Can dogs be Vegan? What do scientists say?

This series of blogs looks at the scientific research into whether vegetarian and vegan dog food is healthy for your dog.

This article focuses on a discussion / review paper by W.Y. Brown published in the journal Recent Advances in Animal Nutrition, in 2009. You can download the paper here.

Summary

Yarrah vegan dog food (100% organic)
Buy Organic Vegan dog food!

The best way to judge a dogs diet is to ask:

  • Does it meet the animals nutritional needs?
  • Is it tasty?
  • Is the dog in good health.

Dogs are omnivorous: their nutritional needs can be met by a plant based diet.

Provided the food is made from good quality, digestible ingredients and the dog enjoys their food, then vegan dog food is a healthy option. Even for very active dogs! Continue reading “Can dogs be Vegan? What do scientists say?”

10 Reasons Why We Run Ethical Pets

Hey everyone, here’s a quick getting to know you blog! Ethical Pets is run by Joey and Anna: it’s a small, family run independent company.

Anna & Joey, Ethical Pets
Anna & Joey run Ethical Pets

Here’s 10 reasons why we do what we do here at Ethical Pets. Running a small business is hard work: this is what motivates us!

Continue reading “10 Reasons Why We Run Ethical Pets”

Is vegan dog food healthy for dogs? What does science say?

racing huskies on a vegan diet

This series of blogs looks at the scientific research into whether vegetarian and vegan dog food is healthy for your dog. This blog summaries at a scientific study published in 2009, in the British Journal of Nutrition by W. Y. Brown et al.

The paper is called “An experimental meat-free diet maintained hematological characteristics
in sprint-racing sled dogs”

You can download the paper here.

Summary – Is Vegan dog food healthy?

A nutritionally complete vegetarian / vegan diet is fine for dogs, even very active dogs like racing huskies. The huskies fed a vegetarian diet had the same blood test results as those fed on a meat diet. They all the dogs did same amount of exercise. Vegetarian and meat based foods have similar ingredients.

Continue reading “Is vegan dog food healthy for dogs? What does science say?”

The Objectives of Organic

Organic certification logo EUEver wondered “What’s the point Organic food?” It is about health? Or about the environment? Why should I buy Organic pet food, my pet can’t tell the difference… Well here is the lowdown: The Objectives of Organic!

Continue reading “The Objectives of Organic”

World Vegan Month – Could you and your dog take the vegan pledge?

November is World Vegan Month, where celebrities, businesses and everyday folk can take the vegan pledge for a week or a month, and see what it’s like to be vegan!

“I love animals…. but I could never give up meat” is something a lot of people say to me when they find out I am vegan.

Similarly “I have been vegetarian for years… but I just can’t live without cheese” is what a lot of my veggie friends have declared.

Continue reading “World Vegan Month – Could you and your dog take the vegan pledge?”

Milo’s Last Miles: Summer Holiday

In animal sanctuaries there are dogs of all shapes and sizes… and some of them are very old. Milo was, until recently, one such dog. It’s hard for sanctuaries to find homes for dogs like Milo; they are often ill or needy and require a lot of attention and patience. Additionally, many people worry that it will be too sad to befriend an animal who has only a few months left to live. At Ethical Pets, we have cared for a dog like this before, called Beth: we found living with her a wonderful and fulfilling experience, so we have decided to do it again! This time, we are keeping a blog in the hope that maybe others will consider adopting their own little Beth or Milo one day. So, here it is: our record of Milo’s Last Miles.

Continue reading “Milo’s Last Miles: Summer Holiday”

How green is your carbon tyre print?

science spot logoOne of our favourite books, How Bad are Bananas? By Mike Berners-Lee, has some sensational cycling facts. This month, subscribers to our newsletter get the chance to win a copy! You need to sign up for your chance to enter. When you get your newsletter, there will be a question in it, simply reply with the answer, and winners will be picked out of the hat! 🙂 Good luck!

