The idea of feeding your dog a vegan diet is often met with scepticism, and even harsh criticism at times. There have even been reports that dog owners could face prison time and fines of up to £20,000 for putting their pets on a plant-based diet that doesn’t “meet all of your dog’s nutritional needs”. However, vets have assured dog owners that it is safe to put their pet on a vegan diet – as long all nutritional requirements are met.
Dr Guy Sandelowsky, a vet and founder of the vegan dog food company Omni, told Express.co.uk: “A plant-based diet for dogs can have lots of health benefits, especially if it means cutting back on relatively unhealthy alternatives.
“Plant-based diets for dogs are increasingly being recognised as providing a broad spectrum of health benefits because they avoid troublesome ingredients like processed meat, excess animal fat and various preservatives and additives.”
Dr Sandelowsky said that his vegan dog food, which typically included sweet potato, brown rice and pumpkin, contained 30 percent more protein than most meat-based diets and were carefully formulated to meet all of a dog’s nutritional needs.
He also shared some expert Dos and Don’ts on how to make safely feed your dog a vegan diet
Do:
- Get vet advice on the vegan diet you want to feed to make sure its balanced and nutritionally complete
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Look for FEDIAF certified complete diets
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Cook ingredients to make them more digestible and to kill bacteria
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Use a supplement if you are home cooking to make sure your dog gets all the vitamins and minerals they need to thrive (the same is true for meat-based diets)
READ MORE: UK dog owners could face jail if they make their dog eat veggie diet