Signs of Diabetes in Dogs
📝 Summary
Diabetes is a chronic disease and a common endocrine disorder; prevention and early detection are very important. To detect it early at home, owners need to pay closer attention to the dog's condition. The most typical symptoms of diabetes are excessive drinking and urination, messy coat, and lethargy. When a dog's water intake and urination are found to increase suddenly for no reason, owners should be careful.
1 Overview
I. Symptoms of Diabetes in Dogs
The main symptoms of diabetes in dogs are restlessness, thirst, polyuria, polyphagia, weakness, and weight loss; in severe cases the sick dog’s breath has a ketotic odor. Further progression may show persistent vomiting and bloody diarrhea, and severe cases can lead to acidosis and eventually diabetic coma. Rising blood sugar, in the late stage of the disease, can cause cataracts, corneal ulcers, retinal detachment, vitreous opacity, blindness, hair loss, skin ulcers, heart failure, and even coma.
II. Treating Diabetes in Dogs
Diet therapy is the basic treatment for canine diabetes, based on the principle of feeding low-sugar foods such as meat and milk, and supplementing sufficient B vitamins. Patients in urgent need of controlling hyperglycemia and correcting metabolic disorders should use fast-acting insulin; stable patients should choose long-acting or intermediate-acting insulin. Common hypoglycemic drugs include tolbutamide, chlorpropamide, acetohexamide, and glibenclamide, usually limited to dogs with blood sugar not exceeding 200 mg/100 ml and no ketonemia. Although diabetes is not caused by obesity, owners are still advised to keep the dog at a normal body shape. Overly obese dogs should first reduce calorie intake to restore ideal weight, while underweight dogs need to gain weight.
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