With a dog that is as picky as Sundi – my son’s hard-to-please hound – finding food that she will eat is a big challenge. So when Omni asked me to try out their tinned food, there was really only one candidate for the job (although my dog Coco didn’t miss out entirely)! To our surprise, we found that she eats it willingly, and although that doesn’t sound like much of an accolade for the product, believe me, it is! So, I’ve documented our experience, and Sundi’s reactions, in this Omni wet vegan dog food review.
Pros
- Tasty & appetising
- Nutritionally complete
- Vet formulated
- Plant-based
Cons
- Soy-based
- Cost
Omni discount code VEGANMUM (Ts&Cs apply)
Do dogs live longer on plant-based dog food?
Increasingly, there is evidence to suggest that not only do they live longer (generally), but they also have fewer health conditions and vet visits. I guess the 2 things go hand-in-hand (or should that be paw-in-paw?)
If you’d like to learn more from someone who is an expert in this area, you can start by visiting Professor Andrew Knight’s website articles here. I find the whole topic fascinating.
Our experience of Omni wet vegan dog food
An ex-street dog from South Korea, our little Sundi has a very chequered, and traumatic, past and was extremely ill and skinny when my daughter first adopted her there. As a result, you’d think that she’d take every opportunity to eat but surprisingly, that’s not the case and we’re not sure why. Perhaps she was used to being attacked by other dogs, or punished for eating something that she shouldn’t have, and that trauma remains even though those dangers have long passed.
I guess we’ll never know. She’s been in the UK for several years now and is fit, healthy and happy and living with my son and his family in the west of England. But the fact remains that getting her to eat at all can sometimes be an arduous process and although she clearly eats enough to get by, she seems to take little enjoyment from it. Fed mainly a kibble diet, we had tried introducing wet foods to encourage her but with little success until we tried her first on Omni’s Toppers, and then on their tinned wet food – particularly the no-beef casserole. These were both an instant hit.
Trying to work out why (because I hate a mystery!) these are the points of difference I’ve found between Omni’s tinned food and other brands:
- it smells really pleasant, unlike animal-based wet food
- it has a rich gravy, so isn’t a solid mass
- there are chunks of soft, chewy soy-based protein which Sundi seems to really enjoy
And it’s not just Sundi because my dog Coco is also a fan (although it’s an occasional treat for her because for medical reasons, she has to stay on an ultra-low fat diet).
So Omni’s wet vegan dog food has become a regular on Sundi’s menu. If cost wasn’t an issue it would probably totally replace her daily kibble, but as with all plant-based dog food that I’ve seen, the price doesn’t make that a viable option. However, she does have 2-3 tins most weeks and the pleasure from seeing her eat something without persuasion and that she clearly enjoys makes it very worthwhile.
Our dogs find this food very tasty
I’ve mentioned that the smell when you open a tin of this food is very pleasant, and the dogs seem to really like it, sniffing the air expectantly. This is unlike the odour emanating from any animal-based wet dog foods that I know of, most of which make me reach to be honest.
And both Sundi and Coco tuck straight in – no hesitation! So we’ve found it to be very appealing to dogs, but their humans like it too because it smells so much more wholesome. I don’t like to think about the animal parts that go into meat-based alternatives too much, but I think the odour tells me more than I need to know.
And on that note, it’s worth noting that the dogs’ poos are much firmer, and they smell so much better on this plant-based diet too – poos and dogs!
It’s nutritionally complete
This is an important factor because there are a few plant-based wet dog foods out there that are not intended to be a complete diet in their own right and don’t contain all the nutrients our dogs need. However, Omni’s tinned food is nutritionally complete (so there is no need to supplement) and complies with all the required FEDIAF guidelines. This organisation represents pet food manufacturers in Europe and the UK and sets out very clearly the nutritional requirements for dog food, so only when a food complies with these guidelines can a brand rightfully claim that their food is nutritionally complete.
Essentially, this means that if your dog eats Omni’s tinned food, there is no need to supplement with anything else. Just to be clear though, this doesn’t apply to Omni Toppers which are intended as a high protein treat to add to your dog’s kibble. You can read more about this product in my Omni Toppers review and see just how much Sundi loves Omni’s vegan wet dog foods!
