The UK’s 8 Best Vegan Dog Food Brands 2023

Yes, you can, but you will need to use supplements which can be bought online. See the Fleetful entry in this Best Vegan Dog Food Guide for more information on that.

Many people (for many reasons) want to make their own dog food at home. If this is something you are interested in, head over to my Cooking Food for Dogs page.

You need to be confident that a vegan diet will keep your dog companion happy and healthy. The best vegan dog food today has been well researched, carefully prepared and should be nutritionally complete. All those in my list fulfil these objectives and in many instances are proving to be beneficial. 

However, as a vegan with a dog companion, the biggest issue isn’t only about finding the best vegan dog food for your pooch. The question is, should you be imposing your values on them and feeding them a vegan diet, just because that’s how you eat?

I feel really privileged having Coco share my life and I hope we have a mutually beneficial relationship (as you can see, she kindly poses for me on tree stumps and I feed her lightly steamed broccoli florets in return!)

However, by necessity, she has to rely on me to make certain decisions on her behalf, and what she eats is one of them – quite a big responsibility when you think about it.

If you feel the weight of this responsibility too and are trying to make the right decisions for your doggy companion(s), I hope this best vegan dog food blog will help. I have taken the 2 biggest questions that people ask about dogs on a vegan diet and present the conclusion of my fact-finding.

If you have decided that your dog should go plant-based, then my research into the best vegan dog food hopefully also does the groundwork for you.

Of course, veganism doesn’t stop with food and if you want to ensure your dog’s grooming is also cruelty-free, have a read of my Best Vegan Dog Shampoos blog.

I believe the answer is yes, but based on what evidence?

Firstly, it’s important to remember that dogs are omnivores, not carnivores. This means that they are very well-equipped, just like us, to digest and absorb food and nutrients from plant-based sources.

Increasingly, research is showing that dogs not only thrive on a vegan diet, they positively benefit. The Pack have written a great blog about whether it’s safe to feed vegan dog food. You will find that they cite a lot of really useful research links in their article too.

However, the British Veterinary Association says the jury is still out as far as they’re concerned (at the time of writing this blog), so I have linked to their article on this so you can take a balanced view.

But, whilst I’m no scientist, logic makes me question the main thread of their argument about the poor bio-availability of nutrients added to vegan dog food. Those same nutrients are regularly added to meat and fish-based dog food – so why are they more bio-available I wonder?

Vets are not necessarily experts on animal nutrition, any more than your GP is an expert on human nutrition (and most will admit they’re not). Additionally, with big questions now being raised about ultra processed foods, that’s got to include the intense processing of meat for animal consumption right?

Research also came out of Winchester University from Andrew Knight, a professor of animal welfare and ethics. He said that providing plant-based pet food is carefully formulated and contains appropriate synthetic nutrients, dogs can even have better health outcomes than when fed on meat pet foods.

All of this research is incredibly reassuring and dogs’ human companions are certainly beginning to see some of the positive results a plant-based diet is having on their canine compadres.

Plant-based eating for your dog may not be absolutely perfect, but nor is the meat-based pet food industry. But with the amount of research now going into the best vegan dog food brands, I am very confident that it is the better option.

However, it is still important that you find them the best vegan dog food. Not all of it is complete, or appropriate for every day eating. And some ‘plant-based’ dog food contains eggs – not sure which plant eggs come from, but there you go…

Well, it really depends on which vet you speak to! And remember, they are not all experts on nutrition. However, all the brands I have selected below have taken lots of advice from vets, animal nutritionists and from the FEDIAF (the pet food industry’s European-based federation).

Enlightened vets like Arielle Griffiths, Director of Just be Kind Dog Food Ltd, will always consider plant-based dog food as an option. After all, it should be about whatever is best for your dog.

So essentially, yes. Whilst you will find some vets who are sceptical (just as GPs can be about us vegan humans) there are many vets who are well-informed, open-minded, up to date on the latest research and who are very happy to recommend vegan dog food.

According to the Guardian in their article on eco-friendly pet food, people are becoming increasingly aware of the impact of pet food production on the environment. 

The article goes on to say that a quarter of the environmental impact of the production of meat is due to pet food, and that approximately 20% of meat and fish globally is consumed by pets. These are staggering figures!

So feeding your dog a meat or fish-based food is contributing significantly to greenhouse gases, and to the use of phosphates, antibiotics, and pesticides.

Whilst vegan dog food still has an impact on the environment (crops have to be grown, processed, packaged and transported) it is a far smaller impact than that of traditional pet foods.

A paper published on Plos.Org suggests that finding alternative protein sources for pet food would result in a significant reduction in the negative environmental impact of pet food overall.

Add to that the fact that vegan dog food producers are often newer organisations which, being vegan and cruelty-free, tend to be more environmentally-friendly by default as well.

So basically, yes, the best vegan dog food will be more eco-friendly than traditional meat-based diets.

It is technically possible for any diet that doesn’t keep your dog healthy to be illegal.

However, a healthy vegan diet is just like any other, and dogs can thrive on it.

So if you feed your dog inappropriately and they suffer any ill harm, you could be prosecuted under the Animal Welfare Act 2006. However, a vegan diet for your dog is not unhealthy by default just because it’s vegan. Using any of the products in this guide as instructed will keep your dog perfectly healthy unless there is some other underlying condition – in these situations, I’d suggest your vet should always be your first port of call.