Whitney, Evie, & Armaiti May with David from V-Dog
Answer from Dr. Armaiti May, vegan dog specialist & vet.
I recommend gradually increasing the proportion of vegan food, while still feeding the former diet that the dog is accustomed to, over a period of 1-2 weeks, until the vegan food comprises most or all of the dog's diet. This gradual approach should minimize the occurrence of gastrointestinal upset (vomiting and/or diarrhea).
If the dog is going to be switched back to the other diet shortly after being fostered, however, it might be beneficial to include some small amount of it along with the vegan food so that he/she doesn't suffer from gastrointestinal upset once put back on the diet after being off it for a long period of time. Sometimes adding pumpkin or squash in small amounts can help keep the stools a normal consistency if there is a dietary-induced change in stool quality. If the dog eats something that causes vomiting, a period of fasting (with veterinary guidance) and/or bland diet of tofu and rice may be indicated for a few days until the dog's system normalizes again.
1 comments:
I put my two dogs on Vdog and my friend put her dog on Vdog as well. Within a few months all three of our dogs were sick to varying degrees. Whether frequent vomiting (as in two of the dogs) or life threateningly ill as in the third. All symptoms of vomiting went way when back on a meat based food. We weaned them carefully and did everything the "correct" way, so this was not a case of poor integration. Though people and dogs are both theoretically omnivores, people have been largely living with more plant materials in their diets for much longer. Vegetarians have been around for generations and thus our bodies have learned to adapt. And, more studies have been done on how plant based diets effect humans. We might both have similarities, but no one argues that dogs and humans are not on par with each other across the board. I simply don't believe that enough research as been done to prove that dogs can live without ill effect on a purely vegetarian or vegan diet. There is much we don't know. The idea sounds nice, but with three out of three dogs getting ill on this type of diet, I think it's reckless to subject these animals to our lifestyle choices.
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