Photo taken just a few days ago.Let me give you a little history about Muffins. She is 13 years old and has a curved spine. Also when she walks her knee caps move out of place. Things started getting hard for her back in 2011 when we lived in California. Back then she still had a lot of spunk and we were able to take her for walks on the beach. Shortly after California she seemed to be in a lot of pain when she walked and she became very lazy. When we moved to Wyoming I took her to a vet and had her put on pain meds. I didn't like giving her meds because I know they cause liver damage. I kept her on them for about a month and saw no improvement at all. I stopped giving them to her.
Muffins in California, 2011Fast froward to 2012, which is when Cody and I went vegan. I never would of thought that I would find a vegan dog food or even consider switching my dogs to a meat free diet. My views and beliefs changed overtime, I educated myself on how the dog/cat food is made and I just decided that if meat causes so many problems in the human body, isn't it possible it does the same to our pets? Made sense to me.
Muffins and I on the beach in California, 2011Stephanie from Share The Love informed me that the pet food brand Natural Balance made a vegan dog food formula. I was so excited about it and I was able to just go to my local pet food store and buy it. The price is pretty comparable to brands like IAMS, which is what they were eating prior to switching to Natural Balance. Within only a few weeks of switching the dogs to their new food I saw results. When I fed Muffins IAMS she would barely eat a bowl worth a day, even go a few days without eating. It was heartbreaking.
There were days where I would come home from work and have to check to see if she was still breathing. It was awful. Sometimes I would just start balling my eyes out because I feared the worst. Muffins would sleep for hours and never even get up to drink water or go outside. I had watched my poor little dogs health decline very badly over the last year. She was super skinny and had trouble getting off the deck to use the restroom and even going over the doorway to get in and out of the house she would fall.
It's so hard to watch your pets get old. For a long time I didn't think she would make it to the end of this year. However, after switching her diet I have this completely different dog. It's as if I rolled back time. For one she loves the food and she is eating regularly. She has gained some much needed weight. She wants to be up and about. She goes outside multiple times a day on her own without being forced. She shows happiness and excitement again. All I did was switch her food.
I actually was talking to a co-worker about the vegan dog food the other day. It was so refreshing to have someone show interest and ask questions about it. She planned to tell her aunt about the food because she has a dog that's older and not doing that well. That's when I knew I really wanted to share it with my readers. :) Cody and I plan to take a vacation this year to California. It means a lot to me to take Muffins to see the ocean again. I've never seen her so happy. As far as Chloe goes, she has lost some much needed weight.
Chloe is no longer the shape of a barrel. She now has an hour glass shape the way she should. The results with both my dogs have been great. I wrote this post so that I could pass the information along. I know not everyone will agree with me and that's fine. Again, this is my choice and all the proof I need is in front of me everyday. I can't wait to walk Muffins on the beach again!
Even though I'm not vegan, I really appreciate that there's vegan food out there for animals. I can imagine that the ingredients in that food are much higher quality than most. I may have to give it a try and see what the dogs think!
ReplyDeleteNatural Balance has all kinds of foods if you didn't want the vegan one. Of course that's what I recommend. hahaha ;)
DeleteThis is so great to hear that your dogs are doing so well! It was a bit hard to get through this post, hearing about your poor pup's degenerative health. I had to watch my baby do that last year, and it was the hardest thing I've ever gone through.
ReplyDeleteMelissa
http://wildflwrchild.blogspot.com
It's so very hard to lose your pet. I'm sorry that you had to go through that. I don't look forward to it with Muffins. That is why I'm trying to enjoy the time I have with her now. :)
DeleteI've been intending to switch Effy to vegan food for a while, I'll have to check if I can get natural balance in the UK. Her and Holly love the vegan treats I get them.
ReplyDeleteI'm really reluctant to switch Holly over though, as she's 14 and has arthritis, we switched her onto a special dog food for older dogs with similar problems to hers and it's given her such a new lease of life. She wants to play and run around again!
It's so fantastic that Muffins is doing so well on her new vegan diet! She looks so happy to be back by the sea.
It's so hard when your dogs start to get older. It's amazing how switching a dogs food can make such a big difference.
DeleteI loved this post Jessie. Matt and I talked about this because we are familiar with this brand of food for cats and dogs (since we tried it with our cats and other vegan brands) and we know that when we do get a dog they will be vegan. I too believe in hard evidence. That is how I learned that cats should never ever be vegan. That's a long story that I would be willing to share with anyone considering putting their cats on a vegan diet. Dogs, on the other hand, I've read so many wonderful stories of success on a vegan diet and the story of Muffins' improvement is just astounding.
ReplyDeleteI will say that I have dramatically switched the type of food that my cats get. I did a lot of research both before I put them on a vegan diet and after I took them off. I would love to share that story one day but I just wanted to say that I love the story of Muffins and I'm so happy that she is alive today and thriving!
And can I say, that is just the most adorable video of your dog.
DeleteI had a comment prior to this but it disappeared when I left the one above. Just though I'd let ya know. :)
DeleteI was very excited to share Muffins story on the blog. :) It's been amazing seeing her happy again. I wish cats could be vegan, but I imagine it would not be good for them. I did switch my cats to a Natural Balance food instead of IAMS. Once I learned that IAMS belonged to P&G I didn't want to buy it anymore. Plus I hated the thought of feeding them baby chickens since I know how they are killed. I put the cats on a Salmon and pea formula. They seem to like it. They don't eat as much now and my overweight kitties have lost some weight. It's amazing what simple diet changes can do for all of us. :)
Deleteoh wow! i've tried not to think about what i'm feeding my dogs because i assumed vegan dog food would be really hard to find/expensive (we don't buy cheap dog food anyway so I don't know why i thought it would be more than wellness or halo). it looks like a few stores near me carry natural balance! we're going to try it out for sure. i have two old pugs with band joints, and one whose knee caps pop out, i hope it helps them too!
ReplyDeleteI think it's normal to assume that vegan dog food would be way too expensive. A lot of the vegan foods for humans are! I am so glad you read my post. I really hope that it works out for your pugs. :) I also have switched my cats to a Natural Balance food with fish in it. My two overweight cats are already losing weight. I am thinking the brand is really good in general, vegan mixture or not. Let me know if you see improvement in your dogs. I would love an update.
DeleteEven though I'm not a big dog fan, I do believe that all animals should be fed the same way vegetarians/vegans eat in order to have a fully healthy life. I've definitely considered getting Natural Balance for Harley-Quinn once we get back on track with our finances (were in jeopardy of being on the streets until my father-in-law got a job).
ReplyDelete