Diabetes in dogs is more and more common, with an estimated one out of 300 dogs (and cats) affected by it today.<\/p>\n
Diabetes is a chronic problem that disrupts your dog\u2019s normal metabolism and limits his ability to turn food into energy that the cells can use. The two most important pieces of the puzzle are glucose and insulin.<\/p>\n
Glucose<\/strong> is a type of sugar that\u2019s an essential source of energy for the body, including the brain. It gets absorbed into the blood from the intestines before being transported to other parts of the body.<\/p>\n Insulin<\/strong> is a hormone released by the pancreas. It controls the amount of glucose in the blood by \u2018deciding\u2019 how much to move into the cells to be used for energy. When the glucose-insulin relationship is not working normally, diabetes is the result.<\/strong><\/p>\n There are two types of diabetes in dogs:<\/p>\n This is the most common type of diabetes in dogs. It happens when your dog\u2019s pancreas doesn\u2019t produce insulin as it should. If your dog has diabetes mellitus, he\u2019ll likely need insulin medication for the rest of his life.<\/p>\n This type of diabetes occurs when the body makes insulin, but the cells can\u2019t make proper use of it, meaning your dog has insulin resistance, and the cells can\u2019t absorb glucose from the blood even when they need energy. Older and overweight dogs are more likely to suffer from this type of diabetes.<\/p>\n No matter which type of diabetes your dog has, it creates high blood glucose levels, yet his cells can\u2019t get the energy they need. High blood sugar causes damage to organs, such as the kidneys, eyes, and heart. Meanwhile, the body starts breaking down fats and proteins (muscle) to try to get the fuel it needs.<\/p>\n There are some early signs of diabetes mellitus to look out for if you\u2019re worried your dog might be diabetic.<\/p>\n Be especially alert if you have an older, female dog. Diabetes usually occurs in middle aged dogs, and females get it twice as often as males (1).<\/p>\n If you see these signs, you should ask your vet to test your dog for diabetes. Once<\/strong> diabetes progresses, you\u2019ll see more serious symptoms like vomiting, loss of appetite, lethargy or depression. <\/strong><\/p>\n Diabetes is easy to diagnose. Your vet will test for high blood glucose level (hyperglycemia) and glucose in the urine (glycosuria). In some cases, a blood test will also show elevated levels of enzymes in the liver.<\/p>\n Diabetes in dogs is treated with a combination of diet, exercise, and insulin<\/strong>. <\/p>\n Like people with insulin-dependent diabetes, dogs need to replace the insulin in the body with daily insulin injections, usually twice a day.<\/p>\n You should learn how to test your dog\u2019s blood glucose at home so that you can give the appropriate dosage of insulin. Ask your vet to show you how to do this. It\u2019s much better to take this into your own hands so that you can measure your dog\u2019s blood sugar levels at different times of the day.<\/p>\n You\u2019ll also need to learn how to inject insulin under your dog\u2019s skin, and practice getting him comfortable with it. Make sure your dog has a moderate activity level and regular mealtimes to help avoid spikes or drops in blood sugar levels.<\/p>\n Diet is a very important part of managing your diabetic dog\u2019s health. Feeding a whole food, raw diet is always the best option. Your dog will need meals at regular times to maintain consistent blood sugar levels. He\u2019ll also need enough protein, fiber, and complex carbohydrates to help slow down the absorption of glucose. <\/p>\n Research shows a diet high in insoluble fiber can help lower blood glucose levels in diabetic dogs (2). Insoluble fiber isn\u2019t digested, but it helps speed up the movement of food through the digestive tract, and it slows absorption of carbohydrates and sugars. <\/p>\n Foods high in insoluble fiber that are suitable for your dog include \u2026 <\/p>\n Chronic diseases like diabetes stem from chronic inflammation in the body. There are several foods that promote inflammation. Avoid feeding these to your diabetic dog:<\/p>\n As always, make sure your dog gets regular exercise. <\/p>\n The earlier you can diagnose diabetes in dogs, the more manageable it will be.There might be more expenses and energy upfront, with more frequent visits to the vet to figure out the right dose of medication. But going forward, the main expense will be monthly costs for insulin, which differ depending on where you live. In some cases, having pet insurance will cover the medicationm as long as diabetes was not a pre-existing condition when you signed up.<\/p>\n Life expectancy for dogs with diabetes depends on how well you manage the condition. With insulin, a healthy diet, and regular exercise, most diabetic dogs can live a long and happy life.<\/p>\n If you don\u2019t catch it early and fail to get your dog the treatment he needs, however, there can be some very dire consequences.<\/p>\n If diabetes in dogs is left untreated, it can lead to some very serious life-threatening complications, such as:<\/p>\n This last one, ketoacidosis, is especially dangerous \u2026 and it\u2019s another reason it\u2019s really important to monitor your dog\u2019s blood glucose levels at home so that you can give the correct insulin dose. Ketoacidosis happens when the cells use fatty acids for energy (since they are unable to use glucose). These free fatty acids get broken down into ketoacids, which cause extreme damage to organs as they build up in the blood.