Dog Diabetes: Symptoms and Treatment

1 Overview

I. Causes of Diabetes in Dogs

1. The direct cause: insufficient insulin secreted by the pancreas.

2. Liver disease, so sugar in the liver cannot be stored.

3. Stimulation of the sugar center in the medulla, raising blood sugar.

4. Thyroid, adrenal, and pituitary diseases raise blood sugar when hyperactive.

5. Sedatives, anesthetics, thiazides, and phenytoin affect insulin release.

II. Symptoms of Dog Diabetes

1. A dog with diabetes mainly shows restlessness, thirst, polyuria, greediness, weakness, and thinness;

2. When the dog has severe diabetes symptoms, the exhaled gas has a ketone odor. Worse, frequent vomiting and bloody diarrhea occur, leading to auto-intoxication and coma;

3. Blood sugar clearly rises; a normal dog’s blood sugar index is 75-120 mg/100 ml, a diabetic dog is 150 mg/100 ml, and can reach 400 mg/100 ml;

4. Late symptoms produce corneal ulcer, vitreous opacity, cataract, retinal detachment, blindness, skin ulcer, hair loss, heart failure, and coma;

III. Treatment of Diabetic Dogs

1. Mainly lower blood sugar and correct water, electrolyte, and acid-base balance disorders.

2. Take the dog to the hospital promptly, take medicine on time per the vet’s instructions, and give long-term treatment.

3. Diet therapy is the basic treatment for canine diabetes, based on low-sugar diet, supplemented with low-sugar foods like meat and milk; supplement enough B vitamins; feed at fixed times, small meals often.

4. Control high blood sugar and correct metabolic disorder using fast-acting insulin; stable dogs should use long- or medium-acting insulin injections.

5. Oral hypoglycemic drugs, like acetohexamide, tolbutamide, chlorpropamide, glibenclamide, and other glucose-lowering drugs.

6. Insulin treatment