Vegan dogs

I love animals. That’s why I don’t eat them. I want the companionship from animals, but not to have to feed them the flesh of other animals- and therefore supporting the meat industry and the needless suffering of more beautiful creatures. You too, may feel the same.So let me share with you the story of my dogs. I adopted my first dog, Cooper, about 8 years ago from an animal shelter and started some research into feeding my boy a vegan diet.

The first thing I concluded from my reading was that dogs are omnivores and naturally scavengers. It is not natural for them to eat products that have had pesticides, chemicals and hormones added. It seems amazing to me, that people think they should only feed them primarily meat, and that being from processed packages, which may also contain meats that are not considered fit for human consumption.

Secondly and importantly, I found that nutritionally, dogs can obtain all the essential nutrients required without any animal products whatsoever. Every single essential amino acid, fatty acid, carbohydrate (for energy), vitamin, and mineral can be provided quite easily in a vegan diet in sufficient quantities and is perfectly bioavailable for them to thrive. The Association of American Feed Control Officials (AAFCO), in cooperation with the US Centre for Veterinary Medicine (CVM), has developed the AAFCO Dog and Cat Food Nutrient Profiles, which details the known nutritional requirements for these species.

Armed with this knowledge, I began a diet program for Cooper. When I first got Cooper, a Pomeranian x, his short coat was a little wiry, he seemed a snappy and destructive. I can’t speak of his history, so I don’t know how much of the changes I began to see where also responses to his change in environment but the first thing I noticed was, within 2 weeks of his new diet, he seemed to have settled down. He was calm and seemed more content and less destructive. A month or so later, I started to note him losing quite a bit of hair. Could be because we were coming into summer, I had thought. The texture of the coat started to change, it gradually became softer (and much nicer to cuddle). The way Cooper smelt also changed. His breath became less offensive, his coat also no longer had that “doggy” smell. I always just thought that was the smell of dogs, as I suppose most people would. Now I realize, it is a direct result of the meat based diet. Complete strangers comment to me that my dogs don’t smell.

The same changes were noted with my other two dogs. All three of them are so gentle, less food focused than other dogs that I have known. They all have softer fur and look younger than their age. Their personalities are completely different, of course, but they all seem content and happy and with boundless energy.

I am so happy that all of us, including my dogs, are not supporting the suffering of animals. I am sure if my dogs could speak they would speak out against animal cruelty!

Here are some resources you may like to have a look at.

http://www.vegsoc.org/info/dogfood1.html
http://www.vegepets.info
http://www.vegetariandogs.com
Small Animal Clinical Nutrition 4th Edition by Hand, Thatcher, Remillard and Roudebush

Do you have vegan dogs? Or cats? Are you considering putting your animals onto a more humane diet? Tell me your story!

Comment via Facebook