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Whole Dog Journal’s 2019 Approved Wet Dog Foods

By
Nancy Kerns
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0
Not all of the foods shown here are ones we would buy. A few don’t meet our selection criteria. Some are prohibitively expensive to be fed as a sole diet (except, perhaps, for one very small, beloved dog). Which ones would you buy?

Canned dog foods represent only about 15% of the overall pet food market. Why don’t more people feed their dogs canned food? It has a lot going for it:

-Dogs love it! The high palatability of canned food is due to a number of factors, including a high inclusion of meat, high fat content (usually), high moisture content, and freshness (especially relative to dry food, which oxidizes over time). This makes it a great tool for stimulating the appetite of dogs who don’t want to eat, whether due to illness, the side effect of certain medications, anxiety, or any other reason. It can be a valuable tool to maintain the blood sugar level of sick puppies or senior dogs and to make bad-tasting medicines more palatable.

Our favorite use of canned food is for use in classic Kong toys and Toppl Treat toys (made by West Paw Design). We like to fill the toys with canned food and freeze them; we give them to our dogs when we want to distract them or keep them busy for a while, or just as a special treat. It can take a half-hour or more for them to lick and chew all the frozen food out of the toys.

See the full 2019 Approved Wet Dog Food List here

-The high moisture content of canned food is closer to a dog’s “natural” diet than dry food. Canned foods generally contain from about 76% to about 82% moisture. Uncooked meat contains anywhere from about 66% (raw chicken) to 73% (raw beef roast) moisture. In comparison, dry foods contain only about 10% moisture – and as they soak up digestive juices in the dog’s stomach, the individual kibbles expand to twice or more their size in the dog’s stomach.

We’re not aware of any studies proving that the relative dryness of kibble causes health problems for dogs, but there are definitely cases where a high-moisture food is beneficial (for dogs with any sort of urinary tract disease or who are prone to urinary tract infections, as the best examples).

-Canned foods generally contain fewer synthetic chemicals than dry foods. Because they are cooked in their anaerobic containers, canned foods don’t require any preservatives. They don’t usually contain any artificial colors. While some concern has been raised over certain ingredients used to thicken canned foods – ingredients like agar agar, guar gum, xanthan gum, and carrageenan – only the latter has much compelling evidence to suggest it could cause deleterious health effects (and manufacturers have, accordingly, moved away from using carrageenan).

In general, dry dog foods are far more likely to include synthetic additives than canned.

Workers at the Lotus Pet Foods canning facility add several tubs of freshly shredded beef to the mixture that will imminently fill cans of Lotus Beef Stew. Most canned dog foods contain more meat than any other ingredients, but read the label! Some products contain grain, legumes, potatoes, and/or other carb sources.

-Canned foods last longer on the shelf than dry foods. One of the things we always recommend that owners do when buying dry food is to check the date-code on the label, to make sure that the bag is relatively fresh. The fats in dry food oxidize (become rancid) over time, and the vitamins degrade.

Again, as long as the can is sealed, the fats can’t oxidize. Low-acid canned foods (most meat-based products fall into this category) stay “fresh” for up to five years. No pet food company will put a “best by” date that distant from its date of manufacture – they want the product to be sold and consumed well before that – but they could, and neither we nor our dogs would likely be able to tell the difference.

-Canned dog foods are less-processed than dry dog foods. Most (though not all) dry dog foods contain rendered meat meals. Rendering is a highly complex process, in which the animal products are essentially boiled, the fat separated and skimmed off to varying extents, and the remainder is dried to about 10% moisture and ground up. Meat meals can contain varying amounts of bone, and this will affect their quality and “ash” content (non-nutritional mineral residue, mostly from bone).

Meat meals are not usually found in canned foods; instead, mostly fresh/frozen meats are used. The meats are uncooked when they go into the can; while the ingredients that go into the food might be mildly heated during the mixing process, they are “cooked” in the canning process. (It’s called “canning” whether the cook – the bacterial kill or sterilization step – happens in a steel can, a plastic tub, or plastic pouch.)

So, while canned food might seem “processed” to us, relative to dry dog food, the ingredients are much more lightly handled and processed.

-Most canned foods contain more meat. If your goal is to feed your dog a cooked commercial diet that contains mostly meat, but is also complete and balanced, canned food is your best bet. But you have to read the ingredients list and other facts on the product label; some canned foods include grains and other carbohydrate sources. In our opinion, dry foods are a better and more economical source of carbohydrates. We would probably feed a canned food that contained grain, potatoes, or legumes if the canned food was the dog’s only source of food, perhaps due to severe dietary restrictions due to multiple food allergies. Otherwise, we’d look for a product that contained mostly meat, and feed it as part of the dog’s diet, with a dry food providing the balance.

What’s the Catch?

Canned foods have a couple of strikes against them, too:

-High cost. I don’t care how much you love your dog, or how much money you make; the cost of canned foods tends to be prohibitive. This is, in part, due to the generally higher quality of the meats used in the foods, and partly due to the cost of shipping the heavy product. Unless you are feeding very tiny dogs, it’s hard to imagine being able to feed good-quality canned food as an exclusive diet.

-High fat levels. Canned foods tend to contain higher fat levels than dry foods – so much so, that many products may be downright dangerous to feed to dogs who have a tendency to develop pancreatitis.

This is another time when you really need to read the label: Look for the guaranteed analysis. Note the amount of fat and moisture. Now, convert the “as fed” fat content of the food (the amount that’s on the guaranteed analysis) to the amount of fat on a “dry matter” (DM) basis (see our sidebar for instructions on how to do this). This is important, because if you don’t understand how a canned food that contains 9% of fat as fed actually contains 40% fat on a dry matter basis, you could harm your fat-sensitive dog with just one meal.

Before you switch your dog from a dry food to a canned one, or begin to add a significant amount of canned food to his diet, you should also check the amount of fat in the dry food you are feeding your dog. Convert that amount to a DM percentage, too, so you are comparing apples to apples, so to speak.

See the full 2019 Approved Wet Dog Food List here

Selecting Appropriate Foods for your Dog

Onboard and ready to go shopping for food? Let’s talk about how we’d go about the task.

Before you hop in the car or fire up your computer browser (if you’re planning to shop online), you should have a few parameters in mind, having to do with your dog’s individual needs.

-Appropriate calorically. Are you looking for a product that will be your dog’s main diet? If so, it’s critical that the food you choose is calorically appropriate for your dog’s age and activity level. If you choose an excessively high-fat (high-calorie) food, you risk making your dog gain too much weight – a very unhealthy proposition. (Fat dogs tend to have more health problems as they age, including mobility issues – and they don’t live as long as leaner dogs. If you really love your dog, don’t let him get fat!) Yes, it’s possible to just cut back the amount you feed him, but with a very high-fat food, in order to feed him an appropriate number of calories, you may have to reduce his portion size so much that he’s not actually getting enough of the vitamins and minerals he needs. Plus, he’s probably hungry all the time! If you plan to feed him the canned food as a sole diet, it would be wise to choose a food that has more moderate fat levels.

Because canned foods are so expensive, many of us use them, instead, to simply augment a diet that includes dry dog food and/or home-prepared fresh food.

Unless you have experience and guidance with home-prepared diets, we’d recommend that unbalanced additions of fresh foods make up no more than about 25% of what you feed daily. Few people who augment their dogs’ diets with fresh food are aware of a dog’s mineral needs, and end up feeding a diet that is far too low in calcium. While we have nothing against owners feeding “human foods” to their dogs, we encourage them to keep the additions as a quarter or less of the dog’s daily diet – unless they know that the foods they are adding are providing appropriate amounts of calcium.

In contrast, all “complete and balanced” canned foods can be added in whatever percentage one likes to a diet that otherwise consists of “complete and balanced” dry food, as long as the foods are calorically appropriate for the dog’s body condition and activity level.

You have to read the ingredients panel! Is your dog allergic to chicken? Then don’t buy this “Beef, Pea, & Carrot Stew,” because, in addition to the beef it contains, it also contains chicken and chicken liver. Also: What’s up with the pea protein in this food? We’ll answer our own question: It’s propping up the total protein in the food with a protein that is less expensive than beef or chicken – a protein that is less complete in terms of the amino acids that dogs need. Tsk, tsk.

-Your dog’s tolerance. When shopping for a dog who has food allergies or is intolerant of certain food ingredients, you have to read the ingredient portion of the label to make sure the food doesn’t contain the ingredients that disagree with your dog. If your dog is allergic to or intolerant of chicken, for example, it’s not enough to look for a food with “beef” in the name; the food may well contain chicken, too. It’s common for pet food manufacturers to use several animal protein sources in a product whose name may include only one of those animals.

Also, not to belabor this point too much, but if you have a dog with a serious food allergy or who is seriously intolerant of certain ingredients, you should probably check the ingredients list every single time you buy a food that seems to work for her. Manufacturers do tinker with their formulas, and many a dog owner has been in despair at some point about their dog’s new outbreak, only to discover the maker has changed the formula of the food that had been proven to be safe for the dog in the past. Been there, done that!

