I supplement their meals with tons of vegan goodies like green beans, carrots, lentils, pumpkin, sweet potatoes, and they love it!
wow! That dog is tearing that food up! Excellent.
What a cutie!! I forgot that you have so many furry loves! You should feature them more often :)
Awwww, Datsun! He's so adorable :)
Wow! This is so up my alley. I've made my dog brown rice and veggies a few times. I need to check that book out!
I've been feeding my cats vegetarian(I put eggs in their food, because they have a proven need for cholesterol intake) And I give them a daily oil supplement that does have fish oil (only from the skeletons of organic wild caught fish). That's the only animal products they get and they are thriving have the most shiny coats and are the most energetic cats out there. But I don spend a bit of time making food for them very month and freezing into daily portions. But despite what people say, cats do not need meat either. Just a good nutritional supplement.
I think I have found Datsun's long lost sister, my mothers dog looks like a female version of him... Down to everything.
http://whatyourmommadidntknow.blogspot.com/
I suggest adding a vitamin/mineral supplement if you do homemade meals. I use VegeDog supplements and add oils which I rotate. While I find real food preferable to bagged, if you do homemade, you need to get it balanced, which is often hard to do.
www.harbingersofanewage.com for the Vegedog supplements.
ahhaha. Thats so awesome. Your pup is super cute. Im glad he liked his dinner! It sounded pretty good! ;)
did you see that the commercial dog food will no longer be availabe next year?...maybe the book came at the right time (your link goes to their homepage saying they are done)
He's beautiful!! I've been making my (four rescue) dogs homemade biscuits for several months now. I use whole wheat flour, oats, molasses and vegetable broth. They much prefer them over the store bought kind.
our dogs have been vegan for 9 years. dogs are omnivores so they can eat vegan and be fine. the longest living dog is vegan!
good luck with the vegan foodies for your dog. we used to make our own food because vegan kibble became more widely available. the only issues we had was that the brown rice was sometimes hard to digest. i suggest food processing it a bit.
That's so cool, I'd love to check this out and make treats for Nico. My animals aren't vegan either, but the dog does have vegetarian dog food.
He is SO CUTE!
Awwww, your doggie is so cute! He's so lucky to have you making him yummy vegan food.
Just curious, what kind of dog is Datsun?
OMG, I want this book! I have to make homemade food for my pup, Mabel (she has no teeth, and is allergic to all canned dog food) - and she is veeeeeery picky, so I cook meat for her right now. I'm sure you can imagine how much that blows. But I want her to be healthy & get all her nutrients, and like you, I'm worried about messing too much with something I don't know enough about (vegan diets for dogs).
I am buying this! Thanks for the review. Datsun is adorable, too. Love that name.
That is so awesome! I don't have a dog, but I'd like to own one someday, and this sounds like a neat little book to have around.
I am very interested in your experiments!
Datsun is such a handsome doggie! And don't even get me started on how jealous I got when you said you are owned by SIX kitties! Very, very jealous!
My mother in law's dog is very picky about what he eats, and he is totally coo coo for pumpkin! He would probably love that recipe too, I'll have to let her know about this awesome book!
we don’t feed julie vegan dog food either – we tried her on 3 different types and she didn’t do well on any of them. turns out she has an intolerance to wheat, barley, soy, & corn. but i like the idea of the book you’re reviewing. i may have to check that out – so awesome that Datsun loved his pumpkin rice & beans mix – that would be something julie could enjoy, too!
Cute book! I'll have to check it out. My dogs eat Newman's Own Organic kibble, which is not vegan, and is available at Whole Foods. Datsun is a lucky guy that his mom cooks for him!
Thanks for a great post! That looks like my ideal book - my dogs like to sample whatever I'm eating, though I keep them away from chocolate and other things I know aren't good for them. A book designed to their tastes sounds great.
