Dog Diabetes Mellitus (Sugar Diabetes) Symptoms

1. Increased thirst

2. Urinating more than usual

3. Increased appetite

4. Possible weight loss

5. Loss of appetite and Weight loss in more advanced cases.

What Causes Dog Diabetes Mellitus (Sugar Diabetes)?

Diabetes mellitus comes in two different forms; there is the insulin dependant diabetes and non-insulin dependant diabetes. Both of these types are initially caused by troubles in the pancreas of the dog. The pancreas is a small gland situated along side the beginning of the small intestine and has two purposes in the animals body, the first is to create digestive enzymes which flow down through ducts and into the intestine to break down food that has been eaten, and the second function is to create insulin to be released into the blood stream.

Insulin plays an important part within the dog's body by circulating the body of the dog and helps to move glucose from the bloodstream into the dog's cells, without insulin the tissue cells don't get the energy/glucose they need and therefore cannot function properly. In other words without the insulin from the pancreas, all the food (glucose) within the dogs blood cannot reach its final destination to feed and nurture the dogs tissue cells.

Looking at the bigger picture, this leaves the body feeling starved of food causing increased hunger, and because the food/glucose produced doesn't reach the tissue cells the dog will still loose weight. As this continues the dog will become gradually more tired and unwell until they are too weak and ill to eat and the body will start to produce toxic chemicals, this stage is know as diabetic ketoacidosis.

What Your Vet May Say or Do

To begin your vet will have to find substantial evidence that diabetes mellitus (sugar diabetes) is the condition they are looking at; this is done easily enough by taking blood tests and possible urine samples to look for glucose, sugar and insulin levels.

Once this has been diagnosed the complicated task of taking control of the diabetes and restoring insulin levels begins. As there is no complete cure for diabetes, constant controlling of the dogs insulin levels is the only way to subside the illness and help the dog live a comfortable life. Insulin comes in many different kinds and is classified as ultra-short acting (8 hours), the most popular short acting (12 hours), intermediate acting (, and long acting insulin (24 hours).

This becomes complicated because there is no way of knowing which type of insulin to use, the correct dosage of insulin, or how often insulin should be injected into your dog without taking thorough tests and regular observations.

Stabilisation phase

This phase is when the vet doesn't currently know how much insulin your dog needs every day, and can be thought of as a time of monitoring gradual changes and acting upon these changes to find the best combination for the dog.

To begin with, food consumption of the dog is usually calculated to show how much glucose/energy the dog will be consuming within one day, this estimate will then be later used to show the vet how much of that glucose/energy is used up by the injected insulin and if more or less is require etc.

A short acting insulin will normally be used twice daily into the dog patient initially, the quantity of which is calculated depending on the weight of the dog, and is then used as the basis of any further adjustments. The insulin shot should be given in two stages calculated by halving the overall amount of food consumed in a day and giving them their first meal in the morning and then the second eight hours later with the insulin shot being given 30 minutes after each meal so there is always glucose for the insulin to effect.

Throughout the day the dog will then be tested for glucose levels in the blood every two hours, and a target glucose level of between three and nine mmol per litre is set. If the glucose levels in the blood are above the recommended mmol per litre when tested then more insulin will be needed otherwise the glucose moves into the urine carrying water with it causing the increased urinating diabetic dogs often have, and if glucose levels are below the recommendations then too much insulin has been provided causing often life threatening risks.

This treatment will then continue until the dogs glucose level remains between the three and nine mmol per litre requirement throughout the day, every day.

After this stabilisation period or phase the owner will be able to take the pet home to continue the treatment, this is the next phase and is known as the maintenance phase.

Maintenance Phase

The maintenance phase is the name given to the period after the correct dosage of insulin has been found and the dog's condition has been stabilized. This will now be the permanent dosage the dog should receive, with the exception of small changes if needs be during the dogs life to maintain the dogs happiness and comfort.

This stage may be a worrying time for diabetic dog owners in the early stages but as time goes on guidance and help should be given by the vet and the owner's assessment of the dogs insulin habits will get better, but until this stage most insulin adjustments will be done under the vets supervision or agreement.

There are a few ways to notify you or give you help in diagnosing changes in the insulin amount you are giving your dog, these are much the same as the initial symptoms you see in your dog if more insulin is needed, such as needing to wee more, increased appetite, and the other symptoms noted at the top of this page. If on the other hand too much insulin is being given to your dog through changes in their diabetes or giving an accidental double dose then the signs will be more drastic and bare a resemblance to drunkenness by becoming weak, unstable on their feet, or uncoordinated.

The consequences of having too much insulin in the dogs body is far more serious than not having enough and can be potentially life threatening, the action you should take in this case is to feed the dog more sugary and high energy foods. In the case of human diabetes chocolate is commonly used to even the extra insulin out but as chocolate is poisonous for dog's syrup or honey should be dripped into or fed to the dog to correct things.

Often the owner isn't sure whether the dog has had too much or too little insulin, in these cases it is far better to favour you dog having too much insulin because the effects are so much worse. Testing dipsticks are also available from chemists to sample the dog's urine and can act as a great method to make sure you are using the correct diagnosis.

Increasing and Decreasing the Dosage

When increasing or decreasing the dog's insulin dosages here are some key points to remember-

. Only increase or decrease the dosage by no more than two units and then wait 5 days to see the effects before doing further increments or decrements.

. If the dog is urinating more, eating more, or thirstier, then increase the insulin dosage. If the dog is unwell decrease the dosage.

. Never stop the insulin, if your dog has another unrelated illness then you may half the normal dosage but never stop it all together.

Feeding a Diabetic Dog

Feeding your dog the correct foods can be a huge help to controlling the diabetes, these foods are either dog diabetes special foods which are high in fibre or you can use normal high fibre foods. Always give the dog the same amount of food a day to keep the insulin dose working properly and accurately.

Using these guidelines should make the diabetes easier to control and lower the amount of insulin needed in the long term because with high fibre foods the glucose will be released into the body at a slower and more controlled rate making it easier for the body to use the insulin correctly.

Conclusion

In most cases the diabetes treatment will go smoothly and after two weeks of the maintenance phase everything will have settled and normal. If this is not the case then further testing and analyses may have to be made due to possible insulin resistance or insulin antagonism(female hormones interfering with insulin).



Other Possible Conditions

Dog Urinating and Drinking More Than Usual
Acute (Sudden) Kidney Failure
Dog Addison's Disease / Adrenal Gland Disorder
Chronic (long term) Kidney Failure
Cushing's Disease - Adrenal Gland Disorders
Dog Diabetes Insipidus (Water Diabetes)
Dog Hyperparathyroidism (Overactive Parathyroid Glands)
Dog Liver Failure and Liver Disease
Dog Tumor (Causing Elevated Blood Calcium Levels)