-Your dog’s “life stage.” One last thing to check on the label that relates specifically to your dog: the nutritional adequacy statement, a.k.a. the “AAFCO statement.” AAFCO stands for the Association of American Feed Control Officials. This is the organization that developed the standards the industry uses to determine what constitutes “complete and balanced” nutrition for dogs (and cats). Every pet food label has a statement on it somewhere that references AAFCO, and whether the food is meant for “intermittent and supplemental feeding only” – meaning it’s not complete and balanced – or whether it provides complete and balanced nutrition for “adult maintenance” only, or whether it can be fed to dogs in “all life stages.”

“All life stages” includes puppies, pregnant or lactating mothers, adults, and seniors. If the AAFCO statement says the food is complete and balanced for “growth and reproduction,” it has met the same standard as “all life stages.”

If you are feeding a puppy, you do not want a food with a nutritional adequacy statement that says the food is for “adult maintenance” – and a surprising number of canned foods are labeled exactly that, so check the statement. (You might need a magnifying glass; we routinely use the zoom feature on our mobile phone camera for this task!) Foods that are formulated for puppies – this includes foods formulated for dogs of all life stages – contain higher levels of protein, fat, calcium, and phosphorus than foods formulated for adult maintenance only.

-Large-breed puppies. One last thing, important for owners of large breed puppies to note: The AAFCO statement might say the food is formulated for growth or dogs of all life stages “including growth of large-size dogs (70 pounds or more as an adult)” or “except for growth of large-size dogs (70 pounds or more as an adult).” You need to select a food that has the statement that’s appropriate for your puppy.

Got a large-breed pup? Then you want to see this AAFCO statement.

The ideal level of calcium for large- and giant-breed puppies is lower than the ideal level of calcium for smaller puppies. Too much calcium can cause the bones of large-breed puppies (defined by AAFCO as those who are likely to mature at more than 70 pounds) to grow too quickly. Improper calcium levels during the growth phase of their lives can predispose large-breed pups to arthritis, hip and elbow dysplasia, and other kinds of joint and bone problems as adults. So, again, if you have a large-breed puppy, it’s critically important that you find the AAFCO statement and make sure the food you are considering is appropriately formulated for your dog.

This is not a “complete and balanced” diet. Foods that do not contain all the required nutrients in appropriate levels must carry this statement.

WDJ’s Canned Food Selection Criteria

So far, we’ve mentioned only the things you need to check to make sure a prospective food is right for your budget and your individual dog. Let’s turn our attention to the things you need to scrutinize to make sure the food contains better-quality ingredients and doesn’t contain worrisome or low-quality ingredients: WDJ’s basic dog-food selection criteria.

See the full 2019 Approved Wet Dog Food List here

The ingredients in your dog’s food, just like the ingredients in your own food, must be listed on the label in descending order by weight; in other words, by weight, there is more of the first ingredient on the label than anything else in the food. It may surprise you to see broth or “water sufficient for processing” first or second on the ingredients label of canned foods. In order to mix the food and pour it into cans, the manufacturers really do have to start with big vats of water; they aren’t trying to rip you off!

We’ve always told our readers to look for whole named meats at the top of an ingredients list, and this food meets that requirement. But you can’t stop reading there! If you are paying a premium price for a canned food, you want premium ingredients. We buy canned food in order to give our dogs a diet that’s mostly meat. If we wanted legumes and plant proteins, we could more economically buy them in the form of a dry dog food. (And that’s not even getting into the dried citrus pulp.)

The following are the things we consider as requirements for foods we feed our dogs – hallmarks of quality:

  • A whole, named animal protein in one of the first two positions on the ingredients list. “Whole” means no by-products. “Named” means a specific animal species – chicken, beef, pork, lamb – as opposed to “meat” or “poultry.”
  • Look for products with the highest possible inclusion of top-quality animal proteins (as far as one can tell by their presence close to the beginning of the ingredients list). We prefer animal-sourced proteins to plant proteins, especially in a canned food.
  • If a separate fat source is present, it must be named (“chicken fat” rather than “animal fat”). We prefer animal sources of fats to plant-sourced fats.
  • If vegetables, grains, or other carb sources are used, we prefer to see them whole, rather than by-products (for example, potatoes rather than potato starch).

Disqualifiers

We avoid canned dog foods that contain the following:

  • Unnamed animal protein or fat sources, such as “meat,” “poultry,” or “animal fat.”
  • Meat by-products or poultry by-products.
  • Animal plasma (blood) as a protein source.
  • Wheat gluten, which may be used as a cheap source of plant protein, a thickener, and/or a binder, holding together artificially formed “chunks” of ground meat.
  • Sugar, molasses, dextrose, or other sweeteners.
  • Artificial colors, flavors, or preservatives.

Your Challenge

Be aware that there is no food on the face of the planet that is “best” for all dogs. All dogs have different needs. All owners have different needs! We all own different numbers of variously sized dogs, and we have different family priorities, responsibilities, and budgets. The most important attribute of a food should be its ability to nourish your dog without causing illness or discomfort, at a price you can afford.

Can’t tell you how many times we’ve been told that you can’t go wrong with Hill’s Science Diet – they are the science people! They use feeding trials to ensure the nutritional adequacy of their foods! Well, that’s nice – but what’s up with those ingredients? Rice! Carrots! Starch! Peas! We don’t want this much of these kinds of ingredients in canned food. And if we wanted to give our dogs sugar, we’d… we’d… Well, we’d just give them a strawberry or piece of apple or something. A canned food should not need sugar (much less two types of sugar) to get dogs to like it.

We’ve known purebred, champion show dogs who have been fed what we would consider low-quality foods for their entire lives with nary a sign of a problem. We’ve also known former street dogs who required the cleanest, highest-quality diet imaginable in order to keep from breaking out in hives or with diarrhea. Most dogs are somewhere in between; you have to try different foods to see what agrees with your dog and budget.

We will emphasize budget again, because, as we have said before, canned foods are expensive! It’s one thing to buy $4 cans of food when you are feeding one five-pound dog (who might eat one can for days), and another thing entirely if you, like us, are feeding two active 70-pound athletes (who would require at least two cans a day each, if that’s all they were fed).

But, unless you have a dog with super special needs, you don’t need to buy the most expensive food. Just look for products that agree with your dog (appropriate calorie level, no ingredients that bother him, correct “life stage” formulation/nutrient levels) and that suit your budget.

You may end up with a product that hits all those notes, but contains chicken by-products instead of a whole named meat – that’s fine.

But what if the product you would like to feed your dog contains no whole meats, only chicken by-products, “meat by-products,” and pea protein? Oy, that’s going a bit too far. A better-quality dry food would probably be a more economical and nutritious choice than a low-quality wet food for most dogs.

Here is a list of companies that make canned foods that meet our selection criteria. Keep in mind that any manufacturer may make a product or two that does not meet our selection criteria. If you compare the ingredients with our list of criteria, you will easily identify the few products that contain some wheat gluten or pork plasma. But if they meet the criteria above, they fit your budget, and suit your dog, they have our blessing.

SIDEBAR: Canned Food Is Not Bad for Dogs’ Teeth

SIDEBAR: How to Compare Nutrient Levels in Canned Dog Foods with Dry Foods

How to Compare Nutrient Levels in Canned Dog Foods with Dry Foods

By
Nancy Kerns
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2

The percentages of nutrients shown in the guaranteed analysis section on a pet food label (protein, fat, fiber, moisture) are expressed “as fed” – meaning, as the food is delivered in its package. Some percentage of the food is comprised of moisture (water), which of course contains no protein, fat, fiber, or any other nutrient. Kibble generally contains about 10% moisture; canned foods usually contain about 78% moisture.

So, when a canned food label says that a food contains (for example) 9% fat, in order to really understand how much fat you are thinking about feeding to your dog, you have to remove the moisture from the equation; you want to know how much fat (in this example) is in the food part of the food – the “dry matter.” Any serious discussion of nutrition, or comparison of dry and wet diets, requires the conversion of the nutrient values from “as fed” to “dry matter.”

To calculate the nutrient levels in a food as dry matter (DM) percentages, first determine the amount of dry matter in the product. You do this by subtracting the percentage of moisture from 100. Then, divide the “as fed” percentage of the nutrient you are curious about by the amount of dry matter; that will give you the dry matter percentage.

For example, if a canned food has 78% moisture and 9% fat as fed (as seen on the guaranteed analysis):

  • 100 – 78 = 22% dry matter (DM)
  • 9 ÷ 22 = .40 = 40% fat DM (on a dry matter basis)

To compare that product to a dry food, do the same calculation for the dry food you may have been feeding. We’ll use the numbers from a bag of food our dogs are currently eating; the guaranteed analysis says it contains 10% moisture and 13% fat.

