Not only humans that can get diabetes, but dogs can too! That is why it is very important to protect your loved ones and do extensive research. Knowing more about your dog’s conditions will make you aware of the situation. Hence you would not end up harming your dogs.
It is very imporatnt for you to give them the right kind of treats as well as nutrition. Nutrition is not only seen from its staple food as a dog. But also from other kinds of things such as vitamins as well as treats.
Who says diabetic dogs cannot live its best life? Well today we are going to teach you how to take care of your diabetic dog. So read ahead and we hope that you have a nice read on our website.
Situation to Understand from Diabetic Dogs
Diabetes mellitus (DM) or generally called diabetes is a disease caused by high levels of sugar in the blood. This disease is caused by disorders to your dog’s pancreas. Which is an organ that responsible for regulating sugar in the body. The pancreas uses two kinds of hormones to regulate sugar.
The hormones glucagon and insulin released by the pancreas function to break down sugar from the tissues into the blood and vice versa. In diabetes, there is an insufficient amount of insulin which functions to regulate blood sugar storage to the tissues due to the failure of insulin formation by the pancreas. So that sugar in the blood accumulates and is not properly mobilized to all body tissues.
Due to excess blood sugar, the kidneys are also affected so that some of the sugar is excreted with urine, so it is called diabetes. Normally, sugar is not excreted with urine, but is stored in body tissues. This is harmful for your dog. That is why it is very important to keep the blood sugar low. As this information will be the main focus of today’s article.
Symptoms of Dogs With Diabetes
- Increased consuption of water.
- Will pee and urinate a lot more.
- Have a higher apetite for food.
- Unpredictable weight gain and loss.
Essential Nutrition for Diabetic Dogs
- High Protein Diets
Provide a good diet with the right feed, one of which is a high protein diet with low sugar levels. Research each time you choose a feed for your dog, as most dog foods are high in carbohydrates and low in protein (only from starches and grains with a high carbohydrate content).
Do not overfeed, because obesity can lead to diabetes. Usually dogs will consume 40-60 calories per kilogram of body weight or depending on physical activity. So feed the dog sufficiently as needed.
High protein diets are effective because protein itself has a lot of energy. Protein can be the other source of energy for your dog without having to increase the blood sugar levels. But protein itself may not be enough. That is why you still need high protein diets and a mix of some carbs.
- High Fiber Nutrition
Add fruits and vegetables as a source of vitamins and fiber, because adequate fiber can help digest sugar in the body. Although fruit contains sugar, it will not raise blood sugar levels significantly like carbohydrates from flour or whole grains.
Always consult your veterinarian about the diet you are going to give your dog. High fiber nutrition will be effective because it is not made of complex sugar. Complex sugar are the ones you would find in grains as well as pellets.
Try to keep your dog active so that blood sugar levels can be reduced as a source of energy. In addition to breaking down blood sugar as a source of energy, physical exercise can help you lose weight.
But remember, when you do exercise, your dog is not tired even though you were tired first. So make sure your dog is really doing good physical exercise. You can check our article about the best exercise for dogs with diabetes.
- Potato Based Carbohydrate
For a diabetic dog’s diet, you can provide super premium dog food which mostly contains 92% protein from duck and fish. With a high protein, grain and gluten free formulation, these types of feed can help protect your dog’s body from obesity.
Apart from protein, it is also important to consider a source of carbohydrates from potatoes that are low in sugar (non-diabetic formula) so that it will keep blood sugar levels safe. Premium dog foods will have all of these that you need.
- Herbal Extracts and Antioxidants
Fruit and herbal extracts that are rich in antioxidants to help metabolize sugar in your dog’s body. But it may be challenging to integrate your dog’s diet with this antioxidants. Find remedies for your vomiting dog because they will often throw up those antioxidants.
This is something hard to find especially in the form of dog food. Some types of pellets or dog food will already include this. But if not, then you can try getting natural herbs as well as fruits.
Research on specific types of food that will increase the metabolism in your body. These kinds of nutrition can indirectly help digest food as well as blood sugar for your dogs. In many cases, this nutrition can boost your dog’s immune system.
- Low Fat Food for Dogs
Low fat food can ease the digestive systems of a dog. The current situation of diabetic dogs is that they are having a hard time to digest sugar. Let alone break down complex lipids or fat. This is why it is suggested for dog owners to provide and look for other kinds of alternative. As of right now, there are so many kinds of low fat food.
We have mentioned before that low fat food can start from things such as high protein. But what we are talking about here is not just any protein. There are different kinds of meat that you can feed. Some of which are lean meat especially chicken breasts.
You may find these kinds of protein products integrated within the pellets that you will use to feed your dogs. Feel free to look for more alternatives and we hope that this guide can help you provide a better situation for your diabetic dogs.
We hope this might resolve and alleviate your situation. Stay tune for more articles and watch out for other diseases such as Urinary Incontinence in Dogs and Heat stroke in dogs.