Hello everyone.  I am new to the site and still trying to figure everything out.  Sent this same question a few days back and got no response so I figured I was doing something wrong.  I'll give it another try.  My question is; Can our pets benefit from The Kind Diet?  My dog had been diagnosed with Cushings Disease which affects the adrenal and pituitary glands.  A few weeks back I took her off of pet food and treats and am now giving her a meat and raw food diet and making her treats from scratch.  Not really being much of a meat person myself, and since reading Alicia's book I really don't want to give my 10 year old lab chicken or dairy or even eggs for that matter but it is recommended that Jessy (my dog) have a high protein low fibre diet because of her disease.  Is it possible to rid her of the disease with The Kind Diet?  Are there any Veterinarians out there or anyone that has any suggestions or advice?  Your feedback is greatly appreciated.  Thank you.  Diane

I love Alicia's book on almost all issues except the dog issue. I don't think it's ethical to impose a vegan diet on my mostly carnivorous Siberian Husky, and I am not a vet, but it's seems counter-intuitive to feed your dog, a dog that needs extra protein and less fiber, extra fiber and less-easily digested protein.  
Vegetables, grains and legumes are difficult for dogs to digest. Dogs have short intestinal tracks and cannot easily absorb the nutrients and calories in these foods. That becomes obvious when they poop these foods out because they poop out a huge pile of undigested foods.  Their teeth and digestive systems, their brains and natural instincts, are all geared towards eating animals that have digested plants for them.  
I make my dog's food at home.  She gets turkey, sweet potatoes and rice with ground flax seeds, olive oil, anise for flavor, enzymes, probiotics and a vitamin.  I buy the turkey in bulk from a farm that raises the turkey's humanely.   I also cook the turkey.  Raw meat can have bacteria, worms, flukes and tiny parasites.  These need to be heated up to kill them.  I don't know what the benefit of not cooking the meat would have on a dog's health, but I do know that wolves in the wild often have shortened lives because they get ill from raw meat.  
I may not be right on some of this, but I try to get my information from veterinarians or Google Scholar, and I don't see studies that have been done that show it is healthy for dogs to eat raw or vegan diets, and certainly not sick ones.  I am open though to reviewing future studies on whether these diets can be healthy for dogs.  Best of luck to you in your search for the right thing to do with your dog.

Diane, look up www.darwinspet.com

They are a raw food company for the health of our pets. I had an older cat two years ago who had diabetes, congestive heart failure, tumors, and fluid filled lungs.  He was on his last month of living, when I switched him from high quality processed pet food, to the raw diet.  He lived another year and a half.

The vet was amazed at his change.  In two weeks, he had energy again, and his fur was like kitten fur again!  I switched all my animals to the raw diet and they have less illness, no tartar, and look great.  The vet is always amazed that their fur and skin are so healthy, and always asks what I'm doing because they look so great. 

Processed foods are bad for us, and processed foods for animals are even worse.  There are so many people who have switched their pets to the raw diet and have seen immediate results, too.  Good luck.

I'm also struggling as to what to feed my dog. I'm a vegetarian and I've considered a veg diet for my dog, but I also think that it would be denying him his natural tendencies to eat meat (he's on an organic/no-grain diet now). As difficult as it is for me to purchase meat, I think perhaps that by buying humanely raised and slaughtered meat is the lesser of two evils. At least I'm not supporting the big factory farming industry if I'm buying locally. It's better than buying commercial pet food but not as drastic as an all-vegetarian diet.
I also have heard wonderful things about raw diets. They say that dogs can tolerate raw meat and rarely get sick from bacteria. www.rawlearning.com is also a great website for raw food info. Any additional comments would be appreciated!

My Alaskan Malamute was doing good on Natural Balance Vegetarian plus some scraps from my completely vegan home.

Michelle - What kind of vegan scraps would you give him?

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Well I'm trying to do the superhero thing and mostly succeeding so just a portion of what we eat. Really I make him a plate of what we eat ( he weighs 120 lbs. he counts as a person) and he eats what he wants then I give what he doesn't eat to the rat. Of course I eliminate foods that aren't safe for him and I only give the rat what is safe for her.  I think what every dog WILL eat is different kind of like each person. He's really picky. I never had a picky dog before. His coat is actually getting PRETTIER!!!

Hi Diane. You wrote: "Not really being much of a meat person myself, and since reading Alicia's book I really don't want to give my 10 year old lab chicken or dairy or even eggs for that matter but it is recommended that Jessy (my dog) have a high protein low fibre diet because of her disease." If that is the case, I would recommend following what your vet suggests and continuing to feed your dog the HIGH PROTEIN she requires to fight Cushings. Dogs, unlike humans, do have a short intestinal tract made for meat, and the canine razor teeth to back that up. Cushings is pretty serious, so I wouldn't go changing her diet to plant based. The raw Food Diet sounds like a step in the right direction - but again, the people on this board are not trained vets. I would not look to a book marketed to humans for advice on how to treat your animal's condition.

Good luck!! And many pats to the pooch.

ps The Kind Diet for dogs would not be low fiber, and you indicated your dog requires a low fiber diet for Cushings. So that would be strike two, in my book.