A query we received from concerned owner Annie about her sweet dog Breta –
“I have a 5 year old labrador bitch who recently had a 2cm malignant melanoma removed from her hard palate. Histology showed that the margins were clean and a CT scan of her chest and biopsies of the lymph glands showed no spread as yet. However, I have been informed that spread and death are inevitable.
I am vegan and am very aware of the cancer growth-promoting properties of meat. I wish to convert her to a vegan diet in order to give her the best chance of a longer life expectancy. Could you comment and also recommend a particular brand, please? She was a rescue and I have only had her for 10 months. I have been feeding her the Science Diet.
Thank you, Annie”
We asked the top vet oncologist in the country Dr Clare Knottenbelt, owner of gorgeous labrador Jumble (who has had a mast cell tumour removed from his head) for her opinion on this. Here is her answer:
I feed Jumble Green Crunch as I believe that this diet will reduce his risk of cancer and help reduce climate change. In humans it’s well recognised that meat consumption especially red meat and processed meat is associated with a higher instance of cancer. Many of the anti- cancer nutrients are also plant products – I was amazed once I started to explore the contents of “ anti- cancer” supplements for people and pets. There is so much information out there. Of course there is very little published evidence in pets as few people consider feeding dogs plant based food.
There is no doubt that there is a genetic link to many types of tumours and Golden Retrievers for example are particularly problematic – particularly in the US where 40% get cancer. However what is interesting is the way in which dogs are often used as models for human cancer in research trials for new treatments. In addition dogs and other animals can act as sentinels for environmental issues such as the case where sheep started getting asbestos associated mesotheliomas in Italy and soon so did the humans.
Our pets inhabit the same environments as us so they are exposed to the same carcinogens. Obviously they don’t do the stupid things we do to our own bodies like smoking and drinking. There was an interesting article in new Scientist recently about a theory about how obesity increases the risk if cancer in humans – it relates to there being a higher actual number of cells in the body and therefore a higher risk of the mutations that cause cancer occurring. If that is the case then there is no reason why this same link could not occur in dogs.
Of course dogs don’t live as long as we do so they have less exposure to the risk factors we have but despite this they have the same incidence of cancer as humans (1 in 3 dogs and humans will develop cancer). Until recently I have been skeptical about the cancer supplements that are available however with more owners asking me about specific ones, I decided it was time to approach them with an open mind.
So now what I do is try to look at the various supplements and assess their contents – this is important as sometimes there are things in supplements that worry me. For example Lutein is known to promote inhibition of various types of cancer cells in human and only comes from plants.
The very interesting article below shows the risks of cancer incidence in humans eating plant-based diets compared to non-vegetarian diets.
The conclusion states:
Results: A total of 2,939 incident cancer cases were identified. The multivariate HR of overall cancer risk among vegetarians compared with non-vegetarians was statistically significant for both genders combined. When analysing the association of specific vegetarian dietary patterns, vegan diets showed statistically significant protection for overall cancer incidence in both genders combined and for female-specific cancers.
Conclusion: Vegetarian diets seem to confer protection against cancer.
Impact: Vegan diet seems to confer lower risk for overall and female-specific cancer than other dietary patterns.

Top Vegan Dog Dental Chews
Which dental plant-based chews are advised by our vet and which should you avoid?
Rupert had crystals from eating Benevo
Rupert suffered from an extremely painful urinary tract infection and blood in his urine which ultimately led to him needing surgery
FREE TUB OF SUPPLEMENT for your help
If you have safely transitioned your dog from raw to a plant-based diet, please fill out our form to receive some FREE supplement and treats as a thank you!
New Year’s Intentions
We have chosen to share dear little Simba’s weight loss story and the advice given as it may echo your own experience
Vet Reflections Of 2020
They say that to be truly happy, you need to have gratitude and I have to end the year with thanks to these wonderful people (and dogs)
Wispa’s guilty pleasures
We live in a zero carbon house. Wispa seriously offsets our carbon savings!
Can I Afford A Vegan Diet?
We are so passionate about plant-based feeding in dogs, that we want to support you and hopefully make it affordable for you
Wonderful David Attenborough
When our future seems so precarious, we finally have hope for our fragile natural world with the very wise and passionate words of Sir David Attenborough
The kindest pet owner you can be
At this stressful time, our vet offers advice on being the kindest pet owner to your sensitive dog
Never use the word VEGAN!
Only by convincing vets that it is the way forward, will we together have any success as plant-based feeders of ensuring that it becomes a very viable and superior option to feeding our dogs
*The Top 10 Zoonoses In Your Home*
There are cases of dry food or treats (especially the raw hide treats and chews) causing transmission of diseases to people
Evidence Based Medicine
The meat-based fed control group showed 11 deficiencies while the long-term vegan fed category presented only two deficiencies