The BARF Diet

...appropriately titled, I must say. My first batch for Chester should last a good while and make my fridge smell like cow poop. Awesome. But he will feel better for it, methinks, so it's totally worth it.





BARF = Biologically Appropriate Raw Foods, for the curious. Today, instead of working as I should have been, I spent the afternoon researching dog cancer diets and supplements to help improve life quality for a dog with cancer (who is or is not going through chemotherapy). I've pretty much decided to not put him through chemotherapy or radiation treatment, so if I can do things like this to help strengthen his immune system and possibly maybe slow down the spread of cancer even a tiny bit, of course I'm going to do it.

I opted not to drop $$$$$$ on the frozen patties and found different recipes online to make my own BARF slop for Chester (this is going to be so much fun to write about). It's going to cost much less than $$$$$$ if I do it myself, because I can pretty much buy food as I normally would, but a little more of it (and maybe a few things I wouldn't normally get for myself) and grind the extra food up for the dog. Plus, it's kind of fun...except for the tripe. Oooooh, the tripe. That doesn't smell great.

On a related note, I found a couple of holistic animal care places I'm looking into as an alternative to chemo/radiation. I know the holistic route is by no means going to cure him and won't be nearly as effective as the $$$$$$$$$$$$$ treatment, but there's no way I can afford that treatment. At the same time, there's no way I can sit back and do nothing. That leaves me squarely in the middle, doing research, making my own dog food, and considering trying things like acupuncture and herbal supplements on my dog.