
There has been a lack of clear evidence to support concerns about a vegetarian diet being sufficient for our pet dogs, with limited research or funding available for these matters.
Dogs and cats have adapted to living with humans, including their omnivorous eating habits, for approximately 16,000 years. From an evolutionary perspective, and with new scientific evidence, DNA is much more flexible and adaptable as the foundation of all life, at least life as we know it. We might even be forgiven for sounding too eccentric when discussing cells and DNA as being perceptive (Spheres of Perception, Changemakers Books, 2020).
The potential perceptivity and undeniable constant adaptability of DNA aside, 16,000 years is ample time for the genetic code to fine-tune itself to change. Changes not only in the gut's microbiome but also in the constant flow of matter passing through it daily. Recently, the connection of the biome to overall health, including mental and immune health, is also a popular topic among nutritionists and researchers.
From a personal standpoint, and supported by many years in urban veterinary practice, I was also a strong critic of vegetarian diets for pets. I still remember how I once (politely) dismissed a loyal client at my Sydney clinic who wanted to make her cat vegetarian, based on a concept she had read online at the time.
Perhaps my negativity was professionally appropriate at the time, but times have changed, as have our understanding and knowledge—as it always will when supported by change and new demands in an open, truthful and analytical science.
A recent large-scale study has made a significant contribution to this field. It may be seen as timely in a world increasingly concerned about climate change and the environmental impact of carnivorism. It adds to limited smaller studies that previously used veterinary examinations and blood results based on vegetarian diets with promising outcomes.
The combined results of this growing evidence suggest that cats and dogs maintained on nutritionally sound vegan diets experience no adverse health effects and can lead healthy and fulfilling lives on properly formulated vegetarian diets. It may even offer certain benefits, such as reduced obesity and aid in treating specific gastrointestinal, hepatic, metabolic diseases, and food allergies.
With mounting evidence for plant-based diets as a viable nutritional source for both cats and dogs, there are also undeniable pressing environmental concerns. In recent years, I have seen more clients in my practice opting for vegan diets, either for their health or moral reasons. Perhaps we need to do more to promote this concept, previously dismissed by science as “unnatural.”
In recent years, searches based on peer-reviewed studies, where diets, health, growth, and blood nutrients were properly accounted for, are becoming more accessible. We don't need any particular food, only a digestible combination of nutrients to enter our blood and meet metabolic and cellular demands, perhaps I should also add—and to keep our microbiome happy.
This makes sense nutritionally. Cats, dogs, and all other species, including us, require specific nutrients rather than specific foods. We have never needed any particular ingredient, only a digestible combination to enter our blood and meet metabolic and energy needs.
It now appears that our pets can help us enter the next era of more ‘conscious’ living, where everything is viewed as more interconnected and even the smallest and most vulnerable part is equally considered as part of a delicate, constantly changing living network.
Disclaimer: Never use a vegetarian diet for your pet without the approval of a board-certified veterinary nutritionist or suitable certification from an accredited authorizing body.
Written by Theo D Holtzhausen
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References:
Sarah A. S. Dodd, Cate Dewey, Deep Khosa and Adronie Verbrugghe.A cross-sectional study of owner-reported health in Canadian and American cats fed meat- and plant-based diets
Plantinga E, Bosch G, Hendriks W. Estimation of the dietary nutrient profile of free-roaming feral cats: possible implications for nutrition of domestic cats. Br J Nutr. 2011;106:S35–48.
Loftus J, Wakshlag J. Canine and feline obestiy: a review of pathophysiology, epidemiology and clinical management. Vet Med Res Reports. 2015;6:49–60.
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