Molly’s High Fibre Diet.
Diabetics need lots of fibre, the right sort
of fibre is very important for diabetes.
Soluble fibre is better than insoluble, so we use fresh
vegetables. The fibre should
also be in a form that the stomach can
use. A
good juice extractor does this
perfectly and by removing most of the water we also reduce the
bulk. We researched and experimented
with all types of fibre until we found what suited Molly
best.
Molly has two meals a day each comprising 6 ounces of fresh raw vegetables (2 ounces broccoli stalk, 2 ounces swede and 2 ounces of carrot) plus 6 ounces of Skinner's Dog Meal and 1.5 ounces of fresh raw beef mince meat (from the butchers). The food is prepared fresh for each meal, because it is fed raw we take great care over freshness. The vegetables are put through the juice extractor and the whole meal is fed warm by mixing the Skinner's with warm water (to a solid form – not wet or sloppy) and then adding the vegetables and meat. Skinner's is ideal because it is high in carbohydrate, low in fat and has lots of insoluble fibre. Afterwards Molly has a piece of carrot to crunch.
NOTES:
Old English Sheepdogs are notorious for their sensitive tummies, and
Molly is no exception! She already enjoyed Skinner's Dog Meal (as do
our other dogs, non diabetic); it is kind on the stomach and is a blend of
natural ingredients, it is also easy to mix with other ingredients because
it is a dry food, not
pelleted.
There is a suitable quantity of insoluble fibre already in the Skinner's
Dog
Meal.
Molly has no pancreatic damage, but if she had, a high fibre diet might
be too much strain on the
pancreas.
Having established which vegetable fibre Molly liked best and could
tolerate, we formulated a high fibre diet by taking all the ingredients back
to their dry weights (bearing in mind that Skinner's is a complete food and
by adding other ingredients the basic formula is diluted). We must
say a huge thank-you to the lady at Skinner's for her help in answering
our endless
questions.
We got through numerous juice extractors, cracking bowls, baskets,
etc. Like everything else, the more you pay the better the
equipment! Food processors do not do the same job, no matter how good
they are. Cooking the vegetables would be OK but we decided this would
retain too much water, be too bulky and only add a small amount of extra
fibre.
Once the vegetables have been juiced, we use them straight away as they
oxidise rapidly after
juicing.
The change in diet was then introduced very slowly. We gradually
replaced the meat (Molly was previously eating 1 lb of fresh beef per day)
with the vegetables. As we changed the diet from a high protein diet
to a high fibre diet it became very evident that the diabetes became more
and more regulated and all the time we were able to reduce the insulin
requirement.
Molly doesn’t get, need, or expect snacks or treats in between
meals. The extra fibre in the diet means that the food is absorbed
more
slowly. The final bonus for us is a diet that has mostly fresh ingredients, we know where it all came from and Molly likes it! (It’s also good for us, you can guess we eat a lot of broccoli!). Skinner's Dog Meal is our personal choice of food, we would like to make it clear that we are neither sponsored by Skinner's or affiliated to them.
IMPORTANT........
Changes to a dogs diet can have a devastating effect on a diabetic
dog. Diet is one of the key
elements of diabetic regulation. |
