Dog Food Discussion

[acer]

Has anyone's vet told you that you can't feed boiled chicken to your diabetic dog due to high sugar content?

[Lolo]

My vet has given me zero guidance on food. It’s a little frustrating to me because I feel like diet can probably play a big role. I think there has to be a happy medium between a vet that forces you to buy diabetic food and one that gives no real guidance on what to feed. My vet just wants me to feed her something she’ll eat.
I’ve been trying different mixins a) just to try to get her to eat all her food on time so I can give her insulin and b) testing to see if anything helps bring her high fasting numbers down. I was adding boiled chicken for a few weeks but read some things saying protein can make them burn through insulin faster. I have no idea if that’s correct and I guess every dog is different. Anyway, now I’m just adding 1 tbs canned pumpkin and some blended green beans trying the added fiber route to see if it can lengthen the time before her insulin runs out.

[Daisydog10]

Daisy regulated fairly quickly on the Ruby Stewbie but I had to take her off of it because there were too many ingredients (I think the carrots and broccoli didn't help) and she de-regulated 6 months later. Several people have had the same issue and had to take their pups off of it.

Daisy was pretty difficult to get regulated again so I went very simple- chicken breast, chana dal (desi chickpeas) for her carb, green beans and some kibble soaked along with a teaspoon of pumpkin.

I measure everything in grams to make sure she gets the same ingredient amount each meal. At first I had to juggle the carbs and protein to get her correct calorie count, but using limited ingredients it worked out well and was a lot easier to adjust.

[Lolo]

Originally Posted by Daisydog10

Daisy regulated fairly quickly on the Ruby Stewbie but I had to take her off of it because there were too many ingredients (I think the carrots and broccoli didn't help) and she de-regulated 6 months later. Several people have had the same issue and had to take their pups off of it.

Daisy was pretty difficult to get regulated again so I went very simple- chicken breast, chana dal (desi chickpeas) for her carb, green beans and some kibble soaked along with a teaspoon of pumpkin.

I measure everything in grams to make sure she gets the same ingredient amount each meal. At first I had to juggle the carbs and protein to get her correct calorie count, but using limited ingredients it worked out well and was a lot easier to adjust.

What kibble were you using? I’m intrigued by the addition of chana dal. That’s also in the ruby stewbie recipe but some people said in comments that it went right through their dog undigested.

[Daisydog10]

Daisy eats Hills Perfect Weight. It has .45 carbs per gram and 3.65 calories per gram.

I used the chana dal because it was in the Stewbie along with the green beans and chicken, so the transition went well. I rinse and cook the chana dal for 1 hour, covered and stirring occasionally then let it sit until cooled, bag and freeze.

One weird thing that happened, when she was on the Stewbie, the chana dal came out the same way it went in. Now it doesn't and she seems to be digesting it fine.

[jpmdr111]

Originally Posted by Daisydog10

Daisy regulated fairly quickly on the Ruby Stewbie but I had to take her off of it because there were too many ingredients (I think the carrots and broccoli didn't help) and she de-regulated 6 months later. Several people have had the same issue and had to take their pups off of it.

Daisy was pretty difficult to get regulated again so I went very simple- chicken breast, chana dal (desi chickpeas) for her carb, green beans and some kibble soaked along with a teaspoon of pumpkin.

I measure everything in grams to make sure she gets the same ingredient amount each meal. At first I had to juggle the carbs and protein to get her correct calorie count, but using limited ingredients it worked out well and was a lot easier to adjust.

I am wondering if this is what happened with fogel after thanksgiving, He had perfect levels and BAM it went all over the place. I started him on The Honest Kitchen Human Grade Dehydrated Grain Free Dog Food wild caught fish in July when he was diagnosed. I just switched over to Ruby Stewbie and within a week we are back to somewhat normal. I'm just wondering if we are going to need to switch again in a couple months or there is something I can do.

I bought a 8qt InstaPot and it took me about 5 hours to cook a months supply and he loves it! The most frustrating thing was the pressurizing and depressurizing took for ever!

