Theola Walden Baker wrote:
> >And all the predators eat plant foods too........
>
> Every dog I've ever owned has grazed small amounts of grass at times.  Years
> ago, one of my Dobes regularly went blackberry picking with me.  Zeke would
> pull his lips back to avoid the thorn-spiked brambles and gently pick berry
> after berry with his front teeth.   And we had a cat that just loved the
> ground grain we gave the chickens (that actually were free-roaming birds and
> only penned at night).  He would follow me out to the trough to get his fill
> before the birds could get there...(snip)

I have been deeply involved with dogs for more than 30 years
now: I breed, train, exhibit; I am a groomer and vet tech.
This topic has been much researched and discussed in the dog
world <g>  Dogs and cats are both classified as carnivores
but neither is 100% so.  My cats all love vegetable
broth/juice, especially from cooking green peas.  The dogs
are even more omni in their tastes: most veggies (raw or
cooked) and cooked grains and some fruits.  They also like
shrimp shells. I have one who begs to share a fresh orange.
Most dogs will, if given access, consume cat feces - vets
say this is because cats do not process their food well and
much comes thru unchanged.  Dogs are also fond of fresh
manure from both cows and horses.  Again it is thought that
this has something to do with the enzyme content.  Anyone
who has a farm and a dog knows that the fresher the better
in dog think <g>.  In the wild it has been observed that the
first part of a prey animal to be consumed is the soft
underbelly and the internal organs complete with their
contents.  It is thought that this is nutritional but
opinion is divided on whether it is the forage or the
enzymes.....

BTW, do NOT give a dog cooked bones.  These splinter.  They
eat raw bones which grind rather than splinter.  We give our
dogs the big ends of bovine thigh bones raw and outside
where they can be a messy as they wish.  We also save the
poultry bones from our meals and stew then several days
until soft, then mash and add this "soup" to their dishes.
We must be doing something right: our labs consistently live
to 12 or better, our cockers to 15 (both breeds are
considered old at 10) with very few medical troubles.  Our
cats are also long lived: the record so far is a siamese who
made 22.

tsayonah