Dieting and Food Tips for Dogs With Cushing’s Disease

If your dog has Cushing’s disease, an overproduction of cortisol (cortisone) in the animal’s body, it is essential to refine his or her diet immediately. Your dog’s dietary needs are going to change and it’s important to review what’s good and what’s not.

This is a great way to improve their quality of life and keep the symptoms at bay.

Here is a look at the main types of foods that are recommended for feeding your dog with Cushing’s disease (digestible protein is key), and why it’s important to look into this right away. As always, make sure to consult with your veterinarian prior to introducing new foods to your pup.

Digestible Proteins

Some Seafood

When it comes to cutting back on specific foods, it’s important to pay attention to the details. With seafood, try and avoid overly fatty fish and opt for high protein, healthy fats like salmon.

You will want to look to avoid specific seafood more than others, including sardines. The reason has to do with the makeup of this meat and how it will impact your dog’s digestive system.

Lean Beef and Organs

When you are looking at completing a diet plan for your dog, it’s best to include digestible proteins, and lean beef as well as organs are a good choice to help your dog with Cushing’s reach their protein needs.

Other good options include venison and bison. These are similar to other types of red meat that are available to give to your dog. While most people are not going to be giving venison to their dogs regularly, you may still want to consider this and keep the option open in your list of good proteins.

Just like venison, bison is another good lean beef protein source for dogs with Cushing’s disease. Both bison and venison are much rarer forms of meat on their own but can be found in dog foods, which is why they are important to mention.

Pork on the other hand is a type of meat you should try to avoid. This is because it tends to be higher in fat and sodium than other types of meat like chicken and beef.

Carbohydrates with Fiber

It is highly recommended to try and cut out any refined carbohydrates because they tend to have a detrimental affect on insulin and cortisol levels. But it still may be OK to feed your dog healthy grains, and you may want to make sure they are getting fiber with the foods they are eating.

Vitamins & Supplements

Just like with humans, dogs can benefit from additional supplements to help support their diet. This is even more important for a dog that has Cushing’s. Some of the most common herbs and remedies for dogs to help treat Cushing’s naturally include:

— Dandelion
— Turmeric
— Cleavers
— Burdock
— Ashwagandha
— Ginkgo Biloba

There are of course more supplements, and so rather than trying to get your dog to take these individually, it could be better to opt for a liquid or capsule that contains many of the ingredients mentioned above.

Final Thoughts

As you begin putting together a comprehensive diet plan for your dog, it’s important to keep these foods in mind.

You should try to keep your dog’s diet fairly strict if they suffer from Cushing’s disease, but it’s understandable and can be quite difficult in the earlier stages getting them to switch to foods they may not be used to.

Remember, diet is still one of the best ways to ensure their symptoms are kept in control; it can lead a healthier life. When it comes to elements that you can control, this is one that you will want to get on top of right away as a dog owner.

Take the time to look through the foods available for your dog, make sure they are safe, and remember, this means no more tossing table scraps in their direction and fine-tuning what they are eating on a daily basis.