Diabetes in your dog

Specialty foods formulated for dogs with diabetes contain the right balance of soluble and insoluble fibre, helping your dog’s system modulate carbohydrate absorption and avoid postprandial spikes in blood sugar after eating.

In studies conducted by Nelson (1991, 1998, 2000) and Graham (1994, 2000), diabetic dogs’ blood glucose levels improved after they ate foods containing more soluble and insoluble fibre.

That’s because fibre slows the digestion of carbohydrates, helping stabilize your dog’s blood sugar after meals and prevent post-meal hyperglycemia.

Being overweight doesn’t increase a dog’s chances of developing diabetes, but it can make the condition harder to manage.

Excess body fat can lead to insulin resistance—when the same amount of insulin no longer works as well. If your dog is on the heavy side, we strongly encourage you to help Fido lose weight over time once their condition is under control.

On the flip side, diabetes can also make a dog lose too much weight. If that’s the case, monitor their treatment plan to help them regain a healthy weight, but be sure not to overcorrect or they’ll start packing on the pounds.

Your dog is at their ideal weight. Great! Now you just have to maintain it. With the change in diet, you’ll have to adjust their serving sizes to keep their weight stable.

Your veterinary team is a great source of information. They can recommend diabetic dog food with the right calorie density depending on whether your four-legged friend needs to gain or lose weight or simply maintain it.

One advantage of therapeutic diets is that specialty foods are subject to stricter manufacturing protocols, so their formulas are more consistent and don’t vary from batch to batch like foods carried in grocery and pet stores might.

When you’re caring for a diabetic dog, a steady diet is key to managing the disease. Feeding Fido the same food at the same time every day also helps their body regulate blood sugar.

Nutritional intervention is the most effective non-pharmacological treatment for sugar diabetes and is essential to managing your dog’s condition.

One of the main differences between diabetes in a dog versus a human is that in most cases, you don’t need to monitor your dog’s blood sugar on a daily basis. Your dog’s insulin dosage and administration schedule are determined in advance and will only change according to your vet’s follow-up recommendations.

So you’re in charge of keeping your dog’s blood sugar stable day to day, and the best way to do that is through what and how you feed them.

A change in the nutritional composition of their food and the energy it provides or a change in mealtime could offset the combined benefits of a tailored diet and insulin therapy. This could pose health risks for your canine companion.