<\/p>\n Signs that ketoacidosis is happening include weakness, sweet smelling breath, dehydration, panting, and vomiting<\/strong>. If you see these symptoms, call your vet right away. Your dog may need IV fluids as well as insulin therapy. (3)<\/p>\n Prevention is always better than cure, and luckily diet and exercise play a huge role in preventing diabetes. Here are some risk factors for diabetes in dogs. These tips will also help you manage your dog\u2019s existing diabetes.<\/p>\n Feed A Good Diet <\/strong><\/p>\n Even though diet doesn\u2019t directly cause diabetes mellitus, it is a factor in preventing and managing diabetes. Feed your dog a whole food, preferably raw meat based diet. Dr Jean Hofve recommends a diet with at least 30% protein, with minimal carbohydrates, and plenty of foods high in insoluble fiber (see the list above). You\u2019ll also want to keep the fat content low to minimize your diabetic dog\u2019s increased potential for pancreatitis.<\/p>\n Provide Antioxidants, Probiotics And Digestive Enzymes<\/strong><\/p>\n Adding foods that reduce inflammation, fight oxidative stress in the body, and boost immunity are a great tool in your arsenal against diabetes. Include nutritious foods like berries and fresh vegetables in the diet.<\/p>\n Probiotics play a big role in maintaining a healthy gut microbiome and supporting your dog\u2019s immune system. Research at Iowa State University found that gut bacteria changes in dogs with diabetes mellitus (4). Probiotics help improve your dog\u2019s gut health and lower his susceptibility to disease.<\/p>\n Digestive enzymes can help your dog absorb more nutrition from his food and help his compromised pancreas.<\/p>\n Maintain Healthy Weight<\/strong><\/p>\n Overweight and obese dogs experience chronic inflammation and changes in hormone secretion that predispose them to pancreatitis and diabetes (5). To reduce risk of diabetes, make sure your dog gets exercise at least twice a day and adjust their diet to get them to a healthy weight.<\/p>\n Avoid Pancreatitis<\/strong><\/p>\n A poor diet can lead to inflammation of the pancreas. This interferes with the production of insulin and other hormones like glucagon and gastrin. The pancreas also produces important digestive enzymes that help your body break down protein and fat. Diabetes and pancreatitis are closely linked diseases. A damaged pancreas is likely to lead to diabetes \u2026 and vice versa (6).<\/p>\n Caution With Steroid-Based Medications <\/strong><\/p>\n Research shows chronic use of corticosteroids may lead to diabetes in your dog (7). If your dog\u2019s on steroid medications, watch for signs of diabetes.<\/p>\n Manage Other Endocrine Disease<\/strong><\/p>\n Diseases stemming from other hormone imbalances in your dog may increase your dog\u2019s likelihood of diabetes. Cushing\u2019s disease, for example, causes overproduction of the stress hormone cortisol, which causes inflammation and increased risk of diabetes (8).<\/p>\n So \u2026 now that you understand diabetes in dogs, you\u2019re better equipped to spot early symptoms and successfully manage it, should your dog develop diabetes. And this information will also help you take steps to prevent diabetes in the first place. <\/p>\n ,<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Diabetes in dogs is more and more common, with an estimated one out of 300 dogs (and cats) affected by it today. What is Diabetes in Dogs? Diabetes is a chronic problem<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":170,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-169","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-natural-health"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.duuvk.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/169","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.duuvk.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.duuvk.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.duuvk.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.duuvk.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=169"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.duuvk.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/169\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.duuvk.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/170"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.duuvk.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=169"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.duuvk.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=169"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.duuvk.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=169"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Types of Diabetes in Dogs<\/h2>\n
Diabetes Mellitus (like Type 1 diabetes in people)<\/h3>\n
Insulin Resistance Diabetes (like Type 2 diabetes in people)<\/h3>\n
What Are The Symptoms of Diabetes in Dogs?<\/h2>\n
\n
How is Diabetes Mellitus Diagnosed?<\/h2>\n
Diabetes Mellitus Treatment in Dogs<\/h2>\n
Insulin<\/h3>\n
Diet<\/h3>\n
\n
Foods To Avoid<\/h4>\n
\n
Exercise<\/h3>\n
Is Diabetes Treatment Expensive?<\/h3>\n
Prognosis for a Dog with Diabetes Mellitus<\/h2>\n
Common Complications of Canine Diabetes<\/h3>\n
\n
How to Prevent And Manage Diabetes in Dogs<\/h2>\n
References<\/span><\/summary>\n
\n