Dogs fed food without animal products are on average healthier than dogs fed the usual meat-containing food, British and Australian researchers have found.

“It’s pretty clear that a vegan diet for dogs is not recommended.” At the beginning of 2020 this could still be read in a opinion piece in the veterinary science journal Fat Record† But do such dogs really do worse than congeners that get regular kibble? Investigated that Andrew Knight from the University of Winchester in England and colleagues by thousands of pet owners a to have a questionnaire completed†

To the vet

Among other things, the owners had to tell what kind of diet their pet followed. Of more than 2,500 dog owners, 54 percent gave them a ‘conventional meat diet’. 33 percent chose raw meat. 13 percent went for the other extreme: vegan dog food, so without meat, milk, eggs or other animal products.

The owners also entered, for example, how often they had taken their animal to the vet in the past year and whether they had given it medication. They also assessed the health of their dog themselves and had to tell their vet about it.

The healthiest option

The outcome: In terms of health, the dogs on a vegan diet and those on a raw meat diet outperformed the dogs on a regular diet. They went to the vet less often, were rated healthier by their owners and (at least, according to those same owners) by the vet, and suffered fewer ailments.

The dogs that were fed raw meat did even slightly better than the “vegan” dogs, the researchers report. But, they add, the dogs on a raw meat diet were also more likely to be young. And young dogs have fewer health problems anyway. The dogs on a vegan diet were often a bit older.

All in all, the researchers conclude that, of the three options studied, a vegan diet – provided it contains all the necessary nutrients! – “is the healthiest and least dangerous option”.

Lots of factors

Ronald Jan Corbeea specialist in clinical companion animal nutrition at Utrecht University, calls the study’s conclusions “interesting”, but not reliable, because they are “based only on information provided by the owner”.

That owner, Corbee continues, cannot properly assess his pet’s health. “It is also going too far to establish a direct relationship between diet and the number of vet visits. Many factors influence that number; it does not directly say anything about the health of the animal.”

Diet advice

The researchers also recognize that there are quite a few limitations to the questionnaires completed by owners. They would rather have relied on the judgment of veterinarians, and for example blood and urine tests, they write. “But if you have to study large numbers of animals to get statistically meaningful results, such studies get very expensive.” More expensive, they continue, than their budget allowed.

Whether you are allowed to give dietary advice as a result of a study like this one? No, says Corbee. “It goes a long way to conclude that vegan feeding is the best.”