  • 100 – 10 = 90% DM
  • 13 ÷ 90 = 14% fat DM

So the canned food contains a little more than three times the amount of fat than the dry food does, on a dry matter basis. Yowsa! We’d be careful if we were considering adding some of this food to our dog’s diet – we’d add only small amounts – and we certainly wouldn’t switch quickly from the dry food to this canned food. Doing so would just be asking for digestive upset, and could provoke a pancreatitis attack in susceptible dogs.

Related Stories

Whole Dog Journal’s 2019 Approved Wet Dog Food List
Canned Food Is Not Bad for Dogs’ Teeth

Canned Food Is Not Bad for Dogs’ Teeth

By
Nancy Kerns
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0
© Mark Haughwout | Dreamstime.com

If you ever want to see us develop a twitch when asked a question, ask us something about the teeth-cleaning ability of kibble.

First, you need to be aware that a great number of dogs don’t even (or just barely) chew their kibble. And even for the dogs who do chew their chow, there just isn’t any significant tooth-scraping that happens from eating regular kibble. (Some companies make “prescription” diets that are clinically proven to help keep dogs’ teeth clean. We wouldn’t recommend feeding any of them to a dog long-term, however. The foods are very high in fiber and fat and very low in protein, among other issues.) Expecting kibble to clean a dog’s teeth is like expecting granola to clean yours; it doesn’t work!

Tartar on a dog’s teeth forms from an accumulation of plaque; plaque forms from an accumulation of bacteria on and between the tooth surfaces, above and especially below the gums. The bacteria actually benefit from carbohydrates – typically present in higher amounts in kibble than canned food.

Sustained chewing on toys, raw meaty bones, or any safe, chewable substance can help reduce the amount of plaque on a dog’s teeth, but only brushing removes plaque reliably. Sorry!

A dog’s diet can affect the rate of accumulation of dental plaque – but it doesn’t have anything to do with the physical action of crunching the food; it has more to do with the nutritional and chemical composition of the food. Low-carbohydrate diets are associated with lower gingival and periodontal inflammation (which should be a boost for canned diets, which are almost always low in carbs). A dog’s diet can affect the pH of his saliva (at least temporarily) and the pH of a dog’s saliva can affect the rate of plaque formation – but no one has yet formulated a diet that keeps the dog’s saliva at a level that has proven to reduce plaque and tartar formation. (Oral rinses that accomplish this, in contrast, have proven to be effective at helping combat these causes of dental disease.)

Bottom line: Regular dry foods don’t keep dogs’ teeth any cleaner (free of plaque and tartar) than canned foods.

Related Stories

Whole Dog Journal’s 2019 Approved Wet Dog Food List
How to Compare Nutrient Levels in Canned Dog Foods with Dry Foods

Buying the Best Canned Dog Food: The NEW Approved Wet Dog Food List is Here!

By
Nancy Kerns
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8

Can you identify with confidence every ingredient listed on the back of your dog’s wet food can? We’d be surprised if you can. As a responsible pet food consumer, you want to focus more on whole, natural dog food ingredients rather than highly processed meats, grains and sugars. We have plenty of organic, raw, preservative-free options in stores for our own consumption, and thankfully we do see similar trends in the way dog food is made and marketed.

Get the new list of best canned dog foods here!

Need access? Become a subscriber or activate your web access.

That being said, the pet food industry could always be more transparent to the public about their manufacturing policies. More importantly, commerical dog food could always be healthier for dogs to eat. We took an inside look into a small-batch canned dog food manufacturing facility, but that experience was perhaps an example of how things ought to be done, not as they always really are.

So what is the best wet food for dogs? There is no answer to that. Whole Dog Journal could give you a list of what we think are the top 10 best canned dog foods, but that seems so limiting. Instead, each year we give you an exhaustive list of healthy, good canned dog foods, and enough knowledge to make a quality choice for your dog based on your individual needs.

The 5 Traits of a Top-Quality Canned Dog Food

1. A specified meat source listed as the first ingredient. This means the product contains more of that ingredient than any other listed.
2. Specified sources of any animal protein or fat. These will be highly processed substances, but good luck avoiding them entirely. Look for named species when it comes to muscle tissue and organs. Body parts are good as long as they are identified.
3. Whole grains and vegetables.
4. Very limited inclusion of grain, meat, or vegetable byproducts, if any at all.
5. The “complete and balanced” label, awarded by AAFCO.

The following information and all of Whole Dog Journal‘s dog food evaluations are meant to prepare you with the tools to make educated choices when selecting a new food for your dog. We use a rigid selection criteria to examine hundreds of foods every year. Use our lists of quality dog foods for reference in choosing a food that’s acceptable for your dog. Our 2020 review is available now! (Scroll down to see lists from previous years.)

The NEW Best Canned Dog Foods of 2020 Review

Need access? Become a subscriber.

So, you’re at the supermarket or pet store. Rover is all out of kibble, and you know from reading WDJ that it’s good to switch up his dog food from time to time in order to provide a more balanced array of nutrients. You usually feed standard kibble, but this time you feel like trying a wet food. Perhaps Rover is elderly or underweight and you’d like to spark his appetite a bit. Perhaps you think he would benefit from having less processed meat and more moisture in his diet than dry dog food provides (he would!).

As you gaze down the colorful aisle, with maybe 30 different kinds of wet dog food cans, you might feel overwhelmed. You might jump to a conclusion that all canned dog food must be more or less of equal quality, and grab the one that’s cheapest or has the nicest label. If only those assumptions were true! Despite the dubious manufacturing practices of many wet dog foods, there are plenty of benefits of canned food as well. Once you find a canned dog food of top quality, your dog can look forward to minimally processed proteins, MORE protein per meal, and no preservatives.

Whole Dog Journal Approved canned dog food

Since 1998, the Whole Dog Journal has worked to help owners take back control when it comes to choosing a pet food that’s right for their dogs. You can find commercial dog foods that are great quality! All you need to do is know what to look for.

Whole Dog Journal contacts the companies on each year’s list to ask questions explicitly about nutritional facts, ingredient sourcing and manufacturing policies. And every year, we are astounded by the opacity with which companies shroud their information. For instance, a few companies stated they only release full nutrient analyses to veterinarians, for whatever reason. This is suspicious. Many companies will not disclose full nutritional details of their pet food to anyone. Thus the need arose for WDJ to dig a bit further into what’s really going onto the pet food aisle, and into our puppies’ bellies.

And so, beginning in 2016, Whole Dog Journal‘s dog food evaluations now demand that pet food manufacturers prove their foods meet the AAFCO “complete and balanced” standard. Not only must a dog food wear the “complete and balanced” label, but it must also provide WDJ with documented evidence of its meeting AAFCO guidelines. For more on the definition of “complete and balanced”, as well as AAFCO’s guidelines, follow this link or scroll down to “Must Have Ingredients of Canned Dog Food” below.

Year by Year: Subscribers to Whole Dog Journal can access all of our annual canned dog food reviews online. We’d like to note that the brands included in our reviews are by no means the only acceptable wet dog food brands out there. A food that works perfectly for your dog may not be covered in our lists, and there may even be foods we approve that you could never feed your dog. For this reason, we encourage our readers to share their most successful commercial dog foods in the comment section below! Here are links to our four past years of approved canned dog food:

Whole Dog Journal rates wet dog food and publishes its findings annually in the “Approved” dog food lists according to the following criteria (click here for a separation criteria page):

→ Must-Have Ingredients in Canned Dog Food

Be sure your dog’s canned food contains the following elements to ensure you’re buying a quality product. No can of commercial dog food is going to be perfect for every dog, but to ensure your dog receives a proper balance of nutrients, the one you feed should meet the WDJ criteria. Your goal in selecting a food is to find the one with the most whole food ingredients, and the least artificial additives.

top quality canned dog food

PROTEIN:  The protein source should be #1 on the ingredient list, and it should always name a specific animal, such as chicken, lamb, beef, etc.

GRAINS: Repeat after us: whole, and unprocessed. Although grains and starches are not necessary in canned dog food, you will almost always encounter them in some form. Go for brown rice or wild rice. Avoid wheat gluten, which is used as a binder and often one of the first ingredients in wet dog food, as well as corn starch. Avoid white rice if you can.

VEGGIES: Potato and sweet potato are common thickeners in canned dog food. These are acceptable so long as they are listed as the sixth or seventh ingredient, versus the third or fourth. The same rule goes for other vegetable products, such as tomato paste and potato starch. If you happen to find a dog food with whole non-starch veggies like carrots, alfalfa, or apples, bravo! This is an excellent indication of a good pet food.

COMPLETE AND BALANCED: A “complete and balanced” dog food has either passed an AAFCO feeding trial, met its Nutrient Profiles criteria, or belongs to a line of products that has previously gained its AAFCO approval. As stated above, it is not enough to just sport the “complete and balanced” label to earn WDJ approval. Dog food companies must prove to WDJ that their products have been conclusively tested. For a full profile of the “complete and balanced” label, see “Complete and Balanced Dog Food“.

