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THE VEGAN DOG COACH

SCIENCE HAS SPOKEN

Scientific studies show that a well-formulated plant-based diet not only meets the nutritional needs of dogs and cats, but also provides significant health benefits and increases longevity.

" One thing to remember is that dogs don’t have ingredient requirements, they have nutrient requirements. As long as they’re consuming the essential nutrients in the correct amounts and ratios, dogs can be vegan, vegetarian, or meat-eaters.”

Prof Kelly Swanson, Professor of Animal and Nutritional Sciences, University of Illinois.

Published in Oxford Academic
27 March 2023

Leah J Roberts, Patricia M Oba, Kelly S Swanson

University of Illinois

Apparent total tract macronutrient digestibility of mildly cooked human-grade vegan dog foods and their effects on the blood metabolites and fecal characteristics, microbiota, and metabolites of adult dogs.

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Published by the Cambridge University Press on 06 September 2023

University of Guelph by Dr Sarah Dodd et al. (2023)

Efficacy of vitamin D2 in maintaining serum total vitamin D concentrations and bone mineralization in adult dogs fed a plant-based (vegan) diet.

" Findings support the hypothesis that PLANT was comparable to MEAT for maintenance of healthy adult dogs for at least 3 months ( duration of the study )."

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Semp (2014) and Keimer (2019)

Veterinary masters theses

250 dogs, 40 for clinical examinations and haematology) demonstrated equivalent or superior health outcomes for vegan dogs.

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cold spring harbor laboratory, 21 Feb. 2023

Linde A, Lahiff M, Krantz A et al. (2023)

Domestic dogs maintain positive clinical, nutritional, and hematological health outcomes when fed a commercial plant-based diet for a year.

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Davies 2022

Reported Health Benefits of a Vegan Dog Food - Dr Mike Davies (2022)

Davies (2022) surveyed 100 dog guardians who had switched to a nutritionally complete vegan dog food designed by UK veterinarians. “The vegan food was acceptable (palatable), and appetite and body weight were not adversely affected. Changes, including improvements, were reported and statistically significant at p< .05 in the following areas: activity, faecal consistency, frequency of defaecation, flatus frequency, flatus antisocial smell, coat glossiness, scales in haircoat (dandruff), redness of the skin (itching, inflammation), itchiness (scratching; pruritus), and anxiety.”

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Published in ScienceDirect, June 2022

Dr Sarah Dodd (2022)

Owner perception of health of North American dogs fed meat- or plant-based diets.

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Prof Andrew Knight in June 2021

Plant-based versus meat-based pet foods: Owner-reported palatability behaviors

Vegan versus meat-based pet foods: Owner-reported palatability behaviors and implications for canine and feline welfare.

This study demonstrate the proof that vegan dog food diets are as palatable as meat-based or even raw in this significant study carried out during 2020 and published by Prof Andrew Knight in June 2021.

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Andrew Knight, Alexander Bauer, Hazel Brown, Sept. 2023

Published study confirming that cats can also be healthier on a vegan diet

Cats studies showed how they can be healthier too on a vegan diet.

In September 2023, Prof Knight published a paper showing that cats on a vegan diet could be healthier than those on a commercial meat-based diet, again with no financial backing from any pet food companies. The effect of this study on the health of our cats and on the health of our planet is staggering, so an extremely valuable paper to publish.

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Andrew Knight, Eason Huang, Nicholas Rai, Hazel Brown - April 13 2022

Vegan versus meat-based dog food: Guardian-reported indicators of health

Prof Andrew Knight and colleagues (Huang E, Rai N, Brown H) published a groundbreaking research paper on the 13th April 2022 that stated from the findings of 2639 dogs, that “the pooled evidence to date indicates that the healthiest and least hazardous dietary choices for dogs, are nutritionally sound vegan diets.”

(Quoted from The Guardian April 22) “Our study is by far the largest study published to date,” said Prof Andrew Knight, at the University of Winchester, UK. “It revealed that the healthiest and least hazardous dietary choices for dogs are nutritionally sound vegan diets.”

Access the data

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Andrew Knight, 2021-02-11

Vegan versus meat-based pet foods: a study of 1418 cats and 2639 dogs

Results of a 2020 online study of 4,060 cat and dog guardians, each asked to describe a single pet. After eliminating 3 blanks, 1,418 cats and 2,639 dogs were included. Owners were asked about indicators of health and wellbeing, and about pet diet and other characteristics.

Prof. Knight added “The key limitation of our study is that we didn’t have a population of animals locked up in a research facility and fed one specific diet without any alteration,” Knight said. “We studied what real dogs in normal homes ate and their health outcomes. It gives us a good indication as to what the outcomes are for dogs in the real world.”

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British Journal of Nutrition (2009)

An experimental meat-free diet maintained haematological characteristics in sprint-racing sled dogs

Very few dogs have greater energy needs than sprint-racing huskies. Accordingly, a 2009 study published in the British Journal of Nutrition compared the health, and in particular, the haematological parameters (focusing on red blood cell counts) of six such dogs fed a meat-free diet with six others maintained on a commercial meat-based diet for 16 weeks, including 10 weeks of competitive racing.
Haematology results for all dogs were within the normal range throughout the study and the consulting vet assessed all dogs to be in excellent physical condition. No dogs developed anaemia. On the contrary, red blood cell counts and haemoglobin values increased significantly over time in both groups.

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