Homemade Canine Cancer Food
The following recipe is a balanced, homemade formula for dogs with cancer. It approximates Canine n/d ® , a canned dietetic dog food. The following recipe will make three days worth of food for a 25-30 pound dog.
Ingredients Amount
Lean ground beef, fat drained

454 grams (1 pound)

Rice, cooked

227 grams (1 1/3 cups)

Liver, beef

138 grams (1/3 pound)

Vegetable oil

63 grams (4 ½ Tbs)

Fish oil

9 grams (9 1000-mg fish oil capsules)*

Calcium carbonate

3.3 grams**

Dicalcium phosphate***

2.9 grams (3/4 tsp)

Salt substitute (potassium chloride)

1.9 grams (1/3 tsp)


* The amount of fish oil that must be added to homemade foods to achieve the total n-3 fatty acid levels in Canine n/d is usually not practical or economical to use. Owners are encouraged to feed the highest fish oil dose tolerated by the dog. Cost is approximately $0.05 to 0.10 per capsule.

** Calcium carbonate is available as oyster shell calcium tablets or Tums ® tablets (0.5 g in regular Tums, 0.75 g in Tums Extra and 1.0 g in Tums Ultra).

*** Bone meal can be used in place of dicalcium phosphate.

Directions:
Cook the rice with salt substitute added to the water. Cook the ground beef and drain the fat. Cook the liver and dice or finely chop into small pieces. Pulverize the calcium carbonate and vitamin/mineral tablets. Mix the vegetable oil, fish oil (break open capsules) and supplements with the rice and then add the cooked ground beef and liver. Mix well, cover and refrigerate. Feed approximately one-third of this mixture each day to a 25-30 pound dog. Palatability will be increased if the daily portion is heated to approximately body temperature (Caution: when using a microwave, avoid "hot spots," which can burn the mouth).

Nutrient Profile (% dry matter basis):
Protein 35.3
Fat 41.6
Carbohydrate 17.8
Calcium 0.65
Phosphorus 0.54
Sodium 0.36
Potassium 0.68
Magnesium 0.05
Energy 1,989 kcal/kg as fed
Food Recommendations for Cats with Cancer
Cat, pounds 5 8 10 12 15
kg 2.3 3.6 4.5 5.5 6.8
kcal/day 170 215 250 280 330
 
Canine/Feline a/d ® can
Prot=45.7, Fat=28.7, NFE=16.5*
Arginine, mg/d 631 798 928 1,039 1,224
Arginine to add, mg** 294 399 432 484 571
Total n-3, mg/d 806 1,019 1,185 1,327 1,564
 
Feline Growth ® dry (new)
Prot=37.1, Fat=26.5, NFE=28.5*
Arginine, mg/d 755 955 1,110 1,243 1,465
Arginine to add, mg** 170 242 250 280 330
Total n-3, mg/d 100 127 148 165 195
Fish oil caps to add*** 2 3 3.5 4 4.5
 
Feline Maintenance ® Seafood can
Prot=45.1, Fat=25.4, NFE=20.1*
Arginine, mg/d 1,097 1,387 1,613 1,806 2,129
Arginine to add, mg** 0 0 0 0 0
Total n-3, mg/d 318 402 468 524 617
Fish oil caps to add*** 1.5 2 2.5 2.5 3

*nutrients expressed as %DM

**amount of arginine to add to this product to provide equivalent amount delivered by Canine n/d ®. L-arginine is usually available as 500- and 1000-mg tablets.

***number of fish oil capsules to add to this product to provide equivalent amount delivered by Canine/Feline a/d ® ; assumes fish oil capsules contain 1,000mg/capsule with 300mg EPA+DHA.
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