question about dog diabetes and food

[Sprig]

I have a question hopefully some of you can shed some light on. I have a diabetic dog now that i give insulin 3 times a day. the vet said I need to be feeding a specific food that is high in fiber. he put my dog on science diet W/D and it is now up to $60 per 40 lb bag. you can see where i am going with this. Does anybody know of any other foods that are cheaper that are vet recommended for diabetic dogs that are higher in fiber and designed to help with this problem?

[Sharon]

I'm not for or against this food, but thought it might be something for you to think about.

http://www.iams.co.uk/dog/Food-Nutritio ... n-236.html

other ways to increase the daily fibre intake without buying expensive dog food. ...http://www.vetinfo.com/dencyclopedia/de ... ntrol.html

[Sprig]

thanks for the info. i will check them out.

[Sprig]

thank you for the info. reading those websites helped out alot and gave me some options. i just got off the phone with a nutritionist at my dog food manufacture they suggested adding a green bean to increase fiber as opposed to a pre-packaged commercial dog food. i think i am going to try that.

[Sharon]

Good. I'm glad you've come up with a solution.
To care enough to hand feed your dog is great! They are lucky to have you.
I wish every dog was lucky enough to have an owner like you. A guy was just arrested in London this week for beating his dog. The dog was crying so loudly that a neighbor heard her and called the police.

[Sprig]

well, i hope it works. i have no problem giving insulin or adding something to his food to help with the diabetes. he is one of the greatest dogs I have ever owned, and i have owned ALOT of dogs over the years. I hope this is a good solution as i dont like spending $60 for 30 lbs of dog food. I am very loyal to my dogs so I really appreciate the suggestion. I just fed him and gave him his insulin and his first bean. he ate the bean like it was a dog treat.

[Kiki's Mom]

What brand/formula of food had you been feeding prior to the diabetes diagnosis? ( Just curious)

You can add fiber to the diet in many ways....steamed green beans, canned pumpkin, shredded wheat squares ( use the bigger ones and crumble them into the food adding water/warm broth) all work well. You can also switch to a grain free kibble diet or even go as far as to work this dog towards switching over to feeding a raw or all natural diet....all for under $60/bag WD is a formula that adds the fiber by adding peanut hulls to the ingredient list. But if memory serves, the ingredient list may still have corn meal way at the top of the list....and corn breaks down to a simple sugar when digested which in turn can raise the glucose levels and agrrevate the insulin levels etc....

Anyway...many ways to combat a diabetes and still stay within budget.

[Sprig]

thanks for your input.

i fed enhance.......

i have heard pumkin from alot of people now. i am trying beans but havent found the correct amount of beans for a lab so I am still tinkering with that one.

how much pumkin would you feed a 90 lb lab per day. i feed and do insulin 3 times a day.

[Sharon]

Your making food changes in a dog with diabetes. Your daily blood checks will tell you how much is needed to have the sugar regulated. That's the only way your going to know how much of any kind of fibre enhancements is correct.

[vikings269]

well, i hope it works. i have no problem giving insulin or adding something to his food to help with the diabetes. he is one of the greatest dogs I have ever owned, and i have owned ALOT of dogs over the years. I hope this is a good solution as i dont like spending $60 for 30 lbs of dog food. I am very loyal to my dogs so I really appreciate the suggestion. I just fed him and gave him his insulin and his first bean. he ate the bean like it was a dog treat.

I'm sorry I dont have anything valuable to add to help you but I have a question out of curiosity. Will you always have to give him 3 shots for the rest of his life or can you reduce that if you find a better diet?

[Sprig]

as far as i know I will have to give insulin the rest of his life. I have been playing with his food and bean intake and so far it is working once I increased the amount of beans he is getting with each meal. no more $60 per 30 lbs dog food. thanks for the input and help from all you who responded and sent PM's.

[Sharon]

Yes, you will have to give the shots for the rest of his life. Once the pancreas stop producing insulin properly, they don't regenerate. Is the dog very active? I would think doing a 30 minute run would drastically affect the dog's insulin production. Do you have to give the dog snacks before and after a run? Is low blood sugar ever a problem? Just wondering.

[Sprig]

he is getting too old to get out much as his arthritis is setting in now. he is a 12 year old lab. occasionally his sugar drops real low but usually it being too high has been the problem. when i first took him to the vet his sugar level was 441 and it took a while to get the insulin and diet to where it brought the sugar down. now it usually hangs around the low to mid 100's. occasionly it will drop to 60 or 70 and my vet told me not to give him insulin when it is this low so it dont go even lower but when i dont give insulin when it is too low it will go up to the mid 200's and even hit the 300's so he is very dependant on his insulin. lately with his bean and dog food diet it has stabalized fairly well but it still has an occaional drop where i get nervous and skip his insulin as per vet recomendations and then it does go up. not sure what else to do as i dont want it too low. my vet told me it is better to be too high than too low. anybody have any experience with this? what happens when it is low but still in the acceptable range, do i reduce his insulin or just cut it out all together? his regular treatment is 25 units 3 times a day.

[big steve46]

Sounds like your vet should advise or educate you better. In humans like me, it depends on what kind of insulin you are using. There are different insulin speeds of action in humans and I assume so with dogs.

[Sharon]

he is getting too old to get out much as his arthritis is setting in now. he is a 12 year old lab. occasionally his sugar drops real low but usually it being too high has been the problem. when i first took him to the vet his sugar level was 441 and it took a while to get the insulin and diet to where it brought the sugar down. now it usually hangs around the low to mid 100's. occasionly it will drop to 60 or 70 and my vet told me not to give him insulin when it is this low so it dont go even lower but when i dont give insulin when it is too low it will go up to the mid 200's and even hit the 300's so he is very dependant on his insulin. lately with his bean and dog food diet it has stabalized fairly well but it still has an occaional drop where i get nervous and skip his insulin as per vet recomendations and then it does go up. not sure what else to do as i dont want it too low. my vet told me it is better to be too high than too low. anybody have any experience with this? what happens when it is low but still in the acceptable range, do i reduce his insulin or just cut it out all together? his regular treatment is 25 units 3 times a day.

When the blood sugar is high, damage is being done to the vital organs.
When the blood sugar is low, the dog feels poorly - no energy, a little dizzy , but nothing serious That's why low is better then high.

Follow your vet's plan on what to do when blood sugar is low. She/he knows more about this then any of us. If you have questions about the in-between stages, ask her. Don't second guess her.

[Sprig]

now i am confused ...because my vet told me it was better the sugar level be too high than too low......

[dirtdober]

I always say better hot than not. Which means high sugar is not a dangeous a low sugar. Yes, high sugar(above 110) will slowly damage the vital organs. On the other hand low sugar(below 70) can be instantly deadly. If sugar drop lower than 40 most humans will become disoriented, acting somewhat drunk even becoming unconcious. If the dog becomes unconcious you will have to take your dog to the vet immediatly for IV glucose. Or have your vet give you glucogon shots to administer yourself sub-Q.
If you noticed I said most humans which means everybody is different. I have seen people walk and talking very legible when his sugar was 14. I also seen them unconcious with a level of 50.

Big Steve is right about the different speeds of the insulin. Lantis is a 24 hour insulin. Not certain but think R is a little shorter, around 10 to 16 hours. Humilog will peak about 3 hours. Don't know what insulins are given to dogs but would expext to be either R or N type insulins because they are a little slower and therefore not a dangerous.

PM me if you have any question and I will be happy to share any info.

Gary