has anyone tried fibre additives?

[delta]

I've now read in a few places that foods higher in fibre tend to lead to more stable BG levels ie. no sudden spikes after meals etc. Also they tend to give dog's a feeling of fullness..

On average it appears that most commercial foods have about 6-7% fibre while some like Hills W/D had 16%

We're happy with our home cooked diet which includes vegetables that contain fibre so we don't want to switch to a commercial food but I'm wondering if we should try adding some fibre additives with water to perhaps try and stabilize our dog's BG levels (she tends to spike for 2-3 hours post meals)

On the other hand, I'm worried that any extra fibre additive might give our dog a stool that's too hard or too soft (right now with our home cooked diet the stool is always solid and regular)

[CarolW]

Some people here use canned pumpkin to add extra fiber; it's easily available in North America - it's not pie-filling, but plain canned pumpkin.

Maybe you could try it, though I understand your reluctance. If it's not too close to Jesse's spay-date, it might be worth a try; at most, it might upset the gut at first a bit, so go slow. Maybe there's canned pumpkin where you are?

Wed, 2 May 2012 04:12:36 (PDT)

[Judi]

I just started adding a little metamucil to Jenny's home cooked food because I've seen others on here have done it and it is sugar free. It's only been 2 days so no clue how it is affecting her yet but when I compared the fiber from my home cooked stuff to what she used to eat, I needed to increase it.

Jenny is 7 pounds so I'm adding half a teaspoon

[delta]

yeah I meant stuff like metamucil as it's just pure fibre (no extra calories) but I'll look into canned pumpkin, if it's low gi and low on cals it might be the perfect solution to ad some volume to her meals and perhaps stabilize the BG a bit

[Abby's Mom]

Originally Posted by delta

yeah I meant stuff like metamucil as it's just pure fibre (no extra calories) but I'll look into canned pumpkin, if it's low gi and low on cals it might be the perfect solution to ad some volume to her meals and perhaps stabilize the BG a bit

Pumpkin is a great way to add fiber. I always buy the organic pure pumpkin.

[eileen]

I used Libby's canned PURE pumpkin with Mildred. Found in most grocery stores in the US.

http://www.google.com/products/catal...ed=0CFYQ8wIwBA

[Rubytuesday]

What vegetables are you adding?
When I was looking at low carb dog foods I came across a lot that used potato and then one that used chick peas instead of the potatoes as they wouldn't be broken down as quickly as the potato.
Unfortunately that food wouldn't have worked for Ruby for other reasons. She did have to go on the one with the potato and it is ok for her. Maybe you could try adding some bean fiber.
Ruby is also on a high protein diet which I think gives a slower food rises and steadier bgs.

Tara

[SandyL]

Tiggy won't touch pumpkin and won't eat veggies in her meals....but will eat them as treats, go figure
I add 1 tsp of metamucil to each of her meals. It does seem to work at keeping her fuller and her BG is pretty level. No problem with her stools and it seems to have helped with her anal glands ( they don't get as full as they used to)

Sandy

[Shellie]

I use one teaspoon of metamucil with Hank each day since we have vegetable issues. His stool is much better on the meta than off. I've noticed that he seems more stable when he's on it (if he's eating regularly, too).

[jgr789]

How much pumpkin do you use? Has anyone figured out a way to make pumpkin treats?

Judy (and Sadie)