Glucose readings high the last day and a half .

[Druymen]

I am new to having a diabetic dog. Cody was diagnosed 6 weeks ago. I need help with some recipes for his food and what is a good fiber . Thanks so much.

[jesse girl]

Re: Fiber and homemade food

Hi and welcome

Most develop what works for them . Pancreatitis is a complication of the disease so low fat diets are important .High protein meat diets could also be problematic with a digestive system that could be compromised .

My jesse is on a homemade diet . I give her skinless chicken breast , hard boiled eggs ,pinto beans , grind up raw vegetables ,sweet potato yam , mackerel and i sprinkle yeast flakes on top . I also grind up egg shells in a coffee grinder and put it on her meal for calcium

Now there is no set diet that works except maybe the prescription foods which is the only diet that i know of that has a track record but thats a personal choice as with any diet

I wish i could be more specific but what might work for one dog may not for another

[Druymen]

Re: Fiber and homemade food

Thanks so much for the help. Im going to try adding pinto beans to his food. I have been making him skinless chicken breast with a bit of ground turkey, 1/2 hard boiled egg, 1 tbs brown rice, some chicken broth I made so no sodium, green beans and a spoon of cottage cheese.

[jesse girl]

Re: Fiber and homemade food

Thanks so much for the help. Im going to try adding pinto beans to his food. I have been making him skinless chicken breast with a bit of ground turkey, 1/2 hard boiled egg, 1 tbs brown rice, some chicken broth I made so no sodium, green beans and a spoon of cottage cheese.

sounds good but the big part of this is how well blood sugar levels maintain . I think homemade diets may need a lower dose of insulin . i think what happens is a starting dose that maybe based on a prescription diet may need to be lower on a homemade diet

So if you do see big swings in blood sugar you may need to lower the dose . A dose being to much can be an obstacle to regulation

Also homemade diets my need some added things to make them balanced . Calcium is a top one on my list

[Raysaint]

Re: Fiber and homemade food

Besides pinto beans and green beans, some good fibers I add are oatmeal, pumpkin, sweet potato, wild blueberries, and sometimes spinach.

besides fiber, these additions have great antioxidants, and good nutrients for the eyes.

I don't add them all at each meal. Cooked pinto bean/oatmeal mixture every meal, blueberries with every supper, and then I rotate the others in the morning meal.

[Druymen]

Dog food

Has anyone used or heard of the dog food ketonatural ? It states that it is a low carb food. I am struggling with what to feed my newly diagnosed dog . Vet said his food he was on has to be changed to a diabetic diet.

[Raysaint]

Re: Dog food

I believe most people aim for moderate carbs, protein, and fiber, with low fat. Dogs don't need a special diabetic food, but every dog is different as to what food works for them. Everyone on this forum is feeding something different, from homemade to prescription to commercial.

Good carbs are important and carbs are balanced out by the insulin dose. And carbs are energy. Carbs also provide fiber and fiber is important; for some of the same reasons as it's important for humans, and also it helps keep the good bacteria plentiful in the gut. Good bacteria feeds off of fiber.

[jesse girl]

Re: Dog food

Hi and welcome
I have not heard of that brand of dog food . Now the first part of the name keto i wonder if that refers to a keto diet which i believe is a higher fat content food and lower carb . If that is true with this brand of dog food that would not be appropriate for a diabetic dog because they are prone to pancreatitis which they say higher fat content can cause and its a quite sever disease that you want to stay away from

Now the prescription food does have a track record of working even though their ingredients may not read to people very well they may do the job at controlling blood sugar

Now we have seen all different types of diets working with blood sugar from commercial to homemade . There is no set diet that has worked for a general consensus outside of the prescription but many have had personal success like my jesse on a homemade diet and other commercial diets

Some dogs do need carbs to work with the strength of injected insulin and some may not so dont discount them as an enemy for a diabetic dog . Diabetics in dogs is not the same as human diabetics as far as how they react so be careful comparing the 2

Now you dont have to go with the prescription diet its your choice . What i do recommend that vets may also not want you to do is test blood sugar at home . that will definitely help to determine if a dog food is working and helps to keep your dog safe .