Eco Facts

Our favourite fact is that it would be greener to drive a hummer than to cycle after eating air freighted asparagus! Checkout our cool graph below comparing a few bike fuels (food) to some other forms of transport.

Cycling to work

Another interesting fact is that a congested commute in an average car comes in at 2200g CO2e per mile. This is much much worse than normal driving – almost as bad as your air freighted asparagus mile. So, the lesson is that cycling to work is a serious planet saver… so long as you don’t eat asparagus out of season for breakfast!

Food and Carbon Footprints

The carbon footprint of food is always interesting to us at Ethical Pets, with folk claiming we should eat our pets to save the planet, we think its important to show pets can be green too.

In the graph you can see that veg isn’t always greener, but that in general, meat is much more carbon heavy that veg. The same trend is clear in the rest of the book, for example, we learned that a 4 ounce steak makes more carbon than a 6.5 kg bag of carrots! Or, for the same carbon as a 2 kg leg of lamb, you could eat milky porridge every day for 4 whole months. Oats, wheat and even naughty old rice are much lower in carbon than any meat.

Pet Food: good and green!

We know that veggie pet food can be healthy, but apparently is very green too! So, if your dog or cat were going to cycle, a little Yarrah or Benevo would be the ideal fuel to choose!

The Paw Report Report – Vol.1

The new PAW Report, by PDSA and YouGov, lifts the lid on some of the most concerning pet health and welfare issues facing UK pets today. With sections focusing on Diet, Behavior, Health and Ownership, their is lots to read and talk about. This is our review of Section 1 of the report: Food in Focus.

The statistics which really jumped out at me from this part of the report are that that only 3% of dog owners can identify the ideal healthy shape of a dog when shown a range of images and that 56% of cat owners with an overweight cat believe that their cat’s shape is as it should be. Are you one of them? Despite how many people are unsure about their pets weight, people seem well informed about the consequences of chubby pets – fat related diseases and a shorted life span. Somehow, we have learned that fat is bad, but not what fat looks like: checkout our quiz below to see if you can pick out the pets with a healthy figure.

Another worrying issue is that many Rabbit owners are feeding their bunnies incorrectly: remember, rabbit muesli is just for a treat – bunnies should eat at least their own body size in hay or grass each day for their main course, and then just a little muesli and/or fresh veg for pudding.

cat and dog weight quiz

click for answers

Click to see the Paw Report and weight guides for cats and dogs.

Pet Food: Why Organic?

 

What does “organic” mean in relation to pet food?

 

 

Animal Welfare: For Yarrah as an organic pet food company, the most important aspect of organic agriculture is the very high regard for animal welfare. Poultry, cattle and fish form the basis of our premium Nature’s Finest pet food. It is therefore crucial that these animals are treated with dignity and respect. Organic agriculture guarantees that poultry and cattle have room to move and grow at a natural rate in an environment that minimizes stress. Because regulation regarding organic fish do not meet our standards of animal welfare, Yarrah has decided to switch to MSC-fish (read our statement!).
Nothing artificial: Yarrah does not add any chemical colorings, aromatic substances or flavorings. We do not use artificial preservatives: we preserve our dry food with vitamin E and rosemary extracts. For our wet food we use precise temperatures for sterilization. These steps ensure that the valuable vitamins and minerals are not broken down during production.
Our natural and organic recipes contain all the required vitamins, minerals, proteins and amino acids a dog or cat requires in the correct proportions. All of our products are made from certified organic materials in compliance with EU Regulations for Organic Products. The Dutch organic hallmark (EKO) issued by Skal is the guarantee for the organic origin and manufacture of the products.

All certified organic ingredients are completely traceable to the source. All the organic materials are constantly monitored from start to finish ensuring they meet our stringent requirements. To be sure all the ingredients are 100% organic, Yarrah buys all the ingredients themselves. To give this 100% guarantee the Quality manager of Yarrah visits the producers personally; the larger ones at least once a year, the smaller once at least every other year.

