Max's Diet

I've received a number of emails from people asking about Max's diet.  So, I thought I'd do a blog on his diet (how exciting! Food is one of Max's favorite topics!)  One thing I would like to note is that we've been through various diseases with a few other dogs and cats including that c word that we never like to acknowledge.  What I've learned after going through this with so many animals - even 2 different animals with the same disease, is that every single body is different. What might work really well for one, may not for the other, so if you don't see positive results, you may need to play around with it a bit. I know there are a lot of cancer diets out there, and those are fantastic guidelines. I'm sure you've all heard about eating for your blood type, or your body type, well it's kind of the same thing - although I'm not sure if anyone's ever figured out an exact diet for a particular breed or dog, although - the holistic approach is to feed them what their breed would naturally eat in the wild.

Without a doubt - we do not ever feed our dogs kibble, we rarely feed commercial dog food and when we do it's always freeze dried raw organic and grain free, and not made in China (sorry China, just don't want to take the risk).  

 

Max has been eating this diet long most of his life (which I believe is why he is 19 going on 20 and his other siblings are all over 12 and super health and live to be old dogs and cats in their late teens and early 20s)

Max's Diet:

• 1 scoop of some kind of freeze dried raw Force (chicken) or Zeal (fish- good for the brain) or Love (beef based) or Preference (vegetarian)  (follow prep instructions on the box - the kind also depends on the condition we are dealing with - Max gets lots of fish b/c of the Omegas and we're dealing with a neurological issue and we alternate out with the chicken, all veggies and beef  and home cooking.  This is also good for adding the chinese herbs / powders to and mixing in
• Grilled unseasoned organic chicken or wild caught salmon (just throw it on the grill - if your vet prefers and your dog does well with raw - you can do that - Personally I get grossed out by it so it's cooked at our house
• A scoop of organic pumpkin puree (great for hiding pills in)
• Tumeric (anti-inflamatory & anti-oxidant)
• Milk Thistle (helps to keep liver function strong and clear out toxins)
• Astragalus (we used a different form for Buster with his lung issues)  - immune system booster and there have been some studies at NIH that it helps prevent cancer and may help combat certain cancers
• CoQ10 -( anti-oxidant)
• In Max's Case with the Meningiomas we are using 3 types of Chinese herbs:
• Stasis of the Mansion of the Mind (breaks through the blood brain barrier can help carry medications taken with it directly to the brain - that's the theory anyway & helps break up and flush out tumors
• Di Tan Tang - anti-seizure properties
• Wei Qi Booster - helps keep the flow of Qi (pronounced "Chi") - or energy - or blood flow  depending on how you loo at it - but it's really energy (neurons, electrons, etc.. ) flowing smoothly.
•  For Max we found that Resvantage Canine seems to be working really well for him. This is a potent anti-oxidant product and it may not work well for other dogs - so its important to check with your vet.  Studies had not been done that I could find, on meningiomas with Resvantage, but one of our other dogs has been taking it for a grade 3 heart murmur and she's been doing really well with it and it helped her coat - and Max was having issues with dry skin and a dull coat after we tried PolyMVA with him .  

Max still gets 10mg of prednisone 2 times a week. He does great at that rate, but I'm still finding if I try to push it back a few days, his hearing is still fading a bit so we'll keep him here for a while longer and try to wean back a little bit in a few more weeks.. 

He is also still getting 150mg of keppra  1-2 times / day and still seizure free.

Below are some more foods, Max likes.. (again all dogs are different - where chicken may be good for one dog - another may be allergic so you may want to try beef, or salmon.. and all diseases work differently too - For lung issues and pneumonias - you may want to try chicken because it is known as a drying food in Traditional Chinese Medicine (You'll have to read up on warm, cold, hot, damp, dry foods within Traditional Chinese medicine to learn more.. I'm still working on understanding this myself! I do have a chart I can send you if you are interested in learning what foods are what)

Tasty huh? Max thinks so!

More of Max's favorite foods

 

Some stuff that can be helpful but probably not at once and make sure never to over dose.. always check with your vet to find out what the right amounts are.  As I mentioned above, Max seems to be doing well with Resvantage Canine.  There are no studies on this and meningiomas so we're treading lightly to see how he does - he's been taking it for about 3 months now.   I do give him Kelp occasionally when he's not been eating Fish for a few days (home cooked or freeze dried raw).  It's a great antioxidant but again - don't want to over dose.    PolyMVA has had some really good studies on helping to improve energy and immunity and even has some stuff in it that improve neurological function and it has worked fantastically with our other pets, but Max is a very sensitive guy and he actually got really dry skin and his fur started falling out from PolyMVA. (Aside from the dry skin and fur falling out, his energy level increased and he was getting clearer so from that perspective it was great.. but if your fur is falling out - something else is out of whack and we want to keep him as balanced as possible).  We spoke to a consultant at the manufacturer and they said some dogs develop skin allergies and suggested we discontinue until the condition clears up and then try again but a lower dose.. which we did and then the same thing happened again.. and me being me, I tried again for a 3rd time with the same result.. I'm pretty convinced now that Max just doesn't do well with the PolyMVA - but it works great for other dogs and cats of ours, so something to check with your vet and ask them about dosing for the condition. (Please note, I'm not giving ANY dosing information - this is something you need to discuss with your vet.  Too much of anything is not a good thing so it's important to check with someone who is a Vet. )

 And this is what we used to help Max combat his dry skin and poor coat.. nothing like good old fashioned salmon  - Rich in Omegas.. just make sure you don't give too much b/c you'll have to have lots of potty trips or a few accidents if you do! I would recommend starting out a little less than the recommended dose on the bottle.. Just imagine what would happen to you if you drank a shot of olive oil or fish oil...

Hope this info is helpful for everyone.