Similar to us humans, diabetes is a prevalent health condition amongst pet dogs too. Diabetes mellitus is the most common type of canine diabetes, which is observed in obese and older pet dogs. Normally, some common reasons like obesity, heredity issues, and an unhealthy diet, are mainly responsible for canine diabetes. Changing the regular dog food is the main thing that you need to do, when it comes to treating dogs with diabetes. Most of the pet owners prefer dry dog food as they find it a convenient and time saving option. While some other pet owners choose dry dog food because of time constrictions, if you are also thinking of feeding your diabetic dog with dry food, then the following information is a must read for you. After the pet food recall incident of 2007, the quality of most of the commercial dog food brands has become questionable. One needs to be very careful while choosing commercial dog food even for the hearty and healthy dogs. And when it comes to finding the best food for the dogs with special health conditions, your responsibility gets doubled as a loving pet owner. If you ask a veterinarian, he would not advocate feeding dry foods to a diabetic dog. There are various reasons and considerations behind this. Let's find out more.
Are Dry Foods Healthy for Diabetic Dogs?
When it comes to diabetic dog food, you need to avoid the products that contain high levels of carbohydrates and fats. It means that one should include low fat meats, boneless and skinless meats, select vegetables, fruits and grains, and a few nutritional supplements; in the dog food. It also means that the products that are made of fatty meats, baked goods including commercial dog treats, and all the food products that contain various forms of sugar and carbohydrates, should be completely omitted. There are two types of carbohydrates, namely, simple carbohydrates and complex carbohydrates. Simple carbohydrates are the unhealthy carbohydrates that should be excluded from a diabetic dog diet. Surprisingly, most of the commercial dry dog food brands and dog treat brands contain loads of simple carbohydrates, that are harmful for the dogs that are suffering with diabetes. Most of the dry dog food products contain high levels of bone meal and grain meal, artificial food additives, preservatives and artificial food sweeteners. All these products make dry and commercial dog foods very unhealthy for diabetic dogs.
How to Choose Healthy Dry Foods for Diabetic Dogs
To be frank, one should avoid giving commercial dog food to dogs suffering from diabetes. Since these are factory produced foods that are prepared in a batch, you personally can't be sure that they are made without the harmful dog food ingredients. Still, there are certain dry dog food manufacturers who guarantee you about 100% diabetes friendly products. In such cases, you may consult the veterinarian and choose brands that he recommends as the best diabetic dog food for your pet. A few specialty brands like Hills Science diet, Organix Dog Food, Nature's Best, Newman's Own Advanced Natural Dog Food, Purina Veterinary Diets DCO Diabetic Dog Food, Solid Gold Northwest Natur-Bones Dog Biscuits for Diabetic Dogs, and such other brands do provide healthier dry dog foods that are suitable for diabetic dogs.
Apart from the aforementioned brands, if you have to choose commercial dog food, then opt for the brands that do not contain sugar and high levels of fats. When I say sugar, you need to search for all the forms of sugar like sucrose, fructose, sweet syrups, cane sugar, corn syrup, maple syrup, sugar caramel, dl-alpha tocopheryl acetate, sorbitol, molasses, and other such names that are listed on the food label. Avoid foods that contain carbohydrate sources like fermentation grains, potatoes, malted barley, soy flour, grain meals, oatmeal, etc. Understand the fact that some dry dog food brands do endorse their products to be sugar-free and carbohydrate-free, but they do include them in hidden forms and provide such alternative names for sugar and carbohydrates. Hence, make sure that you are not falling for such marketing strategies and are choosing the foods that are really healthy for your dog.
How to Make Homemade Dry Food
Yes, you can definitely make a few dry dog foods at home that are useful for diabetic dogs. To prepare these foods, always use natural ingredients and avoid the usage of any artificial flavorings and sweeteners. But most importantly, do not use dry food as the only food source for diabetic dogs. If you have to feed them dry food, then make sure that it is used as a complementary food. You can use it as a dog treat. Many veterinarians also advocate feeding diabetic dogs with raw meat diet, with raw vegetables, and small amounts of brown rice. When it comes to feeding them home cooked food, make sure that it is specially prepared for them and is not your leftover food.
Recipe 1
Ingredients
Add chicken stock, beaten egg and bacon grease in a medium-sized bowl and blend with help of a blender. Then add the remaining ingredients to the bowl and keep blending until the mixture gets a smooth texture. Roll that dough so that it forms a thickness of of an inch. Then cut out various shapes of that dough with help of the pizza cutter or cookie cutter and place them side by side in buttered cookie sheet. Bake them for around 20 minutes, at 350F. Store the cookies in an airtight container when they get cool. |
Recipe 2
Ingredients
Chop all the ingredients and serve to the dog. You can store it in the refrigerator and feed it to the dog by thawing it. However, remember that this recipe should make up only 30% of your dog's daily diet. So, you can change the quantity of the ingredients if you wish. |
As I said earlier, commercially available dry foods are helpful only when they are prescribed or recommended by the veterinarian. Also, do not overfeed your dog, and stop feeding the regular prescribed medications (if any).
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