[Druymen]

Re: Dog food

Im also concerned since my vet has not done or even asked me to do a curve. He has me bringing him in at peak 6 hours after he eats. He started at blood sugar of 395 He put him on 7 units twice a day retested at peak went to 350 . Over the 4 weeks he was 350 everytime as they upped him to 12 units. He went in and tested at 450 !!!! Vet said he had to go on a diabetic diet. I chose to cook for him and we retested a week later and he dropped to 86. I have remained cooking for him and testing with urine strips and he stayed in nornal at peak for one day and then has slowly been elevating his sugar levels. I am so lost as what to do !!!

[jesse girl]

Re: Dog food

Its quite dangerous to try to regulate a dogs blood sugar on one test a week and thinking thats when lowest sugar was . . Some dogs can have there lowest sugar ( nadir ) at hour 12 after shot

So say your dogs highest sugar is at the time your vet is testing blood sugar and keeps raising the dose because he thought that was your dogs lowest sugar but it may have been quite the opposite with lowest sugar time going much to low

Big swings in sugar from low to high or vice versa can point to a dose being to much and sometimes the numbers can go even higher

Complete curves are the only safe way to regulate blood sugar at this time . Urine test are helpful but doesnt get the job done

Now its possible the prescription diets may give a more consistent curve with lowest sugar at hour 6 and maybe some vets are comfortable with that where a different diet may give a very different curve but i would not bet on that

dogs are very individualistic and one dog can react quite different from another . The only way that i was able to regulate jesse is testing sugar at home

[Lolo]

Re: Dog food

Agree with Jesse on the danger of trying to regulate based on just one number. It’s really easy to test at home and do a full curve to see where their peak really is. A peak isn’t always at 6 hours... it can really vary by dog, diet, and insulin. I bought an AlphaTrak2 on amazon. I think it’s around $50 and comes with 25 strips. Additional strips are about $45 for 50 count. Basically it’s advised that you run a curve before changing a dose... testing at fasting (pre food/insulin) and then every two hours. That’s really the only way to see what’s really going on with both diet and insulin.
Also, going f on 7 units to 12 units over 4 weeks is a really big jump. With numbers increasing like that it could mean that he’s getting too high a dose.

[Druymen]

Re: Dog food

I bought an alpha trak meter but havent used it. I thought i saw a post about a meter that you test with the ear ? Anyone know about it?

[jesse girl]

Re: Dog food

We started with the ear but moved on to the inner lip above the canine tooth

Lots of blood and no pain for the dog

Some do use the ear but i struggled with it

[bichons9]

Re: Fiber and homemade food

Hi and welcome

Most develop what works for them . Pancreatitis is a complication of the disease so low fat diets are important .High protein meat diets could also be problematic with a digestive system that could be compromised .

My jesse is on a homemade diet . I give her skinless chicken breast , hard boiled eggs ,pinto beans , grind up raw vegetables ,sweet potato yam , mackerel and i sprinkle yeast flakes on top . I also grind up egg shells in a coffee grinder and put it on her meal for calcium

Now there is no set diet that works except maybe the prescription foods which is the only diet that i know of that has a track record but thats a personal choice as with any diet

I wish i could be more specific but what might work for one dog may not for another

Hey Jessie..Suzie has done well since on 60 g chicken, green beans and partial Rubie Stewbie..especially due to the chicken. The DVM suggested way back to increase the chicken and decrease the R.S...We did that. Because her BUN has increased from 34-39, he said don't change diet until July 1 BUN test results. May I ask, "What would you do if you had to stop the chicken?" Hopefully her BUN will be okay or at least the same.

[jesse girl]

Re: Fiber and homemade food

Hey Jessie..Suzie has done well since on 60 g chicken, green beans and partial Rubie Stewbie..especially due to the chicken. The DVM suggested way back to increase the chicken and decrease the R.S...We did that. Because her BUN has increased from 34-39, he said don't change diet until July 1 BUN test results. May I ask, "What would you do if you had to stop the chicken?" Hopefully her BUN will be okay or at least the same.

I would not worry about it until you get back the test and can make a decision based on the number

Actually i replaced jesses raw beef heart with chicken because they really jacked up the price on the beef heart and felt like why not do a change and she likes the chicken and her entire meal .