Raw diet on chemo (chlorambucil)?

misskalamata

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My cat will be beginning chlorambucil (Leukeran) treatment for intestinal lymphoma. My concern is that he is currently eating a dehydrated raw diet (Primal freeze dried), and most articles I see recommend against feeding a raw diet to immunocompromised cats or cats getting chemo.

Prior to the lymphoma, he had chronic diarrhea for years, which finally and miraculously cleared up upon switching to the raw food 8 months ago. Now he's having diarrhea from the cancer. I am hesitant to switch him off of a food that has done him good, but at the same time I don't want him to get sick from eating raw if his system can't handle it.

Has anyone had experience with a cat who ate raw food during chemo... or a cat who was switched off of a raw diet due to chemo?

Thanks.

(In case anyone remembers my posts from last year, this is not Oliver...who died from a combination of the cancer and a badly bleeding ulcer in October. Tippy was Oliver's best buddy, and now he has the very same cancer. I made a lot of mistakes with Oliver and his treatment, and I hope that by learning from them I can give Tippy a better outcome and life.)
 

denice

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There is a concern with a less than healthy immune system which by definition chemo causes a less than healthy immune system.  What I found on the internet is that all of their products that contain poultry are processed with a process called HPP which is like pasteurization.

This link brings up a list of FAQs about the process  http://www.primalpetfoods.com/phpkbv2/category.php?catID=11

If it were me I would probably stick with the ones that have been processed this way.
 

kdk2013

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Even though you have chosen chemo for your cat, raw is the nourishment it will thrive on. How else can his healthy cells get what they need?  I have found many raw food diets have synthetic vitamins and minerals added which would not be good at a time when he is being compromised on a cellular level by chemo.  Natures Logic has noting like that and is truly only food.  I have checked out so many and my cat almost died on the best dehydrated raw as it takes moisture out of gut when the body needs extra hydration, especially when enduring chemo. 

Chemo kills both healthy and sick cells, remember that.

You need prayer so I will put you on our prayer list.  Just last week when my sister's dog escaped during a thunderstorm unknown to her. The man who rescued him within minutes of his escape a week later upon seeing her flier told her "I have your dog  he is safe!"  With 25 people sending prayer bullets to Heaven our Lord honored those prayers on her behalf. 

So give us updates here on your progress and needs.
 
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misskalamata

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The vet said that while raw isn't something she'd recommend for a cancer patient, she also doesn't want to change lots of things at once. So, Tippy is going to stay on the raw diet as he begins the chlorambucil.

Kdk: I'm glad your sister's dog is home.
 

missmimz

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If this was my cat I wouldn't change his diet. Since you're feeding the dehydrated raw its not really as much of a concern in terms of bacteria, etc. 
 

stephenq

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The vet said that while raw isn't something she'd recommend for a cancer patient, she also doesn't want to change lots of things at once. So, Tippy is going to stay on the raw diet as he begins the chlorambucil.

Kdk: I'm glad your sister's dog is home.
Stella and Chewies raw diet uses high pressure sterilization which kills all bacteria without cooking.  It's used for human foods too, its very interesting.  They also send samples out to an independent lab for testing.
 
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