Diabetic diet

[Kathy, Harley & Roxie]

This site is such a wealth of information that I'm hoping I can obtain some help my daughter out with her Bull Mastiff that has developed diabetes at the age of 4.  His blood sugar staying in the 400's despite insulin.  Diesel had stopped eating and has lost quite a bit of weight.  She began feeding him 4 small meals a day and he finally gained 4lbs on vet visit today, but blood sugar is unchanged.  They do not feed a high quality food, but are now faced with finding a good diabetic dog food that he will eat in order to control the sugar.  The vet has increased his insulin to the max that he is comfortable with and said next step will be a specialist.  Unfortunately, she does not have pet insurance and if his medical care cost increase dramatically she may be faced with looking into a rescue or having him put down.  Such a sad situation, he is such a gentle giant.  Thanks in advance for your advice. 

[F, Calla & Luca]

I do understand the first part but these numbers were pretty low.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Close enough. I was hoping you would respond to the fat question, too.

[Jane, Guinness and Murphy]

In Lew Olson's book she talks about how Diabetic dogs are more prone to Pancreatitis.  I think that's what is behind the "moderate" fat recommendation.  I absolutely need to keep Guinness's fat content under 10%. 

[F, Calla & Luca]

That's an interesting connection that I'll have to read more about.

[Jane, Guinness and Murphy]

Here's what she says....

The pancreas is in charge of producing insulin to control blood glucose levels.  It's not surprising to learn that pancreatitis and diabetes are closely linked.  Dogs with diabetes are often prone to pancreatitis and vice versa.

She doesn't elaborate any further than that.

[F, Calla & Luca]

I found some other good info. The reason I looked is that pancreatitis involves the pancreas itself, the part that produces enzymes and makes up most of it. The insulin secreting cells are produced in small islets within the pancreas. But if the pancreas gets severely damaged from pancreatitis the islets can be involved. Still not sure why diabetes might lead to pancreatitis. To be continued....

http://petdiabetes.wikia.com/wiki/Pancreatitis#cite_note-5

[Jane, Guinness and Murphy]

Check this one out...could help to explain why diabetes could lead to pancreatitis..

http://petdiabetes.wikia.com/wiki/Pancreatitis

[F, Calla & Luca]

Thanks, I saw this but the link to the study produced a virtually illegible document. So I still don't know why yet.

[F, Calla & Luca]

This is the best I could find so far. The association is with diabetic ketoacidosis, a serious complication of diabetes, when the blood sugar soars. So I don't think well controlled diabetics necessarily have a higher incidence of pancreatitis but I don't know this for a fact.

http://www.nature.com/ajg/journal/v95/n10/abs/ajg20001434a.html

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Dogs with IBD are at higher risk for developing pancreatitis, too. Also Gastric Volvolus (Bloat). So maybe that's a reason for restricting fat for them, too.