Home-Prepared Cancer Support Diet Recipe for Dogs
The following diets will provide highly-digestible sources of energy and nutrients to help your dog during their cancer treatment. Such diets are important to maintain your dog’s interest in eating, to support their recovery, and to assist in their overall treatment. The exact ‘ideal’ diet for cancer patients is difficult to predict, but in general higher levels of protein (to support maintenance of muscle mass and gut health), elevated fat (to ensure diets are palatable, to support digestive function, and to maintain body condition), and lower carbohydrates are thought to be helpful. The use of ‘ketogenic’ diets in dog cancers has not been well studied, but such diets are often well-tolerated and are characterized by even lower amounts of carbs. The inclusion of some fruits and vegetables, however, provides a host of nonessential nutrients which can positively impact immune health and function and are therefore recommended, even for dogs on ‘ketogenic’ diets. The restriction of carbs for all tumors may not be necessary – some like mammary carcinoma have been shown to use high amounts of carb as a fuel whereas other tumors have not. As a result, two diets are provided below: all with high amounts of protein and one with more fat and less carb. The decision on which to use can be guided by your veterinarian and by your dog’s preference. General guidelines follow which are important to review before starting the diet.
Preparation:
The ingredient amounts are DAILY amounts, and are listed by weight or volume BEFORE cooking, according to the size of dog. If your dog is outside the weights listed, you can approximate the amount to feed based on those listed. You may cook the diet in batches if you’d like by multiplying the ingredient volumes by the number of days you would like to cook for and then dividing that cooked amount into portions for each day (for instance: cook 4 days worth of ingredients and divide into 4 daily portions, which can then be further divided into multiple meals per day). The manner of cooking is not critically important. However, most people find that cooking the meat on a stovetop with the oils (except for the fish oil which should not be cooked), and then cooking the vegetables/grain separately is the easiest. Vegetables should be cooked to increase their digestibility. Fruits, however, do not need to be cooked. The fish oil and powdered supplements should be added after cooking.
Supplements:
The listed supplements are required in order for this diet to be nutritionally complete and balanced and are written below in DAILY amounts. The iViblend provides essential vitamins and minerals, and the Calgae provides calcium (which is otherwise low in the ingredients). These supplements can be ordered online at www.iviblend.com, but they do require you to input your veterinarian’s name in the order form.
Storage:
You may store the diet refrigerated for 4 days, or you can freeze for longer periods of time.
Monitoring:
Your dog should be monitored by a veterinarian while on the diet. If your dog is in normal body condition, you should weigh them every 2-4 weeks to be sure they are not gaining or losing significant amounts of weight. If they are, you will need to adjust how much you feed. If your dog needs to lose weight, feed according to your dog’s ideal body weight (as provided by your veterinarian).
Treats:
Treats can significantly affect the balance of the diet and your dog’s appetite. It is recommended to not feed more than 10% of total daily calories in treats. Treats that have similar features to the diet are advised (i.e. natural high protein / dehydrated meat treats, or fruits and vegetables).
Diet Transition:
Please gradually transition your dog into eating the recommended diet over about 1 week, unless instructed otherwise.
Recipe Notes:
Please note there are two different diet versions below. The first has moderate fat and the second has higher fat. If your dog has not been fed a fresh diet before, the first diet is best to transition to.
There are a number of meat options listed in each diet. You can feed only one or a combination, but the amounts given are for the total amount of meat per day. In the second diet there are two different amounts given – one if you use leaner meats (7% fat) and another if you use higher fat beef (20%) or salmon fillets.
A diversity of fruit and vegetables are recommended. This does not mean you have to feed all of them each day. It may be easier to feed only a few and rotate between them. Your dog may also have preferences, which is fine.
Fish oil does not need to be given in the high fat diet when using salmon.
If your dog has other conditions (pancreatitis, kidney disease), you may want to discuss a custom nutritional consultation and formulation with your veterinarian.
Integrative Veterinary Innovations can be reached at orders@ivinutrition.com if you have questions about the supplements or their online ordering process.
|
High Protein, Moderate Fat, Low Carbohydrate Version |
20 pound dog |
50 pound dog |
80 pound dog |
|
Ground turkey, chicken, or beef (7% fat) OR turkey or chicken thighs w/skin (boneless) OR whitefish (cod, tilapia) |
½ pound |
1 pound |
1.5 pounds |
|
Potato or sweet potato (measured by weight) OR Brown or white rice (measured dry in cups) |
¼ pound |
½ pound |
¾ pound |
|
Vegetables (bell pepper, broccoli, cauliflower, green beans, carrots, peas, kale, spinach, pumpkin) |
¼ cup |
½ cup |
¾ cup |
|
Fruit (blueberries, papaya, mango, pineapple, banana, pear) |
1/8 cup |
¼ cup |
3/8 cup |
|
Safflower or sunflower oil |
½ tsp |
1 tsp |
1.5 tsp |
|
Fish or krill oil |
½ tsp |
1 tsp |
1.5 tsp |
|
iViBlend (balancing vitamin+mineral – online at iviblend.com) |
½ scoop |
1 scoop |
1.5 scoop |
|
Calgae (natural calcium source – online at iviblend.com) |
¾ tsp |
1.5 tsp |
2.25 tsp |
|
High Protein, High Fat, Lower Carbohydrate Version |
20 pound dog |
50 pound dog |
80 pound dog |
|
Ground turkey, chicken, or beef (7% fat) OR turkey or chicken thighs w/skin (boneless) OR whitefish (cod, tilapia) -OR- Ground beef (20% fat) or salmon fillet* |
10 oz -OR- ½ pound |
20 oz |
30 oz -OR- 1.5 pound |
|
Vegetables (bell pepper, broccoli, cauliflower, green beans, carrots, peas, kale, spinach, pumpkin) |
¼ cup |
½ cup |
¾ cup |
|
Fruit (blueberries, papaya, mango, pineapple, banana, pear) |
1/8 cup |
¼ cup |
3/8 cup |
|
Coconut oil |
½ tsp |
1 tsp |
1.5 tsp |
|
Safflower or sunflower oil |
¼ tsp |
½ tsp |
¾ tsp |
|
Fish or krill oil* |
½ tsp |
1 tsp |
1.5 tsp |
|
iViBlend (balancing vitamin+mineral – online at iviblend.com) |
½ scoop |
1 scoop |
1.5 scoop |
|
Calgae (natural calcium source – online at iviblend.com) |
¾ tsp |
1.5 tsp |
2.25 tsp |
*Remove fish or krill oil if using salmon as the meat in the diet
Technical details: the diets are formulated to meet the National Research Council guidelines for adult dogs, with modifications made to try to best support cancer patients. Modifications may be required for puppies or dogs that consume very few calories. The high protein / moderate fat diet contains about 91 grams protein, 48 grams fat, 52 grams carb per 1000 calories, and the high protein / high fat diet contains about 108 grams protein, 58 grams fat, 12 grams carb per 1000 calories when using lean meats OR about 83/67/12g when using 20% fat ground beef or salmon fillets.
This recipe is not intended to treat or cure any cancer and should only be used under the direct guidance of a veterinarian or veterinary nutritionist. Your dog has unique needs based on the type of cancer they have, their calorie requirements, and their other medical conditions. This diet is not intended to provide any medical diagnosis or treatment or to be used as a replacement for proper veterinary care.