Vegan dog food

[Entangledlife]

Anyone use a plant based diet for their dog? I'm interested in research that leans towards plant based being healthier (as long as it covers all the dog's nutritional needs) if you do, what brand do you use?

Dogs aren’t meant to be vegan.

Not all dogs can tolerate a raw diet, though. It’s often hailed on here as some kind of gold standard but lots of dogs struggle on it (or just outright refuse to even eat it).

As I said upthread, I walk a dog who was put on a raw diet by the vet due to allergies and intolerances and it nearly killed her because her body just couldn’t digest the food properly.

My dog loves fruit and veg but he'd chose meat or fish over that any day. I don't think it'd be fair to deprive him of that unless it was necessary for allergies.

I don't eat meat. I own pets that do. I'd never force my beliefs on animals. A dog, cat or any other meat eating being would ever choose to go meat free. That is cruel in itself.

If you really want the best for your dog, raw feed.

Go for it. Lots out there about dogs thriving on meat-free diets.

I think if you put a bowl of meat (and veg) and a bowl of veggies in front of a dog, it would soon let you know what it's naturally inclined to eat...

Except raw isn't "best" for every dog as many can't tolerate it or will outright refuse to even touch it.

The best diet is the one you can afford and that your dog enjoys and thrives on. That will look different for every dog, for a whole host of reasons.

Won't know until its tried.

My dog didnt get on well with raw. But he was 12 and already had dodgy guts. We started too late. For others its worked a dream. My cats and ferrets all thrive from a raw diet.

BVA haven’t actually changed their stance. They say a plant-based diet is technically possible but more evidence is needed to understand the long term effects and owners should be cautious because it’s easy to get it wrong: https://www.bva.co.uk/pet-owners-and-breeders/advice-for-pet-owners/pet-food-diets/what-should-i-feed-my-dog/

The thing for me is that all Kibble is UPF by its very nature, so there is nothing to recommend Vegan or Vegetarian Kibble; and given that dogs are basically carnivores, it makes no sense.

Raw is hard for some dogs ( including mine) to tolerate but there are many foods around now which are less processed wet foods, that may provide better nutrition for your dog.

Ultimately feed whichever food your dog best thrives on.

I second/third/fourth the raw - my dog has been on it since 12 weeks, shiny as anything, good eater, never farts and, crucially, doesn’t scavenge on the street - why have a sandwich crust or manky kebab when he’s got tartare at home?! He doesn’t overgroom or itch or anything like that

I mostly feed my dogs raw but I also incorporate a vegan dry dog food into their diet - Yarrah vegan grain free organic.

My dogs are omnivores and are fed a very varied diet including nuts, eggs and beans as protein sources. However, they also have meat and fish.

Yarrah uses soya bean as a protein source and is quite low at 24% protein. I use it more as a supplement on occasion and keep a small bag to bulk out meals probably a couple of times a week.

I read that Lewis Hamilton’s dog is a vegan. But I suspect he has a dog chef which makes it more viable 🤣

I would love for them to be vegan/vegetarian for ethical reasons. But I don’t think it would be in their best interests.

If your focus is health and not ethics then omnivore raw with added: fish oil, flax seed, turmeric, glucosamine and I also feed them a herb supplement called aniforte complete with nettles, linseed, seaweed, eggshells etc

A while back a friend decided to go vegan for health reasons. The problem is oreos and chips are vegan but not healthy they ended up worse off.

Would it not be better to try to find a better quality dog food than a vegan one?

This.
Just because the BVA no longer actively oppose vegan diets for dogs, it doesn't mean they recognise benefits to them.

Well no, obviously you have to try it, but you said that you should raw feed to do the best for your dog - that's simply not true.

Im a life long ( 35+ years ) vegetarian, with a raw fed dog , so no advice but I dont think you can feed a dog vegan healthily although I haven’t researched , as in my opinion they are natural carnivores

Its true for the vast majority of cases though. And would be wholly better than a completely artifical diet.

My dog was old and ill. We were clutching at straws. I dont know of anyone else irl, including my other pets that do not benefit from raw.

Dogs are omnivores and can live on a careful vegan diet. Cats, however, cannot, as they are obligate carnivores.

Do you have any research to back that up?

I was given a bag of vegan dog food in 2022 by someone to try and gradually switched two of my dogs over to it.

It was excellent for them and I started buying and bought it three times before giving up as they constantly had supply issues.

It was this one and it was very good.

Lived experience. Groups I am on in different forums and groups.

There are very few i have personally heard that have failed. I say this as someone who raw feeding didnt work for? Surely you see a natural diet is better for anyone, human or animal than processed? Obviously that is not the case for all. My nan for example can't really eat anything anymore! Fresh fruit or veg or red meat. But it would be best for most. Dogs, cats and everything else in between

None of my dogs did well on raw food. They lost their condition, they started to smell, were lethargic, fur shedding and dull coats and we persisted for over eight months before giving up as all looked and smelled awful. Their poo was disgusting.

@K0OLA1D ah, so no actual scientific research then - just personal experience.

My own dog wouldn’t touch raw food of any kind - we tried multiple brands and types and he turned his nose up at all of them.

There’s a big difference between surviving and thriving.

can a dog survive on a vegan diet - probably

will they thrive and be in the best health - no

they will miss a lot of natural nutrients, vitamins and minerals that these vegan brands add in synthetically to make up the gap. That’s not normal and we overlook this ourselves when we eat a vegan diet.

unless there was a genuine medical reason to feed your dog a vegan diet, like they are allergic to all meat proteins, you are just following a gimmick and risking your dogs health