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Plant Foods
Dogs and Cats are Designed as Carnivores
Protein is protein, right? Wrong. "Plant proteins do not contain all the essential amino acids required by carnivores. There are 22 amino acids and of these the dog requires 10 different amino acids to be supplied by the diet & cats require 11 from their diet. The liver manufactures the remaining needed amino acids." (Lee, Jennifer) Moreover, their system simply is not capable of efficiently breaking down and utilizing the nutrients in plant foods.
Protein is protein, right? Wrong. "Plant proteins do not contain all the essential amino acids required by carnivores. There are 22 amino acids and of these the dog requires 10 different amino acids to be supplied by the diet & cats require 11 from their diet. The liver manufactures the remaining needed amino acids." (Lee, Jennifer) Moreover, their system simply is not capable of efficiently breaking down and utilizing the nutrients in plant foods.
Thanks to my husband for his carrot pose for this section! ;)
When it comes to plant matter, a dog or cat's body will process plant matter much differently than our bodies.
When it comes to explaining this topic based on a dog and cat's physiology, I believe the most crucial factors in our pet carnivores is that:
(1) They do not have amylase in their saliva
(2) They have very short GI tracts
(3) Look at their teeth and TMJ
See Carnivore Design Here.
When it comes to explaining this topic based on a dog and cat's physiology, I believe the most crucial factors in our pet carnivores is that:
(1) They do not have amylase in their saliva
(2) They have very short GI tracts
(3) Look at their teeth and TMJ
See Carnivore Design Here.
Humans many times get into the mindset that fruits and vegetables are good for us, so they must be good for our pets too. It's usually well intentioned, but we'll look into the above three factors as why I don't recommend feeding plant matter.
Dogs and cats do not have amylase in their saliva, which breaks down carbohydrates and starch. We do. Because of this, when we bite into a carrot, we start digesting the carrot immediately in our mouths as this enzyme in our saliva starts breaking the carrot down. Dogs and cats depend solely on their pancreas to produce amylase. This can place a burden on the pancreas if it is being required to consistently pump out amylase in an attempt to try and digest this material. Still, a carnivore's body does not do a very good job digesting it, and in our example with a carrot, usually we see the carrot, maybe in smaller pieces in the stool again.
Dogs and cats have very short GI tracts, which is seen in all carnivores. Protein, fat, and other tissue is digested quickly. Plant matter takes time to ferment and digest. Animals that are designed to digest plant matter have longer, sacculated colons, larger and longer small intestines, and occasionally the presence of a caecum. Dogs and cats have none of these. Their small and large intestines are about 3x the length of their body. In comparison, humans, designed as omnivores, have a GI tract that is about 25 feet in length (small intestines is about 20 feet and large intestines is about 5 feet). In comparison to a cow, an herbivore by design, their small intestines alone is 20x the length of their body, so in an average sized cow, that is about 130 feet long. The large intestine is about 6x the length of the cow, so in an averaged sized cow, that is about 40 feet. A carnivore's digestive system is designed for quick digestion and rapid elimination of food that goes rancid quickly - raw meat. This is why plant matter is not digested well. There's not enough time for it to be broken down or absorbed properly.
We can also look at a dog and cat's mouth and find many long, jagged, sharp, and pointy teeth inside. Canine teeth are for grabbing and puncturing, incisors for nibbling, premolars for tearing and shearing chunks of flesh, and molars for crushing bone. If you ever get the chance to look at an actual skull of a dog or cat, you can also observe that there is a deep mandibular fossa, which forms the temperomandibular joint (TMJ) with the jaw. This prevents lateral movement of the jaw. Lateral movement of the jaw is necessary to chew plant matter. A dog and cat's jaws move vertically only; there is no side-to-side horizontal movement.
By looking at these 3 areas, I believe you'll be able to understand why a dog or cat is not meant to eat plant matter.
Dogs and cats do not have amylase in their saliva, which breaks down carbohydrates and starch. We do. Because of this, when we bite into a carrot, we start digesting the carrot immediately in our mouths as this enzyme in our saliva starts breaking the carrot down. Dogs and cats depend solely on their pancreas to produce amylase. This can place a burden on the pancreas if it is being required to consistently pump out amylase in an attempt to try and digest this material. Still, a carnivore's body does not do a very good job digesting it, and in our example with a carrot, usually we see the carrot, maybe in smaller pieces in the stool again.
