Every Day – Once a Week – Not at all?

Some people religiously add veggies to their dog’s dinner each and every day. Others add them every other day or every third day. Still others go for once per week and others choose to use none at all. Which is right and what veggies are the best (and worst!) of the bunch?

How about a little Doggy Veggies 101?

Dr. Ian Billinghurst recommends that approximately 15% of your dog’s diet be veggies and fruits and that the same make up 5% of your kitty’s diet. Kymythy Schultz recommends approximately the same. Tom Lonsdale argues that while they can be nutritionally beneficial and can’t hurt even in large amounts so long as the rest of the diet is correct, if your dog doesn’t like them or won’t eat them that won’t hurt either. Practitioners of whole carcass feeding disavow the use of veggies completely and feed none at all. There isn’t a “right” and “wrong” answer here but it seems pretty clear that dogs (and to a lesser extent, cats) do derive positive nutrition from eating veggies and fruits and can get things from them that are not available in a straight meat diet. Providing balance over time is the key to any raw diet and it seems that veggies most certainly have a place in that scheme – a necessary and indisputable place.