He is on a gluten-free diet so the dog food cannot contain glycoproteins of dairy, wheat, gluten, casein, soy, corn, MSG (monosodium glutamate), or aspartame. I would like to keep using his current brand, Nutro Natural Choice Adult Lamb and Rice Dog Food but he’s so thirsty afterwards-all day. I can’t afford to keep giving him chicken and rice so I need a low-sodium alternative. I’ve called the local pet stores, they don’t have anything. And I’ve looked online. The w/d diet is way too much $. 50.00 for a 30lb bag. So I really need help on this one. Any suggestions would be helpful!
I have asked my vet and he recommended the chicken and rice or the W/D diet. He always has access to water, but w/ constant access to water, he also has to urinate quite often. If we’re not home, he pees anywhere. Oh and he just had cataract surgery 2 weeks ago.
Both the diabeties and epilepsy are well regulated w/ consistent dosages of medication.
7 replies on “Need a low sodium dog food for my dog who has epilepsy & diabetes?”
Your vet will stock a suitable diet, when feeding dried food please make sure your dog has constant access to fresh water, I soak my kibble in water before feeding it to my dog, please stick with the high quality dog food, the best you can afford, ok it costs a lot for a 30lb bag but keep a diary, see how long the bag lasts then work out the cost PER day, you’ll be surprised, it will work out cheaper than other brands I am sure.
Set aside $5 per week so that when it comes time to buy the food you have it to hand.
no matter what brand of dog food you use it will be expensive as your dog has 2 medical problems and needs that type of food.
Have you considered a raw diet? With his dietary needs this seems like the best option to control what is and isn’t in his food, not to mention that the water in fruits and vegetables will help keep him hydrated.
ask your vet
I have had dogs with epilepsy and some with diabetes but (thank goodness) none with both. Frankly, I used Pedigree Senior canned food for my diabetic dog. She hated the W/D and of course we had to be sure she ate so she could have her insulin so we just went to regular old Pedigree canned food. She lived for six years eating that and getting her insulin. We just lost her last year at age 12. I don’t feed my epileptic dogs anything different from the rest of the pack. We feed PMI Exclusive Adult chicken and rice. But that would likely not be a good idea for the diabetic. You know, Pro Plan has a prescription diet group of foods like Science Diet. Ask your vet to look into that for you and see if it’s cheaper.
with diabetes, you need a high protein low carb diet. a raw diet would be excellent for your dog. if you are not comfortable feeding a raw diet, prairie makes a fantastic food as well as a prepackaged raw diet. if your dog is still drinking excessively, then perhaps his diabetes is not regulated. please see your vet regularly to have it checked.
The diet you currently have him on doesn’t meet your requirements. W/d isn’t going to either. Your vet recommended these because they are better than a lot of other diets out there and easy to find. I would suggest Innova EVO or a similar diet. It’s grain free with only 0.44% sodium. It’s a high calorie diet so you feed less of it. My two dogs (~50 lbs each) go through a bag in about a month. There’s been a lot of success feeding EVO to diabetics and it’s a much higher quality food. All human grade ingredients, never been recalled, made in the US with ingredients only from the US. If you feed the 95% meat canned food, it only has 0.15% sodium and with the higher water content, it would probably be your best option. There are a lot of flavors to choose from too and I haven’t met a dog who would turn it down yet. You need to be on a high protein, low carb, no grain diet though. EVO was the first like this and there are several companies making similar diets now too. “Raw” would be another way to go, but it’s very difficult to balance the diet on your own and you’d need to buy supplements. I would suggest working with a board certified nutritionist on balanceit.com if you want to do that, but you’re going to pay more to feed your dog a “raw” diet.