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Feeding dogs vegan: sustainable alternative or simply unhealthy?

Hund vegan ernähren: nachhaltige Alternative oder einfach ungesund?

More and more people are concerned about environmental protection and animal welfare. For this reason, many dog owners not only want to avoid animal foods in their diets but also want to feed their dogs a vegan diet.


Whether this is actually a good idea or whether a purely plant-based diet might even harm your four-legged friend is explained below. You can also find out what we do to enable our customers to feed their dogs sustainably.

Should you feed dogs a vegan diet and do without animal products?

If you are considering feeding your dog a vegan diet in the future, you are most likely doing it for the sake of the environment. After all, it is no longer a secret that modern factory farming causes considerable environmental damage. 


Already today, about 75 per cent of all land used in agriculture is required directly or indirectly for keeping livestock for meat production. As the world's population continues to grow inexorably, the problem is even likely to intensify significantly in the coming decades due to the ever-increasing demand for meat.


In addition, cattle in particular produce very large amounts of methane when digesting their feed. Methane has a climate-damaging effect that is about 25 times greater than CO2. This means that factory farming of cows, in particular, has a significant impact on climate change. Against this background, it is all too understandable that more and more owners would like to feed their dogs a vegan diet.

Is a vegan diet species-appropriate for dogs?

Many people think that dogs are omnivores. But even if the four-legged friends sometimes seem to be less choosy in their choice of food, this is not correct. Dogs are so-called semi-carnivores whose digestive system, despite domestication, is still mainly specialised in the utilisation of animal proteins and fats.


Dogs can digest vegetable food and even starchy carbohydrates. However, if they eat too much, this can easily lead to digestive problems and other complaints, such as problems with the skin and coat. A heavily plant-based or even completely vegan diet is therefore by no means species-appropriate for dogs.

Vegan dog food is often not convincing

Apart from the natural nutritional needs of dogs, you should also be aware that vegan dog food often brings other problems with it. 


For example, it quite often contains unsuitable oils such as sunflower oil, which can promote the development of inflammation due to their unfavourable ratio between omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids. 


Moreover, vegan dog food does not always contain high-quality ingredients. A look at the composition often shows that low-quality ingredients such as vegetable by-products are used. Just like in conventional dog food, these are also detrimental to the quality and can sometimes lead to your dog tolerating the vegan diet even worse.

Feeding your dog a vegan diet: Protein digestibility

Not only the total amount of protein but also the value of the respective protein source plays an important role in a protein intake that meets the needs. The so-called biological value, which is often used to compare different protein sources, is almost always significantly lower for protein from plant sources than for animal protein sources.


Beef protein, for example, has a biological value of about 80. Legumes such as lentils, on the other hand, as a vegan alternative, have a value of just 60. In addition, legumes are known to cause quite frequent flatulence, which can of course also be extremely unpleasant for dogs. 

Our alternative to a vegan diet for your dog

We are also aware that modern factory farming is an enormous burden on the environment. At the same time, however, we are also convinced that it is imperative to feed dogs according to their needs.


Since we don't think vegan dog food is suitable for this, we have developed a very special alternative. Our insect-based varieties contain no meat, but insect protein from the larvae of black soldier flies (Hermetia illucens).


Breeding the larvae uses significantly less space and resources than breeding conventional livestock. Moreover, our insects do not produce any climate-damaging methane, which cows, in particular, emit in huge quantities.


At the same time, the insect protein in our dog food is characterised by its high biological value. It provides your dog with all the essential amino acids and is therefore ideal for supplying your four-legged friend with the nutrition he needs on a long-term basis. 


Thanks to the virtually non-existent allergy potential, our insect-based products are also excellently tolerated by dogs with food intolerances and food allergies. If your four-legged friend has problems in this respect, you are not only doing something good for the environment but also for your nutritionally sensitive dog.

Our products with insects at a glance

In the meantime, we have a very extensive range of insect-based products on offer. So you will find everything you need to reduce your dog's ecological pawprint without a vegan diet.

The following products with insect protein are currently available:

  • Grain free dry food
  • Wet food without grain
  • Healthy dog snacks
  • Natural food supplements

Give it a try. We are sure your dog will love our sustainable dog food.

Feeding your dog vegan - our conclusion

As you can see, feeding dogs a vegan diet is not recommended. Even if a purely plant-based diet is theoretically possible, it is not a sensible decision. Your four-legged friend will not benefit from it in any way and it may even lead to intolerances.


If the issue of sustainability is important to you, there is a better way to reconcile optimal care for your four-legged friend, along with not eating meat, with our insect-based dog food.


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