Hi everybody. My Jack was diagnosed about 3 months ago with diabetes. He’s a big, sweet golden/lab mix (about 7 years old), started at 108 lbs at diagnosis and is down to 91 lbs right now. I have a question about food. On top of everything else we’re trying to figure out right now, I’m feeling overwhelmed about the food issue. Here’s some background:
Initially I was feeding him Purina DCO and giving him 23 Novolin units 2/day, but when he went in for his first glucose curve, he had a high spike (450) at 4 hours, then a gradual drop to 88 at 8 hours. The vet was concerned about the drop in the afternoon, so she decreased the insulin to 18 units 2/day. I was concerned about the food because it contains so much corn and it was so expensive. I decided to switch to Blue Buffalo Healthy Weight, and when he went in for his 2nd curve, the readings were very high all day (147 1st reading, then 580, 432, 366, 427, 462, 481). Blue Buffalo wasn’t working. The vet recommended increasing the insulin to 20 units 2/day and going back on the DCO, so we did. I still was concerned about the corn in the food, and the more I read online about homecooking, the more I wanted to try it (actually mixing real food and the DCO 50/50).
Now my head is so turned around with all of the things to consider when cooking for him (calories, quantities, expense) that I was hoping somebody here could give me some advice.
I’ve read that he needs about 1700 calories/day, so 850 calories per meal (about 425 calories from the DCO and 425 real food). All of the recipes I see from people giving their (big) dogs the homecooked/prescription food mix are giving their dogs 1-2 cups dry rx food and 1 cup cooked per meal. I’ve figured that the
4 cups green beans
2 lbs chicken breast (about 6 cups)
2 cups uncooked brown rice (so 6 cups cooked)
2 cans black beans
that I just cooked for him (for about 7 of the 50/50 meals) has about 3600 calories, but it winds up being 23 cups. Each cup has about 156 calories, so I’d need to give him almost 3 cups of real food per meal to make sure he gets the 425 calories he needs. Plus the 1+ cup of DCO. So 8+ cups of food per day. That seems like an enormous amount of food for this dog. Am I doing something wrong with my math? Plus when I calculated how much everything costs and how much he needs, the real food seems to be more expensive than the DCO on a cup versus cup basis.
I go to Walmart for the insulin & supplies, but don’t have the glucometer. I just can’t afford it right now. So I’m depending on the vet and her curves @ $40 every 4-6 weeks (which I realize is a really good price, but a lot of money for me nonetheless). Can anybody out there help me clear up my confusion on the food? It’s like a Rubik’s cube puzzle for me and it’s driving me crazy. I go to sleep thinking about it and it’s the first thing on my mind when I wake up.
Sorry for this long post. We’re heartsick about Jack and I’m hyper-focused on doing the best I can manage for him.
Initially I was feeding him Purina DCO and giving him 23 Novolin units 2/day, but when he went in for his first glucose curve, he had a high spike (450) at 4 hours, then a gradual drop to 88 at 8 hours. The vet was concerned about the drop in the afternoon, so she decreased the insulin to 18 units 2/day. I was concerned about the food because it contains so much corn and it was so expensive. I decided to switch to Blue Buffalo Healthy Weight, and when he went in for his 2nd curve, the readings were very high all day (147 1st reading, then 580, 432, 366, 427, 462, 481). Blue Buffalo wasn’t working. The vet recommended increasing the insulin to 20 units 2/day and going back on the DCO, so we did. I still was concerned about the corn in the food, and the more I read online about homecooking, the more I wanted to try it (actually mixing real food and the DCO 50/50).
Now my head is so turned around with all of the things to consider when cooking for him (calories, quantities, expense) that I was hoping somebody here could give me some advice.
I’ve read that he needs about 1700 calories/day, so 850 calories per meal (about 425 calories from the DCO and 425 real food). All of the recipes I see from people giving their (big) dogs the homecooked/prescription food mix are giving their dogs 1-2 cups dry rx food and 1 cup cooked per meal. I’ve figured that the
4 cups green beans
2 lbs chicken breast (about 6 cups)
2 cups uncooked brown rice (so 6 cups cooked)
2 cans black beans
that I just cooked for him (for about 7 of the 50/50 meals) has about 3600 calories, but it winds up being 23 cups. Each cup has about 156 calories, so I’d need to give him almost 3 cups of real food per meal to make sure he gets the 425 calories he needs. Plus the 1+ cup of DCO. So 8+ cups of food per day. That seems like an enormous amount of food for this dog. Am I doing something wrong with my math? Plus when I calculated how much everything costs and how much he needs, the real food seems to be more expensive than the DCO on a cup versus cup basis.
I go to Walmart for the insulin & supplies, but don’t have the glucometer. I just can’t afford it right now. So I’m depending on the vet and her curves @ $40 every 4-6 weeks (which I realize is a really good price, but a lot of money for me nonetheless). Can anybody out there help me clear up my confusion on the food? It’s like a Rubik’s cube puzzle for me and it’s driving me crazy. I go to sleep thinking about it and it’s the first thing on my mind when I wake up.
Sorry for this long post. We’re heartsick about Jack and I’m hyper-focused on doing the best I can manage for him.
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