Domestic dogs maintain positive clinical, nutritional, and hematological health outcomes when fed a commercial plant-based diet for a year

Abstract

Objective: Domestic dogs can maintain health on complete and well-balanced canine plant-based nutrition (K9PBN). Novel insight on health outcomes in dogs consuming K9PBN is of relevance to veterinary professionals and consumers given a growing interest in non-traditional dog foods with perceived health benefits, while considering potential safety concerns. We aimed to investigate nutritional equivalence by measuring clinical health outcomes in adult dogs fed K9PBN over twelve months compared to a meat-based diet at baseline. Animals: Fifteen clinically healthy adult dogs living in households in Los Angeles County, California. Procedures: Prospective cohort study evaluating clinical, hematological, and nutritional parameters in dogs at 0, 6, and 12 months, including complete blood count (CBC), blood chemistry, cardiac biomarkers, plasma amino acids, and serum vitamin concentrations. Results: Clinically healthy, client-owned, adult dogs maintain health, based on physical exams, CBC, serum chemistry, plasma amino acids, serum vitamins, and cardiac biomarkers combined with client-reported observations, when fed commercial K9PBN over a twelve-month period. Clinical Relevance: This study is the most comprehensive and longest known K9PBN investigation to date. It provides clinically important evidence-based nutrition data and new knowledge on outcomes in clinically healthy dogs who maintain health without consumption of animal-derived ingredients. Also, it is of major relevance to One Health paradigms since ingredients produced independent of industrial food animal production are both more sustainable and help to circumvent ethical dilemmas for maintenance of health in domestic dogs.

The relative benefits for environmental sustainability of vegan diets for dogs, cats and people

“…However, a sizeable and rapidly-growing body of evidence has now shown that both dogs and cats can thrive on nutritionally-sound vegan diets. Such results are evident within both canine (nine studies: [16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24]) and feline (four studies: [23,[25][26][27]) studies of health outcomes. Furthermore, their behavioural needs and welfare are not compromised by such diets [28].…”

“…A considerable body of recent evidence indicates that provided such diets are formulated to be nutritionally-sound, as modern commercial vegan diets usually are [15], dogs and cats maintained on vegan diets can have longevity and health at least equivalent, and in some respects superior, to those maintained on conventional meat-based diets. Such results are evident within studies of health outcomes in both dogs (nine studies: [16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24]) and cats (four studies: [23,[25][26][27]). Dietary palatability also appears equivalent overall [28].…”