Abstract
Background Adoption of a plant-based diet is a popular lifestyle choice for many owners of canine companion animals. Increasingly, owners would like to feed their canine companions a similar diet. A plant-based dietary pattern has been reported to be associated with some micronutrient deficiencies. Complete dog foods are, by definition, supposed to be nutritionally replete in all macro- and micronutrients. Few studies have reported a full nutritional analysis of complete, dry plant-versus meat-based dog foods.
Method Here, 31 pet foods (n=19 meat-based, n=6 veterinary and n=6 plant-based) were analysed for total protein content and individual amino acids, fatty acids, major and trace elements, vitamin D and all B-vitamins.
Results Nutritional composition of meat and plant-based foods were similar, except for iodine and B-vitamins, which were lower in plant-based foods. The majority (66%) of veterinary diets with lower total protein by design, were also deficient in one or more essential amino acids. Isolated instances of non-compliance to nutritional guidelines were observed across all food-groups. Of the tested nutrients 55%, 16%, 24% and 100% of foods met all amino acid, mineral, B-vitamin, and vitamin D guidelines, respectively.
Conclusions Adopting a plant-based dietary pattern for your companion canine can provide nutritional adequacy with respect to the majority of macro- and micronutrients, but feeding supplemental iodine and B-vitamins should be considered. Veterinary diets, purposely low in crude protein, often have less than optimal essential amino acid composition. These data provide important new information for owners of companion canines being fed plant-based or veterinary diets.
Competing Interest Statement
DSG conducts nutritional analysis for one of the tested companies foods. D.S.G is not involved in the formulation of the food, nor has influence on the design or reporting of results. Since completing the analysis, R.A.B has purchased shares in the same company; testing was completed before this occurred.