VEGGIEANIMALS EXPERIENCE: Grace, Bella and Dave

1. Tell us the story of your dogs:

I share my life with 3 amazing, beautiful dogs - Grace, Bella and Dave.  They have all been vegan since living with me.

Grace is a Lurcher/Saluki cross; she was a rescue from an English dog rescue centre 8 years ago.  She is now about 11 or 12 years old and sometimes gets tired on long walks now, but she still loves to run like a wild thing (it's beautiful to see).  She loves her bed more than ever these days.  She is a gentle soul, and a very slow eater, but guards her bowl fiercely!  She weighs 18kg.

Bella is about 8 years old; she is an Estrela (Portuguese mountain dog) who weighs 35kg.  She was rescued from an abusive, neglectful shepherd in Portugal in 2020, after spending the first 4 years of her life tied to a dead tree, with no shade and only stale bread to eat.  

when I found her she was very malnourished and her coat was completely matted and all had to be shaved off, but now she is a healthy weight, with a beautiful thick, soft, glossy coat.  She is a gentle and sweet dog, but lives in a world of her own because I think she has some learning difficulties due to the neglect she suffered in her early years.

Dave is an Alentejo (another Portuguese breed).  He was a street dog, who visited my home one day about 3 years ago, enjoyed the vegan food and cuddles I offered him, and decided to stay :-)   He is about 4 or 5 years old, weighs 33 kg, and is very bright; he still loves to go wandering and often gets into trouble climbing high fences into other people's gardens, but my neighbours in the nearest village know him well and love him nearly as much as I do.  He is a really funny, smart and independent character. 

2. Do they have any illness?

All the dogs are healthy - none have any illnesses or health conditions. 

3. How did you find out about VeggieAnimals and what opinion did you have about 100% plant-based foods for dogs/cats?

When I moved to Portugal, I searched online for commercial vegan dog biscuits to supplement the vegan food I have always made for 'my' companion dogs.  In England, where I used to live, this was readily available and reasonably affordable, but there were almost no choices in Portugal.  VeggieAnimals from Spain was one of the few options available and although it is very expensive for me, I would never consider buying dog food that contained murdered animals. 

4. How long has your partner consumed VeggieAnimals? What did you consume before? What changes have you noticed since using it?

All three dogs have eaten vegan food since the day they came to live with me (8 years for Grace, 4 years for Bella and 3 years for Dave).       I'm guessing they all ate meat before arriving here (though perhaps not much for Bella) and in truth they still do love it - for example if they find animals' bones etc. on the street.  As stated above, because I didn't ever feed them anything else, I haven't really noticed any changes - the only obvious one is in the quality of Bella's coat, but that is as much about previous neglectful care as about diet, I believe.    

5. How do he/she eat it? What do you think about palatability?

All three dogs love VeggieAnimals biscuits: I add one scoop into their food every meal.  I regularly look after many friends' dogs too, who all eat the vegan food I make, with added VeggieAnimals biscuits, when they stay with me - I never knew a dog who did not love this combination.  I never tasted it myself, so I can't comment on palatability, but I guess it's very tasty by the way the dogs eat it.

6. Have you noticed changes in stool, number of bowel movements, consistency or odor?

All three dogs poo regularly and I have no concerns about their digestion or bowel health.  Their stools are always healthy-looking - solid and not too wet, not too dry: they are not at all smelly.  They are slightly yellow in colour because of the turmeric I add to the food I make for them.   

7. Changes in his/her weight?

Bella and Dave both gained a little weight shortly after they came to live with me, but they were both underweight and malnourished  beforehand.  All three dogs now remain at a steady, healthy weight. 

8. Have you make him/her recently tests or how was his/her last checkup?

Grace recently had some tests for an arrhythmic heartbeat, but the canine cardiologist concluded this was probably due to anxiety whist at the vet, rather than a chronic heart condition.  Blood tests that were done showed no problems at all for her.  The other two have not needed any veterinary treatment other than their annual check-up and inoculations.  The vet was very happy with the health and condition of them all.      

9. Does your veterinarian agree with this type of diet?

I recently moved and the dogs' new vet is fairly neutral about a vegan diet for dogs, though I suspect he is a little sceptical.  Their previous vet acknowledged that they were very healthy and was interested to learn about what I feed them.