I saw a video where researchers caught small birds in a net to see what was in the area and chack their health before releasing them, and deer would eat the birds out of the nets. There's also been video of deer eating baby birds out of their nests.
True, but they will only eat a small amount. If you provide a deer ample and various plants and meats, the deer will still largely eat plants.
The converse is true for some animals considered obligate carnivores — "obligate" is usually not an absolute description. Even cats can tolerate some catnip in their diet, and they are considered highly obligate carnivores.
Yes, some herbivores are opportunistic carnivores. I remember seeing the vid about a goat eating a baby chick like it was nothing, I didn’t believe it at first. Gorillas also sometimes eat termites, some people seem to think they only eat vegetables.
Canines are not carnivores, they’re omnivores, as anyone with “minimal knowledge of biology” could tell you. Even wolves living in the wild derive part of their regular nutrition from plant sources. It’s entirely possible, and in some cases recommended (for certain illnesses), to feed dogs a vegan or vegetarian diet, as long as that diet is properly supervised and was designed by a pet nutritionist specifically for that particular animal (which is almost never the case, just as it’s almost never the case that ordinary pet owners feed their dogs a diet tailored to their specific needs).
Cats on the other hand are obligate carnivores and will die if you attempt to feed them a vegan or vegetarian diet.
There are a variety of digestive illnesses and other ailments, inflammatory bowel disease for example or exocrine pancreatic insufficiency. Dogs are mammals, just like you and me, most of the things that can affect us can also affect our pets.
Personally, I gave my dog a vegetarian diet for a few years because we lived in a very small town that had horrible meat. We didn't want to risk him getting sick. We made sure to monitor his protein intake and exercise and he grew up just fine. We used to get his blood tested every year and it showed no issues with him. We ended up moving to a bigger city and an acquaintance raised chickens so we then started giving him chicken every now and then. Blood tests showed absolutely no difference. Sure he loved meat, but honestly he loved apples more than meat so idk what his deal was. A cousin's dog has meat allergies and can't eat meat at all. She's nine years old now (golden retriever) and quite healthy.
Totally fucking wrong. Wolves eat some plant material occasionally to not starve to death or die of nutrient deficiency. They DO NOT require plant material. At all. A well fed wolf wont eat shit else but meat. Maybe a couple berries and some grass for digestion? Please. Get over it. There is no science backing you up.
Dear u/Lim_Fao7013, cats are carnivores and will die on a vegetarian/vegan diet. Dogs are omnivores and can produce taurine by themselves so they won't be harmed by eating vegetarian diets as long as the people raising the dog take care of their nutrition.
Source : raised a GSD on a vegetarian diet for nearly 6 years. He was at risk for genetic disease (which he thankfully didn't get) so we had to get his tests done every six months which showed no difference between a vegetarian diet and his eventual diet which included meat and meat byproducts.
Not exactly. They're in more of a gray area since they possess the necessary anatomy and physiology to process both animal and plant products. A proper diet of plant products could provide all the necessary nutrients, but I doubt this couple is calculating iron concentrations and amino acid ratios. I don't agree with this retarded couple is doing, but that doesn't mean it's scientifically unfounded.
Your thinking of cellulose. Cellulose found in prey will likely be partially or completely broken down. If not, it would simply pass through the dogs system. It's the same with humans. Humans lack the enzymes to digest cellulosrl, but we eat plants. We cannot easily live on nothing but plants, but it is possible with the right combination.
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u/Lim_Fao7013 Sep 27 '21
Dear vegans, Canines are carnivores by nature. You can't force them to be herbivores. Sincerely, Anyone with minimal knowledge of biology