Vegan Dog

 [This article was first published in February 2023].

Our running dogs’ diet

And now for something serious but hopefully not contentious.

A couple of months ago readers were invited to send in portraits of their vegan running dogs in action – ideally with the dog wearing a VR buff or something similar.

A few proud dog owners responded with pictures of non-vegan dogs.  Varied understandable explanations for the dog’s omnivore diets included being in an omnivore household; concern for the dog’s welfare; uncertainty on the suitability of vegan dog food and the dog itself refusing to eat vegan food. There are some long-standing strict compassionate vegans who are shy of inflicting their own views on their pets.

It would be a wonderful thing if we could all be proudly and confidently running with vegan dogs (wearing their buffs) at parkruns. 

So, what’s the scientific position on this?

Several research reports on the success and benefits of vegan diets for dogs have been published in recent years.  All but one were universally favourable for vegan dogs including one that estimated vegan dogs enjoyed an extended life span of 18 months over there omnivore counterparts.

However, despite there being a good number of vets who are convinced by the research and have been vocal on the benefits, the British Veterinary Association (BVA) is still cautious on making any formal endorsement.  The BVA’s concern might stem from isolated reports of dog owners feeding nutritionally unbalanced (non-formulated) home cooked food with detrimental effect.  But there are now several scientifically formulated vegan brands on the market.

If we are feeding our dogs vegan food and proudly exhibiting them with VR kit at parkruns we rightly need to be confident that we are doing the right thing for the dog’s health and we need be able to refute any criticism and answer any questions that might come our way from curious omnivores.

Mic The Vegan youtubed a systematic review of 16 research reports on vegan dogs (and cats too).  Half of the reports were published in 2022 which reflects the increasing interest driven by the IPCC agenda.  [Since then more supporting evidence has emerged].

For some dog guardians the jury is probably still out and is endorsement by the BVA is an important awaited milestone - especially if you need to convince omnivore members of your household.

Meanwhile there is an increasing number of vegan dog foods brands coming on to the market.  There’s also a growing number of dog owning vets who strongly advocate these vegan products.

Which leads us to the this newly published book on the subject.

We needed a ‘HOW NOT TO DIE’ for dogs to get everyone on the same page.  The newly published ‘THE PLANT POWERED DOG’ fits the bill - and more.  This 379-page text is a combination of Michael Gregor’s now classic work boosted with a chunk of his forthcoming ‘HOW NOT TO AGE’ (out 5^th Dec 2023).

If there is a dichotomy of views on this topic this book is the means to unify understanding..  According to this book, Vegan runners who proudly run with their plant-powered canine friends, can be confident that their running companion it is thriving. 

Those with doubts and guilty thoughts at imposing their vegan values on the dog can now find solace.  Those who live within a mixed (vegan/omnivore) household will likely have a higher hurdle to leap for an evidence-based justification for a plant diet now have a bible of evidence. 

At £25.32 it’s not cheap.  The author has impressive credentials having published 175 research papers.

If your dog is not plant-powered and you are open minded read on.  If your dog is plant-powered but you are not 100% confident its best for animal, read on.  If you are in a mixed household this will certainly be useful. 

Let’s start with a few headline teasers. 

·       Plant-powered dogs live typically 18 months longer than their traditionally counterparts. 

·       They have low risks of a range of chronic metabolic diseases, much chance of cancer and reduced susceptibility to chronic inflammation and oxidative stress. 

·       Just like with humans there should be more years in their life and more life in their years. 

As a consequence, your furry friend can be joining you for many more parkruns.

 

A survey of 2,536 dogs over 12 months found that conventional diets are less healthy than raw meat or vegan diets. Almost half of the dogs fed a conventional omnivorous diet required medication at some point compared to 36% of vegan dogs.

