Vegan dog food: with studies on healthy knowledge

I'm sure most of you are familiar with the usual prejudices: "Vegan dog food?!? That can't be healthy! It's missing meat, the protein! What about the vitamins? That's unnatural! Deficiency symptoms are bound to occur! That's unhealthy!"

The fact is, dogs don't need the meat itself, but rather the nutrients it contains. These can be provided to dogs through plant-based diets…you just have to know how! That's not just what we say, but science says it too! In our blog article WHAT SCIENCE SAYS ABOUT VEGAN DOG DIET We have compiled some studies that shed light on the current state of knowledge regarding vegan dog nutrition.

We at VEGDOG are frequently confronted with these statements. This is reason enough to take a closer look at vegan dog nutrition for you from a medical perspective. We would also like to offer recommendations on which tests actually make sense for your vegan four-legged friends and how you can reassure yourself that they have a long and healthy vegan life ahead of them.

First of all, the focus should always be on carefully examining the ration administered.

Do you feed ready-made food?

Is this declared as a complete feed?

This should then cover the dog's needs for all the nutrients it needs. Unfortunately, there are still some bad apples among pet food manufacturers. Some of these pet food manufacturers label their food as complete food, but fail to add essential additives.

With a vegan complete food, z.B. The addition of carnitine and taurine, vitamin B12, copper, zinc, and raw materials containing EPA and DHA is necessary. Whether these are actually essential has not yet been proven. However, we recommend taking no risks and therefore add them to all our feeds.

Things are different when the vegan meal for our furry friends is prepared by ourselves.

There are many unintentional mistakes that can be made here. The reason for this is a lack of knowledge about the nutritional needs of dogs. However, this has nothing to do with a vegan diet. After all, dogs don't need the meat itself, but rather its components. These can be provided just as well through various plant-based ingredients.

Anyone who decides to cook their own food or feed raw food can unknowingly fall into some traps.

Our beloved four-legged friends have a basic need for many different nutrients and minerals, as well as trace elements and vitamins. These needs must be met and vary depending on age, physical condition, and state of health. If an undersupply or oversupply occurs, the dog's body compensates for this over a very long period of time, usually over many years. Changes in the blood count are usually not yet noticeable. The status quo in the blood is maintained at the expense of various organ systems.

If symptoms of malnutrition appear at some point, it is high time to rethink your feeding habits.

Signs of poor nutrition can be diverse. A deficiency in copper, zinc, and various vitamins can manifest itself z.B. in an unhealthy looking coat and reduced immune system.

Bone deformities or even fractures occur when calcium and phosphorus are inadequately supplied. Too much iodine leads to an overactive thyroid, causing the dog to lose weight. Too little iodine has the opposite effect.

We reluctantly recommend having various expensive blood tests performed to detect nutrition-related diseases. These tests are often inconclusive and difficult to determine whether malnutrition is present. In our opinion, the money is better invested in a specialist (a veterinarian with additional qualifications in small animal nutrition counseling) who can create a balanced and needs-based diet for your beloved four-legged friends or review your current feeding habits. This will give you peace of mind that your dog is not suffering from any deficiencies and can live a long, healthy life. The blood work would be irrelevant in this case.

If you still want to have something checked, it's best to opt for a full blood count. This will reveal not only blood and inflammatory cells but also organ parameters. If thyroid levels are elevated, you should pay attention and ask yourself how your dog's iodine supply is. Kidney values ​​will tell you whether there might be excessive stress due to an overdose of various substances. An above-average content of protein and/or phosphorus in the diet is particularly stressful here. And the liver, as the dog's main metabolic organ, will sooner or later (sometimes unfortunately too late) reveal whether something is wrong. Here, too, a high content of protein (especially if it is difficult to digest) is counterproductive. Too much vitamin A and copper also puts a strain on the liver, as these are metabolized there.

Of course, underlying illnesses often precede this, but these can be significantly influenced (both positively and negatively) by the composition of the diet. It is also possible to have blood levels of calcium, phosphorus, zinc, copper, vitamin B12, and other substances tested. As already mentioned, however, values ​​within the reference range can mask a poorly formulated diet and only lead to problems after a longer period of time.

Here are the most common pitfalls you can fall into when cooking your own vegan meal:

• Human-to-dog transfer: Dogs and humans have fundamentally different needs for most nutrients. Therefore, feeding human rations is unfortunately completely unsuitable for our four-legged friends.
• This much-discussed protein is a key issue in our dogs' vegan diets. Not only meeting their needs, but also the composition of their amino acid profile is crucial.
• The ideal calcium-phosphorus ratio is 1.3:1. Calculating this is not easy and should be left to a specialist. The calcium and phosphorus levels in the blood remain constant for a long time, even with a poor diet. This can then adversely affect bones and other tissues from which these minerals are derived.
• Copper and zinc are trace elements that are lacking in most home-prepared rations. They are usually not present in the required quantities in natural feeds and therefore usually need to be supplemented. A deficiency becomes noticeable over time through a dull coat.
• Iodine is found in various algae. These contain this essential trace element in such abundant quantities that an oversupply often leads to negative effects on the thyroid.
• B vitamin deficiencies are not uncommon. This is a shame, as you can't overdose, and excess B vitamins are simply excreted. Supplementing these health boosters is therefore safe.
• Each prepared ration should contain approximately 1g/kg of high-quality oil (linseed oil, safflower oil, borage oil, evening primrose oil, etc.), as this is the only oil that contains the essential fatty acids. Since this is high in calories, the other components of the ration must be reduced.
• Sick animals have different needs for different substances and must therefore always receive a ration tailored to their state of health!
• Puppies are much less forgiving of nutritional errors than adult dogs! They are in their prime growth phase, have an increased need for protein, and deficiencies in calcium and phosphorus can lead to irreparable bone deformities!

If you have any questions about your rations, please do not hesitate to ask them at tierarzt@vegdog.de zu place.

Your VEGDOG team