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Easy, Home Cooked Recipe
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New York, NY
Member Since:
24 March 2020
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16 May 2020 - 5:01 pm
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Today I cooked for Griffin!  During my consultation with Dr. Wolf (petsynergy.com) last week, we discussed overall nutrition.  Griffin has eaten Taste of the Wild dry dog food since he was about a year old, varying between the High Prairie and Pacific Stream formulas.  I chose this brand mostly because it was high quality (meat/fish as the first ingredient) and grain-free , and thankfully, it is listed on the K9 Medicinals website as one of the better brands of commercial dog food for pups with cancer.  Griffin’s appetite does not appear changed since surgery and two rounds of chemo, but with time on my hands during the COVID-19 pandemic, and wanting to give him the best chance to fight his disease, I decided to try my hand at making a batch of food that could be used to replace a portion of Griffin’s kibble each day.  I researched a lot of recipes for dogs with cancer, designed to appeal to their appetites to maintain good body weight and filled with cancer fighting ingredients.  I wanted something that would be relatively easy to make (so I would continue the habit) and chose ingredients that I knew Griffin would eat (eggs, for example, are a no go for him).  Some of the ingredients were based on what I had in the house already and so I expect I’ll modify this in the future (for example, adding more apples, using broccoli instead of kale, or adding fresh/frozen blueberries instead of dried).

Griffin’s Homecooked Turkey Recipe

  • fish oil for sautéing meat (I used salmon)
  • 1 tablespoon minced garlic
  • 3 lbs ground turkey
  • 12 oz fresh kale
  • 2 bell peppers (1 each yellow and orange)
  • 3 small Granny Smith apples
  • cottage cheese
  • blueberries (freeze dried)
  • canned sardines in water

I used a squirt of salmon oil to sauté the minced garlic and meat on very low heat (I did not want to brown/burn the meat and introduce carcinogens).  I chopped the kale, bell peppers, and apples in a food processor and added them to the meat once it was cooked through.  I simmered those ingredients together for 30 minutes and then divided them into 9 portions of about 8 oz each (I used a food scale, not a measuring cup), freezing some and refrigerating the others.  Before serving one portion, I warmed the food to room temperature, and stirred in 4 ounces of cottage cheese, 1/3 can of sardines, and a handful of dried blueberries.

The photos below show the meat/veggie mixture after cooking and the meal right before serving.

Griffin-food-1-may-16-blog.jpg

Griffin-food-2-may-16-blog.jpg

This photo and the video show how much Griffin enjoyed his meal, so I'd say this recipe was a success!

Griffin-empty-bowl-may-16-blog.jpgImage Enlarger

Griffin lived an amazing life for 11 years! Diagnosed with osteosarcoma on March 17, 2020, Griffin's right forelimb was amputated on April 2, 2020. Ten days later he was running and playing fetch! Lung metastasis discovered in July 2020 did not slow down Griffin and he lived joyfully for the next 7 months, passing peacefully at home on February 11, 2021. https://griffin.tripawds.com

Virginia







Member Since:
22 February 2013
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16 May 2020 - 8:37 pm
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You are ALWAYS so gracious in sharing information  with everyone.  It IS appreciated!!

Griffin has impeccable manners and is always such a gentleman.   He knows how to savor  every bite👍

Happy Hannah had a glorious additional bonus time of over one yr & two months after amp for osteo! She made me laugh everyday! Joined April's Angels after send off meal of steak, ice cream, M&Ms & deer poop!

New York, NY
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24 March 2020
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21 June 2020 - 3:28 pm
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Hi.  I've pared down Griffin's recipe a bit based on trial and error, and to allow for large batches to be made and frozen, so here is the updated recipe:

Griffin’s Home Cooked Meat & Veggie Recipe

  • 3 lbs ground meat (mix of lean beef, turkey, and pork)
  • 16 oz frozen chopped kale or spinach
  • 16 oz frozen broccoli florets
  • 16 oz frozen bell peppers

I cook the meat on a super low setting and once it is cooked through, drain off all the liquid.  I then add the veggies which have been finely chopped in the food processor.  I let the veggies heat through to express the water from them being frozen and by that time, Griffin is usually under my feet in the kitchen waiting to be fed for that day. icon_lol

I eliminated the other items from the recipe mostly to keep it streamlined.  Griffin still gets apples and cottage cheese as treats, and since he has fish oil (Nordic Naturals) added to his meals along with his other supplements, I eliminated the sardines.  I measure out 1 cup portions for Griffin and I'm able to get 9 from this recipe (the meat really shrinks once it is cooked and drained!).  I add all of his supplements to each container after the food has cooled before storing most in the freezer and a few in the fridge.  The photo below shows a doubled recipe

Griffin-meals-jun-14-blog-1.jpgImage Enlarger

Griffin lived an amazing life for 11 years! Diagnosed with osteosarcoma on March 17, 2020, Griffin's right forelimb was amputated on April 2, 2020. Ten days later he was running and playing fetch! Lung metastasis discovered in July 2020 did not slow down Griffin and he lived joyfully for the next 7 months, passing peacefully at home on February 11, 2021. https://griffin.tripawds.com

On The Road


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24 September 2009
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21 June 2020 - 4:41 pm
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Thank you Stacy, this is pawesome! What a lucky boy to have a personal chef that makes such great meals. Thanks for sharing!

Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet

New York, NY
Member Since:
24 March 2020
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21 November 2020 - 7:12 pm
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I thought I'd come back to this thread and post an update on Griffin's current food plan.  If you are following Griffin's Journey, you probably know that when Griffin started taking Palladia in mid-August, he experienced pretty severe inappetence which resulted in significant weight loss and a lot of stress.  And even after discontinuing Palladia, Griffin simply refused to eat the canned food and home-cooked meals that he previously loved.  Griffin's old food plan included American Journey canned food (beef/poultry pate combo), Taste of the Wild dry food (Pacific Stream and High Prairie versions), and the homecooked meals (recipe is in this thread).  The homecooked meals were important in terms of administering Griffin's many daily supplements, which I was able to mix in with Griffin none the wiser.

So we've been engaged in a bit of experimenting and have finally landed on a great new plan.  While Griffin is still eating Taste of the Wild dry food (about 1-1.5 cups/day), it seems that he now has a very clear preference for beef as his protein source for wet foods.  Based on a recommendation from Huckleberry's mom (thanks, Jackie!), I recently introduced Griffin to the Crave brand of canned food, which comes in a beef only recipe, is highly rated as a quality food, and is very reasonably priced.  Griffin seems to love it, and I am hopeful that Crave will be our permanent canned food source (Griffin gets 1/2 can in the mornings when he doesn't eat much).  To replace the homecooked meals (which I think I will try again in the new year), I turned to a fresh dog food delivery service.  Griffin had previously sampled The Farmer's Dog (shared by a neighbor), but I didn't like the packaging where multiple meals were packed into one plastic sleeve (creating a storage issue), so I decided to give Ollie a shot since the meals come individually packaged.  Like most of the delivery services, Ollie offers a 50% discount specials for your first order, and I chose the beef, chicken, and lamb meals (this was prior to realizing his new beef-only preference).  When Griffin turned his nose up at the chicken and lamb, but devoured the beef, Ollie replaced the unwanted meals with beef ones at no additional cost (and my friends' dogs loved that I shared the chicken and lamb meals with them!).  I am able to hide all of Griffin's supplements - Chinese herbs (Stasis Breaker and Wei Qi), mushrooms (Stamets 7), vitamins (Rx Vitamin Essentials), fish oil (Nordic Naturals), and a scoop of pumpkin (to keep Griffin regular) - in his one Ollie meal each day, which has been a hit for a few weeks now.

A few other notes - Griffin used to love Greenies Pill Pockets and I was able to use those to easily administer his meds.  Related to his refusal to eat his old foods, Griffin stopped eating pill pockets of any brand (I tried 3), and for a few weeks I was manually pushing pills down his throat.  Then I discovered the magic of Velveeta, which I can cut into cubes of any size, is squishy enough to mold around meds, and is cheaper than commercial pill pockets.  Griffin gets a few smaller "blank" cubes before and after the ones with the meds to keep him focused on eating them quickly.  I also discovered that Griffin loves sardines (in oil), which were recommended by his oncologist as a healthy appetite tempter, and they were a huge success.  Now that he is eating regularly, I use sardines occasionally as a treat mixed in with his dry food.

We endured a few very stressful months when Griffin struggled to eat consistently, so I am immensely grateful that he seems to have settled on a high quality food plan that is keeping him healthy!

Griffin lived an amazing life for 11 years! Diagnosed with osteosarcoma on March 17, 2020, Griffin's right forelimb was amputated on April 2, 2020. Ten days later he was running and playing fetch! Lung metastasis discovered in July 2020 did not slow down Griffin and he lived joyfully for the next 7 months, passing peacefully at home on February 11, 2021. https://griffin.tripawds.com

On The Road


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24 September 2009
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22 November 2020 - 1:42 pm
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PAWESOME! smiley_clap I'm so happy you've found a nice menu that he enjoys. And talk about being a great dog mom: sardines are so stinky to have in the kitchen, but who cares 'cause it makes Griffin so hoppy! YAY!  You might also want to try mackerel, another good omega-rich fish (and even more stinky!).

Thanks for the update. I've put a link to this in the Tripawds Nutrition blog post, An Easy, Home Cooked Dog Food Recipe for Griffin

Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet

Virginia







Member Since:
22 February 2013
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22 November 2020 - 7:41 pm
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As always, the information you share is invaluable. Thank you yet again for taking the time to chronicle the  "adventure" you have been on to get Griffin to eat! And what an adventure it is...kind of like a treasure hunt😎

Happy Hannah had a glorious additional bonus time of over one yr & two months after amp for osteo! She made me laugh everyday! Joined April's Angels after send off meal of steak, ice cream, M&Ms & deer poop!

Member Since:
19 February 2021
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19 February 2021 - 6:02 pm
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WOW! Thank you so very much!!! We are very new at this still trying to navigate our way around.  Our 8.5 yr old Rotti goes in Monday, 22 Feb, for his right front leg amputation.  I did ask the oncologist about his diet after that fact stating no need for change.  We certainly want to give him the best fighting chance.  Thank you again Griffin for sharing!

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