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Help me with the carnivore/omnivore debate

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1.1K views 5 replies 4 participants last post by  jewels  
J
#1 ·
Sorry I've got so many questions, but I can't turn my thinking off once I get on something! I was talking to a good friend of mine this morning who is a top Kerry Blue Terrier breeder. She feeds her dogs a combination of home cooked and raw, which she says her dogs do well on. The reason she does this is because she feels that dogs are closer to omnivores than strict carnivores (which is what my vet says). She told me that it's not uncommon for her to see a coyote or wolf kill (she lives in a rural area) where they have eaten the gut out of the deer and left the muscle meat mostly intact. So her reasoning is that the coyote/wolf is getting plant material from the stomach contents of the prey animal. She will therefore add some cooked veggies/fruits and sometimes some oatmeal, millet, rice, or quinoa to her cooked meat and feeds that in combo with some raw meats/bones. I promise I'm not playing the devil's advocate here. I really am trying to learn what my options are out there in the canine nutrition world, and why people choose one approach over another. I personally would classify a dog as a carnivore, but I don't know how loosely or strictly that needs to be taken. Don't wild canines get any benefit from eating the gut of their prey? I'd love your opinions. I feel like a sponge right now... I just want to soak up as much info as I can! Thanks!
 
#4 · (Edited)
My FAVORITE reply to this debate:
http://dogfoodchat.com/forum/pictures/2200-raw-feeding-its-finest-caution-graphic-photos.html

In the research I have done, based on their anatomy (teeth to cut with etc) I have to agree that dogs are carnivores. You can look at their teeth to know that they were designed for chopping not grinding like an omnivore does. Yes dogs can eat plant/grains but they don't 'thrive' on them and they aren't required for life. Dogs/wolves are opportunistic carnivores.

Evolutionarily speaking, dogs are classified as carnivores:
Kingdon: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Subphylum: Vertebrata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Carnivora
Family: Canidae
Genus Canis
Species Lupus
Subspecies Familiaris

Here are a couple of links to support:
The 1st 2 are written by a Veterinarian
Dogs Are Carnivores
http://www.thewholedog.org/NHMVTheOm...ivoreQuest.pdf
http://www.vetbalance.com/index.php?/carnivore-vs.-omnivore.html
http://britfeld.com/dietry-care-specie-differences.htm

& A Day With the wolf pack (someone went & witnessed the Wolves on a sanctuary getting fed)
http://littlecarnivores.blogspot.com/2010/10/day-with-wolf-pack.html
 
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#5 ·
They are opportunistic carnivores. If they need to, they will eat plants to survive, but to thrive and really continue on, they need their meat. Teeth structure, GI structure all indicate carnivore. Just because they might enjoy fruits/veggies or wolves may occasionally pick at them when they have nothing better doesn't make them an omnivore.
 
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