→ Avoid Canned Dog Food with These Ingredients  

BYPRODUCTS: As pet owners, we have a frustratingly little amount of control over the byproducts that are in our dogs’ food. They come in every kind of food group – meat, grains, vegetables, and on top of that there are all those preservatives and god-knows-what unpronouncable chemicals, which we cover below. Lower-quality foods will flat out list “meat by-product” as one of the main ingredients of their foods, but these highly processed, low nutrient foodstuffs appear under many names. Beware of things like “modified beef”.

NON-SPECIFIC OR UNNAMED ANIMAL SOURCES: If a food lists unspecified organs as a primary meat source, we would not feed it. Common examples are “liver,” “heart” and “tripe”, with no indication of what animal those parts came from. The same goes for unidentified “poultry”.

FOOD BINDERS: We mentioned these above. In foods that contain highly processed meat sources, binders are needed to hold the meat-stuff together so that it more closely resembles natural “chunks”. Wheat gluten and various gums that you find in human foods (like guar and carrageenan) should be at the bottom of the ingredient list, if there at all.

SUGAR/SWEETENERS: There should be no artificial sweeteners in dog food, but lower quality foods will add them for the simple reason that it makes the food taste better. Sugar and molasses are common. Never buy a food with corn syrup in it.

ARTIFICIAL COLORING/EXCESS PRESERVATIVES: For the full scoop on preservatives, see “Problems With Artificial Preservatives in Dog Food“. Luckily, preservatives are not common in wet dog foods because the canning process prevents rancidity.

For a quick list of what to look for and what to avoid, see “Hallmarks of Quality Dog Food“.

canned dog food

YOUR DOG’S UNIQUE DIET AND NUTRITION NEEDS

Keep in mind that even the most highly regarded dog food on earth could never be right for every dog. Your dog’s body is unique; it comes with quirks and sensitivities just like humans’ bodies do. Whole Dog Journal seeks to provide you with the strongest foundation possible for finding the best wet dog food, but you know your dog best. Some factors to consider are:

– A dog who might be prone to urinary tract infections would be better off with a food lower in pH (less acidic).
– If your dog is lean and active, you might look for a higher-fat, higher-protein brand.
– If your dog is older and less active, you might want food with a higher percentage of lean protein.

You must also be realistic about availability. Online shopping eliminates this problem for the most part. Just don’t rely on any old commercial pet store to carry artisan, independent pet food lines.

Equally important are the price points for higher quality dog food. Buy the best dog food you can find, but choose one within your comfortable means. Wet dog food is more expensive than dry food, and if you happen to be shopping for, say, two Mastiffs and a Pit Bull, top quality canned food could be downright unaffordable. Decide what is an appropriate amount to spend on pet food each month, and prioritize the aspects of your dogs’ food that is most important.

See these Whole Dog Journal articles for more in depth examples of some dogs’ dietary needs: “Special Diets for Dogs With Cancer“, “Managing Diabetes in Dogs“, “Healthy Low-Fat Diets For Dogs With Special Dietary Needs“.

To access Whole Dog Journal‘s canned dog food reviews online, click the links below or become a subscriber.

Happy dog food hunting!

I’m Back From an Eye-Opening Dog Training Seminar

By
Nancy Kerns
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14
Minnie and Woody calmly waiting for an elevator at the hotel. Good dogs!

I’m just back from a six-day trip that included two days of driving and a four-day educational seminar with world-renowned animal behavior experts: prominent British trainer Kay Laurence and psychology professor emeritus Susan Friedman, who has pioneered the application of Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) to captive and companion animals. My traveling companions included my 4-year-old dog Woody; my friend and favorite dog trainer/model for WDJ, Sarah Richardson; and Sarah’s miniature Australian Shepherd, Minnie. Despite the fact that we got home at a relatively decent hour yesterday, I found that I was exhausted today! Both from the learning and the driving – over 10 hours in the car each way.

Woody and his friend Minnie behaved beautifully

Sarah and Minnie practicing a technique we just learned from Kay Laurence in the parking area of the seminar, which was held at a horse show facility in Farmington Utah.

But it was a great trip. I thought my highly active dog Woody and 18-month-old Minnie would both be bananas after a full day’s drive, especially at the hotel when we arrived in the middle of the night. Neither dog had been on such a long drive, in an elevator, or in a hotel, where strangers can come around the corner at any moment and, in fact, walk past the door of your room all night and all day long. Wow! But once they discovered the fun of sleeping on the beds with their respective owners (Woody doesn’t get to do this at home, though I don’t know about Minnie), and Sarah and I figured out how to manage the room’s climate control so as to keep the fan running all night (to provide some white noise as cover for footsteps going down the hall), the dogs settled right down and continued to impress us with their good manners in public.

In the 22 years I have been editing WDJ, I have attended dozens of seminars on training and behavior, including annual conferences of the Association of Professional Dog Trainers (APDT), International Association of Animal Behavior Consultants (IAABC), and Pet Professionals Guild (PPG). But I’ve brought a dog only once (a tiny long-haired Chihuahua, Mokie, who had no other place to go at the time) – and this was in the late 1990s or perhaps early 2000s, I can’t remember. At any rate, he was along for the ride only because he could fit in a carry-on crate and I had no one to dog-sit – I wasn’t bringing him along in order to participate in a hands-on workshop. I have, in fact, never participated in a hands-on workshop with a visiting dog training expert. I have taken many classes with my dogs, where I was just one of the participants, not necessarily better or worse than any of the other students. But I had never dreamed of bringing a dog to a seminar of professional dog trainers and participating with my own dog.

Woody and I volunteered, and learned a thing or two

My friend Sarah took video of me working with Woody in front of the group and under the guidance of trainer Kay Laurence. I look forward to watching the five minutes or so of video, because I was so nervous, I couldn’t tell you exactly what we did!

So it took me three days before I felt brave enough to raise my hand and volunteer to be one of the dog-and-handler teams who would stand before the group of 75 or so trainers and ask for guidance from the famed Kay Laurence with some aspect of dog behavior. I asked for help with Woody’s “back” behavior, which can get sticky sometimes. I mostly ask for him to back up when we are playing fetch, both so he can better see where the ball is going and also as a way to make sure he’s listening and being polite about the game, not just demanding THROW! THROW! THROW! If he gets so excited that he can’t be polite, the game ends. But Kay, who has been in the finals of the musical freestyle competition of the famed annual Crufts dog show (in Britain) a number of times, had some other tips on how to keep Woody’s “back up” behavior sharp, calm, and happy. This wasn’t the most significant thing I learned during the four-day seminar, but it took the most bravery, so it’s likely the moment I will remember the most!

Meeting other trainers was a pleasure

It was also a pleasure to meet dozens of other trainers from around the country who were present to learn more about learning theory from Susan Friedman and specific training methods from Kay. The type of training that is taught today is the norm for many of these young trainers; they’ve never known anything different. Having grown up in the days where dog-training professionals all used choke chains and physical “corrections” were not only the norm, but also a mark of whether the trainer was serious or just an amateur, I am envious of these passionate and competent young trainers, who get to start their professional education at least 20 years into the so-called “positive training” revolution. Sarah and I also attended a couple of social gatherings in the evenings, and had a blast talking about dogs and dog training with a table full of knowledgeable, committed trainers over great food and wine.

Each afternoon, we enjoyed mind-bending lecture/slide/video presentations by Dr. Susan Friedman about animal behavior and learning theory.

Our dogs enjoyed wrestling with each other and jumping from bed to bed in the hotel, sleeping on those beds with us, and their evening off-leash wild romps across a local sports field with other dogs who attended the event with their trainer/owners.

Now we’re all home, and it’s time to dig into work on the January 2020 issue of WDJ – the 23rd year of its publication. Wow! I wonder what training and living with dogs will look like in another 23 years, as applied behavior analysis and force-free training continues to develop in the hands of educated professionals like those I met.

Checking Out for an Educational Opportunity

By
Nancy Kerns
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6
Ricky

Ack! My brain is jumping around. This is going to be a short-attention span blog post!

A Great Chance to Learn From the Experts

I finished writing a long article for the December issue (all about canned dog food! Exciting! lol) and shipped the December issue to the printer just yesterday. And this morning, I have to write something for this space before I can leave for a very exciting “vacation”: a four-day workshop with two animal behavior/training experts, Dr. Susan Friedman and Kay Laurence.

I’ve attended umpteen dog behavior and training conferences in the past. Have never signed up for a “working” spot, where I bring a dog and stand up in front of everyone with my dog and try to do the things the instructor asks. Until now! I’m bringing goofus doofus Woody to the workshop! Also, I’m going with my good friend and frequent WDJ model, trainer Sarah Richardson, who is bringing her quirky mini Aussie, Minnie. I’m impossibly excited. Although, there is a 10-hour drive to do between writing this and our hotel tonight. And I haven’t started to pack my clothes and things yet. (Woody’s soft-sided crate, long-line, harness, food, treats, balls, bowls, leashes, etc. are all packed and ready by the door, waiting for Sarah and her van to get here).

