Recipe updated 8/12/03
Tip's condition updated 8/28/04

[2/27/03] - "Tipper Stew". This didn't start out to be a cancer diet, but that's the way it's evolving. In the fall of 2001, when our Greyhound, Tipper was 8 1/2, he was suddenly bombarded with a string of serious health challenges. We'd only had him a couple of months at the time, though I had known him for years. A seizure in November led us to discover that he was profoundly hypothyroid. Soloxine has controlled that and there have been no more seizures. Then came the cancer. The first of his hemangiosarcoma tumors appeared on his legs in December and were removed, and the lab said the chance of metastasis or recurrence was low.

The most threatening at the time was a diagnosis in late September of polymyositis, a muscle degenerative disease, probably caused by an autoimmune problem. In a matter of a few weeks Tipper had lost nearly 20 lbs. We started him on prednisone and got the dosage adjusted to balance maximum effect and minimum damage to his liver. We were told that he would not get better, the best we could hope for was that he wouldn't get worse too fast. But the vet didn't expect him to survive more than three months.

The prednisone helped a lot and the progression of the polymyositis slowed. But by this time Tip was a shadow of his former majestic self and the old spark was gone from his eyes. In fact most of the time his eyes were only about half open and just breathing seemed to make him tired. Then in February more hemangiosarcoma tumors appeared on his skin. So the cancer was either still in there or had returned and could very well attack internal organs and kill him. He was so weak from the polymyositis that I knew he wouldn't be able to fight off anything else. But I'm a stubborn woman and wouldn't give up.

I had been doing some hard thinking and a good bit of reading about nutrition, and the first version of "Tipper Stew" was born. The results were encouraging. The first, almost immediate, change we noticed was that the spark was back in Tip's eyes and they were bright and round again (when he was awake <G>). He slowly started to gain weight. The deep pits over his eyes started to fill in. And his energy level improved a bit. The dog who for many weeks had done nothing more strenuous than a slow walk now trotted to his bowl at feeding time, and occasionally even hopped up and down in his excitement about getting fed. I haven't seen him actually run for years, but I do catch him in a nice extended trot in the yard now and then.   

In November of 2002, we had to take two of our other Greyhounds to the vet and took Tipper along just for the ride. Dr. Armentrout couldn't believe her eyes when she saw him. The first thing she did was put him on the scale. He had gained 11 lbs, and after a careful examination she pronounced that most of the weight gain was muscle, not fat. He HAD gotten better! Tipper is now just a few weeks short of his 10th birthday, and his 3-month sentence has stretched to 16 months so far. He is actually healthier than he was a year ago. He still looks much older than his age because of muscle loss in his face, and will probably never get back to his old weight of nearly 80 lbs, but he's doing very well and enjoying life again. I don't believe now that the polymyositis will take him from us, though it's still a possibility. Trying to help him avoid a return of the cancer has become more of a focus in his diet. 

Sadly, the two other hounds we took to the vet both turned out to have other types of cancer. CJ had chondrosarcoma in his pelvic bone and we lost him just days after diagnosis in late November. CJ's brother, LB, had osteosarcoma in his left front leg, diagnosed 12/31/02. His leg was amputated 1/9/03. So far he seems to be feeling great most of the time. He still wants to run and play. There is no evidence of metastasis yet, but statistically it's almost sure to happen. So now Tipper Stew is being adjusted to help both Tipper and LB. As I read and learn more, the recipe gets adjusted. For instance, I used to use more spinach, but have learned that too much of it can interfere with the absorption of some nutrients. I also stopped adding carrots because they're carbs. They were good for Tipper's polymyositis, but not for cancer. [Note 6/29/03 - LB's remaining front leg was fractured on 5/26 and we had to let him join his brother at the bridge.  Now that LB is gone, Tipper gets a very small amount of carrots now and then.  Because his hemangiosarcoma is likely to return, we still limit his carbs pretty strictly.] This is the current recipe (and it does change fairly often as we learn more):

 - 5 lbs ground beef, cooked* and mostly drained**

- 1 lb ground venison (when available)

