Raw food or kibble? Help!

[mmelgren]

Hello all,

I am new on here, my 7 year old yorkie mix just got diagnosed with diabetes about a month ago. She's a trooper. Her glucose levels are still extremely high and she's done one blood curve at the vet. They up'd her to 2 units of insulin every 12 hours so we will see how that goes.

I work for a dog rescue and I have a pretty big network of dog people to say the least. I have a lot of people telling me to do research on raw diets and possibly switching Mili over to this. There's a ton of stuff online but it's very complicated and confusing...

Do any of you have advice/experience with raw food and/or switching your diabetic dog from kibble to raw food? If so how was it and how did you do it? I've read that it has helped some diabetic dogs tremendously... so I'm trying to figure this out. Does anyone do half and half? If so, what do you use?


Any input is very much appreciated!

**Mili is currently on Hill's Science Diet Adult Light Small Bites Dry Dog Food 1/3 cup morning and 1/3 cup at night



Thanks in advance!!!

[CraigM]

Re: Raw food or kibble? Help!

Hello all,

I am new on here, my 7 year old yorkie mix just got diagnosed with diabetes about a month ago. She's a trooper. Her glucose levels are still extremely high and she's done one blood curve at the vet. They up'd her to 2 units of insulin every 12 hours so we will see how that goes.

I work for a dog rescue and I have a pretty big network of dog people to say the least. I have a lot of people telling me to do research on raw diets and possibly switching Mili over to this. There's a ton of stuff online but it's very complicated and confusing...

Do any of you have advice/experience with raw food and/or switching your diabetic dog from kibble to raw food? If so how was it and how did you do it? I've read that it has helped some diabetic dogs tremendously... so I'm trying to figure this out. Does anyone do half and half? If so, what do you use?


Any input is very much appreciated!

**Mili is currently on Hill's Science Diet Adult Light Small Bites Dry Dog Food 1/3 cup morning and 1/3 cup at night



Thanks in advance!!!

Welcome!
You will read here that our pups are on all sorts of food from special prescription, standard kibble/canned to home made. Many just stay on what they were feeding, or if the pup is a picky eater, something new off the shelf.

The general recommendation is something lower than average in fat, and higher than average in fiber.

I tried home cooking, but worried that each meal would vary too much. Fed dry kibble for years, but recently switching to canned because my Annie is becoming a picky eater. She's 15 years old, diabetic for 8+ years, so I'm allowing her to enjoy her meals

How much does your pup weigh, and which insulin are you using?

Craig

[mmelgren]

Re: Raw food or kibble? Help!

Thanks for responding! She weight approx 9 lbs and we are using Humulin

[jesse girl]

Re: Raw food or kibble? Help!

My Jesse is on a partially raw diet

i think diets like barf maybe difficult to keep consistent with a diabetic dog

jesses partially raw diet has worked but it took a bit of time settling on ingredients for the long haul but i believe it was worth it for jesse

her meals are pretty easy to make . i like to keep it simple and jesse howls for dinner every night so she likes it which is important to me

[amydunn19]

People have had great success with all sorts of diets. Raw might be a problem because each meal should be consistent and repeatable. The meals should be the same every time. Another issue is high protein and high fat in many raw diets. Diabetic dogs need some carbs to work with the type of insulin we use. Even if your dog hasn't had pancreatitis, diabetic dogs are prone to it so higher fat diets should be avoided.

There is no magic food - dogs have done well on prescription, commercial, home cooked and even grocery store brands. The key is consistency and them eating willingly.

[CraigM]

Re: Raw food or kibble? Help!

Thanks for responding! She weight approx 9 lbs and we are using Humulin

Just a comment about your insulin. Most here who had used Humulin-N have switched to Novolin-N from Walmart. Walmart has a contract with Novo Nordisk (huge international insulin company) to sell Novolin-N for about $25/vial. Most of us who switched from Humulin-N to Novolin-N didn't see any difference between the two. Syringes are also low cost at Walmart. Saving $$$ is good!

Depending where you live, you may/may not need a prescription for insulin and syringes. Different laws in different States, even local cities may have their own restrictions.

Although you will be on a low dosage, remember most only use a vial for about 6 weeks and discard the remainder. Hate to toss out a ½ vial of expensive Humulin-N.

Craig

[mmelgren]

Re: Raw food or kibble? Help!

Thanks for the tip: I got my first vial as a donation via the rescue but after that I will definitely check out Walmart. Also, different topic but my Mili keep getting buggers in her eyes and I rinse them every day. They look like a goopy stringy booger... has anyone else experienced this?

[amydunn19]

Re: Raw food or kibble? Help!

It is probably dry eye. Get your vet to do a tear test. It should be pretty cheap. Maggie was on drops twice a day.