Dogs and cats have very short GI tracts, which is seen in all carnivores. Protein, fat, and other tissue is digested quickly. Plant matter takes time to ferment and digest. Animals that are designed to digest plant matter have longer, sacculated colons, larger and longer small intestines, and occasionally the presence of a caecum. Dogs and cats have none of these. Their small and large intestines are about 3x the length of their body. In comparison, humans, designed as omnivores, have a GI tract that is about 25 feet in length (small intestines is about 20 feet and large intestines is about 5 feet). In comparison to a cow, an herbivore by design, their small intestines alone is 20x the length of their body, so in an average sized cow, that is about 130 feet long. The large intestine is about 6x the length of the cow, so in an averaged sized cow, that is about 40 feet. A carnivore's digestive system is designed for quick digestion and rapid elimination of food that goes rancid quickly - raw meat. This is why plant matter is not digested well. There's not enough time for it to be broken down or absorbed properly.
We can also look at a dog and cat's mouth and find many long, jagged, sharp, and pointy teeth inside. Canine teeth are for grabbing and puncturing, incisors for nibbling, premolars for tearing and shearing chunks of flesh, and molars for crushing bone. If you ever get the chance to look at an actual skull of a dog or cat, you can also observe that there is a deep mandibular fossa, which forms the temperomandibular joint (TMJ) with the jaw. This prevents lateral movement of the jaw. Lateral movement of the jaw is necessary to chew plant matter. A dog and cat's jaws move vertically only; there is no side-to-side horizontal movement.
By looking at these 3 areas, I believe you'll be able to understand why a dog or cat is not meant to eat plant matter.
Some fresh blackberries from my garden. These were shared amongst my 3 dogs, and what you see here are the only plant foods they were given last year.
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EXCEPTIONS
Berries
Wolves were found to do very light grazing on berries and grasses in the summer time. This never makes up more than 10% of their diet. IF you would like to add some plant matter to your dog or cat's diet, berries and grasses are the most species appropriate, but only in very small amounts. If your dog or cat has allergies, cancer, or other illness, I would avoid feeding either of these. I personally do not feed either to my dogs. If you want to share a blueberry or strawberry with your dog or cat, no big deal, but avoid other plant matter, especially those with a high glycemic index that are very barely digested, such as corn, carrots, and potatoes.
Grasses
Why do some dogs and cats nibble on grasses or eat select pieces? The answer may surprise you. It's not the grass they are after, but probiotics in the soil. If you have a dog or cat that does this, they are attempting to balance their gut microbiome. Making sure that you are including raw green tripe in meals or rotated as a meal can help introduce plentiful beneficial probiotics to their body. You can also add soil based probiotics as a supplement as well.
ARGUMENTS
"But my dog LOVES carrots!"
Insert any other fruit or vegetable where I have "carrots" in that sentence. There are also some dogs that LOVE eating poop and/or trash. Would you continue to offer them that? Of course not. Dogs have become known as "scavenging carnivores" because they have learned to scavenge for any food they could find to survive. Does survive = thrive? No. Cats are more known to refuse completely non-species appropriate foods for them to the point of starvation.
"But my dog is used to getting a piece of carrot while I prepare my lunch." If your dog has gotten used to vegetable and fruit offerings while you are preparing a meal for yourself, keep a jar of species appropriate treats nearby and offer that instead.
Recipe Books with Plants
Many dog cook books have pureed plant matter in their recipes.
If an animal needs to rely on a human to puree food to get nutritional value from it, does that sound like it is something appropriate for them to eat?
Their Argument: Wolves eat the stomach contents of prey.
Truth: "The vegetation in the intestinal tract is of no interest to wolves, but the stomach lining and intestinal wall are consumed, and their contents further were strewn about the kill site."
-David Mech, Senior Scientist with the Biological Resources Division, U.S. Geological Survey and an Adjunct Professor in the Department of Fisheries, Wildlife and Conservation Biology, and Ecology, Evolution and Behavior at the University of Minnesota. He has studied wolves and their prey since 1958.
