Nutritional suitability of a plant-based diet for maintenance of healthy adult dogs

植物性饮食在北美宠物食品市场上正迅速受到欢迎。这一趋势的最大推动力是素食生活哲学的日益盛行，特别是在宠物主人中。避免食用动物产品与宠物的亲和力更强有关，据报道，宠物主人的纯素食主义比普通公众更严重。对于这些不吃肉的宠物主人中的许多人来说，饲养肉食性宠物存在一个道德困境--他们在自己的饮食中避免使用动物产品，但又与依赖动物提供营养的动物生活在一起，这些动物传统上来自动物产品，导致了负罪感和内部冲突。以植物为基础的商业宠物食品对宠物主人来说越来越容易获得，但支持这一做法的数据很少。很少有研究检查这些饮食的营养充分性，只有少数研究要么检查植物性饮食的营养含量，要么检查喂食植物性饮食的狗的选定健康参数。人们对植物性日粮满足狗的营养需求的能力表示严重关注，特别是对动物产品中传统存在的基本营养素，如含硫氨基酸、维生素B12和D，以及这些营养素的可用性与消化率的关系。此外，已有研究表明，严格食用植物性饮食的人类肠道中的微生物种群会发生变化。特定的微生物学特征与某些健康和疾病结果有关，但还没有关于植物性饮食对狗肠道微生物影响的数据。还没有进行全面的研究，检查以植物性饮食喂养的狗的健康、营养状况、微生物群和身体组成。虽然家犬被认为是机会主义的肉食性杂食动物，理论上它们可能依靠适当配方、完整和平衡的植物性食物而茁壮成长，但研究尚未证明这一点。

Plant-based diets are rapidly growing in popularity within the North American pet food market. The largest driver of this trend is the increasing prevalence of the vegan life philosophy, particularly so amongst pet owners. Avoidance of eating animal products has been associated with greater affinity for pets, and veganism is reportedly greater amongst pet owners than in the general public. For many of these meat-avoiding pet owners, there is a moral dilemma regarding the husbandry of carnivorous pets - they avoid animal products in their own diets yet live with animals who rely on them for their nutritional sustenance, traditionally derived from animal products, resulting in feelings of guilt and internal conflict. Commercial plant-based pet foods are becoming increasingly available to pet owners, yet there is very little data to support this practice. Few studies have examined the nutritional sufficiency of these diets, with only a handful of studies either examining the nutrient content of plant-based diets or selected health parameters of dogs fed plant-based diets. Serious concerns exist regarding the ability of plant-based diets to meet the nutritional requirements of dogs, particularly concerning the essential nutrients which are traditionally found in animal products, such as sulfur amino acids, vitamins B12 and D, and the availability of these nutrients in relation to digestibility. Furthermore, it has been shown that humans eating strictly plant-based diets exhibit changes in the microbial populations in their gut. Particular microbiological profiles have been associated with certain health and disease outcomes, yet there is no data regarding the effects of plant-based diets on the gut microbes in dogs. No comprehensive studies have been performed which have examined the health, nutrient status, microbiome and body composition of dogs fed a plant-based diet. While it is recognized that domestic dogs are opportunistic carnivorous omnivores and they may in theory thrive on appropriate formulated complete and balanced plant-based foods, research has yet to demonstrate this.**