Go Back   Pet forum for dogs cats and humans - Pets.ca > Discussion Groups - mainly cats and dogs > Dog food forum > Cat food forum

Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
  #1  
Old December 21st, 2006, 01:59 PM
Esaunders's Avatar
Esaunders Esaunders is offline
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: GTA, Ontario
Posts: 247
Feline cancer diet suggestions

So it looks like Maddy's going to need continued eating assistance to recovery from surgery & assist her in gaining weight. With the high possibility of cancer after removal of a tumor-filled uterus, I'd like to make sure that she's getting super-nutritious, low on the carbohydrates food.

Currently I've been making a mix that is proportioned
- 1/2 large can EP duck & oatmeal wet food
- 1 lb mix of boiled chicken thighs, livers & unskimmed stock
- 2 whole raw eggs (Omega enhanced eggs)

Throw into blender to liquify & spoon feed until she's completely uninterested. (i.e. until she won't even lick it off her nose if smeared on)

+ free choice access to NB Ultra kibble (chicken/turkey/duck formula)

She's not interested in raw (unfortunately) Any suggestions to add in or substitutions to make? Looks like I'll be doing this for while, especially over the Xmas season.
Reply With Quote
  #2  
Old December 22nd, 2006, 10:54 PM
Smiley14's Avatar
Smiley14 Smiley14 is offline
Senior Contributor
 
Join Date: Jul 2006
Location: MN, USA
Posts: 2,424
Is she having appetite issues or being a picky eater? My old boy has cancer as well. I hope for better news with your girl! If she's not having any problems eating, then your plan outline looks great from the little bit I've learned! You want to limit the protein a bit as it feeds the cancer.

If she is not eating well, then it's basically a free for all. I went through at least 20 brands of cat food, both hard and soft, I tried tuna, turkey, hot dogs (don't ask!), chicken, baby food (was a huge hit for about a month) and I tried a chicken/rice homemade cat food, and a raw diet. He refused the raw completely, ate the other foods for a few days most for each before then refusing it. I finally learned that he was associated his nausea with the food. He would eat it one time or a few times until he got sick and then associated it with being sick, so I had to move into a different brand.

Appetite stimulants from the vet has helped, but again, only to the point until he would refuse to eat again. We tried an anti-nausea medication (sorry, can't remember it's name at the moment) and that has also helped. Once you can get the nausea under control, maintaining the same food is much easier.

For us, this medication was just temporary and he is now off it. My dog trainer suggested Purina Kitten Chow as it was the only thing her cat, who also has cancer, will eat. So out of desperation, I gave it a try and it has worked wonders. So I know it's horrible stuff to feed a cat, but it is literally the only thing he will eat right now. Even after being on the diet for a while, I have tried re-introducing in Felidae or Merricks or EVO or the homemade cat food and chicken, but he refuses them all and only eats his kitten chow. After a few weeks of a steady diet, we weaned him off the nausea medication and for now at least, he is doing great. I've gone through four bags of the kitten chow so far....unheard of for this cat! He's gained weight and is looking good. My only concern now that he's finally steadily eating is that he seems to be shedding way more than usual. So I need to do more research about additional nutrients for him I think. It's a sign he's still not getting all his nutrients. Or it could very well just be because no matter what I do, his body is sick and that is one of the physical symptoms, I'm just sure.

For us, weight maintenance is key as the cancer is a slow growth form in his cells and it starves the body of nutrients. The more nutrients I can keep in him and the more weight I can keep on him, the longer he will live. So I am in essence feeding the cancer, but for now, it's not wasting him, which is extremely important. If we can maintain weight, we can maintain a longer and better quality of life.

Anyway, so sorry about rambling about my situation! If your kitty is eating well, that's awesome and keep up what you're doing! If she's struggling, keep trying different things until you find what works for you. Good luck and I'll be wishing you warm thoughts while you await the test results!

