Diabetic Veterinary Diets: Which Do/Have You Used?

[zekeaz]

Re: Diabetic Veterinary Diets: Which Do/Have You Used?

I have had very good results with Wellness Core Reduced Fat dry food. It is expensive, but the ingredients are first rate. I use cooked chicken breast and mix it 50/50 with the dry food twice a day. Also, I no longer use grain based treats. I give pieces of chicken jerky from Costco and/or pieces of cooked chicken as a mid day snack. Too many treats will wreak havoc on the blood sugar if you are not careful. Don't forget exercise. A 15 minute walk a couple of hours after feeding helps knock down the peak glucose level and won't do you any harm either.

[glendapalmer]

Re: Diabetic Veterinary Diets: Which Do/Have You Used?

We started buddy on Hills w/d food and he loves it. Will just continue with that unless something happens. He likes the dry as well as the wet, so we are changing him over to dry only. glenda palmer

[peeweek9]

Re: Diabetic Veterinary Diets: Which Do/Have You Used?

Hi.

I feel like I owe this community a post. My Maltese (male, 8 years, 10 pounds) was diagnosed with diabetes 3/31/11, and I spent hours reading every (almost) message posted here. I, like all of you, have done extensive research, tried every diet, suffered through stabilization, waited for every glucose readings and yes, even fretted over the twice daily shots. How would I be able to do it? But, most importantly, what food? Would he eat it? It took close to six months to stabilize and today my little Maltese is happy, healthy and yes BARKS loudly and happily at shot time (because there is a treat waiting after the stick).

I'm going to post what I ended up doing in hopes it will lead someone else closer to stabilizing your beloved dog. Yes, every dog is different and there is not one solution, but I truly hope my results will give those of you out there who are just beginning the diabetes journey some hope and save you some anxiety.

We started with 2 units of Humulin N. We are now at 6 units twice a day, always remembering that food and insulin go together. The Walmart brand name changed to NOVOLIN N. Same stuff, different name. I never feed without giving the insulin within 10 minutes. By the way, I was wasting (yes wasting) the insulin as I was trashing it after 30 days. Even my husband, a pharmacist, said the manufacturer advises to discard after 30 days. I buy the insulin at Walmart ($25.00 very cheap compared to other pharmacies). Each time I saw the pharmacist I complained about having to throw away the insulin. This time she said she spoke to a vet who said as long as the insulin is in a refrigerated environment it is safe to use until gone! By the way...I make sure to carefully roll (never shake) the insulin to keep it stable. I warm it in my palms rolling it for a couple of minutes. This keeps the insulin well mixed. I store it on a door shelf in fridge and keep it in the box. I have been doing this now for 4 months and there is no change in my dog.

Food: I have never liked Science Diet. Instead, placed him on high protein, low carb food. I hadn't yet learned that fat content is very, very important in k-9 diabetics. Well, it turns out that people and dogs have different reactions in our blood glucose levels. Being on a low carb diet myself, I knew that foods high in sugar (or vegetables (corn) high in sugar for that matter) wreaked havoc on insulin and created insulin spikes. Not true in dogs...they must have low fat as part of the regime. After 5 months of trying high protein foods I relented and put him on W/D low glycemic, low fat Science Diet. Amounts MUST be consistent. I do 1/2 cup dry kibble in the a.m. and 1/2 cup in the p.m. The p.m. meal I add 1 tablespoon of the wet (canned) low fat, low glycemic diabetes formula.

Tip: I open a new can and measure out tablespoons of the food. I place each tablespoon into plastic ice cube trays, cover with plastic wrap and freeze. After a few hours, I pop them out, place them in a plastic bag and they are ready to use for each meal. I thaw them in microwave for a couple of seconds (they smell awful, but he loves them).

Shots: Easy peasy. You can do it! Take charge, be firm and don't say a word. Just pull up the skin at the back of the neck, in goes the needle, plunge and then make a big deal out of it. A few kibble for treat/reward and he is happy. I never thought I could do it and my stomach would turn just thinking about it. I will leave the loaded syringe on the counter while he is eating. Sometimes HE REMINDS ME he hasn't had his shot!!! True story.

By the way, Scooter is not blind. The vet told me he would go blind and that was the worst news...even worse than the diabetes. Fingers crossed.