Truth: “The wolf’s diet consists mostly of muscle meat and fatty tissue from various animals. Heart, lung, liver, and other internal organs are eaten. Bones are crushed to get to the marrow, and bone fragments are eaten as well. The only part consistently ignored is the stomach itself and its contents. Although some vegetable matter is taken separately, particularly berries, Canis Lupis doesn’t seem to digest them very well.”
-The Kerwood Wildlife Education Center
Truth: “Dogs do NOT normally produce the necessary enzymes in their saliva to start the breakdown process of carbohydrates and starches; amylase in saliva is something omnivorous and herbivorous animals possess, but not carnivorous animals. This places the burden entirely on the pancreas, forcing it to produce large amounts of amylase to deal with the starch, cellulose, and carbohydrates in plant matter. The carnivore’s pancreas does not secrete cellulase to split the cellulose into glucose molecules, nor have dogs become efficient at digesting and assimilating and utilizing plant material as a source of high-quality protein. Herbivores do those sorts of things”
-Canine and Feline Nutrition Case, Carey and Hirakawa Published by Mosby, 1995
Berries
Wolves were found to do very light grazing on berries and grasses in the summer time. This never makes up more than 10% of their diet. IF you would like to add some plant matter to your dog or cat's diet, berries and grasses are the most species appropriate, but only in very small amounts. If your dog or cat has allergies, cancer, or other illness, I would avoid feeding either of these. I personally do not feed either to my dogs. If you want to share a blueberry or strawberry with your dog or cat, no big deal, but avoid other plant matter, especially those with a high glycemic index that are very barely digested, such as corn, carrots, and potatoes.
Grasses
Why do some dogs and cats nibble on grasses or eat select pieces? The answer may surprise you. It's not the grass they are after, but probiotics in the soil. If you have a dog or cat that does this, they are attempting to balance their gut microbiome. Making sure that you are including raw green tripe in meals or rotated as a meal can help introduce plentiful beneficial probiotics to their body. You can also add soil based probiotics as a supplement as well.
ARGUMENTS
"But my dog LOVES carrots!"
Insert any other fruit or vegetable where I have "carrots" in that sentence. There are also some dogs that LOVE eating poop and/or trash. Would you continue to offer them that? Of course not. Dogs have become known as "scavenging carnivores" because they have learned to scavenge for any food they could find to survive. Does survive = thrive? No. Cats are more known to refuse completely non-species appropriate foods for them to the point of starvation.
"But my dog is used to getting a piece of carrot while I prepare my lunch." If your dog has gotten used to vegetable and fruit offerings while you are preparing a meal for yourself, keep a jar of species appropriate treats nearby and offer that instead.
Recipe Books with Plants
Many dog cook books have pureed plant matter in their recipes.
If an animal needs to rely on a human to puree food to get nutritional value from it, does that sound like it is something appropriate for them to eat?
Their Argument: Wolves eat the stomach contents of prey.
Truth: "The vegetation in the intestinal tract is of no interest to wolves, but the stomach lining and intestinal wall are consumed, and their contents further were strewn about the kill site."
-David Mech, Senior Scientist with the Biological Resources Division, U.S. Geological Survey and an Adjunct Professor in the Department of Fisheries, Wildlife and Conservation Biology, and Ecology, Evolution and Behavior at the University of Minnesota. He has studied wolves and their prey since 1958.
Truth: “The wolf’s diet consists mostly of muscle meat and fatty tissue from various animals. Heart, lung, liver, and other internal organs are eaten. Bones are crushed to get to the marrow, and bone fragments are eaten as well. The only part consistently ignored is the stomach itself and its contents. Although some vegetable matter is taken separately, particularly berries, Canis Lupis doesn’t seem to digest them very well.”
-The Kerwood Wildlife Education Center
Truth: “Dogs do NOT normally produce the necessary enzymes in their saliva to start the breakdown process of carbohydrates and starches; amylase in saliva is something omnivorous and herbivorous animals possess, but not carnivorous animals. This places the burden entirely on the pancreas, forcing it to produce large amounts of amylase to deal with the starch, cellulose, and carbohydrates in plant matter. The carnivore’s pancreas does not secrete cellulase to split the cellulose into glucose molecules, nor have dogs become efficient at digesting and assimilating and utilizing plant material as a source of high-quality protein. Herbivores do those sorts of things”
-Canine and Feline Nutrition Case, Carey and Hirakawa Published by Mosby, 1995
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