Observational Study of a Novel Canine Cancer Diet

Patient Disease:

Canine Neoplasia to be Treated with Daily Definitive Radiation Therapy

Study Name:

Purpose of the study:

To evaluate how well dogs undergoing daily, definitive radiation therapy eat a novel diet formulated to specifically help nourish and support dogs that are fighting cancer
To look at differences in a variety of factors (body weight changes, quality of life, stool consistency, etc.) in dogs receiving the novel diet compared to a control diet

Primary Eligibility Criteria:

Dogs diagnosed with cancer that will be undergoing a minimum of 15 daily treatments of radiation therapy
Dogs must be able to be fed the study diet exclusively with no access to other pet’s food
Cannot have a tumor of the oral cavity or in a location where a large portion of the GI tract will be in
the radiation field
Cannot have significant and must have restricted access to other pet’s food in the household.
Additionally, dogs that have significant kidney or liver disease, a history of chronic gastrointestinal
disease or food allergies, or other serious concurrent conditions
Pets must come to CSU for all visits related to the clinical trial

Study Protocol:

Dogs will be randomized to receive either the novel cancer diet or a control diet for the duration of the trial and will receive daily radiation treatment as recommended by the radiation oncologist
Blood work and urine/fecal analysis will be performed prior to starting radiation therapy, halfway through radiation, at the end of the radiation protocol and two weeks after completing radiation
Food intake and eating enthusiasm will be assessed in-hospital twice weekly during radiation
Dogs will return for a visit two weeks after completion of radiation for an exam and sample
collection

Owner Responsibilities:

Feed the study diet as directed and exclusively to your dog (treats limited to <10% of daily offered food)
Complete a food intake and eating enthusiasm scoring twice weekly and record a stool score each
day for the duration of the study
Make and keep all appointments for the study

Financial Incentives:

All blood work (complete blood count and chemistry profile) and study sample collections/analysis performed throughout the study as well as the study diet will be covered by the study
A $750 credit will be applied to your account at the VTH to put towards the costs of radiation
treatment

If you have further questions about any of our clinical trials, please submit an online consult form. Your consult will then be directed to our trials team. Requests are typically returned within 5 business days.