Can Dogs Go Vegan?
1 Oct 2022
Can dogs be vegan? Well, sort of. Dogs cannot have the ethical motivation required for this. But when we talk about vegan dogs we are really talking about those on a vegan, or plant-based, diet. And then the answer is unambiguously “yes”, there are many dogs living happy lives on such a vegan diet. One famous example was Bramble, a Border Collie who lived to 25 [1]. At the time of her death, she was recognised as "the world's oldest bitch" by the Guinness Book of Records. She was fed a vegan diet. So yes, dogs can be vegan. Or at least this shows some dogs can be healthy on a properly designed vegan diet today, there might be some exceptions.
There may not be a ton of research on vegan dogs, but what there is tends to point towards vegan dogs being as healthy, if not healthier, than non-vegan dogs. While this may be surprising, dogs have evolved from their wolf ancestors exactly because they could utilise human food scraps, which historically included plant-based ones. More importantly still, with modern food processing technology, nutrients can be measured and supplemented where needed. Of course, don’t just take my word for it....
The Science
One study [2] found that dogs can perform at the highest athletic level while on a vegan diet. 12 sled racing Siberian Huskies were equally divided into a vegan diet and standard diet group, in the weeks before and during 10 weeks of competitive racing. Such racing is one of the most demanding activities for any dog. No differences were found between either group blood works or other veterinarian checks.
That was only 6 vegan dogs, a more mundane and larger study [3] included 2,536 dogs, of which 336 vegan and 830 on raw meat diets for at least a year. These were dogs in a domestic setting. The study found that dogs eating a conventional diet had more health issues than the other two groups. And while vegan dogs were about as healthy as the raw meat dogs, the vegan dogs were also older. As with humans, you would expect older dogs to have more health issues, so this still points in favour of vegan dogs (note this doesn’t automatically mean vegan dogs live longer, e.g. this data could also come from vegan dog owners adopting older dogs rather than raising them as a puppy. At this point, we simply don’t know). Another recent study including 357 plant based dogs [4] and found similar results
These are very promising results. As always, more research is appreciated and feeding trials are missing. Still, this should be a solid base to at least try a vegan diet for your dog. Because even if a vegan diet is only as healthy as a meat based one for you dog, it is definitely more healthy for the “food animal” that is killed otherwise. I’m sure no citation is needed for that…
None of that matters if dogs don’t like eating plant based food. Dogs might be thought to prefer meat-based ingredients. Put to the test this isn't supported [5]. Although there might be some differences, overall feeding behaviour is mostly the same between the meat and plant-based meals in adult Beagles. "These results also suggest that dogs do not have an innate preference for animal or vegetable ingredient-based diets that mimic commercial formulas."
Even Healthier Vegan Dogs
It’s great that a vegan diet seems to be as healthy, and possibly healthier than meat-based diets, can we do even better? I believe so. We can’t say with certainty why this is the case with the current data. One likely cause is allergies and intolerances. Dogs, much like humans, can have these for specific animal meats, as well as for specific plants. With a fair portion of dogs unable to digest a specific meat, switching to plant based foods can help them. Plant based foods have the benefit of listing all ingredients, so any allergens can be avoided. Most common meat based foods do not have that, and often list their animal components like “Meat and Animal Derivatives”. Is there beef in there, or chicken? Who knows.
Transition gradually - When switching dogs over to a plant based food, it is best to do this gradually. Say start with 10% new food and 90% of their current. Then the next day do 20/80 etc. until they are fully on the new food. This way, if any issues come up due to an allergy or insensitivity, this is likely to be a mild one and you can revert back to the old food or another new one. This also helps picky dogs get used to the new flavour.
Use multiple foods - Where raw food diets can have parasites and bacterial contamination, processed kibble and wet food may not always be mixed properly in the factory. The majority of dog and cat foods have at least one nutrient outside of guidelines in the UK [6] with no reason to believe other countries do much better, vegan pet food seems no exception to this either [7]. By feeding your dog at least two different commercial foods, any over or undershot nutrient is likely to be compensated or at least reduced by the second.
Measure Urinary Alkalinization – For those who want to take all precautions. It is postulated that plant based diets are less acidic and can increase urinary alkalisation. This can definitely cause serious issues, although it may not happen more often to plant based dogs than traditionally fed ones. Still, as a precautionary matter, you can regularly measure your dog’s urinary acidity with readily available test strips, especially when switching diet. Any issues with this caught early can be addressed and corrected with supplementation [8].
Extras
The environmental impact of our pets' diets is quite large. Pets in the US constitute about 25–30% of the environmental impacts of farm animal production in terms of land, water, fossil fuel, phosphate, and biocides used. Plant-based diets require dramatically less of all of these, both to feed humans, and to feed pets. [9]
Vegan dogs are still uncommon. Your vet may not have seen one before. If you want to help your vet with providing the best possible care, you can share this document, written by a vet with this experience from 2018.
Finally, a UK and EU specific benefit from an unlikely corner. The ease of crossing the border from the UK into the EU. It is no longer permitted to cross the border with any meat-based products, including meat-based pet food. Even vet-prescribed meat-based pet food over 2kg is not allowed. Any amount of commercial vegan pet food is still allowed. Even if it is not a permanent fixture, going vegan for the holidays with food they have been eased into may be easier than switching abruptly once past the border.