Omni Discount code VEGANMUM
This food is formulated by a vet
As with all of Omni’s dog food – both wet and dry – the formulation has been driven by the vet-founder’s desire to ensure that it is nourishing for our dogs and I find that very reassuring. He, and his team, have worked with nutritionists to use plant-based proteins and ingredients to make products that meet all FEDIAF requirements, but that are also good to eat. I guess it’s no good making a nutrient-filled dinner that tastes so horrible your dog won’t eat it!
So I’m very confident that we’re giving our dogs a food that has been carefully formulated and produced.
It’s plant-based
In addition to the nourishing aspects of Omni’s tinned dog food, I really love the fact that it is all vegan. From what I can see, an important factor for both the founders is that they want to make planet-friendly products, and that means that no animal products are involved in the process. So that ticks 2 important boxes for me – it’s vegan, and the brand appears to be striving to minimise its environmental impact too.
Omni Discount code VEGANMUM
All Omni’s wet food contains soy
UPDATE Feb ’25: Omni have now formulated a soy-free wet food – Soothing Stew – which is available for pre-order.
This isn’t a problem for Sundi, who doesn’t have any sensitivities that we’re aware of. However, there are a few dogs that don’t cope well with soy. Omni do have a Sensitive Dogs option in their dry food range though, so Coco will often eat that because of her chronic gut issues.
So for the moment, soy is the only option if you want to use Omni’s tinned food because there’s not much else that will provide that ‘meaty’ texture…at the moment. But, I’d watch this space because Omni seem to innovate and I wouldn’t be completely surprised if they came up with something new and different in the future!
I find vegan dog food is generally more expensive
I have done a lot of digging around in the vegan pet food arena in the last few years, and most of it is more expensive than meat and fish-based alternatives. And Omni is no exception (although I think their dry food is more in line with non-vegan products). However, I have found it to be competitively priced in comparison to many of the other wet vegan dog foods on the market here in the UK. And if you subscribe as we all have, there is a good discount available as well as free online vet consultations which are very helpful.
It can be a difficult decision when budgets are tight, but I’m prepared to pay a little more for something that does not cause harm to animals, and minimises its impact on the planet too. And if it helps, you can get an initial 50% discount using the link below.
My verdict on Omni wet vegan dog food
I can say without hesitation that both the no-beef casserole and the no-chicken pot pie tins are popular meals with Sundi and Coco. They both love this food and need no encouragement to eat it, and I can trust that they are getting all the nourishment they need from it too because it’s nutritionally complete.
This food is a regular part of Sundi’s diet, along with Omni’s Senior dry dog food, and it is such a pleasure to see her eating it with such gusto given the issues she can have. It does look and smell appetising (even to us humans) with a good balance of protein chunks and gravy, and it works really well mixed with the biscuits too. And because it uses a soy protein mix to offer that ‘meaty’ texture, it’s very different from the other wet vegan dog foods that we’ve tried which tend to be drier, with a more grainy consistency.
From a health and energy perspective, Sundi certainly seems to thrive on it; her coat is soft, shiny and abundant, and she is absolutely full of energy despite her advancing years. There aren’t many dogs that could beat her sprinting up and down those Gloucestershire hillsides!
There is a cost issue though and it would be too expensive to feed a dog of Sundi’s size only on this tinned food, but in some ways that’s good because she doesn’t get too much of a good thing. She eats her way through about 3 tins a week added to her dry food, and that is enough to maintain her interest in the biscuits and to give her some variation in her diet.
So overall, I really like this wet vegan dog food from Omni and would definitely recommend it as an option if you’re looking to feed your pooch a plant-based diet. It seems to be high quality, nutritious and tasty – what more could a dog ask for?!
Omni Discount code VEGANMUM
More vegan dog food reviews
I hope you have found this Omni wet vegan dog food review useful. There are several other great vegan brands out there, some of which I have reviewed below if you’d like top read more.
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