carnivores vs omnivores?There is a great deal of (often very heated) discussion on here about whether or not dogs are carnivores or omnivores.
I am interested in learning people's reasoning for their beliefs and hopefully links to the research supporting their decision. What I'm NOT interested in is statements such as "my dog eats some fruit so he is an omnivore". I'm after scientific research and data NOT just personal opinion.
Thanks and I'll even start.
Dogs are classified as Canis lupus familiaris by the Smithsonian Institute placing it in the same species as the gray wolf, Canis lupus. The dog is, by all scientific standards and by evolutionary history, a domesticated wolf (Feldhamer, G.A. 1999. Mammology: Adaptation, Diversity, and Ecology. McGraw-Hill. pg 472.). This classification is proved by their dentition, jaw structure and digestive system (Feldhamer, G.A. 1999. Mammology: Adaptation, Diversity, and Ecology. McGraw-Hill. pg 258-260.).
In fact, dogs are so much like wolves physiologically that they are frequently used in wolf studies as a physiological model for wolf body processes (Mech, L.D. 2003. Wolves: Behavior, Ecology, and Conservation).
I firmly believe that dogs (like wolves) are opportunistic carnivores. This means that while they may eat some vegetation in times of shortage (or berries just because they taste good) they are designed to catch and eat prey. They will also eat insects and carrion if these are available. Studies of wild carnivores (foxes, wolves, coyotes, cats etc) show that little if any plant matter is eaten and these are often a regional variation possibly indicating a temporary shortage of prey. http://www.stevesrealfood.com/research/foodhabits.html
Dogs do not have amylase in their saliva, which is an enzyme essential is breaking down carbohydrates, or the length of gut (with the necessary bacteria) for digesting and utilising plant matter. This is a great referenced article clearly explaining this and disputing other 'omnivore' claims http://rawfed.com/myths/stomachcontents.html
Thanks for all the research information!!
My dogs raid the bunny food but I can always tell when I'm doing the poo pick-up when they have been. Bits of poo held together by undigested grain and chaff!!
Jen, how could you tell? I'm supposed to be writing an educational professional development brochure on increasing vocabulary aquisition not playing on YA.
Posted by Jen
Undergrad with google?
Observation tells me a bigger story. Even my well fed dogs will munch on the horses alfalfa out in my barn. And eat grass. As will the coyotes and foxes. My years living in Arizona taught me a lot. The canid type species will eat just about anything. The feline types, both domestic and wild, are your obligate carnivores.
So, amylase aside, I think the evidence points towards dog and wolves having instinctual behaviors for eating "roughage." Since this trait is preserved in wild wolf populations (and especially in coyotes) I'd say it's a fair guess that there is some evolutionary benefit to it. Otherwise, that behavior probably would have gone extinct.
Posted by K Z
Humans do not digest cellulose (plant matter - the outer cell wall). It's fiber... it passes through the digestive system and aids in moving the other stuff along. While all plants have cellulose, some vegetables (e.g. celery and lettuce) are almost entirely cellulose while fruits and some vegetables (e.g. carrots) are mostly carbohydrates.
Dogs and wolves both eat grass, which is a plant - like celery and lettuce - that is mostly cellulose. And they do so no matter how much food is available. Nothing "opportunistic" about it; it's fiber, it helps move stuff along.
The article you reference here actually IS NOT a good article. Here is a sampling of why:
"It is not supported by the evidence available to us, and is therefore false!"
You don't have to be an expert in rhetoric to know that this is a logical fallacy. (It's called the "burden of proof" fallacy, by the way.) "The absence of evidence is not the evidence of absence" - from the Boondocks.
Add: Another reason why this article is NOT good is that it fails to address the difference in nutritional content between the meat that dogs eat in the wild (animals with herbivorous or omnivorous diets, such as deer) versus the meat that dogs eat from the grocery store aisle (90% carnivorous or grain-fed, such as cows that are fed... cows). Thus, it's missing key arguments and evidence. This is in addition to the fact that the author doesn't know the first principle of how digestion and absorption work.
It's shoddy. The end. I could've constructed a better argument than this in middle school.
Other than the obvious canine need for fiber, I'd be open to the dogs = carnivores argument if the essays about it weren't so terribly constructed and researched that someone who earned a C in college biology couldn't see through them.
