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URBANA, Ill. (WCIA) — New research at the U of I shows at least two human-grade, lightly cooked vegan diets provide adequate nutrition for dogs.
The U of I College of Agricultural, Consumer, and Environmental Sciences (ACES) shared a statement that Kelly Swanson, an ACES professor, and her research colleagues tested two human-grade vegan formulas (with and without a grain ingredient) from Bramble against a leading brand chicken-based kibble diet.
They fed the diets to beagles for three weeks and sampled the dogs’ blood chemistry, fecal quality, and microbiome, the collection of microbes in their poop. The team also analyzed the foods themselves.
Officials said the vegan diets were veterinary nutritionist-formulated mixtures of whole foods like lentils, garbanzo beans, sweet potatoes, butternut squash, apples, blueberries, peas, and carrots. Swanson and her team also confirmed both the vegan diet and the chicken-based diet met standards set by the Association of American Feed Control Officials (AAFCO) for “complete and balanced” nutrition.
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Swanson’s group showed human-grade, fresh dog foods to be highly digestible, resulting in dramatically less stool in earlier studies. They said all of the diets were highly digestible, but the vegan diets didn’t generate any more or less stool than the chicken diet.
The research team was also surprised to find certain blood metabolites, chemicals in the blood that can indicate health status, differed between the vegan diet and the chicken-based diet. Notably, they found blood triglycerides and cholesterol, measures of circulating fats, were significantly lower in dogs fed the vegan diets.
When they analyzed the fecal microbiome and the chemicals produced by those microbes, the team noted more positive changes. Swanson noted that the diets were formulated by veterinary nutritionists and that homemade vegan dog foods may not provide complete and balanced nutrition for dogs.