No animal testing: Yarrah deliberately rejects any and all animal testing. Any palatability tests (to gauge the pets acceptance of the product) are carried out in the pets natural home setting. Yarrah does not allow any of our foods to be tested using either captive animals or invasive testing techniques. This has some consequences for our health claims. We cannot claim that our products have beneficial influences for your pet. Luckily there are many people who are very happy with our products and are willing to tell this to others.
Alternative testing: How do we test our products? Simple: if we want to introduce a new flavour or a new product, we ask about 100 dog or cat owners to feed the new product to their pet. Of course none of the ingredients has a health risk, so it is absolutely safe for the pet to eat the new product. If they like the product, we will adopt the new product. We are proud that we can use the logo of the Dutch Society against animal testing.

Why organic pet food? Is it better for our pets?

 

 

 

Yes, organic pet food is better than conventional pet food because what it does NOT have. A dog in general is not very picky when it comes to food. If the food smells good, the dog will eat it. There is a reason that most if not all dogs will always eat (high end) conventional food, the added chemical scents or fragrances that are applied ensure this.

The second reason that organic is better is the lack of preservatives. Conventional dog food is preserved with chemical preservatives to give the food a longer sell by date. Organic pet food has a short shelf life because no chemical preservatives are applied. Natural/organic antioxidants such as rosemary extracts are used instead.Are these chemical fragrances and preservatives really healthy for dogs? Probably not. Can these chemicals cause irritations in dogs? Maybe, but why risk it when they can be avoided.
Arguing that the organic grain and meat ingredients being better than conventional can be controversial. There are many studies that prove organic agriculture produces higher quality, more nutritious products, but there are also studies that claim there are no differences. What organic pet food CAN guarantee is that there are no chemical pesticide residues, genetically modified organisms or pharmaceutical residues in the food.
Organic pet food, at least in Yarrah’s case, also guarantees that we do not use bones, feathers, hooves, blood or other cheap fillers in our products.
Does organic food improve animal welfare for farm animals and wild animals (too)?
Organic farm animals are treated much better than animals in the conventional farming industry. An organic chicken for instance lives twice as long and has over 16 times more space to live on and is able to go outside. The beef Yarrah uses, are completely  grass-fed so no tropical forest have to be cut to grow soy. Organic farmers do not use dangerous pesticides, so also small rodents and useful insects like bees are not harmed.
What changes would Yarrah like to see in the pet food industry? Where would you like pet food to be in 100 years?

 

 

The first thing other pet food producers should stop doing, is testing their food on animals in kennels. A dogs life should not be used in this way; it has a right to have a normal life among people in a family.
The next step should be informing the customer truthfully about their products and where the ingredients come from. It is a terrible idea that people do not know that they are feeding their pets with meat of animals that are kept in small cages, with no room to live.
In 100 years, but hopefully much sooner, all pet owners will get the message that harming one animal to feed another is not acceptable. They will demand to know what is in their pet food, they will realize that chemical flavors, fragrances and colors are not needed, and will pick their brand of pet food purely on quality standards and not the amount of marketing budget a brand has available.

Is Vegan Pet Food Healthy?

Here is my talk from the West Midlands Vegan Fair, 2012. Enjoy 🙂

Is vegan pet food healthy? from EthicalPets on Vimeo.

Please sign our petition to Yarrah, asking them to make a Vegan cat food.

References

Vegan Pet Food: Fishy Business? – by Andrew Knight, from Lifescape Magazine.

From wild animals to domesticview of domestication pets, an evolutionary view of domestication

FEDIAF Nutritional Guidelines

Nation of Animal Lovers? – Report on pet food from Ethical Consumer Magazine, with references.

An experimental meat-free diet maintained haematological characteristics in sprint-racing sled dogs – The study by Dr Wendy Brown.

Evaluation of cats fed vegetarian diets and attitudes of their caregivers – An interesting cat study

An example of of lab nutritional cert. – from Yarrah veggie dog food.

Article for Discussion – The importance of animal proteins in dog foods, by Iams.