Posted by natagurl
ok i will give u my personal opinion,
i believe dogs can and will eat almost anything, my dogs eat raw and cooked meat, they eat fruits and vegetables, although they dont like all fruits and vegetables, one of my dogs will not eat carrots for eg, and bananas, but when it comes to meat he does not chose and will eat ANY meat, fish, lamb, beef, etc.
so therefore i know that they preffer meat, although they do not mind certain vegetables. like one of my dogs when i take him out will chew on grass and flowers (not to throw up but just cuz he likes eating it)
i honesly believe that they are meat eaters even though they like vegetables
Posted by petsinformation
Are they carnivores?
Are they really like wolves, hyenas and jackals?
Or are they more like us?
Is it foolish to feed only meat?
Should they be fed what their human family eats?
The truth encompasses a little of each
In the wild, other hunting animals that seem similar to dogs, such as wolves and hyenas, eat fruit, leaves, grasses, dig for roots and even obtain vegetable matter from the stomachs of their prey. The bones of their pray provide calcium and help keep their teeth clean. Their diets are highly varied and change seasonally.
A domestic dog fed on human diet struggles with dairy products and can actually be poisoned by some of the common ingredients in human pantries.
The pitfalls of feeding a home-cooked diet are that it is very hard to balance and very easy to overlook the ways in which it is isn't balanced until dog becomes ill.
With a little research and attention to detail, dogs can do very well on a diet of home cooking
Dogs are actually omnivores, they need alot less meat protein than cats, ferrets or snakes & feeding a high animal protein diet to a dog will take a toll on it health. A dog is designed to digest a wide range of plant & animal products. Dogs must eat more then muscle meat. They need plenty of carbohydrates & fibre from vegetable & plant matter & only a small amount of fat. Their protein can come from both plant & animal products. The other things to consider are sources of mineral such as calcium & phosphorous & of cause vitamins.
Cat's are strict carnivores.this mean that some of their nutritents can be obtained only from animal sources.
However being a carnivore doesn't mean that all of the nutrients need to be from animal products or that a carnivorous animal could survive eating muscle meat only.
A wild carnivore such as a lion will kill and eat an atelope.it will lickthe hair off and chew on the skin.the organ are consumed, including partly digested grass, leaves, and other grazed plant material.Last of all, the bones are eaten too.
Cat's and Dog's are also very different in their needs
Posted by Lioness
I personally believe that Canis lupus familiaris is an opportunistic carnivore on the whole, just as I classify a wolf.
I believe dogs CAN eat grains, fruits, etc...but I do not believe they NEED to - and THAT is the definition of a carnivore. NEED.
I know some dogs who do best on a completely meat diet, and I know some who have a little harder time with it. I do not believe that this is because the species as a whole is incapable of a meat only diet, though. I think dogs who are not introduced to a diet such as prey model raw until later in life are the ones who tend to be a little bit less able to make an easy transition (and even that is not always the case). On the other hand, I personally believe that dogs who are started as puppies on a raw meat diet will greatly benefit from it almost unfailingly.
THE FORMATION OF MILK
There is instruction for you in cattle. From the contents of their bellies, from between the dung and blood, We give you pure milk to drink, easy for drinkers to swallow. (Qur'an, 16:66) Say: Who provides for you from the heavens and earth? Say: Allah. It is certain that one or the other of us, either we or you, is following guidance or else clearly astray. (Quran, 34:24) The basic materials which allow the nourishment of the body come about as a result of chemical changes in the digestive system. These digested substances then pass through the wall of the intestine into the blood stream. Due to the circulation of the blood, the nutriments reach the relevant organs. Like the other bodily tissues, the milk glands are nourished by nutriments brought to them by the blood. The blood therefore plays a most important role in the collection of nutriments from foodstuffs. Milk is secreted by the milk glands after all these stages and its nutritional values are particularly high. Human beings are unable to directly consume either the half-digested food in an animals stomach or an animals blood. Furthermore, the direct consumption of these or any of their compounds can lead to severe illness, and even death. Thanks to the exceedingly complex biological systems He has created, Allah provides clean and healthy food for human beings from these fluids. This is because it forms as a result of digested food being carried by the blood. High-nutrition milk is thus produced from blood ...
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