Thanks Hazel and Rainbow I will post it. I am still playing with the amounts and a few of the ingredients.
I started by reading everything I could about treating dog cancer with diet alone. I came to the conclusion that there were a multitude of options but the essentially boiled down to a diet that was high in protein, high in fat especially omega 3 oils and low in simple carbohydrates but complex carbs at a minimum were ok. I also knew that I had to treat his anemia if he was going to make it through another spontaneous bleed that my vet said would occur eventually.
So I started with foods that would raise his hemoglobin in his iron deficient state. Liver was the first thing that came to mind.
So then I decided to put together a diet of many of the things I had found online that were contained in the recommended cancer diets for dogs.
Don't ask my why because I honestly don't know, I started with a very small amount of his original dry food which is Pro Plan Select Senior Natural Turkey and Barley Formula about 1/4 cup of it. I'm also adding about 1/5 of a large can of Pedigree choice cuts with the gravy for taste.
I was already giving him rice from the episode of vomiting he'd had the week before he hurt his foot but I reduced the amount.
So here is his diet
- 1/4 cup of Pro Plan Senior Select Natural Turkey & Barley
- 1/5 can Pedigree Choice Cuts Beef with 3 tbsp gravy (can is 374 ml)
- 3 heaping tbsp of cooked and broken up chicken liver mixed with 3 tbsp of olive oil
- 1/4 lb of ground beef, chicken or turkey
- 1/2 cup of cooked white rice (that's what I had available instead of brown rice)
- 1 crushed sardine with olive oil it is packed in
- 1 whole raw egg
- 1 cup plain yogurt
- 5 crushed Nutri-Vet Senior Vitality Vitamins (3 for his body weight + 2 to catch up)
- enough warm water to bring it up to temperature
- UBA vet 5 ml
- Metacam by weight 28 ml
I think he finds the diet a little rich because he eats it over several hours but always cleans the bowl in the end.
Raggs wasn't at all impressed with raw liver or raw beef so I decided to cook the meat. He has shown more strength every day and is definitely staying involved in the animal and people families. I also received the results of his blood work today in the mail so here it is. My vet said it is consistent with either a hemangioma or hemangiosarcoma though it could also indicate a severe infection. She doesn't think it's a severe infection because he has no fever and is still more than willing to eat. I am a nurse and know what these blood results mean in humans, not animals. In case anyone can read the results properly or can hazard a guess at what they mean, here are the blood work results:
- White Blood Count 50.4 Normals 6.0 - 17.0 x10E9/L
- Red Blood Cells 5.2 Normals 5.5 - 8.5 x10E12/
- Hemoglobin 116 Normal 135 - 205 g/L
- Hematocrit 0.36 Normal 0.39 - 0.60 L/L
- MCV 70 Normal 62 - 77 fl
- MCH 22 Normal 21 - 26 pg
- MCHC 322 Normal 320 - 360 g/L
- Reticulocytes 1.9 Normal 0 - 1.5 %
- Platelets 293 Normal 165 - 550 x10E9/L
- Nucleated RBC's 1 Normal - /100
- DIFFERENTIAL
- Bands 11.0 % 5.5 abs Normal 0.0 - 0.9 x10E9/L
- Neutrophils 81.0 % 40.8 abs Normal 3.0 - 11.5 x10E9/L
- Lymphocytes 5.0 % 2.5 abs Normal 1.0 - 4.8 x10E9/L
- Monocytes 2.0 % 1.0 abs Normal 0.2 - 1.4 x10E9/L
- Eosinophils 1.0% 0.5 abs Normal 0.0 - 1.2 x10E9/L
- Basophils 0.0 % 0.0 abs Normal 0.0 - 0.2 x10E9/L
- MORPHOLOGY
- WBC Left Shift - Present
- WBC Neutrophilia - Marked
- WBC Toxic Neutrophils Present
- RBC Anemia - mild
- RBC Howell Jolly Bodies - Few
- RBC Polychromasia - 1 - 3
- RBC Response to Anemia - Good
- PLT Morphology - Normal
About Raggs's diet there are several websites where I found information that had similarities so they are where I got the most info for designing his diet.
K9 Dog Cancer Diet
Dog Cancer Diet and Natural Supplements
Nutrition for the Canine Cancer Patient by Dr Gregory Ogilvie DVM Colorado State University
Homemade Cancer Diet Recipe from CCA
Nutritional Requirements of Dogs and Cats with Cancer, Dept of Oncology Veterinary Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania
Veterinary Diet for Dogs with Cancer
Integrative Treatment of Cancer in Dogs and Cancer Diet for Dogs
Dr Dressler's Dog Cancer Survival Guide and Diet The guide costs money which I didn't spend but there is still a lot of info available through his site.
According to his website Dr. Demian Dressler, DVM is apparently known as the "dog cancer vet".
Thanks everyone for all the support, I certainly need it while trying to help Raggs.
If anyone has any comments on the diet, please let me know. If you think I am doing something wrong, I would really like to know that too.
I want to do what's best for Raggs with the idea of helping him live the longest possible life in quality and comfort.
