Diet For Cancer Dogs – Home Cooked Pet Diets & Dog Nutrition

Dog cancer is one of the scary terms for a pet owner. There are different types of dog cancers. Some cancers have tumors, while others are cancers of the blood. Some cancers cannot be treated easily. Fortunately, there are now treatment options that can improve the dog’s life and health. Being told that your dog has cancer, is painful for every dog owners. Don’t give up easily.

As a caring dog owner, you can feed him with a home-made diet. This will provide your dog with all nutrients and vitamins essential to fight cancer. The research on what exactly should be fed and what supplements work best is still on-going. However, you can get ideas on what to cook and what is good to feed him during his treatment.

Cancer Diet For Your Dog – Feeding Your Pet With Home-Cooked Food

Many dogs with cancer suffer from cancer cachexia. Its a metabolic condition during which the dog experiences weight loss, fatigue, loss of appetite and impaired immune function. Cachexia is a huge challenge for dogs with cancer. Cancer cachexia causes a change in the metabolization of carbohydrates, fats and proteins. These changes result in poor use of energy by the dog.

Here are the important foods you can serve for your dog.

• Canned sardines
• Cottage cheese
• Ground turkey
• Eggs
• Hamburger
• Chicken

Adding more animal protein can actually help your dog get enough of proteins. But before you try these out, make sure to consult your vet. See to it that, your dog is healthy enough for a high-protein, high-fat diet.

Fat

High fat content in your pet’s diet is good. Some vets suggest a raw diet, while some say it should be cooked. Whether you give him raw or cooked, there should be enough amount of animal-based protein and fats.

Fish oil

When your pet is on treatment, you can feed him with fish oil. Fish oil is a good source of cancer-fighting omega-3, 6 and 9 fatty acids. These fatty acids help to shrink the tumor. It lowers inflammation and provides other health benefits.

You can give your dog 1000 mg of quality fish oil, daily for every 20 pounds.

If your dog doesn’t like taking the capsule, cut the soft gel capsule. Let your dog smell the capsule. Dogs love the fishy smell. From then, they will take fish oil capsule.

Flax seed oil

Some dog owners give flax seed oil instead of fish oil. Flax seed oil is a good substitute for fish oil. But dogs don’t eat much of flaxseed oil. You will have to mix it in with something. If your dog still doesn’t take it, then you can switch to fish oil.

Recommended dog cancer diet

If your dog is suffering from cancer, go for a grain-free diet. Dogs have high stomach acid levels. So they are not exposed to food bacteria like we humans. A raw diet benefits your dog in many ways. If you are concerned with how your dog will react to a raw diet, start with rare-cooked meat first. Then slowly move on to raw diet.

Raw Food Diet or the BARF diet (Biologically Appropriate Raw Foods) should consist of 75% meat and 25% fruit/vegetables.

Ingredients Of BARF Diet

• Raw bones – avoid cooked/ smoked bones
• Meat – use ground or chunked meat (beef, lamb, pork, chicken etc.)
• Vegetables – use broccoli, celery, carrot, bok choy, capsicum, spinach.
• Fruits – you can include whole apple, whole grapefruit, whole pear and whole orange.
• Other foods – flax seed, whole egg, kelp, alfalfa and kefir.
• Recipe For Dogs With Cancer

Ingredients

• 4 lbs ground meat (can be a combination of chicken and beef)
• 2 cups raw goat milk or 1 cup yogurt / cottage cheese
• 3 raw eggs
• 1 apple
• 2 carrots
• 1.5 pound mixed vegetables (sweet potato, zucchini, broccoli, spinach and kale)

Directions

• Mix all ingredients in a food processor
• Make into patties and freeze. Feed according to your dog’s appetite

Tip

It’s a good idea to give him raw diet in the morning. You can feed him with grain-free kibble in the evening. Being creative and trying something different is a good idea.