The co-authors of Plant Powered dog are highly qualified and well experienced in dog nutrition.  The lead author, Diane Lverdure-Dunetz has Masters in Animal Science and is a canine nutrition practitioner for over 25 years (the most recent 15 of those being plant based).  The supporting author, Jean Dodds, is a qualified veterinarian and an expert in holistic canine medicine specialising in food intolerances; inflammation and autoimmune disorders.  Both have either authored or contributed to many research papers on dog nutrition.

Diane became vegetarian in 2007 and Vegan in 2017. Jean has been vegetarian for 40 years.  They have previously jointly authored two earlier books; The Canine Thyroid Epidemic (2011) and Canine Nutrigenomics (2015).

The book is structured in two parts.  Part one covers the dog nutrition basics and the steps ensuring first class health for your canine.  Part two provides helpfully detailed diets to address the common canine disorders.  Just like in ‘HOW NOT TO DIE’ there are many references to the source research.

What is striking is the similarities between dog and human nutrigenomics and a root cause of many dog ailments results from undiagnosed chronic inflammation with adverse physiological impacts and brain and mood consequences.  The authors cite pathogens, chemicals and toxins as a common cause and explain the threat of their bioaccumulation in the food chain (echoes of Rachael Carlson’s Silent Spring).  There is also an emphasis on the epigenetic effects of nutrition being significantly more important that the underlying DNA.  Promoting the pet’s healthy microbiome through diet and avoiding leaky gut are vital.  ‘Conventional’ pet food is not ideal for a dog’s gut health.  Plant food rocks for a healthy and diverse microbiome.

The book reminds us that a dog on an omnivore diet is yet another stress on planetary habitat; climate change and impacts animal welfare.  The feed involves thousands of animals to be slaughtered over a dog’s standard lifetime.

Where dogs differ from humans

Whilst dogs and human digestion and metabolic processes are comparable in so many ways the authors detail where dogs and humans nutrition vary. 

The recommended minimum protein intake for dogs is higher than humans at 18% compared to our 10%.  The authors explain that most conventional dog food is double the minimum protein which can have several harmful consequences.  High protein does not equate with high quality. 

Dogs are less capable of synthesising the amino acid need Taurine than we humans.  They need adequate B12 (which they might get from their outdoor activity but why take it to chance), vitamin D, vitamin E, choline, thiamine, copper and selenium.  Guardians can be confident of adequacy through either purchasing formulated food or using supplements.  No surprises

The book dives into plant digestibility, nutrient absorption, dog flatulence and stool formation.  Its all here.  Researches found plant diets to have acceptable palatability.

Dogs are like humans.

Plants diets are lower in fat with more beneficial antioxidant and phytochemicals – does this sound familiar?  Plant sourced dog foods are generally better for a more stable glycaemic load.  Who would have guessed?   Diet is a key risk factor of chronic inflammation in both people and animals.  Cancer is a leading cause of death is both dogs and humans.  Dogs can suffer ischaemic heart disease.  Dogs can have food intolerances (70% have sensitivity to one or more animal or fish ingredients).  In the UK approximately 64% of humans are overweight or obese – our canine friends are not far behind at 51%.  Excess protein in traditional dog food causes weight gain – as it does in humans.  This list goes one.

Canine Athletes

This is where it really gets interesting.  If you want to have the fittest, if not fastest dog in parkrun then the plant diet rocks.  The authors argue that the vegan diets helps avoiding obesity; leads to sound metabolic processes; a superior glycolytic energy system and less oxidative stress.  Would you believe that greyhounds perform worse on a higher protein diet?  However, the references to dog based research on dog athletes exists but is not so copious and the authors cite examples human vegan athletes to support their argument. 

In a 16-week controlled experiment in 2009, a meat-free diet maintained haematological characteristics in sprint-racing sled dogs (Siberian huskies). Those findings paved the way for plant-based commercial pet food manufacturers

Unless the dog is already thriving on a vegan diet, every dog guardian should buy their dog a copy of this book.  But oh wait!  The chances are your dog can’t read.  So, to keep a clear conscience you might need to read it for them.  Alternative sources are available but this one is the most up-to-date in an area of emerging science.

This article was written for www.veganrunning.club