Should dogs and cats that are 100% plant-based be supplemented?

The first thing to do is to define what a food supplement is. When we talk about a food supplement, we are talking about nutrients that must be added to a diet to make it complete, or we can refer to a nutrient that an individual needs in quantities greater than those ingested in their diet.

An example of a food supplement would be the B12 that people who eat 100% vegetable food consume, and although we take it as part of our diet, we also consume many foods fortified with vitamin B12, as there is a vitamin B12 deficiency in a large percentage of the population.

With the example of B12, and the fact that it is added in many products of daily consumption for humans, we can understand how the formulation of a complete food for our furry companions works. At VeggieAnimals we take into account that the formulation of your food should be as complete as possible so that there are no nutritional deficiencies. 

Thanks to the FEDIAF (European Pet Food Federation) we know the physiological nutritional needs of dogs and cats and with the data they publish, we prepare the food for the different species in order to ensure that we are providing all the necessary nutrients in the right amounts.

In short, if the food consumed by dogs and cats is complete, and they do not suffer from any condition that causes them to have specific nutritional needs, it is not necessary to supplement them as their food would provide them with all the necessary nutrients.

What if my dog/cat eats things other than their complete food?

We should try to ensure that our companions consume their full daily ration of the complete food that we give them. If we give them homemade food or other incomplete foods, we will be shifting the balance of nutrients that we give them and in the long term we may be giving rise to malnutrition problems and nutritional deficits.