Diabetes

Diabetes mellitus – commonly known as sugar diabetes or “sugar” – is one of the most frequent and important medical disorders of humans. You might be surprised to know that diabetes also is a common illness of dogs and cats. Among the main symptoms of diabetes in both people and pets is thirst and increased water consumption.

Sugar diabetes is a disease that leads to chronic elevation of the blood glucose (“sugar”). Blood sugar is maintained by a group of hormones. The most important of these is insulin, which lowers the blood sugar after a meal. The pancreas, a small organ residing near the intestines, manufactures insulin. Deficiency of insulin, or an insensitivity of body cells to available insulin, leads to diabetes.

Two Types of Diabetes
There are two basic forms of sugar diabetes, type I and type II. Absolute deficiency of insulin leads to type I diabetes. This is due to an insufficient number of insulin-producing pancreas cells.

Type I diabetes, often called “juvenile-onset diabetes” in people, represents the most serious form of the disease. Effective treatment for type I diabetes requires a combination of controlled diet, regular exercise, and insulin therapy. Dogs are more often affected by type I diabetes. People and pets with Type I diabetes require daily injections of insulin to maintain a regular blood sugar level.

Adult onset or type II diabetes is the more common form of sugar diabetes in people. This condition combines a relative lack of insulin production with a resistance of body cells to the effects of the hormone. Type II diabetes is treated with a combination of diet, weight control, and medicine that makes cells more sensitive to insulin. This form of diabetes is observed more often in cats than in dogs. Keys to successful treatment are a high fiber diet, weight control, and occasionally, human medicines to control the glucose level.

Pets Drink Excessively
Left uncontrolled, diabetes can become life threatening. Among the notable symptoms of sugar diabetes in people and in pets are increased thirst and urination. While there can be other explanations for these problems, sugar diabetes should always be considered when these symptoms are observed. Most pet owners notice that their diabetic dog or cat drinks excessively and has a need to go outside (or to the litter pan) more often.

Diabetic pets, like people, need medical care! Uncontrolled elevations of glucose lead to dehydration and body chemistry disorders that can eventually cause coma and death. First a correct diagnosis must be attained. This diagnosis requires a veterinary examination and appropriate tests such as a urinalysis (to detect spilled “sugar”) and blood glucose determination.

Additional tests often are needed to assess the overall medical situation. The condition is more difficult to diagnose in cats because simple stress can lead to temporary elevations of blood sugar. Once the diagnosis is made, however, the pet owner and veterinarian can work together to effectively control diabetes mellitus.

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