Vegan versus meat-based dog food: Guardian-reported indicators of health

Abstract

Alternative pet foods may offer benefits concerning environmental sustainability and the welfare of animals processed into pet foods. However, some worry these may compromise the welfare of pets. We asked 2,639 dog guardians about one dog living with them, for at least one year. Among 2,596 involved in pet diet decision-making, pet health was a key factor when choosing diets. 2,536 provided information relating to a single dog, fed a conventional meat (1,370 = 54%), raw meat (830 = 33%) or vegan (336 = 13%) diet for at least one year. We examined seven general indicators of ill health: unusual numbers of veterinary visits, medication use, progression onto a therapeutic diet after initial maintenance on a vegan or meat-based diet, guardian opinion and predicted veterinary opinion of health status, percentage of unwell dogs and number of health disorders per unwell dog. Dogs fed conventional diets appeared to fare worse than those fed either of the other two diets. Dogs fed raw meat appeared to fare marginally better than those fed vegan diets. However, there were statistically significant differences in average ages. Dogs fed raw meat were younger, which has been demonstrated to be associated with improved health outcomes. Additionally, non-health related factors may have improved apparent outcomes for dogs fed raw meat, for three of seven general health indicators. We also considered the prevalence of 22 specific health disorders, based on predicted veterinary assessments. Percentages of dogs in each dietary group considered to have suffered from health disorders were 49% (conventional meat), 43% (raw meat) and 36% (vegan). Significant evidence indicates that raw meat diets are often associated with dietary hazards, including nutritional deficiencies and imbalances, and pathogens. Accordingly, the pooled evidence to date indicates that the healthiest and least hazardous dietary choices for dogs, are nutritionally sound vegan diets.

Variables associated with owner perceptions of the health of their dog: further analysis of data from a large international survey

“…Details of the final dataset used for statistical analysis are shown in Table 1 and were similar to the data used in the previous study [15]. Briefly, owners represented a broad age range, with a relatively even distribution in education level, from high school to postgraduate.…”

“…Therefore, two binary variables were created, an any health problem variable and a significant illness variable, which could then be separately be assessed by binary logistic regression and machine learning predictive modelling, as described below. 1 Definitions of the different categories are given in the original study [15]. 2 Please see the footnote to Table 1 for details of how owner and dog diets were assigned.…”

“…Definitions of the different categories are given in the original study[15]. 2 Please see the footnote to Table1for details of how owner and dog diets were assigned.…”

High-throughput plant breeding approaches: Moving along with plant-based food demands for pet food industries

“…Therefore, the COVID-19 pandemic has not had a large detrimental influence on the market for plant-based pet food, while the demand for plant-based pet food online shopping increased significantly ( Figure 1 ) ( 22 ). Based on research conducted by Insight Partners, the global market for plant-based pet food production is expected to increase from nearly US$8.6 billion in 2021 to almost US$15.6 billion by 2028, which clearly indicates the huge investment in this area ( 23 ).…”

Reported Health Benefits of a Vegan Dog Food – A Likert Scale-type Survey of 100 Guardians

“…In a recent paper (Knight and others 2022) 336 guardians feeding vegan diets participated in a global online survey and the authors concluded that, “when compared to conventional meat-based or raw meat rations the healthiest and least hazardous dietary choices for dogs, are nutritionally sound vegan diets”. In this study some health issues were mentioned but there were no data on specific changes in health status following a switch to feeding vegan.…”