Diabetes can affect many pets and most commonly older pets. In diabetes condition, the body registers high amount of glucose in the blood as the body stops producing the insulin or doesn’t react to its production. Diabetes can develop in one’s pet due to any illness, hereditary reasons, obesity and many medications (if taken for long term).
The pets are affected to type 1 diabetes if their pancreas doesn’t produce enough insulin. Almost half of the diabetic cats and all the dogs are affected by type 1 diabetes. The type 2 diabetes occurs when their body stop registering the insulin production which leads to high glucose in the blood stream. Cats are more seen to be prone to diabetes than dogs.
The symptoms experienced by the pets are similar to those experienced by adults which include excessive urination and thirst, loss of weight and a noticeable increase or decrease in appetite, leg weakness (cats), blindness or cataracts (dogs) and presence of sweet odor in their breath. The complications of diabetes include seizures, weakness, confusion, dehydration and even coma.
As with the symptoms, the treatment of the diabetes in pets is somewhat similar to adults. The primary treatments include exercise and diet regulations, management of glucose and insulin shots. Glucose levels are monitored by the urine or blood. Urine tests can be done through special strips. Glucose meters record blood obtained from ear, tongue or paw. These tests are done several times in a day to keep the glucose levels stable.
Changes in diets play an important role in preventing diabetes. The cat formulas fed to the felines could be unnecessarily harmful to them as these contain high amount of carbohydrates which can increase the weight of the cat and still leave him/her hungry.
Diets for dogs should contain high fiber and cats should be given natural canned or homemade food. Other treatments include providing nutraceuticals like glutamine, omega-3 fatty acids, and vitamin b6; or botanical therapies like burdock root, bilberry and marshmallow.
by on 02. Feb, 2010 in feline diabetes, pets and diabetes
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