Canine Diabetes

Diabetes in dogs is a serious problem. There is no cure for diabetes, but early detection of  it , helps in making the treatment more effective. Diabetes usually occurs in dogs ages 5 to 7. One of the causes of diabetes is due to the lack of the hormone insulin in the blood.

How to detect diabetes in dogs?

Your Dogs Diet
Obesity paves the way to diabetes. Most dogs who suffer the disease are obese.  Check your dog’s ribs cage. If you are not able to feel it, then chances are your dog is obese.

While you may think you feed him a balanced meal, be honest with yourself and start counting all the little treats that he gets during the day.An extra biscuit here and there can really add up over the year and before long your dog is carrying far to much weight around.

Just like humans dogs who are overweight don’t feel like doing much in the way of exercise. So the weight just carries on getting more and more and with it the risk of developing diabetes increases for your dog.

Regular Check Ups
Make sure that your dog gets a regular check-up with the the vet, at least once a year. The vet will be able to spot things that you will be totally unaware of.

Excess
The main symptoms of diabetes include excessive eating, excessive drinking, Excessive urination, and weight loss.

If your pet starts to urinate inside the house or on the bed, then chances are, your dog already might have diabetes. Monitor your dog closely, for early signs of diabetes can be undetected and will go unnoticed unless if you have regular visits to the animal vet for routine dog check –up.

Your dog will need to have blood tests to determine the glucose level in the bloodstream. The tests will also help to know if other organs might have been affected by the disease.

Aside from blood tests, a urinalysis will also have to be done to check if the kidneys are still functioning normally, to avoid urinary tract infections which are usually common in diabetics.

The vet will need to check the dog’s glucose level and will need to strictly monitor the level of insulin in the blood to avoid complications.

Ideally, the pet should also be on a special high fiber/low fat diet that helps regulate insulin levels and helps the pet lose weight if needed.

Your dog will be ok, it may be hard for you to stop feeding him those treats you like so much and you may need to walk some more with your best friend but that is a good thing as it means you can both become fitter.