The Food that Swallows the Chemo that Swallows the Cancer

A BASIC GUIDE (quantities and doses for a 50-60lb dog)

*Immune System Supportive Diet*

- makes approximately (21-24) 1.5c servings

- 3 meals/day

Ingredients

2c uncooked red (or regular) organic lentils

1c uncooked organic brown rice

6c washed organic fresh spinach

6 large organic sweet potatoes

2-3 lb wild caught salmon

2-3 lb washed organic carrots

filtered water

*SUPPLEMENTS (during chemo)*

- with breakfast (daily): 1 B-Complex, 1 CoQ-10, 1/4 Selenium, 1 tbsp Flaxseed Oil, 1 D3, 1 Papaya

- with breakfast (W-Su): 1 B12

- 2h after breakfast: 1/4c apple tea (see below) + 1/8 tbsp Chlorophyll, 1 Probiotic, 1 Cell Forte, 1 Milk thistle

- 2h later: Echinacea (1-450 or 2-250)

- 2h later with lunch: 1 Papaya

- 2h later: apple tea mix

- 2h later: Echinacea

- 2h later with dinner: 1/4 Selenium, 1 Papaya

- 2h later: Echinacea

1. B-Complex (Solgar/Megasorb 50mg): for normal cell division & building new red blood cells

2. CoQ-10 (Solgar 30mg softgels): for heart, thyroid, tissue health

3. Selenium (Solgar 200mcg): antioxidant

4. Flaxseed Oil omegas (Flora refrigerated): for nervous system, skin, cartilage, immune system health

5. D3 (Nature’s Life/Solgar 400IU softgels): for bone health

6. Papaya (Country Life chewable wafers): for digestive enzymes

7. B12 (Twinlab 500mcgs dots): for heart health

8. Chlorophyll (Sunny Green natural flavor): detoxifier for digestive system lining protection

9. Cell Forte (Enzymatic Therapy tablets): antioxidant for liver & immune system health

10. Milk Thistle (Solaray/Vitamin Shoppe 350mg caplets): for liver health

11. Echinacea (Nature’s Herbs/Twinlab herb & root, 1-450 or 2-250): for immune system

12. Apple tea & compote: peel 6 Gala apples quartered, boil in 4c filtered water with 1 piece peeled organic ginger root, 4 bags organic peppermint tea & 4 bags organic (decaf) green tea; after cool, separate juice from mashed apples & refrigerate

*SUPPLEMENTS (after last chemo session)*

- 1h before breakfast (daily): 2 oz prepared FlorEssence tea diluted in 1-2 oz filtered water

- with breakfast (daily): 1 multivitamin, 1 CoQ-10, 1 Quercetin

- 2h after breakfast: (weekdays) 1 Milk Thistle, (daily) 1 probiotic

- with lunch (weekdays): 1 D3

- with lunch (MWF): 1 B12

- with lunch (TuF): 1 Artichoke Extract, 1 tbsp Flaxseed Oil mixed into food

- with lunch (Th): 1 Turmeric

- mid-afternoon (daily): 1 probiotic caplet

- 2-3h before bedtime (daily): 2 oz FlorEssence tea as above

1. CoQ-10: give indefinitely for heart, thyroid, tissue oxygenation

2. Quercetin (Solaray non-citrus caplets): give for 3+ months as anti-inflammatory for respiratory system

3. Milk Thistle: give for 2-3 months for liver

4. Probiotic: give 2/day for 6 months then 1/day indefinitely

5. D3: give indefinitely for bones

6. B12: give indefinitely for heart

7. Artichoke Extract (Enzymatic Therapy tablets): give for 2-3 months for gallbladder

8. Flaxseed Oil: give indefinitely for nervous system, skin, cartilage, immune system

9. Turmeric (New Chapter Turmeric Force softgels): give for 2 months as anti-inflammatory (assuming no history of bleeding)

10. FlorEssence tea (Flora): give for 2-3 months for detoxifying

11. Multivitamin (Solgar Iron-free Formula VM-75 vegetarian): indefinitely

*SUPPLEMENTS (regular)*

- with breakfast (daily): 1/2 multivitamin, 1 CoQ-10

- with lunch (weekdays): 1 D3

- with lunch (MWF): 1 B12

- with lunch (TuF): 1 tbsp Flaxseed Oil

- mid-afternoon/before bedtime (daily): 1 probiotic

*INAPPETENCE*

Your dog has to eat something at some point, but eating is a struggle when there’s nausea and upset stomach. – Don’t feed right before chemo. First, you need fasting before blood tests for accurate results (key for monitoring effects of both types of treatments). Second, your dog will associate the inevitable chemo-related stomach upset with the food you feed your dog and you’ll soon run out of types of food your dog will accept. – Learn to quickly identify the signs of nausea (excessive licking of nose, salivation, panting) and tell the oncologist so s/he can prescribe antinausea medication so that your dog will eat. You can’t force your dog to eat, but you can’t let your dog lose too much weight or become too weak. This is critical.

- To take the edge off upset stomach: apple tea & compote (above). If your dog will consume the compote by itself or drink the liquid with water, great. Otherwise, add the compote to food.

- Our oncovet presribed canned Prescription Diet canned food for us to use not as a substitute to his regular food but as an appetite inducer. This is a very gradual process. Start by opening the can and letting your dog sniff it. Once you’ve captured your dog’s interest, feed your dog a spoon-ful, then another until your dog has had enough. You use this food when your dog refuses regular food. At this point, your dog won’t overeat and is already losing weight from chemo so overfeeding isn’t really a concern. However, the goal is to try to get your dog to return to regular food. At the next meal, try mixing a little regular food into the PD food. At subsequent meals, try decreasing the ratio of PD to regular food until your dog is back on regular food. If your dog normally loves a particular flavor (chicken), buy cans of organic chicken & brown rice (with few to no other ingredients) for you to mix in with regular food.