Diabetic Dog

[mapleleaf]

Hello everyone

I am a newbie.....and this is my first post.
I have a 12 yr old golden retriever.....and recently she started loosing her eye sight and has been diagonised as a diabetic.
because of the diabetes she has developed catract (which is irr-reversible).
The vet has ruled out surgery,one because of her age and secondly in India vets are not very confident about performing the surgery.
So we have decided to go for insulin injections daily to control her sugar levels ( i m dreading that also...it will be very difficult to inject her everyday).
Can anyone plz suggest what kind of a diet regime we should follow for her, we guys are vegies so no meat or fish ,but she does take egg.

Our whole house has become dull and sad since she has been diagonesd with diabetes and has lost her vision..........and even in this time she has raised our spirits....she is adjusting well to the loss of vision and has started coming back to her cheerful self( afer the initial shock).

Its a very difficult time for all of us.........incase any one has suggestions about the diet for diabetic dogs..................plz let me know.

[CTChin]

I found this site which lists natural diets for diabetic dogs. Unfortunately all contain some sort of meat.

http://www.petdiabetes.org/home_cooking.htm

[mapleleaf]

thanks CTChin , our vet has suggested dog food for diabetic dogs......which we will be getting from australia as it is not availble in India. Meanwhile we have stated upwith insulin injects.....it seemed so diffcult but she has taken to the injections very well and we are also getting better at injecting !!

For anyone else going thru a similar situation i would say plz go ahead with the Insulin injections if your vet suggesets it, because its really not as difficult as it sounds........and does wonders for your dog

[rivensmom]

Hi, I'm a newbie too and this is my first post/reply. I have a 12 year old cat diagnosed with diabetes about 4 months ago. Milo was getting very thin and scruffy looking when I took him to the vets. I was relieved to find out it was diabetes and not cancer. The shots are no problem at all. I just wait till he's busy eating and give them sub-q. He barely notices I've done anything. He is no longer allowed any between meals snacks but other than that it's not a big deal. He has gained weight and looks and feels his old self. I would be concerned about enforcing a vegetarian regime for an animal not designed for it. Pets don't always appreciate our ideologies. Dogs have evolved to be opportunistic feeders and that often includes carrion and fresh kill. Don't get me wrong. I think we could get an awful lot of people to be vegans if they had to raise their own meat on the hoof. A few months of looking a calf in the eye every day could put you off McDonalds for life. lol