Caring for a Three Legged Dog or Cat
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I've been so focused on trying to find the perfect diet for my dog kali and I've gotten some great advice from everyone on this site. But I was also wondering, what do you guys feed your other dogs that don't have cancer & have their spare leg still in place 🙂
My friends have also been asking me what dog food is best so that they can keep them healthy & with so many out there it can get a bit overwhelming.
FYI: We always turn to DogFoodAdvisor.com for the best dog food reviews and detailed ratings of most commercial food.
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
After coping with my cancer, my folks are paying careful attention to what Wyatt Ray gets to eat. Here are a couple of places where we talk about it:
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
I also have been overwhelmed recently with finding the right diet/food for my Rudy. He was just diagnosed with bone cancer and had surgery on Jan. 26, 2011 to remove his little leg. I've been reading a lot lately on this awesome tripawds site under nutrition. I was in the dark about about grains in dog food and how it affects cancer in dogs. So I understand wanting to do what ever you can for your beautiful Kali.
Thanks admin/Jerry, I'll definitely check those sites out! Yea, ever since Kali got diagnosed with osteosarcoma we switched her diet to a grain-free kind. We mix home cooked chicken or beef with a little bit of kibble. & Kali's so picky that we have to mash up her K-9 immunity & mix Nupro joint support powder with her food or else she won't take her supplements. (We seem to have a diva dog) 🙂
@Rudy- I hope you recover soon! & with so many great people to support you here on this site, we'll be excited to hear any updates you have!
Does anyone else feed their other dogs a grain free diet as well?
Isabelle eats raw, but not because she has cancer. She has been on a raw diet since she came to live with me 51/2 years ago.. I'm sure she scavenged prior to then. Never any grain, with the rare exception of a little brown rice, if she has any GI upset. Some vegetables, sweet potatoes, & pumpkin. Eggs & cottage cheese usually once a week. Cooked fish occasionally. Never any peanut butter (because of it's potential to stimulate inflammation) or molasses. Treats are lamb lung, freeze dried raw food, sweet potato chews and sometimes Instinct grain free biscuits. In the summer, Honest Kitchen Ice Pups treats. She likes strawberries, peaches, & pears, & cheese, which she sometimes gets as treats. I do use a commercial, raw food (Stella & Chewy's...because the meat source is traceable & I've seen the manufacturing plant...I'm a vegetarian & that's important to me). Isabelle has poor dentition w/multiple extractions...I'm sure she spent years eating rocks & sticks...so she wouldn't be able to manage bones that aren't ground. Recently, she eats primarily lamb & beef because chicken seems to give her reflux. Duck is too rich for her.
My cats also eat raw, without the vegetables, fruits, eggs, etc., but they do eat the protein treats.
Cynthia
Thanku! I found a place here in Anchorage, AK that sells stella & chewy's .. only 1 place but of course, being in Anchorage our choices are limited. I'll be giving that a try. I've looked at trying a raw diet but was scared because of how much time would needed. I want to feed my dogs the best but with 2 kids & 2 dogs, going to school & work, time is a bit limited for me (as I'm sure it is for everyone else) So if possible, I'd like to buy it from a very reputable company which I saw Stella & Chewy's got 5 stars from dogfoodadvisor.com!
Thank you for all of your recommendations 🙂
Hi there,
I, too, cut out grains out of my "C" dog, Maggie, but that said, just cutting out grains and going non-grain isn't the whole picture. You need to keep carbs LOW. And just switching over to a non-grain food isn't always the end answer. Look at carb content. If you are going to feed a premade raw diet like Stella and Chewy's, then carbs are low. If you are going to feed a grain free kibble, then look at the ingredients/carb contet. Potatoes, for instance(in place of the grains), are high in carbs.
I feed both of my dogs the same..."C" or not(to try to be proactive for my other dog). I feed Honest Kitchen premixes - Embark, Thrive and Preference. The first two have meat in them but I add Primal Raw Grinds to them to lower the carbs even more. The third one, Preference, must have meat added to it...and that can be done at either 1:1 or 2:1(meat 2) which is even greater to get those carbs down by adding the most protein you can.
What I aim for is keeping the carb % down around 18-20% as this is what Dr. Ogilvie says is good for cancer dogs.
Tracy, Maggie's Mom
Maggie was amputated for soft tissue sarcoma 10-20-09
Maggie lost her battle with kidney disease on 8-24-13
Great point, Tracy. I've been feeding this way for so long, I forgot about all the potato binders, etc, in kibble. I've used Honest Kitchen products for travelling in warmer weather & usually have some on hand as backup.
I keep carbs well under 20% also, including fruits & vegetables. They don'treally need the fruits & vegetables, but Isabelle enjoys the variety. Feeding this way, makes it very easy to keep her weight down. Another enormously popular treat here is steamed broccoli. She will dance for it!
It can be overwhelming to change to this type of diet, but, once you are used to it, it takes minimal extra time. Many dogs need a slow transition, and if you are starting other medical therapies at the same time, you may want to be extra cautious.