- 1 lb beef or calf liver, cooked and cut into (human) bite sized pieces

- 6  15-oz cans of Jack Mackerel

- 1  2-lb pkg frozen chopped broccoli, thawed

- 6  14-oz cans chopped kale***

- 5 or 6 eggs

- garlic powder (I never measured this, but I shake on a whole bunch - it sure makes the whole thing smell better)

- 1  14-oz can chopped spinach in every other batch

I use a very large, deep skillet (a chicken fryer) to cook the meat, and a large canning kettle for mixing. A huge bowl would work better if I could find one big enough, but I haven't so far. You also need at least one large stirring utensil with a VERY strong handle. The handles on most spoons will bend when you try to mix this stuff. I've been using wooden handled barbecue tools. The alternative is rolling up your sleeves and diving in to mix by hand. But that's pretty yucky and you'll probably be dying for a shower before you get the stuff bagged up for freezing.  But that's the most effective way to mix it evenly.

First I put all the veggies and the mackerel in the mixing kettle and mix them as thoroughly as I can. Don't worry about the bones in the mackerel. They're soft and not harmful. And there is probably a good bit of mineral nutrition in them. Next I cook about 3-4 lbs of the ground beef. The whole 5 lbs won't fit in my skillet. When it's thoroughly cooked, I drain off most of the fat and put the meat in the kettle. Then I cook the rest of the ground beef with the venison. There isn't much fat in this batch, so I pour it into the kennel without draining it. Then I put an inch or so of water in the skillet and add the liver. I let it slow cook with a lid on until it's completely done, then cut it up in small pieces and add it to the rest of the ingredients in the kettle. Then I stir and stir and stir some more. I think the most important thing is to get the liver as evenly distributed as possible. The other things don't need to be mixed as evenly, but too much liver at one time can cause stomach upsets. 

Now comes the yuckiest part. Bagging it. I use zip-lock sandwich bags and stuff them as full as I can. I'm feeding two Greyhounds whose average weight is about 75 lbs, and one bag feeds the two of them for one meal (we feed 2x/day, so each dog gets a full bag per day). If you're feeding larger or smaller dogs, you can adjust to whatever you need per meal or per day. UPDATE: we don't use sandwich bags anymore.  Now we use those plastic Glad containers (actually we used Kroger's store brand because they're considerably cheaper).  The size we use is sort of a sandwich box size, square and flat.  They hold about the same amount as the baggies.  They're washable and re-usable, and they're MUCH easier to fill than the bags were.  

Then it all goes in the freezer. The amounts in this recipe make about 10 bags/containers. It seems to vary a bit for some reason.  Once it's thoroughly frozen, it takes about 48 hours to thaw in the fridge, so you have to remember to get it out far enough ahead.  It can be thawed in the microwave, but there may be some loss of nutrients doing it that way. 

Each dog also gets about 1/2 cup of high protein kibble (high quality with meat as the first ingredient), moistened and mixed with his stew, but I'm planning to phase that out because there are carbohydrates in any kibble, and cancer feeds on carbs. By changing to this diet from all kibble, we've eliminated 75-80% of the carbs and made a large increase in protein and also an increase in fat.

In addition to the "stew", each dog gets a multivitamin (kids' vitamins like Flintstones are a good formula for this size dog - we use Kroger's store brand most of the time), a Vit C&E cap, a coral calcium cap****, a fish oil cap, a flax seed oil cap, and a selenium tablet. Tipper also gets a milk thistle cap to help protect his liver from the prednisone. A few times a week I also put a dollop of cottage cheese on top, good for protein and calcium. And instead of the regular high carb dog cookies we used to give them to help clean their teeth, they now get raw broccoli (especially the big stalks) for snacks and an occasional session with a knuckle bone for more intensive teeth cleaning. 

I'm looking into adding shark cartilage and possibly some other antioxidants. I'm also looking for the best possible digestive aid to make sure as many nutrients as possible go where they're needed instead of passing right through. And I'm looking at various other immune boosters.

I'm considering replacing some of the hamburger with more mackerel. Both are high protein, but the mackerel has more omega-3 fatty acids that help fight cancer. The cost is just about the same in this area (roughly $1/lb). We buy ground beef in 5-lb chubs for cost effectiveness, so it's just convenient to do it the way we do. But some stores have it in 3-lb chubs, so using 2 extra cans of mackerel should work as well if not better, and be simpler.  I believe the red meat is important for Tipper's polymyositis, while the fish is more important for the cancer.  But both are needed.

