How many meals per day?

[Ellary]

Hi, Im new. My precious maltese Lily who is 12 1/2 years old has just been diagnosed with Cushings and Im devastated. Ive come here for support from others and guidance with how to manage this disease. My first question is how many times do you feed an older dog with this, per day? I just started her on a people food diet said to be good for her, and I already notice improvement. Ive deciced to manage this with good food and supplements, not drugs. It is what I would do for myself if I had Cushings.

[Squirt's Mom]

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[labblab]

Hello and welcome to you and Lily! Just wanted to let you know that your membership registration has now been finalized, so you don't have to worry about replying to an email confirmation. ;)

Marianne

[Ellary]

OK, thankyou!:)

[molly muffin]

There isn't a set amount of times per day to feed a dog with cushings.

When you are giving a medication such as vetroyl, then it needs to be given with food and needs to be given 4 - 6 hours prior to ACTH testing.
Since you aren't giving any traditional meals that isn't a consideration.

I personally feed my dog twice a day, morning and evening.

It is more important that you feed a good quality food, with only a moderate to minimum amount of fat (as cushings dogs are prone to pancreatic issues). And that it be a moderate protein.

Welcome to the forum

[belfastgirl1943]

Our little Honey has three meals per day as she seems more comfortable after she eats. I am interested to know which supplements you are using and if they are helping an what is the people diet you are feeding.

[Squirt's Mom]

Hi and welcome to you and Lily! :)

As dogs age they usually do better on smaller more frequent meals. My Squirt was eating 4x a day when she passed at 16+. Now I feed the others 2x a day - they are younger and have different health issues than she did. ;) So at 12 1/2 I would probably feed at least twice a day. If I saw that she wasn't digesting well (by inspecting her poop :eek::D) or if she were nauseated after eating or if she didn't finish her meals then I would probably increase to 3x a day, feeding smaller portions.

I do want to make sure you know that food of no kind will address the enemy of Cushing's - cortisol. Diet is crucial for us all, regardless of our health status so a solid nutritional base will help a host of things but it will not lower the cortisol found in this disease. So internal damage will continue unabated. Supplements are the same - they can help in many areas but cannot treat the disease. There have been some cases of apparent success with herbal formulas used in TCM - Traditional Chinese Medicine. If that is something you would like to know about, seek a Holistic vet please, and do not try to treat via herbs on your own. Herbs are drugs in their own right and should be respected as such. There are many herbs that are contraindicated for cush pups but that companies push online anyway to unsuspecting scared cush parents. So please, I beg you, get with a Holistic vet if this a route you are interested in pursuing.

When we make decisions that effect others who cannot speak for themselves, we need to be aware of the ramifications, positive and negative, that will result from our decisions. So you fully understand what is going on in an untreated cush baby, here is a link from our Helpful Resource section - http://www.k9cushings.com/forum/showthread.php?t=195

Please understand, the decision to treat or not is completely up to you - I am not trying to sway you either way. Whatever you decide we will stand by you all the way and do our best to help in any way we can. You know your baby girl best of all and it is obvious you care for her deeply so I know you will do what is best for her. And whatever you decide, your new family here will walk every step with you and Lily.

Hugs,
Leslie and the gang