Can plant-based food reduce skin problems in your dog?
Perhaps, according to one of the largest owner surveys on dog nutrition to date! It is important to state immediately: this is not a clinical diagnosis, but a survey among no fewer than 2,536 dog owners, and the result points in a clear direction (Knight et al., 2022). Read on to find out exactly what the findings were.
What kind of research was this exactly?
Researchers asked 2,639 dog owners about their dog’s health. For 2,536 dogs, it was known which diet they had been eating for at least a year: 1,370 dogs (54%) were fed traditional meat-based food, 830 dogs (33%) were fed raw meat, and 336 dogs (13%) were fed plant-based food (Knight et al., 2022).
This is, therefore, not a study in which veterinarians or scientists examined all the dogs themselves. It relies on the experiences and observations of the owners themselves, partly supplemented by what their own vet had previously determined. That is a different type of evidence than a controlled clinical study, but with nearly 2,600 dogs, it is one of the largest datasets on this subject currently available.
What did the owners observe regarding skin and coat?
Of the dogs on traditional meat-based food, 7% were reported to suffer from skin or coat problems. For dogs on raw meat, that figure was 8%. For dogs on plant-based food, this percentage was 6% (Knight et al., 2022). The difference is small, but consistently points in the same direction: slightly fewer skin problems in dogs on plant-based food.
This does not stand alone, either. Across the entire scope of the study, at least one health complaint was reported for 49% of dogs on traditional meat-based food, compared to 43% for raw meat and 36% for plant-based food (Knight et al., 2022). The findings regarding skin and coat, therefore, fit into a broader pattern within this study.
Why is this formulated cautiously, rather than as a hard conclusion?
There are a few reasons to read this carefully and with both feet on the ground. First, these are reports from owners themselves, not standard examinations performed by a veterinarian on every dog in the study. Second, this is a survey, not an experiment where dogs were randomly assigned a diet, so other factors may also have played a role. And skin problems in dogs have many possible causes anyway: allergies, environment, parasites, and diet is only one part of that.
Nevertheless, a difference that consistently points in the same direction, measured in thousands of dogs, is a signal worth taking seriously, even if it is not proof in itself.
What does this mean for VerdaDog nutrition?
It is for this very reason that we at VerdaDog focus on hypoallergenic, plant-based nutrition. Curious about the composition of our kibble? Check it out here! Are you unsure whether plant-based food might benefit your dog's skin? Take a look at our FAQ page or contact us.
Frequently asked questions
Is this study the same as veterinary research?
No. It concerns reports from dog owners themselves, not a clinical study where each dog was assessed individually by a veterinarian. That makes it valuable due to its scale, but less definitive than a controlled study.
How many dogs were in this study?
A total of 2,536 dogs, of which 1,370 were on traditional meat-based food, 830 on raw meat, and 336 on plant-based food, all of which had been on that diet for at least one year (Knight et al., 2022).
Who funded this study?
This study was funded by ProVeg International, an organization that promotes plant-based nutrition. This does not invalidate the results—the study was peer-reviewed and published—but it is relevant to know when weighing the findings.
About the author
David is the founder of VerdaDog. He grew up with a dog that struggled with allergies, which got him thinking about how he could prevent that for his own dog. He has eaten a plant-based diet himself for over ten years, and that interest in nutrition, for both himself and his dog, forms the foundation of VerdaDog. This article is written based on peer-reviewed research. David does not claim any veterinary or scientific expertise and always refers to a veterinarian for medical advice.
Literature
Knight, A., Huang, E., Rai, N., & Brown, H. (2022). Vegan versus meat-based dog food: Guardian-reported indicators of health. PLoS ONE, 17(4), e0265662. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0265662