In the end consistency is your friend. It is hard to be rushing home to make the 5:00 feeding and I have freaked out more than once when I was held up but he was none the worse for wear.

Exercise: Important to be consistent. If your dog is a couch potato fine. If he/she likes walks, keep them consistent. Don't add or delete mileage as it will effect the insulin levels.

Just be patient in finding a balance of exercise, food, amount of food, insulin, schedule of insulin shots and love. I don't test myself. I was testing once a week, then once a month. Now I seldom test. I watch him like a hawk. Some won't agree with this, and I understand. But I followed the vet's advice on this one.

I hope this message helps as all of your messages helped me.

[juliet]

Re: Diabetic Veterinary Diets: Which Do/Have You Used?

I use DCO prescribed by my vet and because Juliet did not like the taste I added 2 tbsp of chicken liver and f1 tbsp pumpkin. She loves it but OMG it is a very costly dog food. My vet told be that there is no over the counter diabetic dry dog food. After reading other responses once again I am confused.

[armychick2001]

Re: Diabetic Veterinary Diets: Which Do/Have You Used?

My vet recommended to me the Science Diet W/D. I am very finiky about what I feed my boys. I have been buying some expensive dog food so I went with Evo weight managment for my diabetic dog. I have been doing lots of research for raw food diet. I am looking into a Holistic vet as well.

[jbird]

Re: Diabetic Veterinary Diets: Which Do/Have You Used?

Hi..I"m new to this forum so sorry if I have not posted this correctly, but I think it was another forum in the past but I have not visited in over a year. Beri, my 14 year old babygirl dachshund was diagnosed 3 years ago. I am really struggling now with hi BG counts. I'm FINALLY monitoring at home (it is much easier than I was expecting, though it took some time and sometimes I still get weird readings or errors and have to "poke" again), so now I know, but sometimes it makes it worse when I see those high numbers. I won't go into all the details of the past couple of months, but we are now trying 4-4.5 units 2x/day. I am looking for a good canned food that I can use for both of my girls (Sera 15 year old dachshund, not diabetic) to supplement the Solid Gold Holistic formula I just started them on. I have been using low fat Natural Balance dry, but it did not seem to set with with their digestion. I usually add some chicken or some low fat meat and some veggies to each meal. Today she started the day at 380, at 9:30 296, 12:30 187, 3:30 317, I'll do it once more before dinner at 6:30. These are a bit lower than the past week, but still seem really high to me. I'm now really working on getting a good balance of food that works with her insulin. I use the Walmart brand Novolin N. I know there are tons of different varieties of food combinations that you all use, but wondering if anybody has had any luck with the Solid Gold dry and what possibly you use for canned. I usually give more canned than kibble.

[CraigM]

Re: Diabetic Veterinary Diets: Which Do/Have You Used?

Hi..I"m new to this forum so sorry if I have not posted this correctly, but I think it was another forum in the past but I have not visited in over a year. Beri, my 14 year old babygirl dachshund was diagnosed 3 years ago. I am really struggling now with hi BG counts. I'm FINALLY monitoring at home (it is much easier than I was expecting, though it took some time and sometimes I still get weird readings or errors and have to "poke" again), so now I know, but sometimes it makes it worse when I see those high numbers. I won't go into all the details of the past couple of months, but we are now trying 4-4.5 units 2x/day. I am looking for a good canned food that I can use for both of my girls (Sera 15 year old dachshund, not diabetic) to supplement the Solid Gold Holistic formula I just started them on. I have been using low fat Natural Balance dry, but it did not seem to set with with their digestion. I usually add some chicken or some low fat meat and some veggies to each meal. Today she started the day at 380, at 9:30 296, 12:30 187, 3:30 317, I'll do it once more before dinner at 6:30. These are a bit lower than the past week, but still seem really high to me. I'm now really working on getting a good balance of food that works with her insulin. I use the Walmart brand Novolin N. I know there are tons of different varieties of food combinations that you all use, but wondering if anybody has had any luck with the Solid Gold dry and what possibly you use for canned. I usually give more canned than kibble.

I'm going to copy this post into a new thread named "Jbird + Beri" so that you will have your very own thread! Welcome!!

