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Older Diabetic Dog

bean23bean23 Registered User regular
in Help / Advice Forum

So a good older friend of mine has a black labrador that has recently been diagnosed as diabetic. The insulin for this is extremely expensive. The best price we found was $80 for a week worth of insulin, which is about $320/month. So I've also started walking the dog and we are adding a teaspoon of cinnamon to his food each night (studies show it lowers insulin resistance and after 40 days, people showed and average lowering of their blood sugar of 24%). The hopes is that these things will allow her to be able to lower the amount of insulin the dog needs and thus save some money while still managing his blood sugar.

Does anyone have any experience with this that can be useful? I'd really like to know if there is a cheap way to get insulin in the United States, tips on exercising older dogs (we are also managing his diet, so that is fine), and any information any of you have had with dogs that have diabetes (especially if you used cinnamon as a supplement).

Thanks!

Posts

  • SiskaSiska Shorty Registered User regular
    edited January 2013
    Is he getting the insulin directly from the vet clinic or from a pharmacy? Meds bought directly from the vet tends to be horribly marked up. If the vet he/she is using right now isn't willing to write a prescription even if asked (many aren't), call around and find one that is and wont charge a fortune for it.

    Siska on
  • bean23bean23 Registered User regular
    That's the pharmacy price.

  • ceresceres When the last moon is cast over the last star of morning And the future has past without even a last desperate warningRegistered User, Moderator Mod Emeritus
    Has a study with cinnamon been done in dogs? Because humans and dogs really aren't the same. I believe cinnamon isn't toxic to dogs, so that's something at least, but I'm not sure I'd count on it to lower the dog's insulin resistance.

    And it seems like all is dying, and would leave the world to mourn
  • ComradebotComradebot Lord of Dinosaurs Houston, TXRegistered User regular
    ceres wrote: »
    Has a study with cinnamon been done in dogs? Because humans and dogs really aren't the same. I believe cinnamon isn't toxic to dogs, so that's something at least, but I'm not sure I'd count on it to lower the dog's insulin resistance.

    Not that I'm aware... definitely wouldn't rely on it with a dog, though, unless I've seen any previous evidence that it'd work with them. Guess if it's not toxic there's no harm in trying.

    Really, the best you can do is try and make sure the dog has a healthy diet and gets plenty of exercise. My dog was diagnosed with diabetes, and she ended up only needing half the original dosage on insulin than what she was on when she was first diagnosed. Sadly, her diabetes was just the first sign of total organ failure and we had to put her to sleep last year... still torn up about that, never met a sweeter dog. But she was getting old, and was never the healthiest pup to begin with.

    Still, diet and exercise: just like with people, that's a pretty big key to good health.

  • bean23bean23 Registered User regular
    There are no studies on cinnamon with dogs, but it is listed as a top 10 food to share with dogs on one of the dog sites, so it's definitely not toxic. We are just giving it a try as a supplement to insulin (not a replacement).

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Penny Arcade Forums› Help / Advice Forum