Is your dog suddenly not as excited to see you when you walk through the door? Or maybe you notice that he or she is drinking much more water than usual? If it seems like every time you turn around you are filling up the dog bowl, or your cat or dog doesn’t want to snuggle in your lap, there may be cause for concern. Your pet’s change of attitude and habits may be a serious sign of pet diabetes!
Diabetes is one of the most common endocrine diseases affecting cats and dogs. One contributing factor is a cat or dog’s breed, as certain types are more prone to the disease. Another factor is weight gain – and with the holidays around the corner, it’s easier than ever for man and man’s best friends to splurge on sweet treats and leftovers. Keeping pets on a balanced diet year-round can help ensure a healthy weight.
Luckily, like people with diabetes, pets with this disease can live relatively healthy lives once diagnosed and treated. I have a chance to post this interview with Dr. Kathryn Sarpong, veterinarian at Metro Paws Animal Hospital. She discusses pet diabetes and what pet parents should be aware of to protect the health of their dog or cat. She also able discusses the signs and symptoms, common treatments and tips on maintaining a healthy diet and lifestyle for your pet.
We’re here to talk about a important topic, especially for people that have pets – so can you tell us about pet diabetes?
Great- thank you. November is diabetes awareness month and I’m here teaming up with Merck Animal Health to help spread the word that cats and dogs also get diabetes. Diabetes is a disease where the body can’t control blood sugar and they need help to both change their diet and also get insulin into their bodies to help their blood sugar go to the normal range.
So, are there any specific risk factors and signs you should look out for – especially for pet diabetes?
There are, so I’m going to give some highlights of some top things and symptoms. There’s a more extensive list on the website, petdiabetesmonth.com that goes through kind of more in detail, but the number one thing that I see when clients come to me with a pet that newly has diabetes, is that they are drinking a lot. Suddenly they are filling the water bowl more; they notice that their pet is peeing a lot more; urinating a lot more than they used to. The litter box is full, or they’re stopping on walks and maybe having an accident in the middle of the dining room that they might not have had otherwise, and those symptoms can be a big marker that something is going on. And I warn owners, pets are subtle creatures, they don’t like to put a big sign up that says I’m sick. So, when you see changes in eating or drinking or peeing or pooping, anything different than usual, pay attention, your pet is telling you something. He may not know what it is but it’s saying take me to the vet and let’s figure this out because it may well be a symptom of diabetes.
And a lot of pet owners would probably be pretty concerned, so what treatments are available? That is important to remember this is a manageable disease and the earlier you find out about it the easier it is to manage. So most of my pets that I see I change their diet to be a low blood sugar inducing diet so they don’t seem to have high blood sugar spikes on their food and then also adding insulin and there’s lots of different kinds of insulin; there’s some human labeled insulin and some insulin labeled for cats and for dogs and depending on the pet and the circumstance we’ll pick one of those insulins to give them by injection typically every morning and every night.
So, are there any other tips on how pet diabetes can be prevented?
So, I want your listeners who own miniature poodles, pugs, dachshunds and beagles to pay special attention to the pets for diabetes because we know those breeds are at a higher risk. Older cats, especially older male cats that are heavy and a little bit chubby and snuggly, they’re at higher risk for diabetes. And then just typically, just any pet that is having a change in their water consumption, be aware that they’re at high risk and so taking them to the vet regularly, making sure they’re getting exercise, making sure they’re eating well and not too much can be really important.
Where can pet owners learn more?
So, the website, petdiabetesmonth.com; great place to go; also going to your local veterinarian; family veterinarian is a great place to get information. If you don’t have a veterinarian, you can find one on that website, petdiabetesmonth.com. During November, if new pets that are diagnosed, they can get free food and insulin to help them along this journey, but really it’s about paying attention because if you can catch this disease early they will do better.
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