<p>My 11yo dachshund, Sammy, has developed diabetes. He now gets a shot twice a day (thankfully, he is a trooper!)</p>
<p>I’m asking those who’ve been thru this if you’ve found a dog food that you think works best for this. Our vet recommended a several, so I thought I’d ask y’all if you’ve found one that seems to be best. </p>
<p>Thanks everyone!</p>
<p>Our dog was diabetic for a long time and also had two shots a day. We had a hard time with him because he started refusing his dog food pretty much no matter what we tried right around the time he was diagnosed. He got fed a lot of baked chicken breast, and some strange thing his vet recommended… I think it was boiled ground beef, rice, and cottage cheese. It was a long time ago, he passed away in 2009 but he lived to be 16 which is VERY old for his breed.</p>
<p>The important thing for us was testing his urine every day and measuring his water intake, those were the signs that he needed his insulin adjusted-- especially the water, that threw up red flags before it showed in his urine tests. He did very well for a very long time. It is good that your dog is good about the shots, mine was not!</p>
<p>My labbie, who died years ago, had diabetes. We feed her rice and ground beef. She wasn’t difficult about getting her shots and lived for several years after diagnosis. She was a pretty big dog and needed quite a lot of insulin and it was very expensive for us at the time. </p>
<p>I’m not sure how to measure his water intake accurately since other pets (another dog and two cats also drink). But, what alerted me to the issue at first was that I noticed he was drinking/peeing a lot.</p>
<p>My yellow lab was diagnosed with diabetes in July 2012. We fed her prescription kibble (DCO Double Fiber) and gave her insulin shots twice per day. She was 12 years old when she was diagnosed; she was so sick before we got her into treatment (we were out of town when she went waaay downhill). We had her for another year and a half before she died when a large abdominal mass was detected that was attached to her spleen suddenly detached and resulted in internal bleeding/shock (October 21, 2013). That was not likely related to her diabetes but probably a metastasis of a cancer she had a few years prior.</p>
<p>Her diabetes was well controlled with the DCO and insulin.</p>
<p>I really miss her and think of her often. 
I hope your pup does well with treatment.</p>
<p>Our sweet black Lab was diagnosed with diabetes just over a year ago at age 9. We feed her Hill’s W/D- a reduced fat, glucose management formula which allows us to give her the volume of food she craves. That may not be an issue with a dachshund. It took us quite a while to get her insulin dosage correct but she is now doing quite well. It helps to have a patient and communicative vet! Best of luck to you and Sammy.</p>
<p>Thanks for all the responses. :)</p>
<p>Sammy is doing well - so far. He doesn’t seem to be aware of his shots (thank goodness!)</p>
<p>I did buy the Hill’s W/D prescription glucose mgmt formula.</p>
<p>the insulin isn’t pricey which was a surprise. He’s 20 lbs so he doesn’t need much. A $25 bottle will last 2 months. The syringes (100) were $20 and will last 50 days. Frankly, I didn’t know what to expect. </p>
<p>Because the vet wanted him to be on insulin immediately, and all the storms have caused HUGE delivery delays for canine insulin, he’s on human insulin…fllled the Rx at Costco…very cheap! :)</p>
<p>I now need some healthy diabetic-friendly “treats” for Sammy. He sees that his “little sister” gets treaties and I hesitate to give him anything but a broken piece of a chicken jerky treat (no simple carbs). </p>
<p>What diabetic-friendly treats have you found? </p>
<p>Hi, Mom2. We use our girl’s kibble (Hill’s WD) for treats and some bits of boiled chicken breast. </p>
<p>^^</p>
<p>Does your girl eat the kibble for her regular diet as well?</p>
<p>I’m thinking of this strategy…if the treats will be given shortly around injection times, then they can be some of his favorites. If the treats are given in the middle of the day, I’ll stick to chicken. I’ll verity with his vet on Monday. </p>
<p>Last night we had a scare. Sammy’s blood sugar dropped and he had some tremors…noticeably around his paws when standing and with his floppy ears. </p>
<p>Thankfully, we had friends over at the time and one of the people knew to give him Karo’s Corn Syrup, which thankfully we had on hand. After that I looked online for other options and saw: cake icing (lol), sugar juices, honey, and ice cream…this was from a very good Vet school. He’s 20 lbs, so he was given 1 tsp…which I thought was a lot. </p>
