Hello, I am a member of lots of forums and find them really helpful and friendly

[Julia Michell]

I need some advice about dry dog food. My medium sized lurcher, age 8, is less active, I cannot feed him a raw diet, should I feed him vegan? He is currently on a complete biscuits for adults, a portuguese supermarket brand and I mix this with a small amount of dog pate. He loves it. But his girth seems to have widened and his belly slightly saggy. We might visit the vet. But this is the question, when I google for an answer to how much protein a dog needs I get conflicting advice, 23% and yet the list of the 10 best dry foods of 2121 are between 30 and 40%? I used to feed him Advantage but I cannot find it and an online delivery cannot find us. I do add a little olive oil which is really good for his coat and apple cider vinegar but only a drop or so. I'm looking forward to getting to know how things work and looking around the site. Take care.

 

[JoanneF]

Regardless of our own diet choices, for whatever reasons, I really think dogs are not designed to follow a vegan diet. If he is fattening up a little, you could increase his exercise or feed a little less. Supermarket brands are sometimes not great, I assume you are in Portugal so some of the foods we might suggest won't be available but have a look at www.allaboutdogfood.co.uk - it's an independent review site and while it isn't perfect, it's a good starting point. Hopefully some of the foods will be available to you.

 

[JudyN]

You say he's less active - how much does he do, walking, running, games, training, and so on? Could you encourage him to do more? Is he putting on weight? If so, you either need to feed him less or get him to do more.

I wouldn't worry too much about protein levels. Quality foods will have a higher percentage of protein because they don't have cheap filler. But because they don't have the filler, you would feed less by weight so the amount of protein by weight is produced.

 

[Julia Michell]

You say he's less active - how much does he do, walking, running, games, training, and so on? Could you encourage him to do more? Is he putting on weight? If so, you either need to feed him less or get him to do more.

I wouldn't worry too much about protein levels. Quality foods will have a higher percentage of protein because they don't have cheap filler. But because they don't have the filler, you would feed less by weight so the amount of protein by weight is produced.

You say he's less active - how much does he do, walking, running, games, training, and so on? Could you encourage him to do more? Is he putting on weight? If so, you either need to feed him less or get him to do more.

I wouldn't worry too much about protein levels. Quality foods will have a higher percentage of protein because they don't have cheap filler. But because they don't have the filler, you would feed less by weight so the amount of protein by weight is produced.