How to recognize and treat dog diabetes.
Dog diabetes is much the same as the human disease – the result of a deficiency in the insulin hormone, which causes a decrease in the ability to metabolize sugars in the blood.
It is the single most common endocrine disease suffered by dogs and, as with humans, comes in two forms.
Type I diabetes occurs is when the body does not produce enough Insulin. Type II diabetes is when the body loses its ability to use the Insulin effectively to process sugars.
Almost all dogs get Type I diabetes, Type II is very rarely reported.
Dog Diabetes Symptoms
A dog that develops diabetes will display a number of symptoms. They will be constantly thirsty, and need to urinate more often. They will lose weight and muscle definition no matter how much the eat. They may even become blind.
Even if your dog has many of these symptoms, your vet will still have to run a number of tests to diagnose Diabetes. These include glucose levels, blood count, and pancreatitis, as a number of other diseases must first be ruled out before diabetes can be accurately diagnosed.
The Causes of Dog Diabetes
The causes behind Type I are almost entirely genetic, and there is no method for prevention. Hereditary factors that cause diabetes are also difficult to isolate, so determining if your dog is at risk is nigh on impossible.
The best you can do is to be alert for the symptoms, and to speak to your vet if you have any concerns.
Treating Dog Diabetes
If your dog has been diagnosed with diabetes, you will have to start administering a twice-daily Insulin injection.
There are oral medications available, but most of these require that the Pancreas is still functioning to some degree.
In addition to the insulin shots, you’ll need to change your dog over to a strictly controlled, high fiber diet, and put him on a regular exercise regime.
There are also certain drugs, like steroids, that need to be avoided but provided these measures are met, your can live a fairly normal life, even with dog diabetes.
