More Supplies for Your Diabetic Dog
We covered what I consider to be the “mandatory” basics in the last post. In this post we will cover the rest of the “what you should probably have on hand” supplies.
Ketone strips: these are the urine strips that you will use to be sure that your dog is not building ketones because of high numbers. I kept a designated ladle with my supplies to use for this purpose. I don’t think that I need to explain why it was designated (lol). My Max had his favorite spots to lift his leg in the back yard. I would try to beat him there and nonchalantly slip the ladle into his urine stream while looking off in the distance. After the first few times of him looking at me as if to say, “Mama, what are you DOING?” it became second nature. I’d dip the strip in the collected urine and read the strip at exactly 15 seconds. Thankfully the highest reading that I ever saw was a “trace” of ketones, which can be treated by just encouraging water. I had a little “never fail” method that I will share in a minute.
From the Grocery Store:
Pure Pumpkin (not the pie filling) – this will help with diarrhea or constipation when given in small amounts. Many will freeze a bit of non-fat plain yogurt with pure pumpkin for a treat. Just a warning, if you have carpet, you may want to feed these treats in the kitchen where the aftermath is easily cleaned up!
Pepcid – many diabetic pups are nauseous before meals, breakfast especially, likely due to a buildup of stomach acids. So keep some Pepcid around to give just before bed or 30-45 minutes before a meal. The generic version of this is called Famotidine and can be used as well. Dosing is as follows:
- under 20 lbs., give ¼ of a 10mg. tablet
- 20-60 lbs., give ½ of a 10mg tablet
- Over 60 lbs., give 1- 10mg tablet.
- As with all medications, check with your vet.
Chicken Breast and Rice – always good to have some chicken breast in the freezer for those days that your pup just will not eat their regular food. Skipping meals isn’t an option for a diabetic dog.
Food Toppers (what we use to entice our pups to eat their whole meal) :
Parmesan Cheese (Kraft Brand) – Remember above when I said that I had a “never fail” method to get my boy to drink water? Well, here it is… I would get a small bowl, fill it with fresh water and sprinkle some Parmesan Cheese in the water. Worked like a charm. My Max was very food motivated so I rarely had trouble getting him to eat his full meal, but on those days that I did, a sprinkle of Parmesan Cheese and he belonged to the “clean plate” club.
Baby Food – I always had cases of Beechnut Baby Food that were just meat and broth (chicken, turkey and beef) on hand. I would mix them with warm water and make gravy to mix into his kibble if needed.
Vegetable Baby Food – Many people give their sugar babies frozen green beans as treats. My Max wouldn’t touch them fresh, frozen or in any form. Oddly, he loved organic green bean baby food. Go figure!
Sardines or Tuna packed in water – these can also be used as a “topper” to encourage eating a full meal. The water can be used to encourage your pup to eat or drink also.
Chicken Breast or ground turkey – these can be used to sprinkle on the regular meal to encourage your pup to finish their meal so that they can get their full dose of insulin. I cut the cooked chicken breast into cubes for his testing treats and shot treats. Then I would put the rest in the food processor to sprinkle over my boys meals, yup, my non-diabetic got some too. You can keep the water that you cooked the chicken in to add to food also.