Dr. Peterson - Lots of diets can work for diabetic dogs

[k9diabetes]

Dr. Peterson often focuses in a particular health issue in a few successive blog postings. Looks like he's doing diabetes at the moment. His post on diets is excellent.

In many newly diagnosed diabetic dogs, I don't change their diet at all. The most important dietary factor in the diabetic is consistency, so that you can match your insulin dose to the degree of post-prandial hyperglycemia. The owner must understand that the key is to feed the same amount of the same diet at the same time every day!

http://endocrinevet.blogspot.com/201...-diabetes.html

[CarolW]

Re: Dr. Peterson - Lots of diets can work for diabetic dogs

How useful! Thanks for that link!

Now ,Mr PickyPants, and Tiggy - did you hear that? (hehe)

Sat, 5 Nov 2011 21:07:39 (PDT)

[Shellie]

Re: Dr. Peterson - Lots of diets can work for diabetic dogs

Well.. poo! He's standing there with his paws in his ears singing, "I can't hear you...I can't hear you..." *sigh*

[k9diabetes]

Re: Dr. Peterson - Lots of diets can work for diabetic dogs

Thought I'd bring this forward.

[CraigM]

Re: Dr. Peterson - Lots of diets can work for diabetic dogs

OK, I'll add a question to this thread.

I've heard some say, both in this forum and elsewhere, that their pups get tired of the same food for every meal and need to vary it. I've also read that dogs don't get tired of the same food! It does sound like identical meals would make diabetes regulation much easier, but do some really get tired and need to vary the diet? Or is this another "every dog is different" sort of thing?

Annie has been on the same kibble for about two years, I think. She may get a small amount of veggi (broccoli, cauliflower, green bean) added to 3-5 meals per week, but I doubt she knows / tastes it because she eats so quickly!

As Natalie said in another thread, I'm not looking to start a "food fight", just wondering what the forum thinks.

Craig

[momofdecker]

Re: Dr. Peterson - Lots of diets can work for diabetic dogs

I came across this article from Dr. Dodds awhile ago on food transitioning vs. food rotating.

http://drjeandoddspethealthresource....-transitioning

Was an interesting read. Please note this article was geared towards diet in general and was not addressing the needs of diabetic dogs. The rotating she talks about made me think of all those on here who have picky eaters. It seems a lot of those folks try to keep ingredients similar even when switching up food to temp those picky eaters to eat. No easy task!

About a month ago my non diabetic boy stopped eating his food. Was a new bag. Looked and smelled ok. He'd eaten it for a little over a year. After a day and a half I went out and bought a bag of his old food, which is not a highly rated food. He typically requires a gradual food change but switched him back cold turkey to see if he would eat. He ate the old food right up. No problems. Figured the higher quality food is only as good as what's getting into the dog. If the dog is not eating it, it's not doing much good. Looking at better rated foods but am considering the rotating idea for him since he can be picky and there are no other medical issues at play.

Looking at diabetic dogs and given how long it took us to get Decker into regulation range numbers, there would've had to have been a very compelling reason for us to consider a food switch. He would have eaten just about anything and didn't seem to have a sensitive stomach to switches. But knowing how important that food/insulin balance is, once that balance was reached and knowing he was not complaining and knowing there was no medical reason to change, I was completely ok not upsetting the apple cart.

[SandyL]

Re: Dr. Peterson - Lots of diets can work for diabetic dogs

I've been rotating food with Tiggy almost since day one! That was the ONLY way I was going to get her to eat. The main thing that has been constant is the calorie count.... Has worked great for almost 3 years now

Sandy

[Judi]

Re: Dr. Peterson - Lots of diets can work for diabetic dogs

Craig I think it is a total your mileage may vary thing. My dogs have always been good about eating the same boring food day after day but Jenny has always been fussy about treats.

That is why I've stuck with small pieces of the freeze dried liver because she loves it. When bank tellers try to give her milk bones they think I'm heartless when I say no but she has never liked them.

You are lucky or your wife is a good dog trainer that Annie loves testing and isn't fussy!

[Abby's Mom]

Re: Dr. Peterson - Lots of diets can work for diabetic dogs

Holli,

That was a wonderful article from Dr. Dodds.... I like to follow her articles.

Abby is NOT a picky eater, but a few months ago, she did have a digestive issue, and it was resolved by changing her food. I think it is important, and much more of a balance when they are diabetic, because we need to stay consistent... but overall I personally agree with Dr. Dodds.

Craig, I think some dogs perhaps may not get tired of their food, but there may actually be another purpose for switching diets.

Barb

[Eddie]

Re: Dr. Peterson - Lots of diets can work for diabetic dogs

We never seem to have problems with getting our dogs to eat even though they get the same each day. They still get excited at mealtimes and eat it up very quickly.
Perhaps having four of them to provide competition helps (though we do make sure they each eat only their own!).
They also seem very omnivorous about treats or any human food they might pick up by accident (eg dropped bits of bread or cheese). Maybe they are all just a bit greedy!

[Juulz]

Re: Dr. Peterson - Lots of diets can work for diabetic dogs

I have never had a problem feeding any of my dogs the same food day in and day out.(12 dogs over 30+ years). OTOH, Koko is my first diabetic dog - the others just had to go hungry if they didn't like the food.