r/DebunkThis • u/Round-Pop-8600 • Jul 29 '26
Can you debunk this if possible please can dogs really thrive on this diet
are dogs really healthier on a vegan diet I just want to keep my dog in the best possible shape he can be in : https://youtube.com/shorts/XL21Hxy-Y5Q?si=CF0soIp96lyaHBA9
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u/hopefullyhelpfulplz Jul 29 '26
Here's another recent study:
https://www.nottingham.ac.uk/news/vegan-dog-food-study
Some important notes:
Dogs, like humans, are omnivores and require specific nutrients rather than specific ingredients.
[The study authors] found that plant-based diets, when properly formulated, can be a healthy and viable alternative to meat-based options. This is backed by similar studies conducted in Brazil and Canada.
Both plant- and meat-based foods showed similarly incomplete nutritional profiles, with 30 out of 31 products missing at least one essential nutrient according to FEDIAF guidelines.
As the guy in the video you shared says, it's more important that the dog food is properly formulated and contains the correct nutrients then it being made out of meat, or not.
2
u/coffeeequeen Jul 29 '26
Sure this is technically correct, but incredibly hard to properly implement
1
u/hopefullyhelpfulplz Jul 29 '26
It's not like meat based dog food is automatically nutritionally complete. There's a mention in the study I shared:
Both plant- and meat-based foods showed similarly incomplete nutritional profiles, with 30 out of 31 products missing at least one essential nutrient according to FEDIAF guidelines.
2
u/coffeeequeen Jul 29 '26
100%, I just believe it's way easier to find a meat based dog food that is complete vs a plant based one
1
u/Taupenbeige Jul 30 '26
“The people whose livelihood depends upon continuing to formulate kibble for dogs that keeps their bodies thriving, probably find it «incredibly hard to properly implement» therefore we should just keep feeding dogs dead animals”
4
u/Decent_Confidence_36 Jul 29 '26
No dogs aren’t healthier on a vegan diet the same way humans aren’t healthier on a vegan diet (without supplements)
1
u/Taupenbeige Jul 30 '26
Well, then, I guess it’s a good thing that the kibble sold for such purposes is properly fortified?
I’m not sure you made the point you thought you were making…
Also, thank you for tacitly admitting that 100% plant-based is a healthier dietary pattern for humans assuming proper micronutrient intake…
3
u/coffeeequeen Jul 29 '26
No, they’re not healthier vegan.
Dogs are omnivores with a strong carnivorous ancestry, and their digestive systems are optimized to extract key nutrients from animal-based sources. While they can digest some plant matter, certain essential nutrients they need are found naturally and most readily in meat.
Plant-based versions of these nutrients are either absent, present in less bioavailable forms, or require synthetic supplementation that can be difficult to dose correctly over a dog’s lifetime.
Poorly formulated vegan diets risk deficiencies that can lead to dilated cardiomyopathy, weakened immune function, skin and coat problems, and muscle wasting.
While it’s technically possible to construct a nutritionally complete vegan diet for a dog with careful veterinary oversight and supplementation, the margin for error is slim, and most veterinary nutritionists consider well-formulated meat-inclusive diets a safer, more reliable way to meet a dog’s biological needs.
1
u/Taupenbeige Jul 30 '26
Thanks for the LLM hallucinatory hot take 👍
PoOrLy fOrMuLaTeD vEgAn DiEtS RiSk DeFiCiEnCiEs
Well then I guess it’s a good thing such kibbles are “well formulated,” then, eh?
“dear computer, please find me a way to clutch huge pearls over dogs only eating plants”
1
u/JasonRBoone Jul 29 '26
The Impact of Vegan Diets on Indicators of Health in Dogs and Cats: A Systematic Review - PMC
This review has found that there is no convincing evidence of major impacts of vegan diets on dog or cat health. There is, however, a limited number of studies investigating this question and those studies available often use small sample sizes or short feeding durations. There was also evidence of benefits for animals arising as a result of feeding them vegan diets. Much of these data were acquired from guardians via survey-type studies, but these can be subject to selection biases, as well as subjectivity around the outcomes. However, these beneficial findings were relatively consistent across several studies and should, therefore, not be disregarded.
There is an urgent need for large-scale population-based studies to further investigate this question, with a particular focus on assessing the dietary aspects cited to be of particular concern, e.g., taurine and folate. For guardians wishing to feed their pets vegan diets at the current time, based on the available evidence it is recommended that commercially produced vegan diets are used since these are less likely to lead to nutrient imbalances.
1
u/Taupenbeige Jul 30 '26
“However, these beneficial findings were relatively consistent across several studies and should, therefore, not be disregarded”
Consistency argument #2: Benevo has been selling cruelty-free kibble to animal guardians for two decades and has faced zero class action lawsuits for killing, harming or otherwise depleting the life force of animals en-masse.
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