Diets for Diabetic Pets
Introduction
If you suspect your dog or cat is showing symptoms of diabetes, your first course of action is to seek advice from your Veterinarian. He or she will advise you on whether or not your pets diabetes can be controlled through diet and exercise, with insulin or a combination of both.
As with humans with diabetes, it is the carbohydrate content of food that is the single most important factor. However, as shown in our GI diet page, not all carbohydrate is the same.
Planning a diet
Some prescription foods are available with increased levels of fiber. However, cats and dogs are not really developed to eat much carbohydrate at all - they are meat eaters naturally.
Check the labels for carbohydrate content and chose amongst the lowest you can find. Current thinking is that carbohydrate should be less than 5% of a cat's diet . The figure for dogs is unavailable at this time. For detailed information on carbohydrate content in commercial pet food, check out the legendary Janet & Binky webpage here.
As a replacement for carbohydrate, protein levels are sometimes raised - this is more common in diabetic cat diets. Be careful to tell your Vet if you are changing food to high protein, as you may need to lower insulin levels as a consequence. In some cases with diabetic cats, switching to high protein / low carb can stabilize glucose levels so that treatment can stop or be vastly reduced.
Home cooked
The main thing with diabetic control is to keep things constant. This is much easier with commercially made pet food, but if you are confident, or perhaps your dog is used to home cooked, it is possible to continue.
When preparing food bear in mind the following:
- Use lean meats (diabetes is harder to control in overweight pets)
- Use low GI carbohydrate, such as wholegrain products or oats
- Never add sugar
- Add vegetables such as carrots, broccoli, spinach and celery
Treats
When you have a diabetic dog or cat, treats come in two types:
- Those that raise glucose levels.
- Those that don't
If you have successfully balanced your pets diabetes control with its main meals, you don't want to give treats that raise glucose levels. Choose treats that are typically hard, like dehydrated meat. Limit treats, don't give in to the begging all the time!
If you suspect your pet has low glucose levels, perhaps after extra vigorous exercise, you can give a sugary treat to bring the blood glucose levels back to normal.
Meal Scheduling
Keeping things constant makes controlling diabetes easier. If you are able to give food at regular times, it is generally better. Your Vet should advise you of the timing between giving insulin and feeding.
Medication is taken prior to a meal to give it time to start working before the food arrives. Once medication is given, it is important to make food available or blood glucose levels may drop very low.
Next, see our Pet Exercise and Weightloss page...
More Resources
Cat Diabetes
[ www.felinediabetes.com
] [ www.sniksnak.com
]
[ www.vetinfo.com
] [ www.petremedy.com
]
Dog Diabetes
[ www.caninediabetes.org
] [ www.vetinfo.com
]
[ www.canismajor.com
]
[ www.sniksnak.com
]
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Pages in this section...
[ Cats ] [ Home Testing Cats ] [ Dogs ] [ Pet Diabetic Diets ] [ Weight & Exercise ]
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