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Veganism in humans is pretty common. If you know any vegans, chances are they are a healthy weight and have less health problems than other people. But did you know that your dog can also benefit from this type of diet?

Yes, it's true - dogs naturally eat a lot of meat in the wild. However, they are omnivores, meaning that they can eat either plants or meat to stay healthy. If you'd like to improve your dog's lifespan and help them feel better overall, then a switch to a vegan diet might be in the cards.

What Makes up a Vegan Dog Diet

A vegan diet needs to be carefully crafted to make sure your dog gets all the nutrients it needs to stay healthy. You'll need to include a variety of plants, fruits, and vegetables, including:


  • Rice
  • Carrots
  • Broccoli
  • Leafy greens
  • Lentils
  • Beans
  • Quinoa


Because a dog needs a lot of protein in their diet, you'll need to make sure that at least one-third of their food intake is high-quality protein sources. For example, soybeans, pinto beans, and lentils are excellent choices for ramping up protein in a meal.

The remaining two-thirds of each meal should be comprised of raw and cooked vegetables, fruits, and whole grains. Just be careful when mixing in fruit with protein, as it can sometimes give your pup an upset stomach.

In particular, your dog also needs two essential amino acids: L-Carnitine and taurine. Sometimes, you won't be able to give your dog these amino acids through veggies alone, so you might have to supplement with pills or powder. Invest in sea vegetable flakes like kelp, which will give them important minerals not found in other foods.

How to Start Your Dog on a Vegan Diet

Now comes the hard part - transitioning your dog away from kibble and onto fresh, veggie-heavy fare. Whatever you do, make sure to transition them slowly. Cutting meat cold turkey out of their diet might give them a belly ache and make them refuse to eat. Instead, slowly start introducing a vegan diet until your dog doesn't realize the switch.

If your dog still doesn't want to eat, you can sweeten things up with a little bit of soy milk, nutritional yeast, or olive oil. They might also like the food better if you heat it up for them.

There are plenty of vegan dog food brands out there for you to choose from, including Vdog, Halo Vegan Dog Food, and Wysong Vegan Dog Food. If you're feeling ambitious, you can also create your own recipe, though this does take a bit more work.

Benefits of a Vegan Diet for Your Dog

There are loads of health benefits when you switch your dog to a vegan diet. Here are just a few of the improvements you might see:

Less bad breath
No more skin issues
Less allergies
No more obesity




Myths About Vegan Dog Diets

Unfortunately, there are a lot of misconceptions out there about how vegan diets affect dogs. In particular, many people think that dogs are carnivores and need meat to survive. This simply isn't true. Dogs and omnivores, just like us humans. In fact, they have the specific gene needed to break down starch from plants, which is one of the many differences that separate them from their meat-eating cousins, wolves.

Many people also think eating vegan decreases a dog's lifespan because they meat as their main protein source. However, many plants can provide the same amounts of protein as meat. In fact, some dogs even live longer with a vegan diet. The world's longest living dog was named Bramble and lived to the ripe age of 27 thanks to a vegan diet from puphood.

What are you waiting for? Switch your dog to a vegan diet today and see the changes in their health for yourself.


Resources

Foods to Avoid Feeding Your Pets

Vegetarian Cats and Dogs

Bramble – 27-year-old vegan Border Collie


Author : Chelsea River / Source : Simple Wag


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