I’m not even sure what the focus of this workshop is. Sarah and I signed up for this in March, when it was first announced. The idea of four days of getting to learn from Dr. Friedman, whose articles I’ve read and who I’ve seen interviewed many times on the topic of animal intelligence and learning theory, was irresistible. But this whole summer has been so busy, has gone by so fast, I’ve hardly had time to think about it. And now it’s here! I promise to take pictures and post. Likely on the WDJ Instagram page from over the weekend, and then in this space again next week!

Getting Ready for the Trip

I took a long off-leash walk with my two dogs and a friend and her dog last night; I wanted my senior dog, Otto, to have a nice walk with me before I left for five days, especially after having to cool his heels with NO walks for the past week while I was on deadline. A week without walks is not as bad as it sounds; this summer, we built an office (the county building department calls it an accessory building, which makes me want to fill it with accessories of various kinds) on our property, so I can work at home now, no more driving to town to work. We have two fenced acres for the dogs to roam, and now they can do so all day; until it gets cold, my office door is now open all day for the dogs to wander in and out. But that’s not the same as a walk!

At a still healthy but slowing 12 years old, Otto is so lovely on walks. Watch him if you want to spot wildlife; he sees everything – birds, deer, a distant fox or coyote – and will freeze, and then glance my way as if to say, “Do you see that?” He leads every recall back to my side, and serves as a wonderful sort of retired general, keeping order in the doofus-dog ranks. (My walking friend’s dog is only one year old, and deep in the derp phase of his adolescence. Otto goes after him for crimes of basic rudeness in a retired-general way at least once on every walk, and we praise the sputtering old guy every time. “Thank you, Otto. He is rude, you’re right!”)

We had a lovely walk, though we mismanaged the time a bit (stupid daylight savings!) and did the last half a mile or so in the pitch dark. And Otto is a little stiff and sore this morning, so I regret that. Time to schedule another senior vet visit, and maybe talk about some anti-inflammatories for post-hike days. Goodness knows, I need some Advil after certain workouts.

Talking Dogs?

Hey! Last thing: Another thing I’m impossibly excited about, and can’t wait to investigate: I saw a post last night about the dog whose owner trained her dog to use those talking “buttons” to presumably communicate her wishes and thoughts. WDJ’s training editor, Pat Miller, has an article in the December issue that mentions training dogs to use these buttons, and gives a source for buying them. But I’m certain that Pat hadn’t yet seen anything about the woman whose dog seems to have learned ways of making sentences out of the words the buttons say. I am betting that Dr. Friedman will have things to say about this. I just can’t wait to find out!

Have a good week. Take a walk with your dogs! Leave earlier than you think you should! I have to go pack!

FULL LIST: Approved Wet Dog Foods for 2019

By
Nancy Kerns
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17
Workers at the Lotus Pet Foods canning facility add several tubs of freshly shredded beef to the mixture that will imminently fill cans of Lotus Beef Stew. Most canned dog foods contain more meat than any other ingredients, but read the label! Some products contain grain, legumes, potatoes, and/or other carb sources.

Products appear alphabetically by best-known name. In some cases, this is the name of the company that makes the food; in others, it’s the name of the food line.

Read about our criteria when selecting these canned dog foods here.

Trying to print this page? Here are some hints: When printing this page, if the chart is cut off on the right side, try printing in landscape mode. Computers, printers, operating systems and web browsers can have different settings and print pages differently. Printing from a PDF can be more reliable. You can access these charts in the December 2019 issue on pages 12 and 13.


A Beautiful Dog Memorial

By
Nancy Kerns
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12

Last weekend, I flew down to San Diego, California, to spend a couple of days with my sister-in-law and niece (who had also flown to San Diego from northern California), to watch my son compete in the national finals for his sport. We watched some games, cheered and took pictures, and then went to the beach closest to the sports park where the games were held, so we could watch the sunset.

As luck would have it, the closest beach turned out to be a famous and locally loved “dog beach” – and we enjoyed the sunset there, watching a couple dozen dogs romp in the waves and dig in the sand.

I went back the next morning, before my son’s competition had started, to take some more pictures with my camera, not just a cell phone. On this visit, I spent a little more time checking out the area, and discovered something that we had walked right past on the previous evening. Right near the street, next to the dog-water fountain, is a precious little “memorial rock garden,” with the names of dogs who have enjoyed the beach and have since passed away, painted onto the rocks.

I was so touched by this little garden! It was colorful and simple, not in anyone’s way or ostentatious, but a beautiful place to remember some of the beloved dogs who had lived near and enjoyed that particular beach in the past. I can so easily imagine walking my dogs to the beach for a play session, and calling out a cheery “Good morning!” to the stone bearing my deceased dog’s name. It would comfort me to see the stone and my dog’s name (and perhaps, some of his playmates!) every time I visited, to remind me of joyous visits to that beach in the past.

Dog Beach Memorial Rock Garden in Del Mar, CA

Is there a pet memorial at a dog park or beach near you? I would love to see this catch on and appear elsewhere!

On the Horizon: Hemangiosarcoma Studies

By
Barbara Dobbins
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13
© William Wise | Dreamstime.com

Every veterinarian who has treated a dog with HSA wishes for better early diagnostics and more effective therapies to stop the growth of the HSA tumors. “The wish list for every veterinary oncologist starts with trying to find some way to deal with hemangiosarcoma,” says Rodney Page, DVM, MS, Professor of Oncology, Director of the Flint Animal Cancer Center, and Principal Investigator for the Golden Retriever Lifetime Study. “It’s a tumor that’s relatively unique to dogs and has completely evaded all attempts to understand what’s going on in a way that’s able to be modified in the patient. It’s a rapidly fatal cancer and one that desperately needs better diagnostic tools and treatments.” (Quoted from “Cancer Research: Looking Back, Moving Forward,” morrisanimalfoundation.org, March 27, 2019.) Fortunately, research on HSA is taking place in many locations: 

  • Ethos Veterinary Health’s Canine Hemangiosarcoma Molecular Profiling (CHAMP) project is a multi-faceted prospective study of canine splenic HSA. One of its first undertakings was to assess the value of personalized medicine in dogs with HSA and then validate the usefulness of a potentially prognostic test. Through a collaboration between Ethos and the Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen), the molecular characterization of genomic alterations in HSA was recently completed. CHAMP hopes to identify dogs with distinct prognoses and develop molecularly targeted therapies for each patient.
  • Ethos Discovery (a division of Ethos Veterinary Health, LLC) is evaluating Rapamycin to determine whether it can improve treatment outcomes for dogs with HSA and to gain an understanding of which HSA genotypes may benefit most from its use. Rapamycin is known to have an immunosuppressive that provides significant anticancer activity and has been approved for use in treating several human cancers.
  • At the Flint Animal Cancer Center at Colorado State University in Fort Collins, researchers are evaluating the effectiveness of VDC-597 administered orally to dogs with Stage I and II splenic HSA who have undergone splenectomy. VDC-597 is an oral agent that has antitumor and antimeta-static activity in human and mouse cancer models as well as in canine HSA cell lines.
  • The Veterinary Clinical Investigations Center at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, in partnership with NovaVive, are in the follow-up stage of a study on the efficacy of treating canine splenic hemangiosarcoma with intravenous Immunocidin, the mycobacterial cell wall fraction derived from non-pathogenic Mycobacterium phlei, stimulating anti-tumor activity. It is currently approved for the treatment of mammary cancer in dogs.
  • The University of Minnesota Veterinary Medical Center, Purdue University, and University of Pennsylvania are collaborating on a study to determine whether propranolol (a blood pressure medication) used in combination with standard-of-care doxorubicin chemotherapy can improve outcomes for dogs with HSA. Propranolol can kill HSA cells in the laboratory; it has also been effective in reducing disease progression and increasing survival time in humans with angiosarcoma (which is similar to canine HSA).
  • A study at the New York State College of Veterinary Medicine at Cornell University aims to find and test new drugs that can prevent tumor growth. The long-term goals of this project are to identify better procedures and drugs to treat canine HSA as well as to test the ability of newer targeted drugs in preventing tumor growth or recurrence.
  • The Shine On Project, led by Jaime Modiano, VMD, PHD, at the University of Minnesota College of Veterinary Medicine, is designed to detect HSA cells in the blood at the earliest onset by way of a new, targeted drug called eBAT. The drug was developed at the University of Minnesota with the goal of destroying the cells responsible for tumor formation, thereby stopping the formation of malignancies. The process “will use a blood test to look for the cells responsible for establishing and maintaining the disease, and then use an experimental drug treatment that attacks those same cells in order to prevent development of the tumor.” Researchers at the college have been studying the biology and the behavior of HSA for more than 10 years.
  • A recent retrospective multicenter observational cohort study of 406 dogs determined that the risk of HSA diagnosis in dogs presenting with blood accumulation in the abdomen could be predicted using a simple risk score modeled on four predictors: body weight, total plasma protein, platelet count, and thoracic radiograph finding. This evaluation process could aid in identifying and treating dogs at lower risk for this diagnosis. (“Development and validation of a hemangiosarcoma likelihood prediction model in dogs presenting with spontaneous hemoabdomen: The HeLP score,” Schick et al, Journal of Veterinary Emergency and Critical Care, Volume 29, Issue 3, 17 April 2019.)
  • Michigan-based Metta Pets is currently enrolling dogs at select referral centers around the United States for a clinical trial, “Investigation of a traditional Chinese medicine herbal therapy protocol for treatment of dogs with Stage II splenic hemangiosarcoma after splenectomy.” They will evaluate the impact of a standardized bupleurum-based herbal formula administered with vitamin D supplementation, Yunnan Pai Yao, and coriolus mushroom granular extract in canine patients diagnosed with stage II splenic HSA following splenectomy. To date, no toxicities from the treatment have been noted, including one dog who received a significant repeated overdose due to client non-compliance. Preliminary data suggest improved survival times when compared to chemotherapy treatment and an increase in the number of patients living to one year or more. This study will assist in determining if these promising findings are repeatable when a larger number of patients are evaluated.