Best of Luck,
Cynthia
Since Alexei's diagnosis I have switched to raw for all three of my dogs. The other two (Bure & Tucker) get some sweet potatoes, but that is the only difference. I also feed (Not Alex) Wellness Core (grain free ) occasionally when time is tight or someone else is feeding them while I am away. Strict grain free raw w/ antioxidant vegetables-fish oil-occasional cottage cheese or yogurt for Alexei...
I feed the pugs grain free food, I have been since long before Maggie's cancer diagnosis. Mag's younger sis Tani developed inflammatory bowel disease several years ago. She threw up every day for 3 weeks before we could get it under control. The vet specialist we went to said it was a protein issue, and we needed to find a food with protein she had never had. Well Mag's favorite food was chicken so that was a primary ingredient in the foods I fed. Finding a food without chicken was challenging. I settled on a grain free single protein food because it didn't have any chicken. The vet had said it would take a week or more to clear her system and for her not to get sick anymore, but the day I started on it she stopped throwing up. In hindsight I'm not sure it was a protein issue, but rather the grains and other crap in the commercial food I was feeding (I was uneducated in those days!). Tani gets chicken now occasionally to supplement the protein levels and she does not have any trouble with it.
Once Mag was diagnosed and I started researching food options I found I was already on the right track.
My rescue pug boy Obie came to me with some undiagnosed allergy issues. About a week after I switched him to the food I use he was pretty much itch free.
In addition to adding protein content to address the issues Tracy discussed I supplement with fish oil, and an immune system boosting thing that I can't remember the name of (I'm at work). Tani has some other health issues, and I think Obie's immune system is weak. I don't change foods too much because of Tani's sensitive stomach. They pretty much get kibble as treats, or some type of plain meat. Besides, both pugs now are suck and swallow eaters- very little chewing involved. I don't think they ever taste anything so they don't get tired of their food. Maggie was kind of picky, and was the nibble and chew type of eater. She tasted everything so I tried to rotate proteins and add foods to keep her interested.
Karen and the pugapalooza
Hi,
I've always had food issues with Champ even before he was diagnosed with cancer. My vet advised me he had food allergies and we had him on Hill's Prescription Diet for awhile. He had always had loose bowels though. We also put him on Atopica for the allergies which I regret every day as I feel that this immune suppresant had something to do with the cancer.
After the cancer diagnosis I was very intent on finding him the best diet out there. We found The Honest Kitchen's Preference. Because of his allergies I add mostly salmon, whitefish, bison or venison as the protein. Since we changed foods, his bowel movements are actually normal for the first time I can remember. He is not itchy or irritated.
I highly recommend Honest Kitchen for ANY dog or cat.
Joy & Champ
I apologize up front for taking this topic in a different direction, but I have to make this connection.
Joy - I was taken back by your post. Trouble also fought severe allergies her entire life and was on Atopica for many years. There is now a warning that it is contraindicated for animals with existing tumors, but that warning was not there when we started giving it to her. Trouble had such great results with the Atopica, I can't say at this point that I regret giving it to her - when she was itchy she was miserable and so were we. My husband has suspected from the time she was diagnosed with the cancer that Atopica was a contributing factor. I just had to comment .
Trouble has been on a home cooked diet since July, and is doing really well. I would like to get away from it, but kibble tends to either make her itch or make her porky. Duke is on Taste of the Wild, but he's getting a bit porky too. But then again, Trouble likes to have a couple of snacks a day in addition to her regular meals, and Duke wants some too, so they would both be getting porky if she were eating kibble. I may give the Honest Kitchen a try, if I could find something that works for her, that could make my life a little easier.
Shanna & Spirit Trouble ~ Trouble gained her wings 3/16/2011, a 27 1/2 month cancer survivor, tail wagging. RIP sweetheart, you are my heart and soul. Run free at Rainbow Bridge.
The November Five - Spirits Max, Cherry, Tika, Trouble & Nova. 11/2008 - 3/2013 An era ends as Queen Nova crossed the Bridge.
While I occasionally use Honest Kitchen in a pinch, Isabelle gains weight almost immediately eating it. The carb content isn't really that low. because of the potatoes & fruits. The calories can be a little high because of this & the flax, which they can't really use anyway. You have to add a protien source to bring both down. My dog eats a lot & she's not satisfied with the portion control necessary. She's also older & I think by nature, on the lazy side. On raw, the only thing I have to monitor, is her getting a little too thin, usually r/t increased activity. I try to adjust her portion according to her day to day activity. I'm sure Honest Kitchen works well for younger or more active dogs. They also add similar ingredients to their cat food formula & cats simply don't use them.
Cynthia
As I mentioned, I use Honest Kitchen on both my dogs...but I also add raw meat to it as well. Usually, 1:1 meat/mix but the Preference you can do 2:1 meat/mix. Have you tried more protein in the Preference mix Cynthia? My dogs aren't very active and do well on Honest Kitchen weightwise. I used to use Sojo's premixes and had to feed them more of it vs. Honest Kitchen.
Tracy, Maggie's Mom
Maggie was amputated for soft tissue sarcoma 10-20-09
Maggie lost her battle with kidney disease on 8-24-13
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