Carefully-Made Vegan Dog Food Is Paws-itively Approved By Scientists As Healthy

Those who participate in veganism often face the thorny decision of whether to make their dogs join the same lifestyle. Many animal advocates might be against doing as such, seeing as canines are omnivorous and need meat.
 
Nonetheless, pets require a set amount of nutrients the kibble can deliver. However, with the uptake of owners converting over to vegan-based diets for their furry friends, will it be healthy enough to tide them over? Here to answer that is a team from the University of Illinois.
 
“One thing to remember is that animals 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,” co-author of the study Kelly Swanson says. “Knowledge of ingredient composition and nutrient needs are critical, however. Anyone can slap together a vegan meal for their dog, but without careful formulation, you might have something that’s really imbalanced.”
 
There were two types of human-grade vegan formulas from Bramble, a plant-based dog food company, presented in the study. Both consisted of lentils, garbanzo beans, sweet potatoes, butternut squash, apples, blueberries, peas, and carrots. The researchers then trialed this against a leading brand of chicken-based kibble.
 
They gave the food to 12 adult female beagles over three weeks, and the researchers sampled the canine’s stool, blood chemistry, and microbiome.
 
One thing the academics noticed in the blood chemistry of the animals was that the dogs on the vegan diet had lower fat circulating in them. In addition, in the fecal samples, they found that factors contributing to the smell were reduced as well. This indicated overall better gut health for the pooches.
 
“No one had tested digestibility of these diets in dogs before this. We showed that these vegan diets resulted in desirable fecal characteristics, high nutrient digestibilities, and positive changes to certain blood and fecal metabolites,” Swanson states.
 
Finally, it should be noted that veterinary professionals curated these plant-based dishes. It may be good news for vegan owners on the fence about what to do with their dogs’ diet, but it may not be advisable to wholly switch them over to homemade meals as they will still need nutrients from pet food.

The study was initially published in the Journal of Animal Sciences.
 
 
 
[via New Atlas and Phys.org, Photo 12584215 © Nancy Dressel | Dreamstime.com]