I usually get the thawed stew out of the fridge 20-30 minutes before feeding time to let it warm up a little, and I moisten the kibble with hot water. Cold food seems to be more likely to cause stomach upset. If the stew is still very cold, I pour on a little more hot water.

If you decide to try this menu, you may want to adjust your dog to it gradually. I started LB on it full strength and he had no problems at all. But he had the constitution of an ox. 

I'm convinced this diet saved Tipper's life. Will it help LB? I very strongly suspect it will prolong his life and make whatever time he does have healthier and happier. Will it help your dog? I don't know, but I've talked to vets and many other people and been assured that it can't hurt. It's probably a lot better even for a healthy dog than most commercial dog foods. But I am neither a vet nor a nutritionist, so please take this for what it's worth. It works for our dogs. Your mileage may vary. [I'm not sure it prolonged LB's life.  Certainly not much.  But I truly believe it made the last few months of his life healthier and happier.  He seemed to feel great right up to when his leg broke.]

NOTES:

* Many people advocate feeding the meat raw for additional nutrition, and for most dogs this is probably a good thing. I cook our meat because of Tipper's auto immune problem. If you feed raw, you might want to use a leaner meat like ground chuck or ground round because you won't be cooking off any of the fat.

** Leaving a little of the fat in is a good thing, especially if your dog needs to gain weight. But be careful not to leave in too much so that you don't develop pancreas problems, which can pop up and become life threatening very quickly.

*** I use canned and frozen veggies mostly for convenience. We care for 30 +/- dogs here so we have to keep the time/labor expenditure down as much as possible. Making the stew usually takes me about 90 minutes (including cleanup) every 4-5 days for two dogs. Also, I don't know a lot of dogs that like raw kale or spinach, though they seem to like the canned versions just fine. But if you have time, any change toward fresh ingredients would probably be an improvement. In my next batch I may substitute another pound of frozen broccoli for one can of kale simply because the frozen is less processed than the canned. But both are very high in nutrients. BTW, I buy canned veggies without any added salt when I can.  And when I can't find kale at the discount store, I buy collard greens and/or turnip greens, which have about the same nutrition as kale.  Mustard greens fall short in that category, so I don't buy them. 

I've also started using spinach only in every 2nd or 3rd batch.  

**** I haven't yet been able to find out the proper dosage of calcium for dogs (still trying), so for a 70-80 lb Greyhound I'm using half the recommended dosage for humans. Any calcium is good, but coral calcium is supposed to be the most absorbable and also have the least possible side effects (such as kidney stones). 

5/25/03 - Update on Tipper.  Two days ago, for the first time in at least two years, Tipper RAN!  It wasn't a real Greyhound run, and it was only for a few seconds, but it was a definite gallop.  Since he's been here, until Friday, he had never done anything more strenuous than a brisk trot for a few years.  Considering that the vets expected him to be dead well over a year ago, this was a thrill for us to see.    

8/20/03 - We don't see Tip run very often, but he does do it now and then.  And he's taken up playing with toys, something he never did even before he got sick.  We have no idea how much time he has left, but he's certainly enjoying whatever it is.  

2/29/04 - Tip continues to do well.  He'll be 11 years old in just over a week!  In spite of the fact that he wasn't expected to see his 9th birthday.  He did have a recurrence of hemangiosarcoma tumors on his skin last month, but they were promptly removed, and he seems to be doing great.  And he still runs now and then.  He has also developed lumbosacral stenosis, sort of like a pinched nerve in his spine between his hips.  Carefully placed injections of depo-medrol made a world of difference, though, and he still hops up and down for his Tipper Stew.

8/28/04 - We finally said goodbye to our beautiful old Tipper a few days ago.  He fought one helluva fight and truly enjoyed his life up until a couple of weeks ago.  But the LS stopped responding to treatment and his hips and hind legs were getting very weak.  We miss him more than I can say, but he left us with wonderful memories.  What a dog he was!