[Kelly W]

My 8 year old Shepard mix was just diagnosed with anal gland cancer. She has allergy history and done best on chicken free Purina sensitive skin and stomach food. Poops once per day and it appears to be a “healthy” looking poop. Due to the cancer my vet recommends a low residue food so I am looking for feedback on options please. Thank you.

[Nora L]

Sorry to hear that. My parents’ dog was recently diagnosed with cancer as well. I advised them to switch him to a raw diet and he is making progress — more energy, some weight loss and the tumor is shrinking. It has to be done properly though, and commercial raw blends should not be used (they are too complex and high in fat). When you have a problem like cancer, particularly when it’s located in a part of the body whose function it is to eliminate the waste products of digestion, you have to look at what you’ve been feeding. Vets don’t get the connection between food and disease although yours alluded to the problem when s/he mentioned “residues”. What s/he’s recommending however is a food that produces only slightly less waste than the normal commercial foods. The kinds of foods a dog with cancer needs are the kind that produce no more than the canine body has historically had to deal with — the minimal kinds that are produced from a very lean, clean diet of herbivorous animals, fed raw and uncombined with other foods. Dogs sometimes recover from cancer with very small dietary improvements, but since you don’t know all the factors that will determine his/her ability to heal, you want to err on the side of feeding as close to perfectly as you can. I worked up a protocol for my folks and I’d be happy to share it with you if you’d like.

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