First of all, I would listen to what your vet says.  Did he put your dog on a prescriptive diet? 

If it were my dog, I would do the prescriptive diet first.  I would discuss with my vet a low carb diet.  Either homemade or something like Eagle Pack USED to be or hopefully, Precise will be for a while.   Or even something like EVO. I don't like the idea of EVO but if I had a diabetic dog, I would discuss it with my vet and see what he says.  Evo is 0 carbs. However, I worry that Evo is too hard on kidneys long term.  My concerns may be unfounded due to it has been out a while and I don't think a lot of dogs are dying from kidney disease on it.

Hi all!

 Thanks for taking the time to respond.

 Limpy eats Natural Balance, mostly canned, but some kibble.  I believe this brand is mostly meat and veggies. And treats are roasted chicken breast meat. Vet has not raised issues with diet at this time. Vet and I have worked closely to get her diet such that blood sugar is well controlled.  Right now I know exactly how much food to give her and the proper dosage of insulin to maintain tight control of blood sugar.  Reluctant to make changes at this time- unless vet directs me.   But I will ask him.

But, in keeping with low carb eating plan, I’m thinking the on-line references that suggest  feeding her orange juice to prevent future UTIs would only cause more problems that it would solve as this would incr. the amount of sugar she consumes.

 Limpy has always consumed a lot of water. She has Cushing’s Disease, which causes her to drink excessive amounts of water.  I always know when it’s time to get her ACTH levels re-checked/meds adjusted for this when she drinks water beyond her normal amounts.   Familiar with Cushing’s? It is usually caused by a tiny tumor on the pituitary gland.  This causes her to body to make an excessive amount of hormones. In turn, this causes her to lose fur around her trunk and to drink a lot of water – and to eat beyond her needs.  We control this with a liquid medication (which she views as a beef-flavored  treat-yummy!).  Also, Cushing’s usually leads to diabetes, which Limpy has. Quite a load for a 12 lb. dog to live with. But she's always chipper-even at 15.

 So I think that leaves me with asking vet about 1/2 tsp apple cider vinegar into her morning food as a possible preventative of UTIs.  I can just see Limpy giving me a funny look when she smells it.

 Irene.

Apr 8, 2010 -- 12:30PM, appy20 wrote:

I would think Natural Balance is an excellent choice for a diabetic dog.  Low carb, quality protein, greap ca/phos level and excellent quality and quantity of fiber.

And tasty too! Or so the dogs tell me. 

Limpy insists I sit next to her at dinner.  Won't eat unless I do.  In between bites, she gives me little dog food-flavored kisses.  So I get a bit of the smell of the food.  Has a kind of smoky essence to it that ain't bad.

Irene.

I think Limpy scored near the top of her class in adorable.

Irene.