There are seemingly endless choices when it comes to picking what food you want to give your dog. There’s dry kibble, semi-moist, canned, fresh, and raw food. Should you be cooking your own homemade dog food? What ingredients should you include, and what would be best to avoid? How do you ensure they get all the nutrients they need in the correct amounts? Then there’s the question of conventional versus vegan dog food. More and more plant-based alternatives are popping up on the shelves of grocery stores and pet shops – but is it healthy for your pet? Allow us to clear things up!
Can dogs be vegan?
First of all: dogs are omnivores. For a long time, they were considered carnivores and believed to need meat to be healthy. However, the opposite has recently been proven through research. While dogs evolved from wolves, who are hunters and carnivores, their digestive systems have adapted over time. Today’s dogs can digest starches and extract all necessary nutrients from plant-based sources. This means they can totally be vegan! In the words of Dr. Andrew Knight, a veterinary professor at the University of Winchester:
“Dogs, cats and other species have requirements for nutrients, they don’t need meat or any other particular ingredient.”
What type of dog food is best?
Now that we’ve cleared that up, let’s discuss the different types of vegan dog food available! Just like dogs, dog food has also evolved over time. First came kibble, the dry pellets consisting of grains, meat, vegetables, oils, binders, and other additives. Kibble does a good job of keeping dogs full, but its moisture content is very low. Both kibble and canned food often come with issues like poor-quality, highly-processed ingredients. Next came fresh dog food, which is often more expensive than dry kibble, and if you make your own, it can be challenging to control the nutritional content. Read more about traditional dog food and the health concerns they bring here!
Enter PawCo Foods!
PawCo is the third generation of dog food. It’s based on our ground-breaking GreenMeat™, the first plant-based meat for dogs! Board-certified food experts and animal nutritionists created our delicious meals. They have ensured they exceed AAFCO requirements and contain all the vitamins, minerals, and essential amino acids your dog needs. Let’s talk about some of the benefits of PawCo’s vegan dog meals!
Animal Welfare
You and your dog can help reduce animal farming by consuming less or no animal products. According to the Animal Legal Defense Fund, an estimated 9 billion animals are raised and killed for food every year, and conditions at these animal farms are often anything but great. PawCo’s meals are 100% animal free!
Environment
Animal farming and the consumption of animal products also contribute significantly to pollution and climate change. According to a study, pets are responsible for about a quarter of the environmental impacts of meat production, and choosing a plant-based diet makes a difference. A new report from the Boston Consulting Group (BCG) found that each dollar invested in the meat and dairy alternatives industry resulted in “three times more greenhouse gas reductions compared with investment in green cement technology, seven times more than green buildings and 11 times more than zero-emission cars.”
Allergy relief
According to the Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine at Tufts University, the most common allergies in dogs are animal proteins. Avoiding animal products in your dog’s food can help relieve allergy symptoms such as itchy skin, rashes, and gastrointestinal distress. Read more about vegan food for allergic dogs here!
Probiotics
One of the most common symptoms of allergies is an upset stomach. PawCo meals have added probiotics, which can help your dog’s digestion. Probiotics are live bacteria added to some pet food products to help aid in gut health. For PawCo, finished product testing is conducted to ensure the survival of the probiotic strain.
Taste
PawCo’s recipes have been through taste testing to make sure dogs enjoy the meals we provide. In our taste test with 20 dogs, 99% of the food was consumed on day 1 and 100% on day two, showing the dogs remembered the taste and wanted more the next day! We also know that taste preferences are individual and that each dog has a different palate. PawCo offers different recipes and flavors so your dog can pick their favorite!
Longevity
Dogs on a vegan diet may also live longer than dogs who eat meat. In a study at the University of Guelph, the researchers found that dogs fed a plant-based diet had a mean lifespan of 14.1 years, while the mean for dogs who consumed meat was 12.6 years.
Overall Health
Recent research has shown that vegan food may be the best choice for your dog. In a study, Dr. Andrew Knight compared the health of dogs kept on a plant-based diet to that of dogs eating a traditional or raw meat diet. The study showed that the dogs that didn’t consume meat had fewer health issues than those that did.
Cost
As if all that wasn’t enough to convince you, PawCo’s premium dog meals are also very competitively priced! When you sign up for a subscription, we’ll ask you questions about your dog, such as their age and weight, and use the information to calculate the right amount of food for your dog. You can then choose a subscription plan based on your answers and receive regular deliveries of delicious dog food in the mail!
So what’s keeping you waiting? Give PawCo’s meals a try! Place your order today, and let your furry friend enjoy the taste and benefits of our revolutionary plant-based dog food!