Hi Sophie, thanks for adding the article, and I’ll correct the cited retailers as well.

I’ll also add the link to the survey as I always find this stuff interesting – https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0265662

I find the survey flawed on many counts, and note it’s a survey not controlled research. They’re important points The Guardian has neglected to mention (which is common with The Guardian!).

Personally I would say some vegan diets, even the kibble diets, are better than many “meat-based” kibbles, which is something which can also be deduced from the survey.

I note no brands have been mentioned, only the categorisation of “conventional meat based diets”. The sad reality is not many dry dog foods are meat-based, they’re almost all grain-based (or carbohydrate based).

A survey which spans only a year can suggest very little. I find with most conditions it can take many years for our resilient pets to even show symptoms. In fact, I would say a dog can be fed an unhealthy diet for as much as 7 years before showing any signs of sickness, such as from renal failure, heart disease, periodontal disease, diabetes and so forth. Or to look at it another way, a dog can be fed a diet of anything for a year, and any required vet visits can be completely multifactorial. The cause of the visit may have been diet-related from the current food, but also the previous food, or it could be viral (such as parvo) or environmental.

The survey found health issues were reported in the ratios of 49% for the conventional (poor quality kibble?) diet, 43% for the raw meat diet, and 36% for the vegan diet. They’re not very conclusive margins considering the lack of control of the survey.

The survey

Also, you may find this interesting
https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2022/apr/13/vegan-diets-are-healthier-and-safer-for-dogs-study-suggests

I don’t think I’m a criminal for pointing out a canine is a carnivorous animal, regardless of what the manufacturer says.

Simple.

Facts.

I am not a fan of feeding dogs (albeit facultative carnivores are still carnivores!) a plant based diet if there are more appropriate options available but at the end of the day the market for vegan dog food is growing so it would be nice to see (from a nutritional standpoint) higher protein (preferably in the low to mid 30s) and higher fat to offset the less complete proteins found in plants (with the added benefit of lowering carbohydrate %).
Which could be achieved fairly easily by pushing lentils up much higher on the ingredients list and including chickpeas close to the top too (MfM does that and their food is slightly cheaper than this!), and bumped sorghum down bellow to the last of the main ingredients, after quinoa.
The addition of nutritional yeast would also be highly beneficial (and would make the price *almost* justifiable).
The addition of algae oil would introduce much needed sources of marine omega 3 (DHA/EPA; more bioavailable than ALA) whilst still remaining “vegan”.
Coconut oil wouldn’t add much on the micronutrient front but at least it would boost the fats on the macronutrient front so would also be a good addition.
It’s a pity they don’t make changes like that because even though vegan will never be species appropriate they could at least make it more nutritionally appropriate for the dogs that are fed that as their primary source of nutrition…