I have a diabetic miniature poodle who will no longer eat his prescription dog food. I’m looking to buy a high fiber natural or organic dog food for him. I’m looking for someone who really knows what they’re talking about and knows dogs, possibly a vet or vet tech. He’s been having diaherra and overall he is fairly skinny right now and we’re trying to help him gain weight while not making his blood sugar go crazy. Any thoughts?
Rather than switch his entire diet, you may actually be able to tweak it a bit so he’ll eat it – but also consider whether there is an underlying cause for his unwillingness to eat it.
Let the vet know what is happening, and ask them if there is anything they should check – this may just be a bad sense of taste in general, or perhaps he is having problems with his teeth – or is he on a medication such as antibiotics that could mess it up?
Whatever you do, keep in mind that raw meat can carry very bad illnesses that your dog can get in his compromised state, and can also pass on to you and your family. I would never feed any raw meat to an unwell dog.
If all else looks good, you can also speak to the vet about adding some fiber to his diet, but stay away from canned pumpkin pie filling that we usually use for this – it probably has too much sugar in it for him. You could add a small amount of fiber products made for humans after you discuss it with the vet and read the label – make absolutely sure it is only fiber, and no sweeteners, artificial or otherwise. You could also just give him some cooked green beans.
Speak to the vet about supporting his GI tract with probiotics – he may not have the right environment in his gut to support his own bacteria, and that is what breaks down his food so he can absorb it. That is why he is losing weight. Probiotics are usually in paste or powder form, and can be safely added to just about any dog’s diet – it’ll only help.
It may be that you need to add some fat to his diet, but disccus this with the vet before you do it – it may be that if you get the probiotics in him, he will absorb enough of his regular food to make the difference, and if it’s an absorption problem, the stuff in his bowl won’t translate into more weight, no matter what it is.
As for palatibility, or taste, you could store the food with some extra tasty stuff added, so it absorbs the new taste and makes it more interesting. Storing a cup of food overnight in the fridge with a teaspoon of tuna fish tossed around in it can make it much more intriguing!
A few drops of real cod liver oil will do the same thing, while adding virtually nothing to the food…you can also stick a strip of bacon in the plastic container overnight, as long as it is well drained, and discard it before feeding him the kibble.
You can always add some fat-free chicken or beef broth and soak the kibble overnight – anything to make it taste different. If you make up a few batches with different flavors, it may be more interesting than just doing one at a time.
It may be that a holistic vet can help you with his GI tract – there are many amino acids and other factors that can be balanced with supplements, and this particular problem can lend itself better to a vet who uses adjunct therapies rather than whatever a large manufacturer produces for XYZ problem – it isn’t the full picture. It’s amazing what they can do with a little glutamine and probiotic paste…
Anyway, it’s a tough problem you have and it will take some tweaking – good luck!
Most Vets carry a diabetic dog food in dry and can or call a local holistic pet store aka health food store that carrys pet supplys
3 foods to choose from:
Orijen – awesome food, high protein
EVO – Dogs love the taste, high protein
Wellness Core – grain free and not as high of protein
Or you can go all raw.
I say try EVO. I have had amazing results with it, but all three are amazing foods.
http://www.naturapet.com
Home made raw. The only way to go especially in your case.
Nature’s Variety Prairie has 3.9% fiber I believe. If you are looking to add fiber to his diet, you can add some canned pumpkin (100% pumpkin, not pumpkin pie mix) to his kibble. My dog’s vet recommended a tablespoon in each meal for my small breeds.
ADDED: While the high protein foods that the others recommended are great foods, smaller dogs often cannot handle them and end up getting diarrhea from them.
Look for Nutro Natural Choice or Ultra. It’ll be rough switching food, though, since it’s supposed to be gradual. But since he isn’t eating now that may not be possible so look into the food. Maybe he’ll eat it.
You can also make his meals, which is the healthiest alternative. I googled it for you:
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=make+your+own+dog+food&btnG=Search
If you purchased dog food from a store you don’t know what you are getting. There was a documentary on recently that proved that most commercial dog food contains ingredients you would not eat yourself, including sawdust, and woodchips. I personally don’t buy anything from a store, I buy everything from my vet clinic.
I have a Chihuahua and a Pom and both eat Wellness Core so whatever the other person was talking about high protein foods and little dogs is crap.
I would only get High Protein FOOD….as the rest of the stuff isn’t worth the money you spend. you can also go the raw food way which is brilliant.
EVO and Wellness Core are prefect for your dog. Nutro, grocery store food and vet prescribed food is not the way to go.
my sisters shitz-a-poo was was recently diagnosed diabetic. She found Halo brand canned lamb or beef one of the highest in fiber. buy it at petco.
one of the easiest high fiber things you can add to his food is canned pumpkin – not pumpkin pie filling, just pumpkin. It firms up a loose stool and loosens up a constipated animal and mine love it. not many calories in there but as a supplement it does a nice job of making things easy.