May I please introduce you to Ms. Cleo:
.jpg "big black dog")
Ms. Cleo came into our lives about a year and a half ago, (although she is 4yrs old – ish), after we adopted her from the Pasadena Humane Society.
My BF had been talking about getting a dog on and off for the last year. We looked at adoption sites, but just browsed. One morning, my guy IM’s me if I would send him a link to the dogs at the pound, which I did. Ten minutes later, I was sent back a link that said, “this is my dog.” I clicked and saw this black dog with enormous ears, staring at me.
I called the pound and found out she was available. My BF was busy canceling his after lunch appointments. By 1pm, we were heading out to Pasadena. By 2pm, we were driving back… with a dog in the car.
We all adjusted to the new living situation with ease.
About two weeks in, I went to pet her and she gave the slightest wince. Later that night, I saw her rub on the couch in such a way that I turned to the BF and said: “She has an ear infection.”
Little did I know this was the beginning of a 9-month journey…
Yes, Cleo did have an ear infection. We got it cleared up and not a month later she had another one, and so on. At some point, the vet couldn’t see her eardrum anymore and had concerns. We had to anesthetize her so they could really get in there and clean it out, but lo and behold, nothing was really working. The ear infection would come back.
We were in this constant battle of trying to ward off the ear infection and treating it once it arrived again. In a matter of hours, our girl would be great and then we’d look at her and she’d be tilting her head in pain.
We would have to give her steroids and antibiotics and flush her ear and on and on… all of us hated it. She was in pain. We couldn’t explain to her what we were doing and that it was supposed to be good for her.
Anyone who has had a sick animal knows what this is like.
At some point, our vet discovered a mass in the inner ear, that she couldn’t get to and she was still concerned about not being able to see the eardrum, that we were referred to a doggie dermatologist.
Long story short… after doing another surgical procedure (and removing the mass and checking the eardrum was fine), he confirmed that chronic ear infections are due to allergies and for dogs, the most common allergy is chicken or beef, but could be anything from wheat to corn to pork to environmental.
Then he said:
“We need to try Cleo as a vegan and see what happens”
Needless to say, both of us were a bit surprised. We both lived an animal free lifestyle, but didn’t know it was acceptable for dogs to be this way.
Now, before someone reads this and decides to be critical and tell me that dogs must live on a omnivorous diet and they must have animal products, etc… first, my research has shown that it is simply not true. But, more importantly, I don’t care, because even so, my dog cannot have animal products of any kind. Period. End of story.
(I should add that I have been apprehensive about sharing her story. We, excitedly, participated in a story for CNN about vegan dogs and after it was published, I was bombarded with hate mail. I am not preaching that all dogs must be vegan. Simply, that my dog must be vegan.)
We have very systematically allergy tested my dog for everything from chicken, to beef, to cheese, to eggs, to wheat, to corn, to pork, to fish, etc. etc. etc… and the truth is this:
Ms. Cleo is allergic to ALL animal products.
ALL.
As soon as we switched her to an animal free diet, she has not once had an ear infection, nor her occasional skin issue. She is has been the perfect picture of health.
.jpg "Big Black Dog")
Why did I decide to share this with you? First, because having a dog with allergies is much more common than you would imagine. Second, because I know a lot of people would like to have their dog be vegan, but don’t know what to give them for food.
I make Cleo’s food for her. It is a recipe that was given to me by the vet and I wanted to share it with you.
Some things you need to be aware of are: First, you will need to adjust the recipe for the necessary caloric intake of your dog. Cleo is about 50lbs, needs 1200 calories/day and this recipe is exactly that. The recipe is a simple ratio (2:2:1) and should be able to be manipulated very easily.
Second, your pup will need additional supplements for the vitamins and minerals they might be missing… Cleo LOVES LOVES LOVES kale chips, spinach chips, other greens, apples, almonds, and cashews. This has done a lot to supplement her diet, but a multi-vitamin may be something you want to consider.
Lastly, we also give her probiotics. The diet is very high in fiber and we have found she does better with the addition of the Forti-Flora. I would suggest seeing how your pup does and decide if you want to include it in the diet.
