Can a Low Carbohydrate (Keto Type) Diet Help My Dog With Cancer?

My Dog Has Cancer—What Should I Feed Her?

"My Labrador Retriever is vomiting and has a tumor growing on her face. My vet put a needle in it and then told me it was a malignant mast cell tumor. He said that it was growing and had probably already spread, then he told me to put her on the new prescription cancer diet. The food tastes better and provides all her nutrients so she won't get skinny. Is that what she needs?"—Paul

Commercial Dog Food Is Not Good for a Dog With Cancer

No, I do not think that is what she needs. Dogs with cancer do not need a high carbohydrate meal that feeds the tumor cells. (1) There are many types of cancer but all cancer cells grow fast and survive on sugars that are produced by carbohydrates.

Some of the main ingredients of that food you were recommended are corn gluten meal and wheat. It also contains soybean meal, rice, barley, and pecan shells. Products added to these processed diets are proven to damage a dog's health but are used by many companies to reduce the cost of the food.

In cancer, some oncologists now believe that the best thing you can do is give whole food that starves the tumor. There is still very little evidence that a low carbohydrate "keto" type diet will help, but it is an area that is being studied. (2)

The Right Diet May Help Control Cancer

No one can tell you that your dog's tumor is going to go away with a better diet. What we can tell you, based on current research into human nutrition, is that the tumor depends on carbohydrates in the food to survive.

Her best chance is to reduce the nutrient supply to the cancer. It is not going to get smaller or go away if you give her food that supports the cancer.

Switching to a diet that does not feed the tumor may keep it from growing and may even help it to go away. Feeding your dog in that way, however, is going to take more of your time and it is not as simple as just opening a bag and dumping a cup of food in a bowl.

Even if you find a dog food that is labeled "keto," it is processed and not what your dog needs. If you take a minute and read the label, you will find many fillers and preservatives added to the food to extend shelf life. Dogs have no requirement for carbohydrates in their food, so the best thing is to feed a whole diet. To make up a food you should give your dog:

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• About 70-80 percent fatty meat: Some veterinarians do not support the use of raw meat for dogs so if you choose you can cook the meat. You do need to cut off the excess fat and give it to your dog as cooking fat causes some rancidity. (Dogs with mast cell tumors are not more likely to have GI problems than other dogs but with some types of cancer dogs are more likely to get infections and cooked food has fewer bacteria.) Just choose whatever cuts are cheapest since any meat can be used for this portion of the diet.
• About 10 percent raw bones: As long as they are not cooked bones are safe and do not splinter. You can give bones like chicken wings, feet, and necks if available, or sometimes butchers will have cow bones available. Small dogs will not be able to eat long bones but they are fine to give just as chew toys.
• About 10 percent organ meats: About half of this should be liver but you should also give kidneys, spleen, and any other organs to supply the necessary vitamins and minerals.
• Eggs: They should be given every day to meet all of your dogs vitamin needs. If they are inexpensive in your area you can add more eggs to the diet.
• Fish: If you are not able to give fresh or canned fish, an omega-3 fatty acid supplement is important. A medium-sized dog can have canned sardines added a few times a week to the food; they still have the bones in them so will meet the fatty acid needs and help provide calcium.
• Supplements: There are many cancer supplements on the market and the problem with recommending them is that there are no studies to show that they work better than dietary change, work with dietary change, or if they work at all. Apocaps have flavanoids that are said to encourage the death of cancer cells. (There are many other supplements available, like mushrooms and turmeric powder, but the most important thing is a dietary change.) Dogs with cancer may also be absorbing vitamins less than healthy animals, or need more, so a mineral and multivitamin daily supplement may be beneficial.

Another Cancer Diet Option

The video above features a Canadian veterinarian who has developed an alternative diet for dogs with cancer. He suggests more vegetables and is providing a mostly cooked diet with many more supplements than I suggest. If you cannot afford the meat-based diet that is detailed above, this diet is a better alternative than the processed high-carbohydrate diet that was suggested for your dog.

Mast cell tumors have been shown to decrease in size with dietary change. (3) The owner of the dog in one study decided not to pursue traditional cancer therapy and switched her dog to a vegan diet. The cancer got worse. She then started feeding her dog a high-meat and fat keto-type diet, and the tumor went away. Not all mast cell tumors are the same, and your dog may respond differently to the pet in this study.

We do know that some processed dog foods cause cancer. Once your dog has cancer, however, there is still debate on which diet is going to be useful to help your dog. The best advice I can give you is to switch your dog to a whole food diet right away.

A low carbohydrate might help your dog. There are also new treatments available for metastatic mast cell tumors, so you might want to consult a veterinary oncologist to evaluate some of those options.

References

• (1) Seyfried TN, Chinopoulos C. Can the Mitochondrial Metabolic Theory Explain Better the Origin and Management of Cancer than Can the Somatic Mutation Theory? Metabolites. 2021 Aug 25;11(9):572. doi: 10.3390/metabo11090572. PMID: 34564387; PMCID: PMC8467939. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34564387/
• (2) Haskins C, Cohen J, Kotecha R, Kaiser A. Low Carbohydrate Diets in Cancer Therapeutics: Current Evidence. Front Nutr. 2021 Nov 25;8:662952. doi: 10.3389/fnut.2021.662952. PMID: 34901101; PMCID: PMC8655114. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8655114/
• (3) Seyfried TN, Mukherjee P, Lee DC, Ta L, Nations L. Case report: Resolution of malignant canine mast cell tumor using ketogenic metabolic therapy alone. Front Nutr. 2023 Mar 28;10:1157517. doi: 10.3389/fnut.2023.1157517. PMID: 37057065; PMCID: PMC10086349. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10086349/

This article is not meant to substitute for diagnosis, prognosis, treatment, prescription, or formal and individualized advice from your veterinarian. Animals exhibiting signs and symptoms of distress should be seen by a veterinarian immediately.

© 2023 Mark dos Anjos, DVM