Veterinarians at Omni welcome the findings of another academic study that further quantifies the health benefits expected on plant-based diets compared to meat-based dog food.
A new study from Knight et. al (2024), summarised by the lead author here, used survey data from 2,536 guardians feeding conventional meat, raw meat, and plant-based diets for at least one year.
The researchers examined 7 general indicators of illness and 22 specific health disorders. They found that ‘dogs fed vegan diets had superior health outcomes to those fed conventional meat for all seven general illness indicators studied’.
They also found that the chances of a dog suffering from a specific health disorder were highest for dogs fed conventional meat-based pet food for 11 disorders, highest for dogs fed raw-meat based pet food for 8 disorders, and highest for dogs fed plant-based pet food for only 3 disorders.
The researchers had already found various health benefits for dogs fed plant-based dog food from this survey, which they published in another academic study in 2022. This study further increases the rigour and reliability of their conclusions, by controlling for medically relevant demographic features that may have influenced dog health outcomes.
Plant-based vs meat-based diets for dogs: the results
This study found a ‘clear and consistent trend’ that dogs on vegan diets usually have ‘substantial and statistically significant decreases in risks of 7 general indicators of illness’. Dogs on plant-based diets were sometimes more than 50% less likely to have a general indicator of illness – such as having a health disorder, or regularly visiting the vet – compared to dogs on meat-based diets.
Plant-based diets were also associated with an over 50% risk reduction for 6 specific health disorders compared to dogs fed conventional meat. This meant dogs on plant-based diets were significantly less likely to have body weight problems, musculoskeletal issues, gastrointestinal issues, swollen anal glands, and dental/oral problems.
In contrast, no health disorder was consistently more prevalent in dogs fed vegan diets.
On top of this, based on this research, dog’s fed on a plant-based diet such as Omni’s have:
- A 21% reduced risk of having multiple veterinary visits per year compared to a conventional meat-based diet.
- A 33% risk reduction of being considered unwell by their vet compared to a conventional meat-based diet, and a 28% risk reduction compared to a raw-meat based diet.
- A significantly reduced likelihood to be on medication compared to dogs fed a meat-based diet.
What It Means
These findings make the health benefits of a plant-based diet like Omni even clearer. They’re particularly significant because they not only include the views of over 2,500 guardians, but also more objective and clinical data such as frequency of visits to the vet, and vet opinions of each dog’s health.
Like the authors of this paper, Vets at OMNI recognise that feeding raw meat diets can compromise health outcomes due to the risk of contamination with pathogens and nutritional deficiencies. Indeed, the authors of this study note that, because guardians who feed raw meat are less likely to visit the vet, the true health status of dogs fed raw meat is likely to be significantly worse than this study suggests.
This research joins a strong, growing, and diverse group of academic studies demonstrating better health outcomes for dogs fed plant-based diets compared to meat-based diets. These include multiple clinical studies and large survey-based studies, as well as one study demonstrating health benefits specifically on the Omni diet.
Omni Co-Founder and Chief Veterinarian Dr Guy Sandelowsky said: “At Omni, we’ve always believed in the power of novel proteins to improve the health and happiness of our dogs. It’s always validating to see this being affirmed by yet another academic study. As a vet, I’m particularly pleased to see this study using clinical data such as reported veterinary assessments in this research, which makes the study’s conclusions even more credible.”
To learn more about Omni’s range of health-first products, including nutritionally complete dry and wet food and targeted, soft-chew health supplements, browse our products here or get in touch with one of our vets for personalised advice.
