The goal for choosing a dog food for dogs with diabetes is not to “cure” the dog. But instead to minimize the clinical signs and complications that can arise in a diabetic dog. The nutritional management of each individual dog with diabetes is unique. And we can see that consistency is probably the most important factor for successful blood glucose management of diabetic dogs.
On a very basic level diabetes in dogs happens when there are changes to how glucose, fats and amino acids (proteins) are moved around and utilized. Resulting in high blood glucose levels that do not drop into normal levels.
In a healthy dog, after consuming a meal, foods are broken down into glucose by digestive enzymes. The resulting glucose is then absorbed into the bloodstream causes blood glucose to rise. This higher blood glucose signals to the pancreas beta cells that they need to produce insulin. Insulin then works to influence glycogen storage, and glucose uptake by the cells. In the liver glucose is converted to glycogen for storage to utilization later. In tissues glucose is used as an energy source for basic cellular functions. Between both these mechanisms glucose levels return to normal levels within a couple of hours.
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In a diabetic dog insulin isn’t able to do its job of lowering blood glucose. This leads to glucose being unable to be utilized by cells as a source of energy, and blood glucose remains high. The lack of glucose within cells then leads to metabolic starvation.
There are several reasons why insulin may not “work” the way it is supposed to. Some dogs may have one or a combination of factors contributing to their issues with insulin.
Dogs who have diabetes most commonly present between 7-9 years of age. Typically the most common signs you might see as an owner of a dog with diabetes is increased thirst, increased urination, weight loss (though dogs may be emaciated to obese), and cloudy eyes. However there are many other clinical signs that may be present.
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It is important to note which clinicals signs your dog presents with and their severity. Much of the clinical management of diabetes in dogs has to do with management of clinical signs.
Usually veterinarians will diagnose diabetes by a combination of bloodwork (a complete blood cell count with full blood chemistry), along with urinalysis. The reason why veterinarians do not just test suspected diabetic dogs for blood glucose is because there are many other diseases and conditions that can artificially inflate blood glucose values. Including even just stress.
The typical classification system of type 1 and type 2 diabetes doesn’t really apply to dogs (or cats), but diabetes in dogs tends to fit the model for type 1 diabetes closest. In the sense that they require insulin in order to regulate their condition. The full term for this is Insulin Dependent Diabetes Mellitus. Cats on the other hand are closer to type 2 diabetics in the sense that they can go into full remission with diet change alone.
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If you take away nothing from this entire text on the nutritional management of diabetes in dogs, understand this – the diabetic dog thrives with consistency of routine. The most success is seen when a diabetic dog’s feeding times, insulin timing, exercise and snacks are kept as consistent as possible.
We will be going into timing of insulin and meals, dietary composition, safe treats for diabetic dogs, and common concurrent conditions, but consistency is gold.
The timing of insulin and food in the diabetic dog is extremely important, and can sometimes be the hardest thing to keep consistent. Life is busy – owner’s may have other appointments, or commitments that makes the timing of both food and insulin difficult.
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Some dogs who are picky may be extremely difficult to manage with diabetes as it’s hard to know when is the right time to give them their insulin. Dogs may also HATE getting their insulin if there is a negative association with getting their medication.
The first part of an effective management strategy is to consider the owner and the dog’s needs based on their temperament, lifestyle, and needs. Sadly these lifestyle factors lead to almost 20% of diabetic dogs being euthanized within the first year of diagnosis.
If you happen to have a picky dog that has diabetes the best thing you can do is find a diet they LOVE that will make them eat consistently. Considering a canned or fresh food diabetic diet or even a homemade diet may be your best option.
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Basically what this looks like is instead of giving insulin prior to meal and accidently causing hypoglycemia if your pup refuses to eat or doesn’t eat enough – we taper the dose of insulin to the portion of the meal they have eaten.
The ideal diet for a dog with diabetes can vary a lot depending on concurrent medical conditions (like pancreatitis), and body condition (obese vs. emaciated). Because of these concerns there are many “exceptions” to general recommendations for dog food for dogs with diabetes.
For otherwise healthy diabetic dogs – at normal body condition, and who do not have any concurrent medical conditions (like pancreatitis) we typically want to choose diets higher in protein, moderate in fat, and higher in mixed fiber (both soluble & soluble).
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Generally dogs with diabetes should avoid simple carbohydrates, sweeteners (like honey), semi-moist foods (which contain humectants), open-label diets (lack of consistency of products), and added flavors as these may cause issues with regulating blood glucose.
Diabetic dogs should also have as consistent of a routine as possible. Having walks or exercise twice daily, meals twice-daily, and small snacks of fibrous vegetables, fruit or lean proteins.
If tolerable – diabetic dogs should be on a diet that contains moderate to high protein that is highly digestible. The reason why higher protein diets are recommended is because many diabetic dogs can have issues with amino acid metabolism. This is due to metabolic changes associated with the disease process. These changes can cause dogs to have issues with building and maintaining lean muscle mass.
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This couples with the fact that the typical onset of diabetes in dogs is older – 7-9 years of age. And older dogs already tend to have a slightly lowered ability to utilize protein and amino acids due to in the gastrointestinal tract.
For dogs who are overweight and diabetic a higher protein, low fat, high fiber diet may be recommended. This is because this composition helps with satiety and aid in weight loss over time. And as excess body fat can cause insulin resistance in dogs – working towards ideal body condition is very important for blood glucose regulation.
Some of the reasons why we may need to lower protein within a diet would be due to severe pancreatitis, or due to other concurrent conditions like kidney or liver disease.
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If no other concurrent medical conditions aim for diets with 30-35% protein on a caloric basis, with a dry matter protein digestibility of over 82%.
Diabetic dogs are usually advised to be on moderate to low levels of dietary fats. The reason why lower amounts of fats are advised for diabetic dogs is that many dogs who have diabetes also have either pancreatitis or are overweight. There is also some clinical research that suggests that feeding a diabetic dog a higher fat food can cause insulin resistance and greater amount of fat metabolites. However for diabetic dogs who need to gain weight a higher fat, calorically dense food may be advised to assist in weight gain.
According to Small Animal Clinical Nutrition – diabetic dogs should not get more than 25% dry matter, or 45% of calories on a caloric basis coming from fat.
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For dogs with concurrent medical conditions like pancreatitis or obesity fat content should be kept below 10-15% dry matter, or 20-30% on a caloric basis. For dogs with diabetes and pancreatitis the lowered fat content helps decrease stimulus of pancreatic secretion of enzymes, thus helping with inflammation.
For dogs who suffer from obesity, we look for lower-fat diets in order to help aid in weight loss. Fat is the most calorically dense macronutrient, and thus lowering fat content can help reduce caloric density of a diet. Couple this with increased protein to help build lean muscle, and increased fiber to help with satiety and this can greatly help with achieving weight loss goals. Getting an overweight diabetic dog to their ideal body condition can be extremely important as excess body fat can cause insulin resistance in diabetic dogs.
There is no research on the use of omega 3s for diabetic dogs. And though some dogs with diabetes may find omega 3s beneficial, others may find the addition of additional fats to the diet cause issues. In humans the addition of omega 3 fatty acids showed an increase to dysregulation of blood glucose values. So always discuss if supplementation is in your pet’s best interest with your vet.
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General recommendations for carbohydrates for diabetic dogs has a lot of controversy around it. The main reason for this is because we have limited comparative research between low and
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