Related Posts

Hemangiosarcoma in Dogs
You can’t help it: Reconsidering past decisions after a devastating diagnosis
Making the Most Out of the Time You Have

You can’t help it: Reconsidering past decisions after a devastating diagnosis

By
Joanne Osburn
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22
Linus waiting for a goody at a hamburger stand one week before he died. He sure didn’t look like a dog who was dying of cancer.

It’s been nearly 2 1/2 years since we lost our precious dog Linus to hemangiosarcoma. He was a sweet, silly, athletic Portuguese Water Dog and was just shy of his 10th birthday. 

We got up one Saturday morning in April with plans to play at the park, then give him a bath in preparation for his first therapy dog visit the next day. My husband, Paul, got up before me and I heard him say, “Hey buddy, are you okay?” Linus was laying down panting in the hallway. When we went out to the family room, Linus ambled out and dropped to the ground. We called the emergency vet to let them know we were on our way. 

I had to carry Linus to the car and into the veterinary hospital because he couldn’t stay on his feet. They took him back right away. After what seemed like an eternity, the veterinarian came out and said that Linus was in severe shock and appeared to be bleeding into his belly. I have a number of friends who have lost dogs to HSA, and I was terrified. I kept asking, “Do you think it’s hemangiosarcoma?” I remember thinking it was so surreal to be sitting in the vet office hoping that my dog had ingested poison, because at least there may be something to do about it. 

They did an ultrasound, which found multiple masses on Linus’ spleen and liver.

The veterinarian reviewed our options: surgery to remove whatever tumors he could (but it was likely that Linus wouldn’t survive surgery); try to slow/stop the bleeding and buy some time (likely a few days); or make no attempt at treatment and let him go. I just couldn’t believe that a few hours before we were making plans for the weekend and now were contemplating how to manage Linus’ final hours or, at most, days. I desperately wanted to get him home; I didn’t want him to die in a vet office. We decided to try to control the bleeding to see if he could improve enough to make it home. The vet called a couple hours later to say that despite transfusions and medication, Linus’ clotting function was non-existent and we needed to make a decision. We raced back.

We found Linus in so much pain and distress that we decided we needed to help him depart immediately. Another situation I never imagined – please, please hurry and euthanize my wonderful dog. Linus was gone in just a few minutes. My beautiful, funny, intelligent, loving dog who always lived life to the fullest was gone.

Second-guessing, so hard

I can’t count the number of times I’ve pondered the decisions we made over the course of Linus’ life. Did this or that contribute to his cancer? 

Linus had allergies that began before he was a year old. We tried everything under the sun: elimination diets, frequent baths, various medications, etc. He was on Apoquel for some time; it helped significantly with his itching. Sometime later he developed a nasty skin infection, which we treated with antibiotics and increased the Apoquel. A few months after that, I found some small black growths on the skin of his elbow. We had them biopsied, and while they weren’t harmful, the dermatologist said Linus’ immune system should have prevented them from growing; the Apoquel may have suppressed his immune system too much. We discontinued the drug; fortunately, what is now Cytopoint was newly available and we started that with success. Should we not have used the Apoquel? I have no idea. I do know that it gave him relief when nothing else seemed to help and made a drastic difference in the quality of his life.

Another event happened about 10 months before he died. He had ambled across a yellowjacket nest in the ground and a number of yellowjackets stung him. I’ve never seen anything like it. It was awful. His face puffed up like that of a prize fighter. The emergency vet treated him with antihistamines and a two-week course of steroids. Another immune suppressor – might that have opened the door to the cancer? The timing makes me think it’s possible. I’m not a fan of steroids, but for his situation, I think it was necessary to help him recover.

A month or two later he seemed not quite himself – a bit less enthusiastic about things he usually loved. Then he recovered. He had his annual physical a week or two later. Everything seemed fine. I told the vet that he had this period of a few weeks where he was a little subdued. I said, “You know I’m scared to death of hemangiosarcoma.” He said we could do an ultrasound if I wanted, but added that there wasn’t much that could be done for HSA. In the unlikely event that we had been able to detect HSA at that point, a splenectomy and chemo might have bought us just a couple more months. His last six months of life were great, and it would have been heartbreaking for us to have spent that time dealing with the discomfort of treatment that would likely accomplish little.

On the other hand, I was comforted by the fact that for most of his life we gave Linus a raw, fresh diet. I loved making his food, and he loved eating it! I hope it helped him live longer than if he had been on a different diet. 

The multitude of questions continue to swirl in my head and heart. In the end I try to remind myself that we made the best decisions we could at the time with the information we had, always with the intention of providing Linus the best life possible. And most importantly, we loved that wonderful dog and enjoyed a beautiful life with him. – Joanne Osburn

Related Posts

Hemangiosarcoma in Dogs
You can’t help it: Reconsidering past decisions after a devastating diagnosis
On the Horizon: Hemangiosarcoma Studies

Making the Most Out of the Time You Have

By
Barbara Dobbins
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1

Roo was a large, adventurous, mixed-breed dog belonging to my colleague and friend Tory. In August 2008, at about 13 years of age, Roo was experiencing what her veterinarian thought were small seizures. By pursuing this one seemingly small isolated symptom, further diagnostic tests revealed a mass on her spleen. 

A soft tissue specialist recommended exploratory surgery with removal of the tumor, if possible; this would provide the best chance for a diagnosis and treatment. Tory was hesitant: Roo was a senior dog; surgery seemed to be a lot of trauma to put her through – especially because at that moment she was perky and happy and appeared perfectly normal. It was only upon reflection that we realized this was periodic recovery from the small bleeds that intermittently depleted her body of red blood cells. 

The specialist reassured Tory that Roo was very stable and that the surgery shouldn’t be too taxing on her system. The vets suspected that the mass was more than likely some kind of malignant tumor – either hemangiosarcoma (incurable with a short survival time) or hepatocellular carcinoma (curable if completely removed).

Roo underwent a successful splenectomy. The tumor itself was found to be self-contained (a good sign), but additional smaller growths were seen on the liver (a not-so-good sign). The surgeon opted not to biopsy these growths as Roo’s blood pressure was fluctuating during the procedure. Furthermore, if the masses were HSA, bleeding could become a serious problem.

Sadly, the biopsy confirmed the mass was HSA and an oral metronomic chemotherapy protocol was added to her palliative treatment plan; she was also supported with supplements and special home-prepared meals. 

Roo spent weekdays with us at the office. She would spend time gazing out the picture window watching the city life of downtown San Francisco. She wandered from desk to desk in search of goodies. At my desk, she became quite adept at clearing everything off of it in search of treats. I may have contributed to this behavior. She knew when it was time for lunch; French fries were her favorite. Or maybe it was ice cream. She was enjoying life.

And then one day at about five months post-surgery, Tory noticed Roo seemed a little off. Bloodwork was promptly performed; the results were not good. Her time was nearing and she was watched very closely. 

A few days later, she had an episode similar to those that occurred at the beginning of the disease. She was carried to the car by a colleague and rushed to the veterinarian. She was failing fast and nothing more could be done – except take her home and let her eat out of a gallon container of ice cream while the vet sedated her. 

Tori remembers: “As she was laying there, I realized what was so special about her: She was the first being in my life to whom I was her number one. I was the single most important person to that dog. I’d never really experienced that before. My other dog, Scout, was kind of ‘everyone’s dog’ and all my other dogs before had been family dogs. So I thanked her over and over for choosing me!”

Related Posts

Hemangiosarcoma in Dogs
You can’t help it: Reconsidering past decisions after a devastating diagnosis
On the Horizon: Hemangiosarcoma Studies

Hemangiosarcoma in Dogs

By
Barbara Dobbins
-
30
Owners of dogs with hemangiosarcoma (HSA) may be mislead by the absence of symptoms until the disease is quite advanced. Linus, a Portuguese Water Dog, is shown here in what his owners thought was the peak of health, at an agility trial just two weeks before his sudden death from HSA.

