When I first started taking care of Laika. She was eating run-of-the-mill dog food that contained tons of mystery ingredients and additives. She seemed to like eating it (as she would eat pretty much anything), but each day she would suffer mild rashes and itching at some point during the day. After taking to our vet about possible alternative diets and calling on my experience with allergic dogs, we settled on Natural Balance Vegetarian Formula. I chose this food for Laika because it was easier to acquire than other "specialty foods" and left out many of the grains and possible allergens that she might be having problems with. Some of my friends laughed at the idea of a vegetarian pitbull-mix, but I was determined to give it a try, with the caveat that if Laika didn't like it I would find a different food.
As luck, and Laika's appetite, would have it, she loved the new food! In fact, my little "full-grown" pitbull-lady of 37 lbs soon nearly doubled in size (height and weight) to a healthy 63 lbs. The vets could not believe two things: 1. that Laika did so well on the vegetarian diet, and 2. that they were completely wrong that she was full-grown when she first came into my life. Laika soon adapted other healthy eating habits, as her favorite treats came in two types: crunchy - apples/carrots/tortilla chips and smooth - yogurt/bananas. She was a fiend for anything that I liked to eat, so it was easy to make sure that her treats were wholesome and vegetarian. People would sometimes stop me on the street and comment on how healthy Laika looked. They were all usually shocked that she was vegetarian!
After Laika's second bout with cancer and a bag of vegetarian food that made her sick, I decided to change her food to the fish and sweet potato formula. I thought that a different protein source might help her body fight through the radiation treatments. Plus, when she needed to stay with friends, she would be eating the same food as their dogs. This was a win-win for a while, with Laika enjoying a new food while spreading her whiskery, fishy-scented kissed to anyone and everyone. (This gave new meaning to my old roommate/longtime friend Elaina's term of endearment for Laika: Catfish-mouth.)
This past Spring, though, Laika started having mild stomach problems, which the vet thought was a side-effect of chemotherapy. As a result, I was to change Laika's diet to rice and chicken. I hated to do this, but had needed to feed her this way at various points when she was sick in the past. She loved eating this new way. However, even with the treatments suspended she continued to regurgitate several times a day. After an endoscopy, it was found that my baby girl was allergic to both rice AND chicken and that was reason that her sickness was lingering. A new, limited, vegan diet was arranged for her and she was quickly back on her feet and devouring her food as usual. Unfortunately, this diet restricted her from eating peanut butter, fruit AND dairy, but she was still allowed to eat canned pumpkin, which was also a favorite.
Although I believe that dog's prescription diets are kind of a racket, switching Laika back to an all vegetarian diet seemed to immediately impact her life. Mixing the food-pellets with pumpkin puree (and special Chinese healing herbs) were music to Laika's mouth. She also loved the special "gentle snacker" treats that I bought in (extreme) bulk for her. In fact, in Laika's final month with me, she ate about 10-12 bags of these seemingly bland, crunchy treats. The last thing that I fed her on our last morning together was about 10 of these biscuits that she loved so much.
Laika's final meal of chicken and peanut butter crackers was a special farewell gift by her caretakers at the hospital. She enjoyed all three bites that it took to inhale the previously off-limits fare. I am glad that she was able to eat what she enjoyed, as I am sure she missed all of these things (and had not eaten a full meal for almost a day). Still, I am proud that she was such an adaptable eater and learned to enjoy the all-natural treats and meat-free diet that I gave her. Her overall health, aside from her cancer, was a shining example that dogs can successfully be vegetarian (or pescatarian). I don't think that she would have lived such a long life, under such health-stresses, if it had not been for her love of all foods and treats. Even when her favorite snacks were taken away due to allergies, she was quick to find joy in any alternative offered to her. Laika was the ultimate glutton, but as her diet showed, she was certainly one of higher taste!
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