DIY CRUNCHY DIABETIC DOG TREATS
My sweet 13 year old angel Perogi, Queen of Pugs aka Little Mama aka The BMW (Big Monkey Walrus) recently developed Diabetes. Backing up on that, I’m pretty pissed. She was getting hard of hearing & we thought we’d just check to make sure it couldn’t be reversed. The vet gave her 4 kinds of steroids, which immediately shut down her pancreas, causing pancreatitis. She lost 20% of her body weight and her body stopped producing insulin = diabetes. Injections of insulin have her sugars under control, but now she has glaucoma which has made her functionally blind. All the new vets she's had to see since made shocked faces when I told them about all the steriods. Pugs are sensitive creatures!
So, now she is blind & deaf with diabetes. Her circadian rhythms are backwards too! She’s up all night bumping around (so I am too) and sleeps HARD all day. It’s been a world of problem solving. We are slowly adjusting and learning a lot. I’ll be sharing some of the solutions to everyday problems for diabetic & blind & deaf dogs here as I encounter them. It’s a good thing she’s so damn cute & sweet!
She can’t have random foods off my plate anymore. No fruits (she loves oranges!) and most dog treats are loaded with fats. I found this diabetic dog treat recipe online & made some adjustments I’ll share with you here.
DIY CRUNCHY DIABETIC DOG TREATS- makes 2 batches
PRE-HEAT OVEN 350
INGREDIENTS
2 1/2 c brown rice flour = 1 lb bag
1 c canned pumpkin
1/2 c chicken stock
1/2 t garlic powder
Water
EQUIPMENT
Coffee grinder
Cookie tray 8"x10" ish
You can buy rice flour, but it’s so easy to make it!
Get yourself an old coffee grinder at the thrift store (unless you want rice flour in your coffee beans). I also use another old grinder to grind spices for curries- unless your pup likes cumin!
Fill the grinder & run it longer than you think you should. You want the rice to be pretty fine. Unbroken rice will make your treats lumpy & crumbly.
Add everything together in a bowl & mix by hand. It should form a nice ball. If it’s still crumbly, add water a tablespoon at a time until it holds together.
I line a small baking sheet from the toaster oven with parchment paper to make 2 small batches. You could probably do it one one large sheet, but it makes the flipping step more difficult. Make sure the paper goes well over the sides, but doesn’t touch the heating elements & start a fire.
Cut the dough ball in half & dump into the cooking tray. Pat it out into an even pancake all the way into the corners. Then put a second piece of parchment paper on top. Now flatten & smooth out the dough into a 1/4” thick cake. Take off the top parchment & save it for later. No waste!
Use a pastry cutter or other tool to score the treats into a grid. I make mine about 1/2” squares for my toothless pug. If you don’t have a pastry cutter, I love the Lodge pan scraper. It has changed my cast iron pan cleaning
!
Bake your treats at 350 F for 25 min
Now flip them! Take them out & put the saved piece of parchment paper on top. Hold both the top & bottom parchment sheets together & carefully flip it over right back into the pan. Take the now top sheet off & put it back in to bake for another 15 min. This gets them nice & dried out. I love to hear my pups crunch on them!
Slide the sheet of treats out on the pan onto a surface to cool. A wire rack is nice, but a plate is fine.
When they are cool enough to handle, snap your treats apart & let them cool completely. Store them in an air tight container for a week. You could probably freeze them if you make a big batch, I haven’t tried. Honestly, my dogs love them so much, they don’t stay around that long!
You can't really mess these up. In my exhaustion I forgot to score lines in the second batch of treats... so while they were still warm I took a cleaver to them. Whack!
That’s it! Have fun making fresh, CHEAP, easy treats with NO PRESERVATIVES or weird fillers for your diabetic dog OR any dog!