As the pet health care industry becomes more proficient, pets are able to live longer life even if they should contact diseases like diabetes. More manageable than ever before, diabetes in dogs can be treated and control with medication and most importantly a properly control diet.
The first most important aspect of a control diabetic diet is to not allow your dog to gain and lose too much weight. Weight changes would affect the amount of insulin needed to control diabetes and any planned changes to gain or slim down have to be done under the supervision and guidance of a veterinarian.
A control diabetic diet should avoid both natural and added simple sugars. Many soft foods, such as the semi-moist “burgers” and treat, contain a higher than recommended amount of sugar. Their relatively high moisture content, combined with this higher sugar content, may cause a spike in the dog’s blood sugar after eating.
Routine is an important part of the diabetic dog’s diet. The most difficult part that most diabetic dog owners face is the controlling of the dog’s blood sugar level over a long period of time. A well-established routine that features a regular schedule of meals, treats, and exercise is important and of great benefit in terms of maintaining a diabetic dog’s good health. A well-planned good routine that manages to maintain the dog’s weight at an ideal level might reduce or even stop the need to treat the dog with insulin.
Homemade Diets
Although many dog owners enjoy cooking and taking care of their diabetic dog, most homemade diets are not recommended for diabetic dogs, unless you really know what you are doing. Homemade diets are too variable to be suitable, even if high-quality ingredients are used. One of the few occasion that a homemade diet is recommended for a diabetic dog is when the dog refuses to eat a commercial diet.
Commercial Diets
Commercial diabetic canine diets are varied, to give the owner and veterinarian more options when prescribing food for an affected dog. These dogs have lower protein than that which the dog might get in a homemade diet, ranging from about 5 percent dry weight to about 8 percent dry weight.
The advantages of a commercial diabetic diet over home prepared diet is that the commercial ones are more consistent in the uses of their ingredients, that makes controlling the sugar level more manageable. Nevertheless, not all dogs will eat them and it might take the owners to try various different formulations before finding one that your dog will enjoy eating. One tip to help a diabetic dog likes his food is to try mixing his food with different flavor of prescription canned food. This method is helpful for many diabetic dogs out there.
