Hi there Jan. I am new to this whole supplements thing myself and I had to get advice from our integrative vet in Chicago on what to give Cadence when she got cancer. As far as what to give to a healthy dog, not sure, but I think the fish oil sounds like a good start, especially for the skin and coat. And you don't necessarily need to do a homemade diet to get the benefits of raw, if that was what you are referring to. There are a lot of companies that make very good raw foods with everything that is needed for the dog already put together in one pack and frozen so all you have to do is thaw and put into the dish. I can help you with that. Also it is a good idea to feed green tripe once a week if you can stomach it. I would recommend seeing a nutritionist about Sam. Let me know what you find out. 

Cadence's Mom

Thanks Jim and Heather.  Green tripe!  Sounds yummy!

I'll peruse the blog, but in the meantime, I have Shawn Messonnier's "Preventing and Treating Cancer in Dogs".  I could only find a short section on prevention.  His main points:

• Minimize byproducts and chemical preservatives in their diet (homemade is best…sounds like I should look into Honest Kitchen)
• Minimize vaccinations, consider using titer tests
• Use natural products to prevent or treat diseases, like natural flea control instead of insecticides, glucosamine instead of NSAIDS
• Prevent diseases like heartworm that would require harsh chemicals for treatment
• Annual vet visits under 5 years old and semiannual over 5; aspirate every lump
• Don't expose your dog to toxins like tobacco smoke (or garden chemicals, that's from me)
• Use nutritional supplements of fatty acids, antioxidants, and "health maintenance"

Pretty common sense stuff.  Although one of our friends up north recommended a spray to use in addition to Frontline because the ticks are so bad up there.  I read the label and you're not supposed to get it on your hands – if I don't want it on my hands, why would I want it on my dog?

Thanks Percy's peep.  I guess Micki's Dog Soup recipe could be done that way.  But what do you do if you are traveling or other situation when you can't carry frozen food around with you?  Do you just switch over to kibble?

tatespeeps said:

Thanks Percy's peep.  I guess Micki's Dog Soup recipe could be done that way.  But what do you do if you are traveling or other situation when you can't carry frozen food around with you?  Do you just switch over to kibble?

Yes, traveling is an issue, and that is actually why I've only got Percy partly on home made food.  I wanted to try and keep him used to eating some kibble in case I have to just feed him kibble.  Plus, I wasn't sure if I would be able to keep it up and figured it would be harder to get him back on kibble if he was used to all home made.  He gets half a cup of Evo with his home made food am and pm.  I try to get him to eat a few kibble alone before I give him the rest of the kibble mixed with the good stuff.

We actually took a road trip last month and I tried to mimic the home made portions with canned food — 3oz cans of white meat chicken in water, small cans of green beans, carrots, and potatoes (no sodium if possible), things like that.  I could not get the portions exactly right, but it was close enough for a week or so.  Unfortunately Percy is a really picky eater and turned his nose up at the canned food, so he did not eat very well during that trip, but I would guess that a dog that likes to eat would like the temporary canned substitute just as much as the home made version.

Percy's diet is just like Micki's Dog Soup, only not soupy.  I found if I make the home made part soupy, then Percy slurps up the good stuff and leaves the kibble.  But if the home made part is solid and dry, then it's harder for him to leave the kibble and eventually he'll eat almost everything.

I'm thinking of moving Percy to an all cooked diet now, since I'm not anticipating any trips coming up and I've been able to keep this up for a couple of months ok.

tatespeeps said:

I read the label and you're not supposed to get it on your hands – if I don't want it on my hands, why would I want it on my dog?

Im in LA for the holidays, but when I go back up to central CAL in Jan, where it will be the start of tick season, I plan on using a natural product on the yard to keep ticks away. It is called "Mosquito Barrier" and is a concentrated garlic formula you spray once a month around your yard.  Pesky things like fleas, mosquitos and ticks don't like the smell of garlic so they avoid it.  I plan on trying it out soon, since I would rather not put smelly tick collars or liquid on Chloe either.  Maybe try this and see how it works since its only garlic and not an insecticide?

Earlier this year we had a discussion on flea/tick products in a forum I started.  You can read it and see if you get anything out of it.

Fleas, heart worm and parasites, OH MY!!!

-Chloe's mom

P.S.  Thanks for the reference, Chloe's mom.