Key Takeaways
Susan Pitcairn and Dr. Richard Pitcairn have researched and promoted vegetarian/vegan diets since the 1970s. Jan Allegretti has recommended these diets to clients for over 20 years with good results. Jan is the author of the wonderful “The Fresh & Flexible Meal Plan: The Easiest, Most Nutritious Way to Feed Your Dog and Cat” and Susan is a coauthor of the classic “Dr. Pitcairn’s Complete Guide to Natural Health for Dogs & Cats”.
Benefits seen from vegan diets: 80% of animals improve just from diet change before other treatments, more energy, better coat, less arthritis, clearer skin, better digestion, calmer behavior; Dogs and cats seem peaceful and long-lived (12-14 years).
- Vegan and vegetarian diets can provide complete and balanced nutrition for dogs and cats.
- These diets are associated with health benefits like improved skin, coat, energy, and longevity.
- They help address sustainability issues like water use, land use, and carbon emissions (vegan dogs save millions of gallons of water and acres of land yearly; vegan diets use 1/15th of the resources of standard diets; could feed 12 billion people on current farmland.)
- Health and Humane Benefits: Toxins store in animal fat; plant foods have fewer; Vegan animals avoid cruel factory farming practices; aligns values of caring for all species.
- Variety is key: use fresh, whole foods with variety – not the same recipe daily; rotate through recipes with different protein sources; add fruits, vegetables, oils, superfoods like spirulina.
- 00:00 Introductions / overview
- 02:30 The Pitcairn’s approach
- 09:10 Science of pet diet evolution
- 10:40 Environmental toxins
- 14:10 Farming industry
- 16:45 Sustainability aspect: soil, water
- 21:30 Recipe & supplement ideas
- 28:00 Jan Alegretti introducing herself
- 31:00 Fresh & Flexible mean plan / importance of diet / examples
- 37:30 Packaged food vs home prepared
- 41:00 Importance of variety
- 47:00 Fresh & flexible meal plan: ingredients
- 54:30 Q&A: how long do you test vegan diet without supplements?