<p>A good point was made…even if the dog won’t/can’t eat it, rub it on their lips and the sugars will absorb. I put the corn syrup on a treatie and Sammy ate it right up. It said never force down their throats out of fear of aspiration into the lungs. </p>
<p>I put a couple of Duck Sauce Chinese packets in my purse in case needed while on the go. Those contain fructose syrup. </p>
<p>I now have changed his eating schedule a bit. I was told to feed him at the time of injections, but now I’m feeding him about 20 minutes before…to give his blood sugars a chance to rise, and then letting the insulin do its work. </p>
<p>And, thank goodness he’s a doxie. They are such troopers when it comes to shots. He doesn’t seem to even notice. </p>
<p>I know this is weird to relate to dogs, but hey! I’m diabetic and here are a few things I’ve learned about my control. First, there’s a huge difference among the grains: rice, wheat, or corn. Find out what’s in the diabetic diet food. Next, keep the carbs down. Finding what to substitute is tricky. For me, it’s vegies. Some misconceptions: It helps to add some fat to your diet. It keeps the gycemic index lower, which means my blood sugar don’t go through such peaks as it once did. For example, I only drink whole milk and feel okay about smearing butter onto my toast, not jelly. My control is much, much better with whole foods, especially nuts, fruits and vegies. Protein, while not having any natural glucose, does afffect blood sugars. </p>
<p>M2ck, you mentioned you have insulin for a 2 month period. If this is one vial - No, no, no. Insulin becomes toxic after the vial has been opened for more than a month. This is true even if you keep it in the fridge. Watch to be sure it’s clear / not cloudy. I may be too casual, but I use syringes more than once.</p>
<p>One thing we noticed with our dog is that his insulin stopped being effective sooner than it was supposed to expire. I don’t remember how long it lasted, he died years ago now, but we would start to notice in his sugar tests that he was becoming more difficult to keep stable by simply adjusting the doses like usual and that signaled it was time for a new bottle. </p>
<p>We normally realized this was happening from his urine tests before he became symptomatic. He was tested before each shot so we could give the correct dose. I don’t remember timing his meals around his shots, he got his shots at 7am and 7pm, but if that’s what your vet said to do it’s probably important. What youre doing sounds logical to me.</p>
<p>“M2ck, you mentioned you have insulin for a 2 month period. If this is one vial - No, no, no. Insulin becomes toxic after the vial has been opened for more than a month. This is true even if you keep it in the fridge. Watch to be sure it’s clear / not cloudy. I may be too casual, but I use syringes more than once.”</p>
<p>Really? Glad to know that. I will talk to my vet because she said that the bottle would last 2 months. Hmm. I will ask for sure!</p>
<p>As an aside, I thought it was interesting that she made it very clear to never shake the bottle. If mixing is needed, gently roll or gently turn upside down…never shake. I don’t know why, but she said that shaking destroys it. Wonder why???</p>
<p>Interesting that you use a syringe more than once. You must sanitize between? Otherwise, wouldn’t you get some tiny bits of blood into your bottle when reusing?</p>
<p>I got them at Costco…cheap enough that I don’t feel the need to reuse. </p>
<p>"One thing we noticed with our dog is that his insulin stopped being effective sooner than it was supposed to expire. "</p>
<p>Interesting. I’ll pay attention to this!</p>
<p>Mom2 - yes, our pup has the Hills kibble for her meals and enjoys them as a treat too. That said, she’s a Lab so she likes most everything. We also give her veggies as treats, which she loves - raw spinach is her favorite.</p>
<p>“We also give her veggies as treats, which she loves - raw spinach is her favorite.”</p>
<p>Interesting. Never thought to give a dog spinach. However, both my dogs like to eat grass. I’ll try it. If he won’t eat it, his little sister will…she eats anything.</p>
<p>I don’t think I could get away with giving Sammy some of his regular food as a treat. lol He has high expectations…he’s an entitled sort. lol </p>
<p>Our vet told us to roll the insulin, too. </p>