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  1. #1
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    Best kibble for Cancer?

    I am just trying to help a friend of mine whose Lab was just diagnosed with cancer...

    I understand a high protein, grain free, low carb diet is best.

    She does not want to feed raw...does anyone here have suggestions on which kibble is best to feed?

    I think she plans on adding from fresh meats and veggies..etc..

  2. #2
    Real Retriever BogeyBaby's Avatar
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    My vet had me do home cooking for Chico and take him off kibble completely. He was on grain free, but the vet didn't like kibble. Home cooking wasn't too bad. I'd pick up a boneless turkey breast, some chicken or beef liver and a bag of sweet potatoes and stick it all in the pressure cooker for whatever time it took (maybe 20 minutes). Let it cool and mash it up. He really liked that.

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  4. #3
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    Quote Originally Posted by BogeyBaby View Post
    My vet had me do home cooking for Chico and take him off kibble completely. He was on grain free, but the vet didn't like kibble. Home cooking wasn't too bad. I'd pick up a boneless turkey breast, some chicken or beef liver and a bag of sweet potatoes and stick it all in the pressure cooker for whatever time it took (maybe 20 minutes). Let it cool and mash it up. He really liked that.
    This sounds very good...but did you need to add vitamins to this mixture?

  5. #4
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    grain free.

    lew olson has a book with recipes for all kinds of ailments and what supplements to add.

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    lovemylabby (10-24-2014)

  7. #5
    Senior Dog Berna's Avatar
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    If she is not comfortable with raw, she can prepare homecooked meals. I would take the dog off of kibble. Grain-free doesn't mean carb-free.

    I'd add turmeric, spirulina, kale, coconut oil, kefir, milk thistle...
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  9. #6
    Real Retriever BogeyBaby's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by lovemylabby View Post
    This sounds very good...but did you need to add vitamins to this mixture?
    I didn't although adding them wouldn't be a bad thing IMO. I did have a couple supplements especially for cancer--one based on mushrooms. I can't remember the name but I'm sure if you Google mushroom supplement for dogs with cancer it'll pop up. It started with an A.

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  11. #7
    Best Friend Retriever emma_Dad's Avatar
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    No experience with cancer but from what I've seen online you want to go with a homecooked meal or RAW.

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  13. #8
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    I agree that kibble is absolutely not the best choice for a dog with cancer. Maybe not a good choice for any dog!

  14. #9
    Puppy Yogi's Avatar
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    If my dog had cancer, I'd probably start here:



    Link: PetDiets - Nutrition Library

  15. #10
    House Broken happy_blackbird's Avatar
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    Home Cooked Diet During Treatment Care

    When my girl was diagnosed with Mast Cell Disease (she had a large, aggressive mast cell tumor in the pre-scapular region that obliterated her lymph node, c-kit mutation positive), we drove up to UC Davis vet school and had a consult with their nutrition department in order to create a home cooked diet recipe specifically for her nutritional needs (everything measured out by weight right down to the gram). She had a full blood panel to see what her blood vitamin and mineral levels were to determine her specific dietary needs. Along with protein source (for Stella that was fresh rabbit), a carbohydrate (potato), the recipe included fish oil, walnut oil, and a measurement of a specific vitamin and mineral supplement supplied by Davis. When it comes to a dog with cancer, if your friend can, I really recommend getting professional, scientific direction for her dog's specific, individualized nutritional needs (every dog is different, every drug regime creates different deficiencies). Most vet schools have nutrition departments and the costs are pretty reasonable due to the fact that they are teaching institutions (you will see a vet student and an intern before finally seeing a faculty member vet). The vet hospital where our girl did her chemo also had an in-house vet who specialized in nutrition, but I liked the approach at Davis better.

    Once a week I did a cooking day: broil, boil, measure, mash, food process, and mix. I then split everything up into serving size portions, placed two days worth in the fridge and the rest in the freezer. I pulled out the next day's servings the night before and added the fish oil and supplements right before serving. It was an effort, but our girl was worth it. I don't know how much of her longevity was due to the diet, but she was given about 6 weeks to live and instead went on to have eight very happy months.

    I just wanted to say one more thing. There are many opinions on the value of feeding a raw diet and I don't want to wade into that debate. That being said, however, one of the side effects of chemotherapy is neutropenia (low white cell count) due to the bone marrow being affected by the chemicals that kill fast growing cells. A low white blood cell count leaves a dog extremely vulnerable to infection (hence antibiotic being prescribed when the numbers hit a specific number). While our girl's immune system was severely compromised by chemo, we did not feel the potential benefits of a raw diet were worth the risk of our girl becoming ill from pathogens found in commercially available meat. The nutritional vet was adamant we not feed Stella *any* protein source uncooked.

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