Cancer Fighting Foods For Dogs: What Are The Best Options?
Whether you are seeking a preventative diet to decrease your dog’s risk of cancer or you have a sweet pooch receiving treatment for cancer or recovering from this disease feeding a diet of cancer fighting foods for dogs can support their immune system, boost energy levels and promote overall optimum health.
Cancer in dogs is, unfortunately, extremely common. According to the American Veterinary Medical Association, about 1 in 4 dogs will develop some form of cancer. While this statistic can seem scary, there are a few steps you can take to lower your dog’s risk of developing cancer. We will discuss diet and cancer fighting food for dogs below, but first, here are a few other steps you can take that have been shown to reduce the cancer risk.
- Spay or Neuter Your Dog
For female dogs, spaying can reduce the risk of uterine, ovarian and breast cancer. Neutering a male dog also eliminates your dog’s risk of developing testicular cancer as well as lowering the risk of benign prostatic hyperplasia, which is the enlargement of the prostate glands, an extremely uncomfortable condition.
- Keep A Smoke-Free Home
Just like humans, dogs are sensitive to second-hand smoke and exposure to the many carcinogens in cigarette smoke can cause cancer to develop. Additionally, exposure to many common household chemicals can increase your dog’s risk of developing cancer. For instance, pesticides, herbicides, insecticides and some cleaners all have been shown to be carcinogens. Limiting exposure can be good for your dog, as well as your entire family.
- Maintain A Healthy Weight
For dogs (and humans) the risk of cancer increases if they are overweight or obese. Statistics from the Association for Pet Obesity Prevention state that nearly 60% of all dogs in the United States are overweight and this can lead to cancer as well as heart disease, diabetes and other serious medical conditions. Switching to the best weight loss food for dogs can help your dog maintain a healthy weight and lower their risk for many disease.
- Schedule Regular Vet Visits
It’s easy to skip those yearly checkups, but these appointments provide an excellent opportunity to ensure that your dog is in good shape. Blood testing, exams and other tests can show cancer at very early stages, when it is easier to treat. Additionally, your vet also might find tiny lumps or bumps that can be evaluated as well as discovering other health conditions in the early stages.
Fighting Cancer With Holistic Nutrition
Changing your dog’s food can be one of the most effective ways to prevent cancer and other diseases, as well as to best serve your dog’s nutritional needs if they currently have cancer or are in remission.
At Chi Dog, our holistic dog food was developed by veterinarians and created to adhere to the principles of Traditional Chinese Veterinary Medicine (TCVM). With TCVM, we consider food a therapeutic tool to balance the body’s energy as well as to boost immune health and improve your dog’s overall well-being.
When it comes to dog food, a holistic, TCVM-based dog food will avoid all processed ingredients, as well as preservatives and fillers. High-quality, whole ingredients are chosen carefully for their healing properties and many of these nutrient-dense ingredients help to support cellular health and immune function. While this is crucial for our canine cancer patients, it’s just as important for healthy dogs to enjoy the highest level of nutrition possible.
For instance, at Chi Dog, we offer five unique diet plans – Wood, Earth, Fire, Water and Metal. Each of these was formulated to address specific health issues. Whether you need a sensitive stomach dog food, a dog food for pancreatitis, a low phosphorus dog food or a cancer-fighting dog food, we have options to suit the most common health issues.
The Earth Diet
Our anti-inflammatory Earth Diet is a complete and balanced diet particularly suitable for dogs currently diagnosed with cancer as well as for dogs in remission or as a cancer preventative. This light, low-fat diet is gentle on your dog’s system and contains a plethora of cancer-fighting foods for dogs. This diet also is recommended for overweight and obese dogs as well as dogs that often develop lipomas, which are benign tumors.
The main sources of protein are eggs and tofu, and we include easy-to-digest carbohydrate sources including sweet potato, spinach, green peas and mushrooms. Let’s take a look at each of these ingredients and their cancer-fighting properties.
Protein is a crucial part of any dog’s diet and protein deficiency can increase the risk of developing cancer. Eggs are an excellent source of high-quality protein and amino acids, which are crucial for dogs dealing with cancer or recovering from cancer treatment. Eggs also contain choline and other nutrients that support immune health.
Tofu contains calcium, zinc, copper, iron, selenium and many other crucial nutrients that can help restore and maintain good health. If you do need a low copper dog food, the Earth Diet is still considered a low-copper food, but we do have additional options that are lower in copper. Feel free to contact us at any time to discuss which diet plan is the best fit for your unique dog.
While dogs don’t need the same amount of carbs as humans, nutrient-dense carbohydrates are crucial for optimum health. For the Earth Diet, we’ve added sweet potato as it is high in antioxidants such as beta-carotene as well as crucial vitamins and minerals.
Mushrooms contain beta-glucans and other compounds with immune-boosting properties. These mushrooms may also have anti-cancer effects by enhancing immune system activity and reducing tumor growth. Fresh peas and spinach contain vitamins and minerals such as folate, potassium and vitamin C as well as antioxidants.
Koa – A Real-Life Success Story
We’ve had many dog parents who switched to Chi Dog to help their dogs fight cancer and other health issues, and Koa is one of our favorite stories. This beautiful eight-year-old was diagnosed with terminal liver cancer, and Koa’s vet said that even with chemotherapy, six months was the best prognosis. Koa’s parents preferred not to put him through the rigors of chemo.
For Koa, we prescribed an abundance of Chinese herbs and supplements as well as our Earth Diet and Koa thrived for more than a year and a half and spent his days chasing balls and swimming right to the very end, enjoying the best possible health.
Other Cancer-Fighting Foods For Dogs
In addition to the ingredients in our Earth Diet, there are many other healthy foods for dogs with cancer that you might consider. For protein, salmon can be an excellent option to consider, as it is packed with omega-3 fatty acids which can reduce inflammation and may slow the growth of certain cancers, as well as provide immune support.
Vegetables such as carrots, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, blueberries and pumpkin also can be excellent options. Apple can be a tasty addition to your dog’s diet, as well, but please ensure that the core and all of the seeds are removed as the seeds contain arsenic which can be deadly for dogs.
Chi-Dog: Holistic Support For Every Dog
If you’ve been searching for a cancer diet for dogs, a dog food for seizures, a low sodium dog food, a pancreatitis dog food or something else, there is a Chi Dog diet plan that matches your dog’s nutritional needs. To discover, which plan is best for your dog, click on the Get Started tab on our homepage and answer a few quick questions and we will match you with one of our five holistic dog foods.
As a home cook, you also could use our recipes as inspiration for your own homemade anti-cancer, anti-tumor dog food. If you opt to make your own, consider buying one of our home cooking supplements. These are veterinarian-formulated to balance home-cooked meals, and this antioxidant supplement contains a variety of essential vitamins and minerals. When feeding your dog, you can simply sprinkle the supplement over the food.
Whether you need cancer fighting foods for dogs or perhaps have a perfectly healthy dog and want to ensure that they have the best possible nutrition, the team at Chi Dog is committed to providing dog parents with the highest quality and most nutritious meal options. Again, if you have any questions about any of our diet options, please don’t hesitate to get in touch.
