I receive a LOT of questions about feeding dogs a plant-based diet—and I hear lots of commonly-held beliefs that are actually myths. So, I decided to address the most common ones in these vegan dog FAQs. If you have a question I didn’t answer, let me know. 🙂


Aren’t dogs carnivores?

The “are dogs omnivores or carnivores” debate can be a heated one and, indeed, the “carnivore” proponents point to some legitimate carnivorous physiological attributes of dogs, such as their sharp, pointed teeth, hinged jaws and short digestive tract. Dogs are not herbivores, like horses or cows, however, possessing these “carnivorous” traits does not mean that they are carnivores, either. Why? Even though structurally the digestive tracts of dogs and cats are very similar, dogs possess important metabolic traits that true carnivores, such as cats, do not—traits that mirror our own human omnivorous species.

Let’s take a look at a few of these traits that separate dogs from true carnivores, such as cats, placing dogs in the omnivore category:

  • Dogs can convert linoleic acid (LA), an essential omega-6 fatty acid found in plant-based sources, to arachidonic acid (AA). Therefore, dogs can meet their need for AA by consuming plant-based foods. Cats lack the enzyme to make this conversion and must obtain AA from animal-based fats or supplementation.
  • Dogs can convert plant-based beta-carotene (also known as “provitamin A”) to Retinol, the pure form of vitamin A. Retinol is a fat-soluble vitamin found in fatty animal sources. Beta-carotene is a lipid-soluble precursor to Retinol. Cats are unable to make this conversion and must obtain Retinol as found in animal sources or supplementation.
  • Dogs have evolved to digest starch. Dogs have evolved side-by-side with humans in largely agrarian-based (farming) societies (see below), which has led to the enhanced ability to digest starch as indicated by the number of amylase (AMY2B) genes compared to their wolf ancestors. By contrast, true carnivores lack these enzymes.
  • Dogs have enzymes that can aid in producing the essential amino acid arginine and they are not particularly sensitive to low dietary levels of this essential amino acid. Cats, however, lack these necessary enzymes and require high levels of dietary arginine from animal sources or supplementation. Even one meal without arginine can produce devastating consequences in cats, including death.
  • Dogs can convert the essential amino acid tryptophan to niacin, as can humans. Cats cannot make this conversion and must consume preformed niacin from food or supplements.
  • Dogs can synthesize taurine so it is not considered an essential amino acid for dogs, however, cats cannot due to the lack of enzymes necessary in this process. Therefore, taurine is an essential amino acid for cats.

These are just some of the reasons that, scientifically, dogs are most definitely omnivores!

Isn’t feeding a plant-based diet to dogs “unnatural”?

For some reason people seem to think that dogs evolved over tens of thousands of years eating large amounts of meat. Perhaps this is true of wolves in the wild but dogs are not wolves in the wild. In fact, dogs evolved in tandem to their best friends—humans—and the precursors to many modern breeds were raised in largely agrarian-based (farming) societies. This means that for approximately the past 10,000 years, early domestic dogs actually evolved munching on crops from the farming land they roamed and the plant-based foods their humans cultivated. Thousands of years ago meat was a luxury (there was not a fast-food joint on every corner back then!) and was saved for special occasions—certainly not doled out to the family dog.

Even breeds that did historically evolve consuming more animal products, such as the Siberian Husky and Dingo, can certainly adapt to eating a plant-based diet. Just think about humans. Is eating so much meat “species appropriate”? Long before tools were invented to hunt animals and humans were still evolving from primates, we ate plant foods. Yet once our ancestors learned to hunt, our species began consuming meat. However, eating animal products is not “species appropriate” for people—yet many do it multiple times per day!

Isn’t feeding your dog a plant-based diet unhealthy?

Quite the contrary! As you have likely heard—or even experienced—canine chronic diseases, including cancer, are skyrocketing (source) (source). This includes rises in a wide variety of chronic inflammatory-related diseases, from autoimmune thyroiditis to rheumatoid arthritis, chronic kidney and liver diseases and even cancer. Yet, we are feeding our dogs more meat than ever before. So then, is the answer to fuel this downturn in our dogs’ health by throwing even more meat at the problem? We don’t think so!

There are many reasons why animal products are likely contributing to the decline in health of our canine companions. For starters, chemical toxins in the environment bioaccumulate the higher up the food chain you go so when dogs consume other animals, they also consume the toxins in those animals. So, that “healthy” hunk of meat you may be feeding your dog is actually riddled with every toxin that animal came in contact with during his or her lifetime. This is true even of animals that are “organic,” “free range” or “pasture-raised”. You cannot put a bubble around them and protect them from environmental contamination, which, in turn, gets passed along to whoever eats them. In addition, by-products from mistreated or diseased animals sometimes end up in your dog’s food (source).

Removing animal protein from your dog’s diet may lessen the number of toxins your dog is exposed to daily, while providing health-enhancing vitamins, minerals, antioxidants and phytochemicals, which can contribute to better overall health and longevity.

