A vegan diet alone has in no way enough vitamins, minerals or nutrients for your dog to thrive. When you search ‘can my dog survive on a vegan diet’, one of the first answers that comes up is ‘it is theoretically possible, but it’s easier to get it wrong that get it right’ and we could not agree more with this statement. We must remember that dogs have a completely different digestion system to us, and what works for humans, does not necessarily work for mans best friend. To us, it’s not exactly justifiable to feed a dog a diet that is just leaving a dog on the border or surviving. 

Most vegan pet foods are soy based, there are not enough studies to prove that soy is or isn’t good for dogs. It is simply in vegan food because they need to have enough protein for an animal that needs a protein-based diet. Then there is always grain, and lots of it. They need fillers in there, because what better way to make a pet food cheaper to make and more expensive to sell? Then of course they have actual good ingredients such as fruit and veg and essential oils. With this diet, your dog will have low energy levels, it’s gonna stink, have a dull coat, be unhappy, have bad dental health, smelly breath. Upset stomach, lots of vet visits and honestly, that’s just not good enough! Dogs need an easily digestible, high protein diet that is rich in nutrients so it can be rapidly absorbed into their bodies. Vegan dogs are really going to struggle in digesting the high fibers in a plant-based diet and will be vitamin D and B deficient.  

Why is vitamin D and B essential? These vitamins help dogs regulate the balance and retention of calcium and phosphorus in their bodies. Calcium is a critical component of bone and cartilage, is also plays a minor role is hormone transmission. Phosphorus is also a major component of bone, without these essential minerals, your dog may have brittle bones, may not grow properly and will have major issues later in life regarding eye health, brain health, bone and joint pain.

A balanced diet for a dog is not just feeding chicken and rice. We need to rotate proteins, add fresh rotating fruit and veg, add supplements, bone broth, elixirs and give them healthy low fat, protein and calcium dense treats and chews for dental health, cognitive health, gut health and mental stimulation. So how does one make up this healthy balanced diet on a vegan diet? Plant-based diets are not an easy route to go down, supplements and fine attention to detail, to make sure your dog is getting everything they possibly need to survive is a full-time job, with extensive research done and pet nutritionists on board. 

We understand the need for making earth conscious decisions and we here at Barking Mad do all we can to use sustainable and eco friendly packaging, coffee cups and suppliers. But when it comes to feeding an animal what is biologically appropriate vs a vegan diet, we’re always going to choose the welfare of your animals over vegan options. This is why we are so passionate about this topic. 

The pet health and nutrition industry is fast growing and near impossible to keep up with the latest changes, trends and what experts say is best for your pets, but that’s why we’re here. To help break it down for you all! We care so deeply for your amazing little sidekicks and want them to get the absolute best out of life. So lets recap on what that looks like, feed your pet a biologically appropriate diet, stay far far away from vegan and scientific grain and filler diets and you’ll start to see massive change in your pets energy levels, mood, overall health AND there’ll be less visits to the vets!