[jesse girl]

Re: Diabetic Veterinary Diets: Which Do/Have You Used?

the numbers you posted are not terrible and not extremely high

for me high blood sugar is blood sugar that remains above 300 or higher and stays there for the entire day

what you would like to find is a food that can work with the early drop and slow that down and flatten out or interrupt the drop it is quite significant and maybe causing the higher fasting

i have no experience with food you described but for jesse kibbles were slow for her to digest and a wet food was faster we are on a homemade diet which she has been on for some time

as dogs get older digestion may not be what it used to be so i am no expert but you may want less fiber so to move the digestion a bit faster

[shodgson]

Re: Diabetic Veterinary Diets: Which Do/Have You Used?

Hi
I am new to diabetes,but man, I've been cramming my brain!

The needles are the easy part! It's the worry that I am feeding her the best alternative and that the homemade recipe I make for her is giving her all the nutrition she needs. She absolutely Would Not eat the diabetic food from the vet. She is quite the fussy girl.. I tried Wellness, mericks, well 6 different expensive foods as well as 2 from the vet and she wouldn't eat them. She went hungry for 1 1/2 and still wouldn't eat them. I was getting frantic so I googled and made her chicken rice and veggies to get her through. Surprise she ate so I decided to home cook.

This what I make for her:
3cups spinach
3clove garlic
2.5 cups raw buckwheat
2cups raw brown long grain rice
1cup steel cut oats
2cups mixed frozen veggies
2cups green beans
5lbs turkey
15cups water/broth
Italian seasoning

Makes 24 - 1 1/3 cup servings at 314 calories per serving


Or

5lbs sirloin beef and lean burger may be half and half
1cup raw pearl barley
4cups green beans
2cups lentils ( like split red and green pea )
2 cups cooking oats (now quick or rolled)
2cups mixed veggies
1cup long grain brown rice
20 cups water/broth
Makes 25 - 1cup servings at 281 calories per serving

Each serving is sprinkle with pulverized egg shells for some extre calcium because I don't know if she is getting enough. The vet says it looks good to her, but as she says, she is not a nutrionist. I asked about supplements but she wasn't sure and would have to look into it.

She is given 1cup cooked and one cup of purina smart one (she will not eat the diabetic kibble no matter what I mix it with!) for each of her 2 meals a day but usually she is too full to eat any of the kibble. She also gets 10 1cm squares of chicken to distract her while she gets her needle. As long as she's getting her treat, she doesn't even flinch with the needle..


I don't know how to judge if our vet is up to snuff about all the diabetes info Callysto needs. I'd hate to have to go to a different vet as Calllysto adores her and all the staff at the vet office. They all stop and give her lots of love and stop everything to cuddle her every time she is lanced for her glucose test during her curves.

[Lucy10]

Re: Diabetic Veterinary Diets: Which Do/Have You Used?

My vet recommended Hills W/D canned plus Purina DCO dry. Lucy will eat it OK but I am not thrilled at the cost. At 2 cans a day plus probably a bag of dry food a month that would be around $180. How does this compare to what other people are spending on food?

[jesse girl]

Re: Diabetic Veterinary Diets: Which Do/Have You Used?

jesses partially raw homemade diet come out to about $ 30.00 a month works out to two cups a day .

[Hopesmom]

Re: Diabetic Veterinary Diets: Which Do/Have You Used?

How do I read the nutrition label on the bag of dog food? I sound stupid asking this, but I haven't seen carbs on the ones I've looked at. Thanks

[Lucy10]

Re: Diabetic Veterinary Diets: Which Do/Have You Used?

How do I read the nutrition label on the bag of dog food? I sound stupid asking this, but I haven't seen carbs on the ones I've looked at. Thanks

I just checked the bags I have here and the non-diabetic food didn't have total carbs listed. The Purina DCO (prescription diabetic food) had the following breakdown:

Protein 21%
Fiber 10%
Fat 10%
Moisture 12%
Carbohydrate 46%

Fiber is a type of carb so is also included in that %

[Hopesmom]

Re: Diabetic Veterinary Diets: Which Do/Have You Used?

Has anyone tried any of the herbal remedies or the ones that come up on google at the top if you google treatments for diabetic dogs?

[Abby's Mom]

Re: Diabetic Veterinary Diets: Which Do/Have You Used?

When dogs become diabetic, insulin is the only medication that will work. The over the counter 'fixes' will not work. Dogs become Type I diabetes, insulin dependent.

Barb