What vegetarian food can I safely feed my Miniature Pinscher puppy?

Making a homemade diet (especially a diet for a puppy) requires very careful balance between nutrients and supplementing with specific vitamins and minerals. There are a few companies that employ veterinary nutritionists to help formulate balanced diets. The most commonly used one is called Balance It ( https://secure.balanceit.com/ ). They will be able to help you choose ingredients and create a balanced recipe specifically for Sakshi. Good luck! I hope that was helpful. Thanks for using PetCoach.

It is possible to make a balanced vegetarian diet for dogs, and if you are interested in this I would check with your vet first to make sure your vet feels it would be safe to try for Cooper. I typically recommend Royal Canin's Vegetarian diet since it has gone through feeding trials. If you are interested in formulating a home cooked diet it may be more difficult to make something balanced, but would certainly be possible particularly if you do have access to fish or game. You should ask your vet for referral to a veterinary nutritionist who can help formulate a balanced recipe.

For the first year of life, puppies go through fairly extensive growth and development, particularly in terms of skeletal maturity. Diet plays a huge role in this development and nutritional deficiencies can cause a host of lifetime problems. I am not aware of any vegetarian diets that are formulated for puppy growth. As a result, I would strongly recommend feeding a traditional meat-based large breed puppy diet for at least the first year of life. After that time, you could consider switching to a vegetarian diet, such as Royal Canin Vegetarian or the Purina HA prescription diet. Enjoy your new puppy!

It's not the best choice for a dog as dogs are natural carnivores but if you do decide to feed him vegetarian food chose a good quality ready made diet (kibbles) such as Benevo or Yarrah for example.

For one, I wouldn't have Pavi as a vegetarian. Dogs should have meat, being a vegetarian is a human construct and really shouldn't be forced on a dog. I would feed her a high quality dog food like Royal Canin. You should also make sure she is fully vaccinated, has regular flea treatments, is spayed, and sees the vet as soon as she is sick. If she is healthy, have her seen by a vet once a year for a health check. Best of luck.

No, I never recommend vegetarian diets for dogs. Being a vegetarian is a human construct, and should not be forced on a dog. Given a choice between eating meat or veggies, a dog will chose meat every time. You should give Patch a puppy formulated food. Brands I recommend include Royal Canin, Hill's Science Diet, Purina ProPlan, and Iams. I hope this helps!

No - a diet of milk, rice, and chappati is absolutely not adequate for the nutritional needs of a dog. While it's technically possible for dogs to survive on a vegetarian diet, it must be specially formulated by a veterinary nutritionist in order to be complete; or, you can use a commercially available food such as Natural Balance Vegetarian. I don't normally recommend this unless there is a medical reason on the dog's part (such as severe food allergies), since dogs are biologically designed to prey on other animals and eat meat.