ETA: I just read over your post again and it does sound like she is having weight issues. You might want to try mixing chicken gravy or meat gravy baby food with the dry cat food. For some reason, they seem to love it. My vet uses this for many of her sick kitty patients. It got me through a very tough month with Billy and helped him gain two desperately needed pounds in a short amount of time before the nausea set him off it finally. But it worked for a good month or so. I gave him a jar a day, half in the morning and the other half at night and he goggled it down faster than I've ever seen him eat anything else before. His favorite was Gerbers Stage 2 Chicken Gravy.
If she is a seafood kind of gal, try mixing some tuna juice in with the dry food for another option.
Chicken broth was another suggestion given to me, but didn't work as well in my particular case.
If I think of anything esle, I'll let you know! Good luck and Happy Holidays!
__________________
No one appreciates the very special genius of your conversation as the dog does. --Christopher Morley

Last edited by Smiley14; December 22nd, 2006 at 11:08 PM.
Reply With Quote
  #3  
Old December 23rd, 2006, 01:31 AM
Prin Prin is offline
Senior member
 
Join Date: Mar 2005
Posts: 28,492
Well, the only suggestion I could make is maybe the Evo canned? They make some for doggies that are 95% meat. They don't make them for kitties yet, but if you're supplementing with other stuff and if it's just to get her eating, maybe they're worth a try?

Merrick canned is also pretty tasty, but higher on the carbs.
Reply With Quote
  #4  
Old December 28th, 2006, 08:02 PM
Smiley14's Avatar
Smiley14 Smiley14 is offline
Senior Contributor
 
Join Date: Jul 2006
Location: MN, USA
Posts: 2,424
Esaunders, any updates on Maddy?
__________________
No one appreciates the very special genius of your conversation as the dog does. --Christopher Morley
Reply With Quote
  #5  
Old December 28th, 2006, 08:40 PM
OntarioGreys's Avatar
OntarioGreys OntarioGreys is offline
Senior Contributor
 
Join Date: Jul 2005
Location: Woodstock, ON
Posts: 1,696
Quote:
You want to limit the protein a bit as it feeds the cancer.
Sugars feed cancer, and it is carbs such as grains that break down into sugar, so it is the carbs you want ot reduce by upping the protein it the diet , or replacing carbs with fruit and veggies


Quote:
Cancer- special diet needs

Q: Hi! My roommate and I are owned by six cats. Unhappily, one off them (Otto -The Great, or sometimes " 'Lil Guy"), is dying of cancer. I don't believe that we can save him, but would like to make sure that he has the best nutrition possible -- I know that nutrition plays an important role in fighting off cancer, but have no idea what to give that him that will help. He's losing his sense of smell and a bit of his appetite, so feeding him is getting more and more difficult. I'm willing to expect a miracle, but want to make sure I've done all I can. Can you recommend a specific diet or certain supplements? Do you know of a good source? What should I be looking for (and watch out for)? Thanks for your time and effort!

A: At present, there are some studies (mostly done at Colorado State University's vet school) that suggest that restricting carbohydrates, increasing protein and using higher fat diets, especially certain of the omega fatty acids.
This link is from Colorado State University Animal Cancer Center their nutrition page
http://www.csuanimalcancercenter.org...xtid=Nutrition

Here is more info urban carnivore http://www.urbancarnivore.com/uc_online/pages.cfm?ID=62
__________________
"He is your friend, your partner, your defender, your dog. You are his life, his love, his leader. He will be yours, faithful and true, to the last beat of his heart. You owe it to him to be worthy of such devotion." - Unknown

Last edited by OntarioGreys; December 28th, 2006 at 08:51 PM.
Reply With Quote
  #6  
Old December 28th, 2006, 10:08 PM
Smiley14's Avatar
Smiley14 Smiley14 is offline
Senior Contributor
 
Join Date: Jul 2006
Location: MN, USA
Posts: 2,424
Quote:
Originally Posted by OntarioGreys View Post
Sugars feed cancer, and it is carbs such as grains that break down into sugar, so it is the carbs you want ot reduce by upping the protein it the diet , or replacing carbs with fruit and veggies



This link is from Colorado State University Animal Cancer Center their nutrition page
http://www.csuanimalcancercenter.org...xtid=Nutrition

Here is more info urban carnivore http://www.urbancarnivore.com/uc_online/pages.cfm?ID=62
Oh, thank you OG!! I got that off one of the links someone had provided me for homemade cat food recipes. In it was a section about cancer studies and food. I'll see if I can find it again. Just goes to show you can't always trust what you read online! That was not from an official study and my vet had no idea, so this is very good information to know. THANK YOU.
__________________
No one appreciates the very special genius of your conversation as the dog does. --Christopher Morley
Reply With Quote
  #7  
Old December 29th, 2006, 01:22 AM
Smiley14's Avatar
Smiley14 Smiley14 is offline
Senior Contributor
 
Join Date: Jul 2006
Location: MN, USA
Posts: 2,424
Ok, I found it. But it turns out I was misreading it, so it wasn't the site that was incorrect, it was me! *headdesk* It's not talking about all protein, it's talking about aged protein. At the time, that stood out to me because one of the few things Billy would eat was turkey meat from the deli. Sorry about that!!!!


