Does Your Dog Have Diabetes?

Dogs. There’s a reason we call them man’s best friend, you know. We can learn so many things from a dog’s behavior: their personality, demeanor, resiliency and most importantly; the willingness to provide their family members with unconditional love, loyalty, and companionship down to their very last breath.

I treat my dog like my best friend, and we do everything together. I once ordered an Uber to pick up my dog and bring him to work because I missed him so much. I even feed him the human food I eat. So finding out he was overweight and could have diabetes… well, it just about broke my heart.

It turns out that diabetes is becoming frighteningly common in dogs today. One in 300 senior and middle aged dogs are diagnosed with diabetes. And once your dog gets diabetes, he will most likely need insulin for the rest of his life.

So it’s really important to do everything you can to prevent your dog from becoming diabetic. There are many things that can contribute to the risk of your dog getting diabetes, but the good news is that there are also a lot of things you can do to help prevent it from happening and to minimize the risk.

Much like humans, when dogs have diabetes – staying trim is key. If your dog is overweight, losing some pounds can help his cells use insulin better, a hormone that keeps blood sugar levels in check. That makes it easier for his body to turn food into fuel.

The goal for any pooch with diabetes is to keep blood sugar (or glucose) levels as close to normal as possible. This helps your dog feel good and makes it less likely he’ll get diabetes-related complications, such as vision-clouding cataracts and urinary tract infections.

Dog Diabetes and a Diagnosis

Diabetes is diagnosed by using blood and urine tests. The normal blood sugar (blood glucose) for dogs is 60-125 mg/dl; for cats, 70-150 mg/dl. Diabetes is diagnosed when blood sugars are consistently elevated a significant amount. For example, 220 mg/dl in a dog or 400mg/dl in a cat.

If your pet is anxious when it visits the veterinarian, his or her blood sugar will naturally rise and the elevation may be as high as the sugar levels in a diabetic pet. To prevent this stress-related elevation of blood sugar, find a veterinarian and a clinic that can help calm your pet before they are tested.

Or even better,  find a veterinarian who makes house calls. Keep in mind that one or two blood tests showing elevated blood sugar doesn’t prove that your pet has diabetes. Blood sugar levels must be consistently elevated, or your pet must have urine tests showing ketones in order to prove they have diabetes.

Symptoms Of Dog Diabetes

Pets with diabetes often look unkempt and act lethargic. Because they lose sugar in the urine, and sugar pulls water molecules out with it, this causes them to urinate excessively. It also causes them to drink excessively. These activities, excessive urination (polyuria) and excessive drinking (polydipsia), are termed PUPD. Pets with diabetes end up losing weight and muscle mass. They may also have a lower body temperature than normal pets.

Additional symptoms of diabetes in dogs can include; excessive drinking and urination, loss of appetite, vomiting, dehydration, depression and lethargy, unkempt haircoat and dandruff, loss of muscles and weakness, weight loss, cataracts, and weakness of the back legs.

Defeat Your Dog’s Diabetes

I have a found and tested a great way to help beat your dog’s diabetes. Dogs are opportunistic carnivores, so while they can eat non-meat foods, they have no real nutritional requirement for carbs, and should avoid starches and grains. Even so, a diet of raw chicken necks and livers, plus broccoli every day can be helpful or them. Dogs don’t typically need broccoli or veggies, but in the case of diabetes it drastically helps. Broccoli is packed full of fresh and wholesome goodness, and organic options are easy to come by.

The chicken will be the larger meal of the day, I use about two pounds daily for my large dog. Skin-on is preferable, as skinless chicken does not have enough fat and would need to be supplemented with something like beef.

In addition to eliminating the chances of diabetes in your pooch, this diet will also have a lot of other great benefits. Potential benefits of the raw dog food diet include shinier coats, healthier skin, cleaner teeth, higher energy levels and smaller stools.

The Final Thought

The life expectancy of a diabetic dog can be the same as a healthy dog’s life with proper care. With proper treatment, diabetic dogs have survival rates very similar to those of non-diabetic dogs of the same age and gender – though their risk is greatest during the first six months of treatment when insulin therapy is introduced and glucose levels are being regulated.

Diabetic dogs are more likely to die of kidney disease, infections or liver/pancreatic disorders than of diabetes itself. But once their condition stabilizes, diabetic dogs can lead happy, healthy lives.