diet help for penny

[rgardener]

My dog Penny is a 5 year old terrier, shepherd and others. She has never been sick in her life. Has been on Canidae ALS for quite some time. She is not over weight. Was diagnosed about a week ago after some strange symptoms that were atypical for diabetes (at least initially). She is on 13 units of Humulin D 2 x day, after meals. The vet has put her on Hills Science diet w/d. She is doing ok with it I guess. My problem is that the food is almost entirely corn, with so much fiber that it comes out almost bone dry. I am not a fan of corn to this excess. I would think that it would turn to sugar in her. My vet is just stuck on this food. I have replaced half of the w/d with Blue Buffalo that has a bit less than half the fiber. Waiting to see how this works. Does anyone have any diet ideas that have worked for them? Her diabetes isn't extreme. I guess I caught it in time. This food is also low in fat, which they say is important. I am thinking about putting a small amount of Omega 3 fish oil in her food. If anyone has any ideas I would love to hear them. I will be running whatever I do past her vet. There just has to be a better solution.

[k9diabetes]

Re: diet help for penny

Hi,

I put a copy of your thread in the main discussion area where everyone will see it. Look for replies there.

http://www.k9diabetes.com/forum/showthread.php?t=2967

Natalie

[jesse girl]

Re: diet help for penny

well they say the food is not as important if the insulin works well with it your good to go and it appears that this type of food works well for many diabetic dogs thats why it is prescribed

I am in your camp I prefer a more balanced diet that is very nutritional the blue buffalo has good reviews in general and has done well for diabetic dogs we do a homemade diet which can be a bit more difficult to match insulin with food but it can be done

I think it is a good idea to make up your mind on what type of food you want to use and stick with it for a while to many changes with food can really make things erratic the numbers will tell you if the food matches well with the type of insulin you are using

welcome to both of you

[Abby's Mom]

Re: diet help for penny

I agree with Jesse Girl. I was bpthered by the prescribed food that the vet had prescribed for Abby... Purina DCO, first ingredient was Corn and then Wheat Gluten.

My vet did state to look for anything with 10% fat and under, and for high fiber if at all possible (but you can add the fiber). I too have Abby on a raw diet, as I wanted more control as to the type of food she ate, and have found some good books that will prescribe a diet for a diabetic dog. My vet approves and helps me with the other additives to be sure she is getting a well balanced diet. There are supplements that you can add to be sure that all of the nutrional needs are being met. I am not a nutritionist, nor would I make a suggestions, as this is something that your vet could help you with.

But there are many folks on this forum that feed their canine friends many different types of food, and from what I can tell, alot of them are NOT prescription food.

There is a balance to food and to insulin, and it may take some time, but do some planning prior to switching. If you are looking for a commercial food, I have heard of good things with Blue Buffaloe.

[minischnauzmom]

Re: diet help for penny

I found a holistic/traditional vet approximately 3 years ago for my now 12 year old diabetic mini-schnauzer whose insulin has dropped from 20 units down to 10 units now. With W/D food, there was no elasticity to her skin even making it difficult to give insulin shots, and she walked around like she was starving all of the time...even eatting toilet paper off of the roll, etc.

We switched her food over to Holistic Select Seafood Diet (hard to find but can locate retailers at holisticselect.com) which her skin noticably improved in a few weeks plus she stopped devouring non-food items as well. Her eyes looked good and it was easier to pull skin up for insulin shots.

He also switched her insulin from Vetsulin to Humulin N. She became a little hard to regulate again approx. 6 months ago and got up to 20 units Insulin twice a day. So he advised me to start making her food at home.

Her diet now is 6 lbs. chicken, 5 cups pearled barley (my Walmart carries this near the rice), 5 cups brown rice, 2 cups green beans, 24 cups of water cooked together in a huge pot. Bring to boil, then simmer and cook until most water is absorbed. I cook this every 2 weeks and freeze.

I found this recipe on caninediabetes.org from another pet owner. It's made a huge difference. Her insulin has dropped to 10 units twice a day.

In fact, the only problem that I am having now is with flea treatment. I cannot use the topical because it makes her lethargic for 3 days. My holistic vet does not want me to use oral flea pills because he says that it stays in their system too long. He is fine with Capstar since it leaves the body within a few hours. However, capstar only works on fleas immediately.

[Judi]

Re: diet help for penny

I have 2 vets working with Jenny (don't ask) and they both like the Hills W/D. I took 3 different cans of Blue Buffalo, Ultra and something else in to my primary vet initially and he thought the fat and protein content were too high.

He is all about the low fat high fiber.

Jenny's eye doctor, who sees a lot of diabetic dogs thinks the corn in the W/D gets a bad rap and is fine with it except she said most dogs hate it (mine love it). So she recommends Purina OM.

I know another diabetic dog who's vet recommends the Ultra sold in the silver can or bag.

In the end I went with the W/D. I felt like I was fighting my vets on so many things I'd use this food to regulate and then maybe change later. Now we are re-regulating so who knows. It is some nasty looking stuff though. Good Luck

[k9diabetes]

Re: diet help for penny

Over the almost 8 years I've been associated with forums for diabetic dogs, I've seen many dogs do very very well on WD. It can sometimes help to add a bit of fat to it if the food is too lowfat to maintain a healthy coat. When Chris was on it, we added a tablespoon of vegetable oil and that glossed up his fur.

For every diet, every insulin, every treatment, there are dogs for whom it's a disaster, dogs for whom it's a godsend, and everything in between.

Because I've seen some lovely stable blood sugar and long healthy lives with WD, I support it and prescription diets in general as one of the many options that can be effective for diabetic dogs.

Natalie