[Daisydog10]

Daisy was regulated on the Stewbie fairly quickly, then 6 months later her numbers went crazy and I couldn't stabilize her for months. I took her off the Stewbie and started a simple ingredient diet, (chicken, chana dal, green beans, kibble) and weigh in grams so I know she's getting the exact same amount of each ingredient at every meal. With the Stewbie I really never knew. I put it all in a food processor and chop. Depending on how her curve looks is how much water I add to the mix or if I need to soak a little kibble to flatten her curve out. Her digestion seems different in the summer than in the winter for some reason. I don't add as much water or soak kibble in the hotter months.
Daisy is one of those schnauzers that is hard to regulate. But I will say, with the limited ingredients, if I see a pattern, I can adjust her carbs/protein and water I add pretty well without too much trouble.
If the Stewbie is working well, by all means keep him on it. When and if you have trouble with regulation, then you may want to look at other alternatives.
He's such a cutie!!!

[jpmdr111]

Originally Posted by Daisydog10

Daisy was regulated on the Stewbie fairly quickly, then 6 months later her numbers went crazy and I couldn't stabilize her for months. I took her off the Stewbie and started a simple ingredient diet, (chicken, chana dal, green beans, kibble) and weigh in grams so I know she's getting the exact same amount of each ingredient at every meal. With the Stewbie I really never knew. I put it all in a food processor and chop. Depending on how her curve looks is how much water I add to the mix or if I need to soak a little kibble to flatten her curve out. Her digestion seems different in the summer than in the winter for some reason. I don't add as much water or soak kibble in the hotter months.
Daisy is one of those schnauzers that is hard to regulate. But I will say, with the limited ingredients, if I see a pattern, I can adjust her carbs/protein and water I add pretty well without too much trouble.
If the Stewbie is working well, by all means keep him on it. When and if you have trouble with regulation, then you may want to look at other alternatives.
He's such a cutie!!!

What a roller coaster.... There are days I just can't take it!

After weeks of countless pokes, I finally figured out Fogel was rebounding... sigh.

I believe he is in what is called the honeymoon phase. We are down to 2-3 units a day, he was at 7 units for over 6 months with perfect levels. The only thing I can figure is he is producing insulin now (7 months from diagnosis)

We get three days of good levels 200 in the am, 120 ish around lunch and then bam day 3 mornings will be sky high.

I have also had to delay his insulin by an hour, If I give it to him when he eats his sugars tank then skyrocket from a rebound. This is why I think he is producing insulin, because his sugars actually drop without any insulin and then after about an hour they start to go up again. I am currently doing one cup of Stewbie dry and 2-2.5U of Novelin. He is down from 19ibs to 15 and I am concerned about his weight and the vet would like to see him gain....

I just prepared the food Daisy is on, to see how that goes: 105g chicken breast, 45g chana dal, 55g green beans all chopped in a food processor, 20g Hills Perfect Weight, 1 tbs pumpkin

I just don't know what to do anymore, it was so easy for the first 6 months and now it a nightmare.

[jesse girl]

Its something i had to deal with Jesse diabetes from the beginning . I thought for quite awhile she was producing her own insulin because she was on such a low dose and like your dog would drop after meal . I tried delaying her shot after meal and helped a bit but it wasn't what we were looking for so i split her dose half at mealtime the other half 2 hours later which worked for her

The other factor about still producing insulin i came to the conclusion NPH insulin for jesse lasted about 16 hours so there maybe a bit of overlap of early shot with the new one so that could explain the drop after meal .

With jesse its a delicate balance if she is lower and she receives a dose her body doesnt like she will bounce up and i can usually tell from her inner lips getting red and she gets a bit lethargic .

Jesse dose has been from 6 to 8 units total for the day . Lower than a normal starting dose for her weight

Diabetes is not about being regulated and you go on cruise control . That has never occurred for jesse 9 year diabetic career . Her numbers go from 100 to 250 sometimes lower sometimes higher and that seems to work for her

[Daisydog10]

The thing about the Stewbie is there are too many ingredients and you can never tell how many carbs they're actually getting at each meal. The carrots and the broccoli seemed to raise her glucose levels. With some dogs that may be okay, but I had such a hard time with Daisy, I went to the limited ingredient diet so I could get a better handle on her. Now I know exactly how many carbs and calories she gets because each ingredient is weighed in grams.