What made a GP vet with 25 years experience turn her and her family dog 100% plant-based?

I have a passion for clients and the bond they have with their animals as I have it too with our pets that we have had over the years and now with our little rescue family dog Ruff. I have only ever worked as a GP vet as I love to listen and help and having worked at various practices throughout the UK over the years, I recently grew overwhelmed by the number of overweight very loved pets and pets with severe allergies, itchy skins and intolerances.

Using meat-based diets and treats whether raw or expensive brand biscuits was not good enough for me. There was a welfare issue, an environmental issue with high-meat diets, and when you think about it, the byproducts of the farmed animals or chickens that go into pet foods are made of the organs that get rid of toxins in the body – liver, kidneys, intestines and all those unnatural drugs such as growth promoters, antibiotics and anti-parasitic medication that are given to the intensively farmed livestock end up concentrated in the very organs that we are feeding to our pets leading to something called bioaccumulation!

Another concern that owners have with the awareness of zoonoses from our past pandemic (diseases we catch from animals), is what infections they could get from the saliva of their pet while on a high meat diet, whether raw or treats. This affects the very close bond we have with our pets as well as having concerning health issues for not just owners, but our environment too.

Being as concerned as you all are about the implications of feeding high meat-based products to our pets, I threw myself into the fascinating field of pet nutrition. 5 years ago, I did every nutrition course going and contacted the top vet nutritionists in the UK for help as with all the research I did, a plant-based diet seemed to be the healthiest and safest for us and for our dogs. Realistically, they said that it could be done but only with the expertise of a trained nutritional vet…….so I became one through the last 5 years of intensive research!

I turned both myself and our family dog 100% plant-based at the age of 52 (much to the concern of my vet husband), to find the perfect balanced plant-based for dogs….and I found it!

It has been a fascinating journey. Plant-based feeding of dogs has now soared as more and more of us realise how crucial it is to feed our dogs a diet that is not only pure and balanced, but also far kinder for our planet and the health of our pets.

I’d be so happy so help you, as like me you are looking for a more natural and more sustainable way of feeding your dog, which is why I am running an online plant-based dog nutrition course to answer ALL those important questions that you have and help you transition your dog safely and easily with the help of top veterinary nutritionists…..and thousands of owners who have I have learnt SO much from!

Dr Arielle Griffiths BVSc MRCVS