Canine Diabetes Symptoms and Treatments

The pancreas is an abdominal organ that produces digestive enzymes for the metabolism of food. Occasionally, due to illness or trauma, the pancreas either produces less insulin or none at all and the body then becomes inefficient in dealing with high volumes of glucose in the blood. As the glucose is not being converted into energy, the body then starts to draw on its reserves of fat which does not serve the body's need for energy.

This can result in diabetes mellitus, or sugar diabetes, and is most common in middle aged to older dogs although it can occur in younger animals. As the treatment consists in replenishment of the body's supplies of insulin this form of the disease is otherwise known as Insulin-dependent Diabetes Mellitus (IDDM) (Type II diabetes mellitus).

Diabetes, if managed properly managed and controlled, will have little effect on your dog other than in terms of treatment schedules and feeding regimes. He can either be managed with daily insulin injections, which are simple and painless once you've spoken to your vet and have been shown how to administer them or he can be managed on oral diabetic medication alone if his symptoms aren't too severe or he has a bad reaction to injections.

The signs and symptoms that indicate that your dog is developing IDDM are a vastly increased level of thirst and urination levels, and an enormous increase in appetite simply because he's trying to take in enough calories to make up for the deficit in available energy. He may also lose a dramatic amount of weight simply because his body is compromising for the low insulin levels.

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He will become more listless if these symptoms are not picked up, with increasing likelihood of internal organ damage, and prolonged absence of insulin may lead to high levels of ketones in the body which will smell like sweet peardrops on his breath. This is a dangerous signal and is indicative of ketoacidosis which raises the pH level of the blood and can cause serious damage within the body.

Ongoing management will include testing of his blood or urine for glucose in the morning, and giving him the appropriate insulin dosage for that reading. He is then fed his morning meal after about five minutes following the injection. He is fed again later that day at the time when his blood glucose levels are low, and again this will require blood or urine testing to determine. Once you have established a good routine this should be adhered to until your vet suggests a review.

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