Pets with Diabetes Can Live Happy, Healthy Lives

The goal for the month of November is to bring awareness and educate pet owners about diabetes in the furry babies, this way they can have the appropriate treatment.

Spreading the word about this disease will help pet parents to be able to make decisions in regards to the diabetes. Here are some things to know about diabetes in pets.

Symptoms Of Diabetes In Pets

Signs of the disease can be difficult to spot, and can even be mistaken as symptoms of other conditions, such as hypothyroidism or kidney disease. But as long as pet parents are educated and vigilant, early diagnosis is possible.

Dogs and cats with diabetes usually sleep more and are more lethargic during the day. Dogs with diabetes can have cloudy eyes, while cats may have thinning hair and weak hind legs.

Pets with canine or feline diabetes also exhibit three additional symptoms — polydipsia, or increased water intake; polyuria, or increased urination; and polyphagia, or increased appetite. Sudden weight loss can sometimes be a good indicator that a dog or cat may have diabetes.

Animals exhibiting these signs should see a veterinarian immediately; failure to treat diabetes in pets can lead to some devastating and life-threatening health issues.

Which Pets are at Risk for Diabetes?

Risk factors for diabetes in dogs and cats include advanced age, genetic predisposition, breed, and obesity. That last factor — pet obesity — is a big problem here in the US, with over half of dogs and nearly 60 percent of cats falling in the overweight or obese category.

As a result, the number of pets diagnosed with diabetes has skyrocketed in recent years. In the past three decades alone, the prevalence of diabetes mellitus in dogs and cats ranges from between one in 1,001 pets to one in 500 pets. Almost three times as many dogs suffer from diabetes today as they did only three decades ago.

Diagnosing Diabetes in Pets

There is an important distinction to make between canine and feline diabetes.
Dogs are usually diagnosed with Type I diabetes because there is a deficiency in the way the pancreas produces insulin. Cats, on the other hand, usually have Type II diabetes that results from a decreased sensitivity to insulin.

Only a licensed veterinarian can officially confirm a diabetes diagnosis in your dog or cat. If you suspect your pet may have diabetes, make an appointment for a veterinary exam as soon as possible.
Should the vet diagnose your pet with diabetes, don't fret; Merck Animal Health provides a useful question checklist you can run through with your veterinarian to make sure you leave the office feeling well-informed and as confident as possible in your ability to help Fido or Fluffy manage his or her disease.

Managing Diabetes in Pets

While there is no cure for pet diabetes, there are ways to successfully manage the disease.
Cats diagnosed with feline diabetes typically have a normal life expectancy. As long as their humans help them maintain a proper diet, a healthy lifestyle, and check their blood glucose levels as directed by their veterinarians, cats with diabetes usually live just as long as cats without.

And while diabetic dogs once faced a much shorter life expectancy than their healthy counterparts, living on average only two to five years after their diabetes diagnosis, things are turning around for canines living with this disease.

As long as a responsible pet parent closely manages the dog's blood glucose concentration, and as long as that diabetic dog does not develop any other health complications, dogs with canine diabetes can often expect to live just as long as dogs without the condition.

This article appears in: https://dogtime.com/dog-health/general/18667-november-is-pet-diabetes-month

Content Source: Website dogtime.com