While a diagnosis of canine cancer is never good, there are few types worse than hemangiosarcoma (HSA). Like all cancer diagnoses, it’s frightening, shocking, and devastating. Often with this form of cancer there are no warning signs or symptoms; it can hit hard and fast and there may be little time to make decisions, much less research treatment options. 

HSA is a highly aggressive cancer of blood vessel cells that develops almost exclusively in canines. While the dermal form can sometimes be successfully treated, the visceral form can suddenly become evident with critical, and often fatal, symptoms. 

Jump to: Causes | Symptoms | Diagnosis | Stages of HSA | Treatment

Hemangiomas are benign clusters of blood vessels on or beneath the skin, such as the red birthmarks that occur on infants; sarcomas are rare cancers that develop in the bones and soft tissues, including the blood vessels. Hemangiosarcoma refers to a highly malignant disease that develops in the endothelial cells that line the surface membrane of blood vessels and then invades the blood vessels themselves. Because hemangiosarcoma affects blood vessels, it can develop in almost any organ, with the spleen being the most common anatomic location (40 to 50% of cases). 

HSA tumors affecting the atrium and the auricle of the heart were initially thought to be a result of metastasis but are now recognized as primary tumor locations comprising anywhere from 10 to 25% of cases; HSAs are the most common cardiac tumor found in dogs. In dogs with splenic HSA, 25% will also have a heart-based HSA. 

The dermal form of the disease comprises about 13 to 15% of the cases. Less common sites include liver, tongue, kidney, bladder, lung, muscle, and bone.

It is estimated that HSA accounts for 5 to 7% of all canine cancers. Any age or breed can develop the disease. It usually occurs in larger breed middle-aged and older dogs (ages 8 to 12 years), though it has been reported in dogs under one year of age. While traditionally there has been no sex predilection, recent reports are starting to show a slight increase in prevalence in males.

Types of Hemangiosarcoma

HSA is classified into three types based on anatomical location: dermal, hypodermal/subcutaneous, and visceral. 

Dermal Hemangiosarcoma: The dermal (cutaneous) form of HSA develops on the skin in areas that have minimal or no fur, appearing as black or reddish growths (can be singular or multiple masses) anywhere on the body, with the abdomen, rear legs, and prepuce the most common sites. 

In most cases, the cancer does not spread to the dermis tissue and can be treated (and potentially cured) with surgical removal. Because of the malignant nature of the disease, however, it can spread internally, which occurs in about one third of cases; early diagnosis and prompt treatment is vital. 

This form of HSA has a predilection for dogs with light or non-pigmented skin, sparse coats, and areas of white fur, and has been linked to excessive exposure to the sun. Thus, dogs with short white fur, such as Dalmatians, are predisposed to developing this type. It is believed that limiting sun exposure in dogs with thin fur and pale skin can help to prevent this form of the disease (there is no known preventive for other types of HSA).

Hypodermal Hemangiosarcoma: The hypodermal (just under the top layer of skin) form of HSA is more aggressive and invasive than the dermal form. This type is characterized by dark red to black growths just under the normal overlying skin; a soft or firm mass may be palpable (due to bleeding), and ulceration is common. Local control is challenging, as the disease may be extensive; more than 60% of these cases spread internally. 

Visceral Hemangiosarcoma: Visceral(internal) hemangiosarcoma affects the internal organs, primarily the spleen and heart. It is an invasive and rapidly spreading malignancy, often life-threatening as the tumors can break open and bleed – often without warning.

What Breeds Are at Risk for Hemangiosarcoma?

Large breed dogs appear to be at an increased risk, but especially Box-ers, Bully-type breeds, Dobermans, English Setters, Flat-Coated Retrievers, German Shepherds, Golden Retrievers, Great Danes, Labrador Retrievers, Poodles, Portuguese Water Dogs, Skye Terriers, and Whippets. The dermal form is overrepresented in Basset Hounds, Dalmatians, and Whippets and in dogs middle-aged (4 years) or older.

SIDEBAR: Making the Most Out of the Time You Have

What is the Cause of Hemangiosarcoma in Dogs?

The cause of HSA in dogs is unknown, but the breed association suggests a genetic predisposition. The dermal form is thought to be associated with excess exposure to sunlight as it is generally found in lightly-pigmented and/or thin-coated dogs. It has also been hypothesized that local irradiation may be contributing factor. Exposure to certain chemicals may also contribute to the development of the disease; though HSA in humans is extremely rare, exposure to vinyl chloride has been implicated. 

Symptoms of Hemangiosarcoma in Dogs

HSA tends to progress slowly at the beginning, usually without symptoms and without pain. As a result, a dog’s body can tolerate the disease until it reaches a critical stage. Symptoms may appear for only a limited duration and will depend on the type of HSA and the specific location in the body (see above for dermal form). 

Internal HSAs – both the hypodermal and visceral forms – may produce any combination of symptoms from general signs of illness such as lethargy, depression, dementia, inappetence, weight loss, constipation/unusual bowel movements, lameness, and decreased stamina, to more acute symptoms of fainting or weakness, lack of coordination, partial paralysis, intermittent collapse, seizures, abdominal swelling, nosebleeds, coughing, and increased panting. 

These malignancies are vascular by nature and develop their own blood supply; however, the blood vessels are formed with mutated cells, and they eventually leak blood into surrounding areas. This slow, chronic bleeding in small amounts can cause subtle transient symptoms with the dog recovering as new blood cells are produced. Eventually the tumors will rupture, resulting in a substantial hemorrhage with critical and obvious symptoms commonly involving difficulty breathing, increased heart and respiratory rates, pale mucous membranes, and collapse due to hemorrhagic/hypotensive shock requiring emergency veterinary care.

Hemangiosarcoma Diagnosis

If HSA is suspected, your veterinarian will perform a thorough physical exam, noting in particular any of the symptoms listed above. At times, abdominal tumors can be large enough that they are felt when palpated. A number of tests will likely be performed, such as a complete blood cell count (CBC), serum biochemistry profile, urinalysis, and coagulation profile. In dogs with HSA, abnormalities noted in the blood panel may include anemia, red blood cell fragmentation, low platelet count, and high number of neutrophils (the primary white blood cells that respond to bacterial infection). 

The coagulation profile will determine if there are clotting abnormalities suggestive of disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC), which is present in about half of the dogs with visceral HSA. DIC is characterized by the development of small blood clots that block the blood vessels; this depletes the platelets and clotting compounds needed to control bleeding, which in turn can cause excessive bleeding. Heart arrhythmias are commonly associated with cardiac and splenic HSAs; accordingly, an electrocardiogram may be recommended.

Diagnostic imaging using radiographs or ultrasound are useful methods for locating, identifying, and characterizing masses in the abdominal and cardiac regions as well as providing possible evidence of free fluid or blood. When a mass on the spleen is detected, it may not be possible to determine if the mass is malignant prior to removal. 

A fine needle aspirate may be used to take a tissue or fluid biopsy; analysis of samples taken directly from the tumor (or from a surgically removed tumor) provides the most conclusive method for making a diagnosis. This procedure, however, is not without risk: not only does it have the potential to spread malignant cells during the process, it can also trigger bleeding of the fragile tumors. 

Imaging can also assess the extent of the malignancy (staging) and determine whether metastasis has occurred. This can be challenging because there may be multiple tumors and/or the primary tumor site may be difficult to determine. 

A recent study by Carloni, et al, published in the ACVIM Journal of Veterinary Medicine (“Prevalence, distribution, and clinical characteristics of hemangiosarcoma-associated skeletal muscle metastases in 61 dogs: A whole body computed tomographic study,” Volume 33, Issue 2, March/April 2019, Pages 812-819) found that clinical examination and traditional diagnostic imaging modalities missed the presence of skeletal muscle metastases. The authors recommend whole body computed tomography (CT) scans for accurate assessment and detection of metastasis to lungs, muscle, and other sites.

The visceral form of HSA is very aggressive and grows rapidly with local infiltration occurring early in the course of this disease. The likelihood that it has spread from the primary tumor by the time of diagnosis is very high, with about 80% of cases with metastasis upon initial presentation. The liver and lungs are common sites of metastasis, but the disease can spread to any location in the body due to its connection to the blood vessels. 

Because the symptoms associated with HSA can be subtle and non-specific, many cases are not diagnosed until a ruptured tumor results in catastrophic hemorrhage. While dermal HSA tends to have a lower metastatic rate and has the potential to be cured, it is important that a comprehensive assessment also be done in these cases because this form can still metastasize.

Stages of Hemangiosarcoma

Clinical staging is based on the results of the various diagnostic tests performed and can provide a foundation from which to explore and make treatment decisions. Two different three-stage classification systems are traditionally used for HSA.

Visceral HSA

  • Stage I: Localized tumor; no other tumors seen in imaging or at time of surgery.
  • Stage II: Ruptured tumor confined to the primary site, with or without metastasis present near the site of the primary tumor.
  • Stage III: Ruptured primary tumor with invasion into adjacent structures plus local or distant metastasis.