"Foods to avoid that contain tyramine are mainly aged, fermented, or pickled, such as most cheeses, lunch meats, hot dogs, yogurt. Here is a list of some foods that contain tyramine:

Dry and fermented sausage (bologna, salami, pepperoni, corned beef, and liver), pickled herring and salted dried fish, broad beans and pods (lima, fava beans, lentils, snow peas, and soy beans), meat extracts, yeast extracts/brewer's yeast, some fruits (bananas, avacados, canned figs, raisins, red plums, raspberries, pinapples), cultured dairy products (buttermilk, yogurt, and sour cream), soy sauce, miso, peanuts, almonds, beef or chicken liver, herring, meat tenderizer, MSG (Accent), pickles, and pumpkin seeds. In general, any high protein food that has undergone aging should be avoided."


I don't have the link unfortunately. At the time, I was copying and pasting information from various sites into a word doc to compile all the information I could find. But anyway, that's what that was about!
__________________
No one appreciates the very special genius of your conversation as the dog does. --Christopher Morley

Last edited by Smiley14; December 29th, 2006 at 01:24 AM.
Reply With Quote
  #8  
Old December 29th, 2006, 01:29 AM
Prin Prin is offline
Senior member
 
Join Date: Mar 2005
Posts: 28,492
Wow, there's a lot of stuff on there that people feed on a regular basis.
Reply With Quote
  #9  
Old December 29th, 2006, 01:57 AM
Smiley14's Avatar
Smiley14 Smiley14 is offline
Senior Contributor
 
Join Date: Jul 2006
Location: MN, USA
Posts: 2,424
Quote:
Originally Posted by Prin View Post
Wow, there's a lot of stuff on there that people feed on a regular basis.
I know! But that list is things to avoid for cancer diets, not for normal diets at least.
__________________
No one appreciates the very special genius of your conversation as the dog does. --Christopher Morley
Reply With Quote
  #10  
Old December 29th, 2006, 01:57 AM
Prin Prin is offline
Senior member
 
Join Date: Mar 2005
Posts: 28,492
Oh... Phew!
Reply With Quote
  #11  
Old December 29th, 2006, 02:03 AM
Prin Prin is offline
Senior member
 
Join Date: Mar 2005
Posts: 28,492
Here:
http://www.essense-of-life.com/info/...inesulfate.htm
http://clem.mscd.edu/~boettner/Cance...Hydrazine.html

It was pretty fast to search for since in the quote, pineapple was spelt wrong.

Some good stuff in there though.
Reply With Quote
  #12  
Old December 29th, 2006, 02:04 AM
Smiley14's Avatar
Smiley14 Smiley14 is offline
Senior Contributor
 
Join Date: Jul 2006
Location: MN, USA
Posts: 2,424
Quote:
Originally Posted by Prin View Post
Here:
http://www.essense-of-life.com/info/...inesulfate.htm
http://clem.mscd.edu/~boettner/Cance...Hydrazine.html

It was pretty fast to search for since in the quote, pineapple was spelt wrong.

Some good stuff in there though.
Oh, you're awesome, thank you!! I didn't even notice the misspelling, LOL! Thanks!!!!
__________________
No one appreciates the very special genius of your conversation as the dog does. --Christopher Morley
Reply With Quote
  #13  
Old December 29th, 2006, 02:05 AM
Prin Prin is offline
Senior member
 
Join Date: Mar 2005
Posts: 28,492
Yeah, avocados too.
Reply With Quote
Reply

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off


Forum Terms of Use

  • All Bulletin Board Posts are for personal/non-commercial use only.
  • Self-promotion and/or promotion in general is prohibited.
  • Debate is healthy but profane and deliberately rude posts will be deleted.
  • Posters not following the rules will be banned at the Admins' discretion.
  • Read the Full Forum Rules

Forum Details

  • Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.8
    Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.
    vBulletin Optimisation by vB Optimise (Reduced on this page: MySQL 0%).
  • All times are GMT -5. The time now is 02:29 PM.