I've been struggling with dog food brands lately too. For about two years, both of them were loving Avoderm's vegetarian food...it was a little pricey, but worked really well for them - until the stores in town stopped carrying it a few months ago. Most veggie dog foods are wildly expensive, which really sucks, since I'm pretty sure they're just gouging consumers who know and care enough to buy specialty foods. Sorry for the rant :)
Good for you on cooking homemade meals for Datsun! He looks like a happy guy.
Cute dog! As far as your requests for kibble suggestions go, I used to feed my dogs "Natural Balance." The brand has a vegetarian formula that is actually vegan. My dogs did well on it, and I remember it being pretty reasonably priced. (not super cheap, but you get what you pay for!) Awhile back, I switched to try out a different brand/formula that was specifically for skin issues (one of my guys has them), but I've been toying with the idea of changing back. I used to buy it at Petco, but I imagine they'd have it at other places as well since NB is a pretty common brand. Good luck! :)
I would suggest Fromms. You can buy it at Hollywood Feed on Union.
http://www.frommfamily.com/
We don't feed vegan kibble. After our Basset Hound continually got crystals in her urine from Newman's Own, we switched to: http://www.nutrisourcedogfood.com/naturalplanetorganics
Both dogs love it, and i find it's comparable in price to other dog foods, and we can get a huge bag at a few different local places.
A lot of the "organic" dog food is deceiving. Natural Balance has organic veggies, but the part that i'm most concerned with, the meat, is not. Emails to both Natural Balance and Castor and Pollux went unanswered, so I marked them off the list of possibilities! Some of the other options are so expensive, and hard to find. It's hard to come up with a happy medium! My dogs do get tons of raw veggies. They eat carrots like bones :-) And they get all of my scraps as i make dinner!
Datsun - what a handsome pup! Looks like he really enjoyed his VegaN dISH - LUCKY BOY.
I need that book for Strummer!
Natural Balance might be a good option for you.
Graeme eats California Natural Lamb & Rice, because when he was a puppy everything gave him diarrhea and the vet suggested that. He has an extremely fussy stomach, but he tolerates lamb & rice, apparently. I feel bad, but I'm hesitant to mess with his diet. I don't want poo all over the house. Ellie eats prescription food for her chronic bladder infections. It's wonderfully expensive. :)
This book sounds great! I have some canned pumpkin sitting in the fridge, I think I'll stir a bit into the dogs' food tomorrow for a treat!
oh, here is the post with all the answers!
we feed vee Natural Balance in the green bags which is vegan and awesome and has no fillers, bleach or artificial ingredients. the best part is that you can find it all PetCo, as well as smaller independent pet stores.
seriously, it's mostly peas, brown rice and potatoes and is completely nutritionally sound.
xo
kittee
Im glad to see a review on this book...I guess i will buyt it. Ive had my two queensland heeler crosses on vegetarian diets on and off for all four years of their lives. I used to have a lot of foster dogs and just could not afford veg dog food for all of them. and then there ended up being a period during which I was not earning enough to properly feed myself, never mind a veg diet to my dogs.
They do so so on comercial diets healthwise. They THRIVED on avoderm vegetrain formula (not a vegan formula due to lanolin though) and they LOVED it. But for some reason it was a lot cheaper in AZ than it is here in New England...So i had to swich them to "Natures Recipe Vegetarian Formula" its cheaper but still really hurts my pocket...and they really dont enjoy it all that much.
Ive decided to swich to home cooking their veg dogfood because I know they will prefer the flavor and becasue I can buy ORGANIC ingredients instead of whatever is in the food they have now. And it seems I will actually be spending a little less, so thats preferable.
I just wish quality vegan dog food was more readily availible. :(
Your dog is CUTE! Look forward to seeing more reviews of the recipes!
Bianca! My pooch has been noming on V-Dog for a month or two and loves it! And for a 33 lb. bag of food, I only paid about $46 and change - and shipping was free! I googled a "V-Dog coupon code" and got 5% off of the price. Per pound, I was paying much more for the all natural stuff at the store (that wasn't even vegan!). I'm going to blog about this soon, too! Good luck to you!
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