And, in case you were wondering about the title… We call Cleo, “the BBD”… big black dog, of course. This is so she isn’t confused with this one:
“The LBC” (little black cat), aka Mr. Murray
What an amazing story. Both of them are beautiful. Shadow’s doing great on this every since you shared it with us. We are so thankful your article was shared with us. Even more thankful to have connected with beautiful you.
2:2:1 very simple. Can we substitute other root veggies & beans?
Thats so cool.. I wanted my dog Brutus to go vegan .. But everyone told me because he was a “pit bull” it might make him crazy.. Either way I don’t have him anymore my fiancé does in Ohio and I’m in Vegas but as for my cat dank well see the vet says he has an ulser behind his eye .. Im wondering if it might have something to do with his diet also … I’m gonna look into that coming from being vegan myself.. Thank you very much
Hey… Ms Cleo is part pit, so I’m sure Brutus would do really great on the diet. Cleo has more strength now, is a bit leaner, but easily the fastest dog in the dog park. Kitties cannot be vegan, unfortunately. Dogs evolved as omnivores with 80% of their diet coming from plant material, that’s why they can adapt to veganism so easily. Kitties are carnivores, they need an amino acid called taurine. You can put your cat on a veg diet, but MUST supplement with taurine, which will always come from animals, or at least that’s what I have been told. I’m still researching it myself and will let everyone know what I find out! Thanks for the comment. Would love to hear if you change the animals diets over!
Ms Cleo is a pretty pretty girl! such a fabulous story. Thanks for writing this post. Posts like these and information about the diet are a great help when talking to friends about putting their pets on a vegan diet !
Our pom eats half his meals vegan, but i never got around to researching his nutrition requirements since his diet change some months back. So he still gets one meal of kibble. Its time for him to be a happy and compassionate dog!!:)
Thx a lot! Your post made all the way to germany
have a great weekend and all the best and vegan wishes for you and mr
Murray and of course Cleo! Claudi
I’ve been pressing a vegan/raw diet for my dog on my parents. I give her vegan food all the time- she loves squash, carrots, kale, and fruit!
I hope she will be able to be off her nasty kibbles 100% some day!
Thanks for posting! We too just adopted and are looking into veganizing our dog’s diet.
Lovely blog!
There is a company that makes Mr. Barky’s that makes a great vegan kibble, canned food and treats. Ms Cleo can’t eat some of the products because of her other allergies. But she LOVES the treats!
I tend to believe that something is better than nothing. If your pup eats mainly vegan food, with one meal a day kibble… that is still better than how most of the dogs in the world eat… Good job!!
thank you so much. Let me know if you have any questions as you transition your pup over!
Jeri – I am so sorry I didn’t respond to you earlier. Yes! You can substitute… we have given cleo a good variety of all the different potatoes available. Makes no difference, just check on caloric difference. Also, she loves quinoa and we have made that substitution for some of the rice. But it is very high in protein, so we do less beans if we are adding quinoa. Eventually, the instinct takes over and you know what your dog likes and needs. As for beans, we haven’t tried many varieties… kidney and lentil. But that’s about it. I’m sure many of the beans are good substitutes, though. So happy to hear about Shadow… very lucky dog to have such an amazing family!
I just found you through Amanda’s blog.
Cleo is so gorgeous! I’m so glad that you found a diet that worked for her. One of my dogs had inhalant allergies, so it’s been harder to fight, but we’ve found things that have worked a lot for her, too.
That’s too bad that you got so much hate mail. People can be so reactive.
[...] then, the icing on the cake… the sweet BBD and I had a little accident. We are okay. We are healing. That is all that needs to be [...]
[...] the dog has a broken tail. But, it’s our dog, so it never ends just there. A very long story [...]
Great post Shelley! Ms. Cleo is gorgeous. So serendipitous that you adopted a vegan dog
She is clearly thriving on her diet. You’ve inspired me to add more sweet potato to my dog’s vegan diet. Sorry you received all that hate mail, I don’t understand why people feel the need to send hate mail ever. Great post!