I'm writing about my dog Minnie, a 7-year old female spayed miniature pinscher (Min Pin). In November of 2012, she was diagnosed with diabetes and started on insulin (Humulin N; NPH insulin). She was very overweight when I adopted her (body weight of 26 pounds) and looked more like a football with legs. After being diagnosed as diabetic, my vet changed her diet to Hills Science Diet w/d. It really helped her lose weight, and now she looks like a Min Pin should look (current weight, 14 pounds).

My Response:

It's very difficult to attribute all of your dog's clinical signs to the feeding of the Hill's w/d diet. That said, I would change Minnie's diet as the first step in her management.

What's the best diet for canine diabetes?
There is not one type of diet that is recommended for all dogs with diabetes. Diabetic dogs can do well when fed a number of diets as long as they are nutritionally complete and balanced, do not contain simple sugars, are fed at consistent times in consistent amounts, and are palatable to ensure a predictable and consistent appetite. As we all know, it's difficult enough to regulate a diabetic when they are eating consistently well— if they refuse to eat their diet, adequate glucose regulation can become next to impossible.