Pets with Diabetes: Home Cooking Recipies for Diabetic Pets

The following recipes are used by owners of diabetic pets. They may not be appropriate for your pet, and any change in your pet's diet should be done under the supervision of a veterinarian. If you are interested in home cooking, these recipes can be a source of information for you and may help you discuss ideas for your pet's diet with your vet.

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Home Cooking Only

Montauk's Recipe

This recipe makes about 2 gallons of food, which is about 30 servings for my Malamute Montauk. I have some very large pans, and you are welcome to cut down the amounts to what suits your needs. I vary both the meats and vegetable depending on what is inexpensive. For this recipe I do not use corn or carrots or peas as a vegetable - nothing with carbohydrates. I will also add other proteins as toppings for the food - hard boiled eggs, cottage cheese, meats, etc. You might just try a little of that on the current food you are using. I call it kick starting the dinner. My Malamute does not need anything of the sort, she is always hungry. Again, anything that does not affect insulin (the stuff the Atkin's diet encourages) is pretty safe to give as a treat. Regular dog treats are high in carbohydrates and should be controlled.

6 pounds lean ground beef, chicken or other lean meat
5 cups uncooked pearl barley
5 cups uncooked brown rice
2 cups minced celery, green beans, chopped spinach or green vegetable
24 cups water. (With brown rice it is 2 cups of water per cup of uncooked rice. The barley takes slightly more so I use 24 cups rather than 20.)

Put ingredients in large pan, bring to a boil, lower heat to simmer and cook until all the water is absorbed.

Pam, Montauk (dd dx 05/01), Putney and the cats

Dixie's Recipe

Dixie is a large lab (100 pounds) and the vet recommended I feed her 6 cups a day. I feed her 3 times a day so she gets 2 cups per meal.

Sometimes my ingredients vary but the basic recipe is 25% protein (lean beef, chicken or fish), 25% veggies, and 50% complex carbohydrates.

3 Cups chopped carrots
2 Cups chopped celery
1 bunch of fresh broccoli
10 oz package of fresh spinach
6 pounds of lean beef cubed (sirloin tip roast)
3 garlic gloves (crushed or minced)
3 Cups rye (uncooked)
4 Cups brown rice (uncooked)
165 oz liquid (1/2 beef broth and 1/2 water)

Simmer the beef in the liquid and garlic for approximately 20 minutes. Remove the beef and add the rye. Bring to a boil cover and simmer rye for 40 minutes. Then add the rice, cover and simmer another 15 minutes. Let stand until the liquid is absorbed. In a large container mix the veggies, still raw with the meat. Then pour the hot rice and rye over the veggies and mix it well. The hot rice steams the vegetables and you don't lose vitamins or nutrients from cooking.

I used sirloin tip roasts tonight because they were on sale. You can use lean ground meat or any type of lean beef. For the vegetables you can use broccoli, spinach, green beans, green peppers, zucchini, kale, carrots, celery, once I even added alfalfa sprouts. The complex carbohydrates include brown rice, whole grain rye, millet, and buckwheat groats. I like to give my dogs a variety.

I also give Dixie 800 units of Vitamin E (400 IU in the morning and 400 IU in the evening), Glycoflex which you can only get from the vet, and 500 mg Vitamin C. These are added to help with the weakness in her hindquarters. Since starting the home-cooked diet, Dixie's insulin requirements have gone down so I am well pleased
with the results.

Taffy's Recipes

Taffy is a 10 pound Japanese Chin (a little bit overweight, but slowly losing excess)

Current Diet
2 cups cooked chicken breast, cubed, No skin or fat
1/2 cup cooked pasta
1/2 tablespoon corn oil
1/2 teaspoon Morton lite salt
3/4 teaspoon dicalcium phosphate

Remove fat and skin from chicken. Boil. De-bone if necessary and cut into cubes. Boil pasta until done. Mix all ingredients. Serve 1/2 cup twice daily. Makes enough for 2-1/2 days.

Suggested Diet Number One
1 cup raw white rice
1/2 cup ground or minced raw chicken
1/2 tablespoon corn oil
1/2 cup green beans or sliced carrots (fresh, frozen, or canned)
1/4 teaspoon Morton lite salt
1 teaspoon bone meal (5 grams) or 1-1/2 teaspoon dicalcium phosphate (7.5 grams)

Mix rice, lite salt, and corn oil with two times the volume of boiling water. simmer for about 15 minutes. Add remaining ingredients. Mix well. simmer for 10 minutes. Cool well. Makes enough for 3 days.

Suggested Diet Number Two
1 cup cooked pasta
1-1/4 cup ground or minced raw chicken
1/2 teaspoon corn oil
1/2 cup green beans or sliced carrots (fresh, frozen, or canned)
1/2 teaspoon Morton lite salt
1/2 teaspoon bone meal (2.5 grams) or 3/4 teaspoon dicalcuim phosphate (3.75 grams)

Sauté or microwave chicken in the corn oil. Steam or microwave the vegetables. Mix the chicken, vegetables, and pasta with the remaining ingredients. Mix and cool well. Makes enough for 2 days.

Give 1 complete vitamin & mineral supplement daily.

Avoid meat fat, candies, sugar, chocolate, ice cream, leftovers, cookies, biscuits, dog treats.

Titan's Diet

Kelly uses the "Doggy Oats" recipe from Dr. Pitcairn's book "Natural health for dogs and cats" for her Rottweiller Titan and his non-diabetic pal Tut.

