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What to feed your Diabetic Dog |
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First lets look at the dietary needs of a dog. Domestic dogs are closest genetically to the wolf. More importantly wolves and domestic dogs also have identical digestive tracts and are members of the carnivore family. Thus, dogs need to eat a carnivore diet – meat.
Before processed dry dog foods were put on the market, dogs were given table scrapes, raw meat, eggs and bones. The nutrients found in these foods are not found in processed dog foods, as the processing and cooking destroys them. The popularity of processed dry dog foods for the public is mainly convenience and the result of good marketing ads.
Dry dog foods are mainly cereal, consisting of a large part of corn, wheat, rice and soy. While dog food companies would have you believe that grains are a good source of protein, the fact is that dogs have a very difficult time digesting and utilizing the protein from these types of carbohydrates.
These carbohydrates are simply glucose molecules hooked end-to-end in long chains. Your dog’s normal digestive tract breaks down these chains into the individual sugar molecules, which passes through the intestinal wall and loads up the dog’s bloodstream with sugar
Now what do you feed your diabetic dog? Feeding you diabetic dog dry food, even if labeled for diabetic dogs, is the same as filling you dog’s bowl with sugar.
The closer you bring your pet's diet to what it would normally be in the wild, the fewer will be the health issues its body will have to face as it grows older.
There is nothing magical about a diabetes-management diet for your dog other than finding foods that are low in carbohydrates.
Bob Held is the Founder and President of the Wellness Support Network The Wellness Support Network’s mission is to help pets with health challenges such as Diabetes. This includes a diabetic medical food to lower blood sugar and addresses the causes for high blood sugar. (http://www.petremedy.com) The company also address neuropathy which can be side effects of the Diabetic condition.
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