But dogs can’t digest starch!

Yes, they can! As we just discussed, dogs have evolved over thousands of years side-by-side with humans in agrarian societies, differentiating them from wolves. This agrarian-based evolution has resulted in important metabolic changes in the digestive capacity of modern dogs. One of these changes is the ability to digest starch as indicated by the number of amylase (AMY2B) genes, which are higher in number than wolves. Dogs, in fact, are perfectly capable of digesting the starch found in healthy grains, tubers and other plant foods.

What about food intolerances?

Dogs can be intolerant to plant-based foods, however, it’s important to realize that food intolerances are triggered by proteins in food and, therefore, most antigenic foods are actually animal-based products, such as beef, dairy, eggs and chicken. When dogs react to these ingredients, most caretakers simply switch to a “novel” protein—one that the dog has never eaten before. The problem is that after a while, the dog then becomes intolerant to that protein, as well, and thus begins the quest for ever more novel protein sources.

Sadly, this has resulted in many modern dogs consuming foods that are completely inappropriate, such as alligator! While soy is a common antigen, perhaps due to its high protein levels, there are many excellent plant-based protein sources to consider, including our favorite, garbanzo beans (chickpeas). (Also note that only organic soy should be fed to ensure it is non-GMO.) And, while dogs should not eat gluten, which is found in certain grains, such as wheat, there are a wide variety of delicious and healthy gluten-free options available.

My dog can’t get enough protein eating only plants!

There is a growing misconception—largely propagated by proponents of the ketogenic diet movement (the perils of which we will address in appropriate blog posts)—that dogs require high amounts of animal protein to thrive. Happily, they don’t!

Plant foods contain plenty of high-quality protein. Some popular sources include garbanzo beans, lentils, pinto beans, quinoa, buckwheat, gluten-free oats and organic soybeans. (Be sure your dog does not have a food intolerance to any ingredients before feeding them. The best way to find this out is via the NutriScan food intolerance test.)

Food marketers, and even our own government, have done a great job of convincing people that “meat” equals “protein”, but we’re here to tell you that it doesn’t! Not only do plant-based foods provide enough protein, they provide more than enough. We urge you to check out Dr. Pitcairn’s Complete Guide to Natural Health for Dogs and Cats (4th ed.), which among its wealth of other amazing content, contains a chart comparing the protein and fat content of various animal and plant-based foods to the guidelines set by AAFCO. We think you’ll find it enlightening!

Seriously, can dogs really thrive on a plant-based diet?

Absolutely! One of the best examples is Bramble, a vegan Border Collie and one of the world’s longest-living dogs. You could find her in the Guinness Book of World Records as the world’s oldest living dog at the time, thriving on a plant-powered diet for an impressive 25 years! She remained healthy and active and enjoyed a vegan diet throughout her lifespan (source).

I think feeding my dog a plant-based diet would be animal abuse.

Well, then you have a strange notion of animal abuse! Providing your dog with a well-planned, nutritionally-balanced plant-based diet and giving him/her the proper veterinary care, like blood work to check for deficiencies and disorders, is certainly not abusing your dog (source) (source) (source) (source)! In fact, you may well be lessening his/her morbidity and mortality and increasing longevity by providing less toxic and more nutritious food sources (source). And before you jump to the conclusion that your dog needs to consume animals to feel emotionally satisfied, we urge you to check out our Instagram page, where we link to many fun videos and stories of plant-based dogs jumping (literally!) for joy at their meals!

Do I have to add nutritional supplements to my dog’s plant-based diet?

If you purchase a commercial vegan dog food, it’s important to read the label to ensure it is supplemented with the appropriate nutrients, including vitamins E, D and B12, minerals, such as calcium, iron, zinc and copper, and amino acids, such as taurine and L-carnitine. Fortunately, there are several excellent vegan dog foods on the market formulated to be complete and balanced.

All home-based diets, whether plant or animal-based, must be supplemented to be balanced. You can easily supplement your dog’s vegan diet if the food you make at home or buy does not have enough of the nutrients your dog needs to thrive. There are even products made specifically to balance vegan canine diets!

Interestingly, we often hear people’s concerns about serving unbalanced plant-based diets to dogs, but almost never those same concerns when it comes to feeding raw, meat-based diets. Yet, scientific analyses have shown that the majority of home-prepared, raw meat and bone-based diets are deficient in key nutrients or even contain an excess of nutrients, such as calcium, which can be particularly harmful to growing large-breed dogs (1).

Check out my “Why Plant-Based?” page for more interesting info and facts.


References:

1) Dillitzer N, Becker N & and Ellen Kienzle E. (2011). ‘Intake of minerals, trace elements and vitamins in bone and raw food rations in adult dogs’, British Journal of Nutrition, 106, S53-S56, doi:10.1017/S0007114511002765.