Dermal / Subcutaneous HSA

  • Stage I: Primary tumor confined to the dermis.
  • Stage II: Primary tumor involving the hypodermis with or without dermal involvement.
  • Stage III: Primary tumor with underlying muscular involvement.

Hemangiosarcoma Treatment

Because canine HSA tends to develop undetected until it has reached an advanced stage, the disease is often resistant to most forms of treatment. The modalities of surgery, chemotherapy, and radiotherapy can potentially have some effect.

Surgery

Surgery is typically the primary option for treatment for all cases of HSA. 

For the dermal type, it may be the only treatment that is necessary. Sunlight-induced and superficial dermal HSAs are sometimes considered cured following surgery; however, new tumors can develop elsewhere on the body independent of a previous occurrence. It is advised that dogs diagnosed with this form of skin cancer should avoid as much sun exposure as possible. Dermal and subcutaneous HSA surgery sites can be quite extensive due to the necessity of removing all affected tissues.

For visceral forms of the disease, surgery is usually recommended for all locations except those involving the heart. Cardiac surgery is inherently difficult, but vascular tumors are even more challenging. Depending on the size and involvement, atrial tumors may be considered for excision. Because HSA is associated with life-threatening hemorrhage and a dismal prognosis, the difficult decision of whether to pursue emergency surgery must often be made quickly at the time of diagnosis. 

For dogs with splenic masses, removal of the spleen (splenectomy) is recommended, even though it may not be known in advance if the tumor is benign or malignant. It is estimated that approximately 50% of splenic tumors are benign, but even if they are non-cancerous, the tumors can be dangerous because the spleen itself is very vascular and can rupture and cause substantial and serious bleeding. Removal of the spleen thus becomes both a diagnostic (by providing tissue for biopsy) and a therapeutic procedure. During the procedure, the entire abdominal cavity will be examined for evidence of metastasis and additional tumors with samples of any suspicious tissue taken for biopsy.

If there is time before the surgery, it can help to have a decision made and plan in place for what you want done, depending upon the findings made during the procedure. 

While surgery may be the best option available and provide the highest chance of increasing survival time, there are risks and concerns. Due to the inherent nature of the disease, there is a significant risk for severe hemorrhage during the surgical procedure. 

Dogs presenting with emergency HSA may already be compromised; stabilization prior to surgery usually involves fluid therapy and/or blood transfusions and intensive care monitoring. Cardiac arrhythmias can occur post-surgery and, while most occurrences resolve within 24 to 48 hours, some may require treatment. 

Removal of the spleen in deep-chested dogs may create more space in the abdominal cavity; as a result the dog may be more prone to gastric torsion and gastropexy (stomach tacking) may be warranted at the time of surgery.

Chemotherapy

Given the propensity for HSA to metastasize, chemotherapy is often recommended as an adjunct treatment to surgery, especially in cases of incomplete surgical removal, or as a primary treatment for heart-based HSAs (as surgery in the cardiac area can be very difficult). 

There are several chemotherapy protocols used, consisting of either a single agent or a combination of drugs; doxorubicin (Adriamycin), vincristine, piroxicam, cyclophosphamide, and methotrexate are the most common ones. Doxorubicin appears to reduce the gravity of the disease, yet it doesn’t necessarily extend the survival time beyond that of other protocols. 

Metronomic chemotherapy (a constant low dose of chemotherapy given at home in oral form) is being studied as an approach that not only reduces the chances of side effects but helps control the spread of disease and thereby increase survival time. Since HSA is not curable, the intention of chemotherapy treatment is to slow the cancer progression while providing a good quality of life. 

Radiotherapy

Radiotherapy (RT) has limited use in treatment of HSA because of where the disease forms in the body (sites tend not to be conducive to receiving radiotherapy) and the extremely high rate of metastasis. It may be considered as a treatment option for dermal forms where surgical removal from external surfaces did not achieve clear margins, as an adjunct to chemotherapy, and for cases with localized Stage II or Stage III disease. 

As a palliative therapy, RT can be beneficial in reducing pain and possibly extending survival time. Exploration of radiotherapy as a treatment option is continuing, however, and some recent – albeit small – studies have demonstrated that RT can provide clinical benefits to dogs with HSA.

SIDEBAR: You can’t help it: Reconsidering past decisions after a devastating diagnosis

COMPLEMENTARY REGIMENS

I’m-Yunity and Yunnan Baiyao are two alternative therapeutics that have been documented as having some success in treating HSA. While the research may be limited and in the early stages (studies are continuing), veterinary oncologists are incorporating these modalities into their treatment protocols.

I’m-Yunit. This is a poly-saccharopeptide (PSP) compound from the Coriolus versicolor mushroom, commonly known as the Yunzhi or turkey tail mushroom. It has been used for over two millennia in traditional Chinese medicine; Western researchers have recently begun exploring this mushroom treatment for hemangiosarcoma. It has been demonstrated to have antitumor activity in tissue culture studies and can boost the body’s own cancer-fighting abilities by improving the function of the immune system. 

In 2012, a small (15 dogs) clinical trial at the University of Pennsylvania demonstrated the efficacy of I’m-Yunity mushroom supplements in dogs with cancer. This double-blind randomized multidose pilot study featured a high-dose of PSP, which significantly delayed the progression of metastasis and increased the reported survival times for canine hemangiosarcoma. 

The data suggest that PSP, as a single agent, might offer significant improvements in morbidity and mortality. For more information, see “Single Agent Polysaccharopeptide Delays Metastases and Improves Survival in Naturally Occurring Hemangiosarcoma,” in Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine, Volume 2012.

Yunnan Baiyao. Yunnan Baiyao is also a Chinese herbal medicine and is known for its hemostatic (stops bleeding) and wound-healing properties. It is a protected Chinese traditional medicine and the exact formula is a trade secret, but labelling does identify its primary components. 

Yunnan Baiyao is frequently used in veterinary medicine to control bleeding in dogs by improving clotting and platelet function and veterinary oncologists are prescribing it to control or stop bleeding from cancerous vessels. 

In laboratory experiments, Yunnan Baiyao has been shown to kill HSA cells. Yunnan Baiyao appears to be of benefit to dogs with HSA, but documentation on efficacy and side effects is not yet available; clinical trials are still being conducted.

SIDEBAR: On the Horizon: Hemangiosarcoma Studies

Prognosis

HSA is a formidable disease, especially when compared to most other canine cancers. As with any form of cancer, statistics are presented as general guidelines and do not represent how an individual dog will respond to treatment.

The long-term prognosis for dogs with HSA is dismal, even when the disease is discovered at its early stages. For dogs who are receiving treatment, however, their quality of life usually remains good to excellent. Even as the disease progresses, it does not appear to cause much pain; instead, dogs may experience a return or increase of symptoms such as bleeding, anemia, or weakness. 

Overall, 6 to 13% of dogs with HSA who are treated with surgery alone will be alive one year post diagnosis; of those treated with surgery and chemotherapy, the one-year survival rate increases to 12 to 20%. 

  • Survival time for dogs with dermal HSA that cannot be cured through treatment varies greatly and is dependent on such factors as location and stage. In cases where the dermal lesions invade the sub-cutaneous tissues, the survival times fall in the range of five to 10 months.
  • The average survival time for dogs with hypodermal HSA is six months.
  • Without treatment, most dogs diagnosed with HSA of the internal organs will die within one to two weeks of diagnosis, although some can survive for several months and others only a day.
  • The prognosis for patients with splenic HSA treated with only surgery ranges from one to three months, while those treated with surgery and chemotherapy have an improved prognosis range of four to eight months. However, if extensive metastasis is present at the time of surgery, survival time is only about two months when followed with chemotherapy. 
  • Clinical stage tends to be strongly associated with the prognosis for dogs with splenic hemangiosarcoma.
  • The prognosis declines for dogs with splenic tumors that rupture; survival time tends to be shorter and unpredictable.
  • Dogs with evident metastasis at diagnosis and who do not undergo surgery may respond to chemotherapy, which can provide a prolonged quality of life when compared with dogs who are not treated at all. 
  • The prognosis for dogs with tumors that involve the heart, liver, and/or other internal organs is worse than for those with splenic tumors.
  • Dogs with Disseminated Intravascular Coagulation (DIC) appear to have shorter survival times than dogs without the condition.
  • Unfortunately, almost all dogs with HSA will succumb to the disease from tumor rupture or metastasis to the organs.

Reason for Hope

HSA affects thousands of dogs every year, but investigation into it has been limited, primarily because it is almost exclusively a canine disease. Most other types of canine cancers occur in humans as well and consequently have a greater impetus for research. 

It has been more than 40 years since chemotherapy was added to the standard of care for the treatment of HSA. While there has been little improvement in the prognosis for dogs since then, recent studies show promise for the development of new screening methods and early detection, which will allow for treatment to begin sooner and, we hope, a better outcome. See “On the Horizon: Hemangiosarcoma Studies” on the next page for more information about the latest research on this devastating disease. 

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