JK McEnroe - Diabetes in Dogs

Diabetes in Dogs

J.K. McEnroe, M.A.

Smashwords Edition

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Copyright 2011 J.K. McEnroe, M.A.

Smashwords Edition, License Notes

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Contents

Chapter 1: What is Diabetes?

Chapter 2: Causes

Chapter 3: Symptoms

Chapter 4: Diagnosis

Chapter 5:Stabilization and Treatment

Chapter 6:Treatment Complications

Chapter 7:Changes in Lifestyle

Chapter 8:Research and Studies

Chapter 9:Genetics and Inheritability

Chapter 10:Diabetic food

References

Notes

C hapter 1: What isDiabetes?

Diabetes is a metabolic disease in which thebody loses its ability to control the sugar levels, or glucoselevels, that are present in the bloodstream. Just like humans, dogscan also suffer from this disease. In fact, researchers estimatethat about 1 in 200 dogs eventually develop diabetes.

The mechanism of diabetes works like this:the body cells obtain their energy from a sugar named glucose. Thebody cells first break down the carbohydrates from food, and thenthey extract glucose from the blood using insulin, a hormone thatis secreted by the pancreas. The problem in diabetes is that thecells arent able to take in enough glucose. In a diabetic dog,either the special cells of the pancreas do not produce enoughinsulin or the body cells are no longer able to recognize it. As aresult, your dogs blood sugar rises to be much higher than normal.Even though the blood sugar is very high, the cells arent able toget any glucose and end up starving while the organs that aresoaked in sugary blood get damaged. This will lead your dog to eatmore than usual but still lose weight.

In addition, the excess blood sugar iseliminated through your dogs urine, which leads the dog to drinkand urinate a lot more than usual. Canine diabetes can be dangerousfor your dog if it isnt treated properly; luckily, treatment hasseen great advances in recent years and with the proper diagnoseand treatment, your dog will be able to live a longer, happier, andhealthier life.

Types of Canine Diabetes

Canine and human diabetes are somewhatdifferent in their classification. In the case of humans, there areessentially three types of diabetes: Type I diabetes, Type IIdiabetes, and gestational diabetes. In the case of Type I diabetes,the body isnt able to produce enough insulin; type II diabetes,which is the most common one in humans, results from insulinresistance (the cells cant use the available insulin); gestationaldiabetes tends to begin during pregnancy and is frequently theresult of hormonal changes.

As for dogs, The United Kingdoms RoyalVeterinary College identifies two forms of canine diabetes:insulin-deficiency (type I) diabetes and insulin-resistance (typeII) diabetes. Neither type of canine diabetes matches any kind ofhuman diabetes exactly. Both are similar in the fact that the bodyfails to regulate blood sugar, but there are differences in thebasic mechanisms of the disease among the two types.

Type I, or Insulin Dependent Diabetes, iscaused by a complete or almost complete destruction of the betacells, which are the special cells in the pancreas that are incharge of producing insulin. Dogs suffering from this type ofdiabetes require insulin injections in order to regulate theirblood sugar. Type I diabetes is the most common diabetes type amongdogs.

Type II, or Non-Insulin Dependent Diabetes,on the other hand, differs because some of the beta cells thatproduce insulin are still present in the pancreas of the dog. Theproblem is that the quantity of insulin that they produce is verysmall, they take a while to secrete it, and the tissues in thedogs body are quite resistant to it. Dogs that have type IIdiabetes may be treated with oral drugs that stimulate the betacells to secrete insulin in adequate amounts to regularize bloodglucose, or they may be treated with insulin. The beta cells ofdogs with this type diabetes may eventually get completelydestructed, requiring the dog to get insulin injections.

Chapter 2: Causes

There are a wide range of causes that canlead to the development of canine diabetes, which include thefollowing:

Breed : A study that was published in the Veterinary Journal in 2003 analyzeddiabetes rates in thousands of American dogs and came to theconclusion that overall, mixed-breed dogs were more prone todiabetes than purebreds. Among purebreds, certain breeds seemed tohave a higher risk of developing diabetes. In fact, other studieshaves been shown that there is a clear breed predisposition todiabetes with the Samoyed being at high risk end and the Boxerbeing at low risk end of developing the disease.

Age : Dogs of any age can develop diabetes, but they tend todevelop it during middle or old age.

Gender : Females appear to be at increased risk to developdiabetes.

Weight : Obese dogs may have a larger risk of developingdiabetes.

Diet : A diet high in fat may contribute to pancreatitis, orinflamed pancreas, which is a risk factor for the development ofdiabetes.

Otherdiseases : Viral infections and theinflammation of the pancreas can destruct beta cells, predisposingthe dog to develop diabetes. In fact, it has been shown thatextensive pancreatic damage, a likelyproduct of chronic pancreatitis, causes about 28% of canine diabetes cases. In some cases, it is the dogsown immune system that works against its pancreas as it tries tosecrete insulin.

Drug usage: Certain drugs may interfere withinsulin production and eventually cause diabetes. Glucocorticoids,which are cortisone-type drugs, and hormones used for heat controlare examples of drugs that have a risk to cause diabetes. These are quite commonly used drugs, and only a small fraction ofanimals that are treated with these drugs develop diabetes afterlong term usage.

Chapter 3: Symptoms

It is essential to recognize the symptoms ofcanine diabetes and address the disease as early as possible. Thereare many pet owners who are actually diabetic patients themselvesand recognize immediately if their dog has diabetes. However, manyother people have no idea about what diabetes is and take a whileto find out about their dogs condition.

Diabetes prevents your dog from being able toregulate the level of glucose concentration in their bloodstream.As a result, the concentration of glucose in the blood increases tothe point that the kidneys eventually have to let glucose outthrough urine. The loss of glucose in urine takes water with it byosmosis, leading to excessive urination. In order to compensate forthe loss of water, your dog will drink larger quantities of waterthan usual to satiate their thirst. Therefore, two main symptoms ofcanine diabetes are polyuria, which is excessive urination, andpolydipsia, which is excessive water consumption.

In addition, appetite is usually good orincreased while there is often weight loss. When there is aninsulin deficiency, cells starve for an energy source. As a result,your dogs body starts to break down alternative sources of energy,including fat and protein stores, to make up for the glucose thatthey arent able to get. The end result is a hungry dog that eatslarge quantities of food and yet loses weight due to the fact thattheir body isnt able to absorb the in-taken energy. Some dogs,however, may actually become obese.

There are also some additional complicationsand resulting symptoms that may arise as a result of diabetes,which include the following: