New US research shows at least two human-grade, lightly cooked vegan diets provide adequate nutrition for dogs.
A team at the University of Illinois tested two human-grade vegan formulas (with and without a grain ingredient) from Bramble against a leading brand chicken-based kibble diet. They fed the diets to beagles for three weeks and sampled the dogs’ blood chemistry, fecal quality, and microbiome, the collection of microbes present in the poop.
Their results are published in the Journal of Animal Science.
The team also analysed the foods themselves—the vegan diets were veterinary nutritionist-formulated mixtures of whole foods like lentils, garbanzo beans, sweet potatoes, butternut squash, apples, blueberries, peas, and carrots—and confirmed both vegan diets and the chicken-based diet met standards set by the Association of American Feed Control Officials for ‘complete and balanced’ nutrition.
“One thing to remember is that animals don’t have ingredient requirements; they have nutrient requirements,” study co-author Kelly Swanson said.
“As long as they’re consuming the essential nutrients in the correct amounts and ratios, dogs can be vegan, vegetarian, or meat-eaters.
“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.”
In earlier studies, Swanson’s group showed human-grade, fresh dog foods to be highly digestible, resulting in dramatically less stool. That wasn’t exactly the case for the vegan diets in the current study. All diets were highly digestible, but the vegan diets didn’t generate any more or less stool than the chicken diet.
The research team was surprised to find certain blood metabolites—chemicals in the blood that can indicate health status—differed between the vegan diets and the chicken-based diet. Notably, blood triglycerides and cholesterol, measures of circulating fats, were significantly lower in dogs fed the vegan diets. That could benefit obese pets and help maintain a healthy weight.
When they analysed the fecal microbiome and the chemicals produced by those microbes, the team noted more positive changes.
“There were some interesting and beneficial changes in the microbial community that I think reflect the blend of fibres that were present in the vegan diets,” Swanson said.
“The fecal metabolites phenol and indole, both of which contribute to fecal odor, were dramatically decreased in those diets too. It’s still going to smell, but probably less.
“Overall, it looked like there were some beneficial shifts from a gut health perspective in dogs fed the vegan diets.”
