Hunny the gorgeous 1 year old wire-haired Viszla (with a spikey beard and all the character in the world) had a bout of Campylobacter infection as a puppy which led to her having severe and chronic diarrhoea.
Their vet recommended a diet of vegetables and rice which obviously concerned her owner as this was not sustainable for a growing puppy. They tried her on fish, rabbit, chicken, duck, and she kept having diarrhoea. They were told that as a Viszla, she had sensitive digestion and didn’t offer anymore advice.
Her worried Mum kept researching and eventually came across an article in The Times ‘Vegan hounds are fit as a butcher’s dog’ (great title:) that mentioned Prof Knight’s latest published research, and then they read The Guardian article that Just be Kind and devoted owners appeared in too.
In her words –
“It was an open door for us as we have been strict vegetarians for 30 years – for us it felt so much more authentic to feed a vegan diet. We felt relieved that we didn’t have to feed meat anymore, including duck…..as we actually have a pet duck!
Having been a Mum of 4 boys, and as a parenting consultant, I know the value of wholefood plant-based homecooked food, so I began to cook for Hunny, and it’s lovely!My husband just said to me this morning – I cannot believe how well Hunny is. Her coat is better, she has more energy and she is a happier pup. She is eating what we eat and she feels part of the family. Having her eating what we eat bonds her to us so closely.”
In response to dogs eating poo, Hunny’s Mum has this to say –
When Hunny was on a meat-based diet she had constant tummy issues and also used to eat the poo of other dogs as well as horses, sheep, rabbits … anything really. But, since going over to a vegan diet her tummy is brilliant and she no longer eats poo. It could be argued that it was the poo-eating which was upsetting her tummy but we have done short trials of re-introducing fish or egg and the tummy upset returns fast. Could it be that the poo-eating was her body’s way of trying to get some gut balance in place or is it correlation and not causation?
April just loves Give A Dog A Bean!
I have never seen such a manic reaction from two lazy dogs, they scoffed Give A Dog A Bean as if this was the first meal they’ve had in a long time
Beautiful Loki the Vizsla loves Give A Dog A Bean
He’s on Solo Vegetal, as I’ve always been a dry food feeder for convenience, but he goes absolutely nuts for your Give A Dog A Bean!
Arthur the Diabetic Labrador thrives on his plant-based diet
Just as in humans, the best diet when suffering from diabetes, is a balanced fibre rich, plant-based diet