How do you feel about people feeding their dogs or cat a vegetarian diet?

There are some vegetarians out there that feel their pets should be vegetarians too. Do you feel its healthy for a dog and cat?How do you feel about people feeding their dogs or cat a vegetarian diet?
Cats are "obligate carnivores" which means they must have meat to survive and thrive. Dogs have long been re-classified as "omnivores." Dogs don't require meat as part of their diets. There are some very good vegetarian diets made for dogs.
If you own a predatory carnivore, you have the duty to feed it appropriately, or else it's irresponsible pet ownership. Cats must have meat. Dogs should have mainly animal protein sources, but they can tolerate some other things in their diet, that does not mean it's the best though. Dogs don't "need" fruits, veggies, etc. They do need high-quality animal proteins. Dogs fed improper diets using plant proteins often have health issues, dull and dry coats, sometimes refusal to eat (leading to the dog being underweight) and will ALWAYS choose meat if given the chance.



If a person has moral issues with feeding meat, fine, get a prey animal and not a predator. Get a horse, pony, goat, rabbit, guinie pig, bird, etc.How do you feel about people feeding their dogs or cat a vegetarian diet?
a human can chose to be a vegetarian....An animal cannot. An animal can only eat what he is given...that is not a choice.



Denying an animal the nutrients it is designed to live on is considered cruelty...forcing it to eat an inappropriate diet is also cruel.



If you want a vegetarian pet, get a bunny, horse, cow, or whatever. DO NOT get obligate carnivores and try and 'convert' them....it damages their very being.
It depends.

I once had a dog who would just NOT adjust to any diet that we tried. He was miserable.
Until we discovered he was not tolerant of meat at all!

A vegetarian diet saved him from the squirts.

Would I put a dog without a meat intolerance on a vegetarian diet? Probably not, but it certainly isn't cruelty. There are bigger and badder things people are doing to dogs across the world to say feeding them vegetarian diets is cruel.

Whoever says such a thing is short sighted.How do you feel about people feeding their dogs or cat a vegetarian diet?
In my opinion it is very unhealthy to do so. People are assigning ideas meant for humans to natural carnivores like dogs. It goes against their nature and natural selection has creates a system that requires meat, that is why human vegetarians need to take supplements, not to mention you are taking away one of your dogs main sources of pleasure, let them enjoy what they like!
Please don't do that to your animal. it wont survive long because they are omnivores like us. they cannot eat a strict diet of vegetarian food because they need iron from the meat and other vitamins to help them gain weight. by feeding your animal a vegetarian diet its body weight and mass will decrease and your animal well become skinny and emaciated.

By The Way That's Animal Cruelty And against The Law
I honestly think that it's wrong and basically denying the animal it's nutritional supplements therefore is a form of animal cruelty. Cats are carnivores and NEED meat in order for it survive and thrive and dogs are omnivores, they don't necessarily need meat BUT the meat provides nutrition such as iron and protein for it to survive and live a healthy life
I feel it's quite selfish for idiots to push their eating habits on their pets. Dogs and cats are born meat eaters, why even bother feeding them a vegetarian diet. It's stupid and if people are going to push their vegetarian ways on their pets they should stick to bunnies.
Two words: Absolutely retarded! Dogs and cats are carnivores; they need meat! Not giving them what they need is abuse! The only time a dog or cat should every be fed a no meat diet is under veterinarians orders, and this would be for problems handling protein.
i think it would be difficult to feed a cat a vegetarian diet but i think it is more okay for dogs ... i fed my dog vegetarian for over five years due to several animal protein allergies and she did well on the diet ...
Animals are carnivourers they need the meat protein it is very good for them
IT IS WRONG! It is not a natural thing for them to do. They are both born carnivores from the start of time. Changing their diet so drastically can alter behaviour, and even shorten their life!
I think it's retarded. Dogs need meat.
It's out and out animal abuse.
a dog needs meat as much as it needs vegs
don't understand their reasoning

nope
There are vegetarian foods available that meet AAFCO standards. If somebody choose to feed them, I don't have a problem.



If they try throwing some sort of a diet together themselves, I have to oppose it.



There is a lot of ignorance around on canine nutrition. Canine nutrition is complex, but quite well known. All the nutrients are available from a number of sources although some ingredients require more processing than others to make them available.