While the issue of applying a vegan diet to pets continues to be debated in terms of its appropriateness and ethics, many people especially argue that dogs should not be fed vegan. But a new study, the results of which were published the other day, pointed to a result that will rekindle the debate on this issue.
The study of 2,536 dog guardians revealed links to the dog’s diet and its health effects. Results from the study suggested that a nutritious vegan diet may be healthier than traditional or raw meat-based diets.
Statistics showed that the conventional diet was the unhealthiest:
The study of Andrew Knight of the University of Winchester and his colleagues showed how many times dogs go to vets to guardians, treatment and drug information and whether he had any special health problems. Statistics analysis of the responses revealed that conventionally fed dogs were more unhealthy than dogs fed a raw meat or vegan diet.
On the other hand, the team also noted several factors beyond statistics that precluded the conclusion that those who eat raw meat are healthier. The study found that dogs on a raw meat diet are significantly younger than dogs on a vegan diet, which can make these dogs look healthy.
The study, according to the team, was the largest study on this topic to date. In light of both new and previous research, the researchers suggested that a vegan diet may indeed be a healthier choice. But it still needs more research to confirm whether vegan and meat-based diets are healthier than conventional diets to settle the debate.