What do you feed your dog or cat?

My dog is on Earthborn grain free, with a little purina ( my house mate won heaps of purina dog food). I'm thinking of slowly introducing a good vegan food (I'd like to find one that doesn't have corn and what not, otherwise I might make my own). My dog is prone to skin problems and sometimes stomach upsets, but he does well with any plant foods I give him (left overs etc.).
If he was a human I think he'd be a fruitarian, I cannot EVER eat fruit in front of him without him giving me the look. Usually I cave. He eats banana, apple, watermelon, pineapple, mango, pear. He even tried a lettuce leaf once, chewed it for a bit, and then couldn't manage to chew it properly.

Anyway.... We'll see. I might end up doing half and half. I'm a vegan who thinks animals should not be killed for food, but also a dog lover who has done a fair bit of research and thinks meat is the most natural and healthy thing for a dog, and whose dog has been on a raw diet for a while (before it became to hard to manage). But then, if he does fine on it...

And then there's the issue about killing hundreds of animals over the dogs life time, to feed him. So vegans probably the way to go. Just need to find one that I'm comfortable feeding...

This is a very big debate. Very interesting when some vegans tell me off for feeding my scorpion back in the day.

The family dog we have is fed meat but I know that dogs can live healthy ona  herbivore diet, though I am yet to see one first hand which does. Hopefully my experience at the vets soon will tell me

Here are the results of a study on veg*n dogs, which lists the pros and cons of the diet:
http://vegepets.info/diets/veg_canine.html

Dogs are not obligate carnivores, meaning they can be perfectly healthy on a nutritionally balanced vegan diet.
Some people have moral qualms about it not being 'natual' to feed a dog vegan food, but really, there is nothing natural about domesticated dogs, from their dependence on humans, to the standard surgical procedures and medical treatment they receive, to their pet food diets - even raw meat diets are not the same as eating whole animals, and can be contaminated with dangerous bacteria. Dogs are scavengers, meaning that naturally, they will eat whatever is available. In the wild that might be meat more often than not, but most dogs will happily eat the veggie dishes you serve them in your home. Taurine and L-carnitine may need to be supplemented if you are making their food at home, but any nutritionally complete vegan dog food should contain these already. You can provide some fresh/cooked veggies as well for optimal health, but be aware of which foods are unsuitable for dogs - some are listed here: http://www.aspca.org/pet-care/poison-control/people-foods.aspx and also the seeds/pits of stone fruit, persimmons and apples contain cyanide and should be avoided.

It is also possible for cats to survive as vegans, but cats ARE strictly carnivores, so it takes a lot more work and strict monitoring of their health. I personally would never adopt a cat because I would not be comfortable serving meat OR withholding meat from a cat. But I've seen people on this forum who do go to those efforts and have perfectly healthy vegan cats.


Some vegan dog foods:

Veganpet - http://www.veganpet.com.au/
All vegan Australian company, exceeds AAFCO's nutritional requirements for all stages of life, all ingredients are human grade, all natural except for some synthetic vitamins, and organic where possible. Has been tested on willing doggie participants for palatability and digestibility (people's pets, not lab animals.)

Vegepet - http://www.vegepet.com.tw/
(Can be bought here: http://www.vegepooch.com.au/index.php/catalogsearch/result/?q=vegepet)
Cruelty-free company in Taiwan, 'Functional' range is available in puppy, adult and senior/overweight, and 'Super Premium' range (suitable for dogs with corn/wheat/soy allergies) is available in adult and senior. All meet appropriate AAFCO requirements.

BiOpet - http://www.biopetonline.com.au/productsVeganDog.html
Vegan option from non-vegan company, meets AAFCO nutritional requirements for adult dogs.

V-Dog - http://v-dog.com/
Vegan company in the US, meets AAFCO requirements for adult dogs, hypoallergenic, gluten free, no GMOs. Unfortunately, they will only ship to Australia for orders of 1000lbs+ at this stage... I'm mentioning it because it is the only vegan dog food I've found that is completely free from corn, wheat and soy (even the Vegepet Super Premium contains hydrolysed soy & maize, although it is low allergen.) I hope an Australian store will stock V-Dog one day!


Veggie treats:

VegePooch - http://www.vegepooch.com.au/index.php/products/dogtreat.html
Variety of brands, mostly vegan, some vegetarian.

Vegan Online - http://www.veganonline.com.au/pets
Veganpet and Happier Pets brands, both vegan, can be purchased from their own websites as well.

PS. AAFCO is the Association of American Feed Control Officials.
They set the standard nutrient profiles for dog food, which determines whether a dog food is nutritionally 'complete and balanced'.
Here's what it needs to contain:

http://www.peteducation.com/article.cfm?c=2+2108&aid=703

Not first hand, but here are 100 real-life vegan dogs:
http://thevegantruth.blogspot.com.au/2013/01/dogs-that-eat-vegan-directory.html
The top one, Bramble, actually lived to 27 years, 211 days as a lifelong vegan!  

Have had my dog as pretty much 100% Vegan since 6 months ago (he gets meat tidbits from friends who feel "sorry" for him). He's going good and actually dropped some weight which he needed as he was a big fatso.

Check out Vegan Pet dry food. My dogs go bananas for it. They also have a homemade blend of veggies that is helpful for liver health (1 of my dogs was born with a liver condition that can't be fixed by an operation). So they eat this blend & they wolf it all down. It's easier for a dog to be vegan as they are omnivores, harder for a cat to be a healthy vegan as they are carnivores. If your concerned check out the Vegan Pet website or email the Vegan Pet creator, she's very knowledgeable.

We feed our dogs what is leftover from our mostly vegan meals. They love vege burgers! Friends give us animal cruelty free cheese and eggs, so doggies get those as well. As they are XXL dogs I do need to add a Royal Canin Giant dry dog food in for essential vitamins and teeth cleaning purposes. Ive been keeping reptiles for 33 plus yrs, longer than ive been a vegan and since some of my scaly family are over 20yrs old, they are fed their recommended food (never live though).