INTRODUCING A VEGAN DIET FOR DOGS

Providing 100% vegetarian food to our four-legged buddies comes with a responsibility for us. As with any other food, we need to allow for a 5-day adaptation period if the animal is healthy, and longer if we suspect that the animal could be intolerant to some ingredient or if some other parameter needs to be evaluated during the transition from its previous feed to the new one.

The adaptation can be quick, simple, and very positive, or it may cost a little more. This, of course, depends on the individual and on the diet they were previously fed. Usually, whenever there are issues in accepting a 100% vegetable feed such as VeggieAnimals, which does not contain artificial flavours, it is because the previous feed did contain them, and we all find it hard to get used to other flavours and textures.

We always recommend that you make changes to your dog's diet during periods when the dog is healthy, or, should he have a chronic health problem, when it is stable, and if the dog has any condition causing it to be stressed (moving house, arrival of a new member to the family, etc.), this condition should be solved before the change is made.

Please bear in mind that, for most dogs, a change in diet is not a cause of stress, but there are dogs that are more sensitive and we should always avoid, as much as possible, making too many changes at once.

What should we know about vegan diets in dogs?

There are 10 essential amino acids for dogs, the 9 required by all mammals, as well as arginine, so it is very important that we take this information into account in the formula.

In addition to the amino acids that will build the proteins, there are other essential nutrients, such as fats, vitamins, and minerals, that must be contained in the food we offer to our partners because the deficit of essential nutrients can lead to potentially irreversible diseases.
 

What are the benefits of a 100% plant diet for dogs?

100% plant-based diets, as they do not contain animal proteins, are considered hypoallergenic, as the highest percentage of food allergy problems occur with animal proteins (beef, chicken, fish, eggs and dairy products).

Correctly formulated and processed plant-based foods are easily digestible and provide all the nutrients for our furry friends to enjoy good health, with healthy, shiny skin and fur.

Furthermore, as they are healthy products without any additives or harmful ingredients, the organism does not trigger exaggerated inflammatory reactions, which is very beneficial for animals with severe allergic reactions, arthrosis problems or other immune system disorders (such as lupus).

What should you do if your dog does not like to eat 100% plant-based food or does not take in the amount recommended for its weight and/or activity?

Letting him go hungry because "he'll have to eat" is not an option for us. That's why we always recommend pulling on "seasoning" and persuasion techniques, to get your partner to not only eat but also to enjoy it!

Persuasion techniques are all the tools we use to get our buddy to associate food with something positive (I know, for those of you who live with food anxiety this sounds a little odd, so we'll mention your case, which would be the other end of the relationship with food).

To convince them to eat them willingly, sometimes you can hydrate the pellets with hot water so that they smell more intensely, and are easier to chew, other times you can mash them into a purée, or add the dressings. The "dressings" or "seasonings" are different ingredients that we can add to the food to make it more eye-catching and more pleasant to eat.

The seasonings can be a splash of raw oil (olive-oil, sunflower, coconut, or flax, 1/2 teaspoonful every 10 kilos), a handful of beer yeast, some aromatic herbs, a piece of fruit or vegetable that you like (never grapes, tomatoes in excess, nuts or onions), you can also add vegetable stock (make sure it is very low in salt and fat and onion free), or rice, pasta, potato, sweet potato, yucca, zucchini, pumpkin or other vegetables or legumes that they like cooked (remember, no fat and always low salt). However, if even so, your buddy should still try to resist, try using food for human consumption, such as vegetable sausage, tofu or seitan, but in very small quantities, just enough to give the feed a different taste.

What do I do if the dog I live with is always hungry and eats anxiously?

To reduce food anxiety there are several techniques, usually associated with animals with high activity levels and situational management issues, so they steal food and are more mobile than normal.

To rule out behavioural issues it is best to see an ethologist and have the vet rule out polydipsic disorders.

If we have ruled out all of this, the ethologist can give us guidelines on how to handle it. For example, divide up the portion into several servings, feed them through interactive toys so that they can exercise their body and mind and lower their stress levels, or always give them the servings at the same time so that they know they will always have their meal on time (the issue of schedules is controversial, but generally it is better that they exist).

To avoid your furry buddy from swallowing the food without chewing, you can add a glass of water so that the pellets float and he or she has to pick them up one at a time or at least has a harder time picking up too many at once. You can also use interactive or anti-anxiety bowls to keep them from gagging when eating their food.

If someone doubts your decision to make this change, remember that we are not doing anything different from what we used to do or what the rest of the dog handlers are doing. The diet we offer them simply does not contain other animals, but dogs that consume meat-based feeds are not better fed, most meat-based feeds contain hormones, by-products, toxic additives, and many of them are broken down into nutrients. 100% vegetable diets are formulated to save lives; business is not what counts, but the health of our fellow 4-legged buddies and the lives of the animals that do not need to be killed to feed them.



María González.
Founder of Refugio La Vida Color Frambuesa and vet for VeggieAnimals.