8 cups raw rolled oats (or 16 cups cooked oatmeal)
2 pounds (4 cups) raw ground or chopped turkey
1/2 cup Healthy Powder
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 cup cooked vegetables (or less if raw and grated, may be omitted occasionally)
3 tablespoons bonemeal (or 5,400-6,000 mg calcium or 1 tablespoon eggshell powder)
10,000 IU vitamin A (optional if using carrots)
400 IU vitamin E
1 teaspoon tamari soy sauce or 1/4 teaspoon iodized salt (optional)
1-2 cloves garlic, crushed or minced (optional)
15 miligrams iron (optional)

Healthy Powder:

1 cups nutritional (torula) yeast
1 cup lecithin granules
1/4 cup kelp powder
1/4 cup bonemeal (or 9,000 milligrams calcium or 5 teaspoons eggshell powder)
1,000 mg vitamin C (ground) or 1/4 teaspoon sodium ascorbate (optional)

There is more information about substitutions for this recipe in Dr. Pitcairn's book.

Combination Diets Some owners combine home cooking with commercially available pet foods or prescription diets.

Mork's Recipe

Mork is an 18 pound terrier mix

2 large skinless whole chicken breasts
1 bunch of broccoli
2 cups brown rice (dry)

Boil the chicken in at least 5 cups water. Save the broth. Remove the cooked chicken, cool, and cut into small pieces. Cook the rice in 4 cups of the saved broth (about 20 to 25 minutes). Cook the broccoli separately and mash well. Combine all ingredients and mix well. If it looks dry, add more of the saved broth, or add water.

There is enough here for Mork to eat for a month. I freeze the mix in ice cube trays and microwave the cube for 30 seconds, and add to 3/4 cup Eukanuba Glucose Control prescription diet. He is fed morning and evening.

Jackson's Diet

Jackson is an 8-1/2 year old male Irish Setter who weights about 80 pounds. He eats a combination of home cooking and prescription food.

2 pounds lean ground turkey
1 pound bag each frozen spinach, broccoli (chopped) & green beans
1 cup uncooked brown rice
1/2 cup uncooked white rice
1 cup oats (from health food store)
1 cup oat bran (from health food store).

Combine all ingredients in a Dutch Oven (stovetop). Add about 4-6 cups water and cook until absorbed. Refrigerate unused portions.

For the morning and evening meal, measure 1 cup of home-made food, microwave it to take the chill off, and mix it with 2 cups of Eukanuba glucose control prescription diet.This is his basic diet. I have a few jars of baby food on hand & small cans of senior canned dog food in case I need to entice him to finish a meal.

Jackson gets supplements with his meals.
In the morning he gets: ginseng tablet, acidophilus tablet, spirulina tablet, omega-3 EPA capsule, beta carotene tablet, evening primrose oil capsule, enzyme tablet, vitamin c (500 mg), 2 Glycoflex pills (prescription)
In the evening he gets: B-100 tablet, acidophilus capsule, spirulina tablet, glucosomine capsule, vitamin E – 400 units capsule, Vitamin C -500 mg, garlic tablet, enzyme tablet, flaxseed oil capsule, 2 Glycoflex

Huck's Diet

Huck is a 70 pound (still fluctuates between 65 and 75 pounds) Black and Tan Coonhound who eats two meals a day. He weighed about 50 pounds in May 99 at time of diagnosis. He gets a modified version of the "Hills Canine Reducing Diet" combined with dry canine w/d. I chose to add this to Huck’s diet because we don’t have a reliable supply of the dry food here in Peru and I think the extra fiber and high quality protein is helping him. Each meal consists of 3 cups of w/d combined with 1/2 to 1 cup of the home made diet. I give him up to 1 cup if his weight has dropped. One PetTab vitamin supplement is also given with each meal.

1/4 pound ground round or other lean beef
1/2 cup cottage cheese (uncreamed) (or other low fat cheese, "low process" not sure what the correct term is - not aged - cheese - we use a 'queso fresco' which is like a firmer form of ricotta cheese, supposedly no fat, low salt)
3 cups fresh, finely chopped green beans (stems removed)
1-1/2 teaspoons (7 grams) dicalcium phosphate (can substitute bone meal from health food store). I was told it is possible also to use finely ground eggshells though this could irritate a sensitive bowel, Huck is a little sensitive and we don't have either of these products here so I rely on the 2 vitamin supplements for the calcium.

Cook beef in skillet, stirring until lightly browned, pour off fat and cool.
Add remaining ingredients and mix well. Keep covered in refrigerator.
Makes about 1-3/4 pounds.

Little Guy's Diet

Little guy is a 10 year old, 35 pound terrier mix.
This diet is from Dr. Goldstein's The Nature of Animal Healing: The Path to Your Pet's Health, Happiness, and Longevity. It is 1/3 brown rice, 1/3 veggies, and 1/3 protein.

I have a bag of natural dry food (Innova) to supplement when I haven't prepared quite enough or for variety.

If he is just having home cooked, I give Little Guy about 1 cup of brown rice (cooked with chicken broth) with veggies mixed in (broccoli they like better than green beans) and about 1/3 - 1/2 cup of cut up cooked skinless free range chicken breast with a few morsels of dry food thrown in usually.

If I add dry food, I just reduce the amount accordingly. I give him hamburger (antibiotic free beef) a couple of times a week too, for variety. I put garlic in the rice also, but I cheat and buy the jars with it already minced.

Web Resources
There are more home cooking recipes on the Canine Diabetes website.
Nutritional composition chart of some commonly used foods.

Books
Dr. Pitcairn's Complete Guide to Natural Health for Dogs and Cats. Richard H. Pitcairn, Susan Hubble Pitcairn. 1995. An A-to-Z encyclopedia of common pet ailments and their treatments also features tips on a do-it-yourself pet checkup, recipes for healthier food, sources of herbal and homeopathic supplies, and more. Easy to understand. Dr. Pitcairn suggests you use the ideas that suit your beliefs.

Diet Education Page