What food helps a dog with cancer, pain, and pooping issues?

Hi. I'm so sorry about Bella's diagnosis. Be sure to talk with her veterinarian about palliative care and pain management. If she is straining try to differentiate if she is trying to urinate vs defecate. If she is having difficulties with defecation you can try increasing the fiber of her food with a bit of canned pumpkin and/or moisture content with wet/canned dog food. Make all diet changes slowly so as not to cause diarrhea. If this isn't enough ask her vet about stool softeners or laxatives she can have.

He should be fed mostly wet food, the dryer and chunkier the food is, the more chances it won't pass properly through the stomach which will eventually get completely blocked (at this stage euthanasia is advised).

A good natural stool softener is pureed pumpkin. You can give Franklin 1.5 teaspoons of pureed pumpkin per day, and make sure NOT to give him pumpkin pie filling. There are many OTC stool softeners, such as NaturVet StoolEase and Psyllium Seed Husks, but a prescription stool softener may be best for him. I'd ask his vet about that. I hope this helps.

I'm sorry Pooh Bear has cancer. It sounds like your vet is doing a good job of trying to treat as best as possible, and I'm assuming the type of cancer diagnosed was transitional cell carcinoma since piroxicam has been prescribed. If that is the case, I have seen these dogs get many more months of good quality life, as long as clinical signs are controlled. If the type of cancer hasn't been determined and the diagnosis has been made on just the fact that he has an enlarged prostate, then I would caution that dogs can have adenocarcinoma of the prostate, another type of cancer which metastasizes readily and is quite aggressive, and ultimately difficult to treat. It typically does not respond to piroxicam. Straining to defecate and pain on defecation with prostatic cancers is usually due to the colon becoming trapped between the enlarged prostate and the enlarged sublumbar lymph nodes. If the cancer is a TCC, it should respond to piroxicam, and the prostate should shrink a bit, which will hopefully improve the symptoms. If the cancer is another type of cancer, unfortunately it's unlikely that the current treatment plan is going to help. Stool softeners such as lactulose may help to improve the consistency of the stool, and make it easier to pass. Your vet might also consider adding on gabapentin as an additional pain reliever to the current regimen, as that may add some additional relief.

Hi there and thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach to address your concern. I am sorry to hear that Petitte has cancer and that it has spread. I typically recommend using the prescription diet Hills and feeding N/D (neoplasia diet) with any diagnosed cancers. This diet is a proprietary blend of antioxidants and nutritional ingredients to help dogs with cancer especially going through chemotherapy. Your vet will need to prescribe this food as it is a prescription diet. I hope this helps! Please let me know if you have any other questions or concerns and I would be more than happy to help you further.

I'm so sorry to hear the Cooper has cancer. I understand your concern. There is no blanket answer to your question though. He may be nauseated so taking a medication like Zofran (ondansetron) daily may be helpful. Ask your vet about using that. You know him best so just give him anything he wants to eat. You can try human baby food (meat flavors) often that works. Dogs also like Hill's a/d that you can get from your vet and it is very high in calories so they don't have to each much to take in more calories. I do think it is best to consult with your vet on this issue since they have all of his medical history. It is hard for me to comment without all the facts. I hope you understand.

You should follow all prescribed advice from your vet and report any concerns you have about Ciukas to them straight away. Without the lab results it is difficult to fully assess the situtation but I would recommend feeding wet food until the wounds are healed and the pain reduces; hills have formulated a "n/d" diet specifically for cancer patients which has some very promising results and may be worth considering until you get the results to delay any further growth.