Diabetes in dogs and cats, symptoms, diet, treatment

The dog was a lot of drinking and urinating it now so common that even at home began to make puddle. (Diabetes, diabetes insipidus.) These symptoms are typical mochepuskannya sugar or diabetes, which is caused by lack of insulin in the body. The occurrence of diabetes are important genetic predisposition, obesity and age. In addition, diabetes can result from mental and physical trauma, diseases of the pancreas, infectious and parasitic diseases. insulin – the hormone of the pancreas – reduces blood sugar levels, delaying the breakdown of glycogen – polysaccharide formed by residues of glucose and thereby increases the use of glucose cells.

Insulin deficiency, Diabetes in dogs and cats

Insulin deficiency is an excessive production of glucose from the cells. It is not digested, and content in the blood rises.Increases and providing it with urine. Elevated levels of glucose, or as they say here, sugar in the blood leads to a shift of acid-base balance in the body in the direction of increasing the number of anions (negatively charged ions) acids. As a result, developing intoxication, or otherwise – toxemia, from the Greek “toksikon” – “poison.” This, in turn, leads to disruption of water and mineral metabolism. increase blood sugar and distinguish it from urine causes dehydration, weight loss sick animals. Also eliminated from the body potassium, sodium, worsening the patient’s condition. In animals decreases as the formation of antibodies – complex proteins that inhibit reproduction of microorganisms or neutralize the emissions of toxic substances. And it lowers the body’s resistance to infectious diseases. diabetes mellitus suffer a variety of animals, including monkeys. Javanese macaques, who was fourteen years old, as well as eight svinohvostyy macaques, ill with diabetes began to experience increased thirst and general weakness. Weight monkeys steadily declining, they do not sleep, they appeared irritability. 

Insulin deficiency, diabetes II , Diabetes in dogs and cats

Additionally, the Javanese macaque in both eyes appeared cataracts – a clouding of the lens, which often occurs in other animals and in people with diabetes. Among dogs disease usually occurs in those who are more than seven years. Females suffer more males four times, half females onset coincides with the end of estrus. diabetes tend to toy poodles, dachshunds, terriers zhorstkosherstni, slightly less – Scotch Terrier, Spitz, Irish terriers. Patients dog depleted, although one of the first symptoms except polydipsia – heavy thirst is gluttony, hyperphagia. observed in dogs excessive urination – polyuria, urine is almost colorless. gradually develops dehydration, the skin becomes dry. Appears itching, often observed boils, eczema. There cataracts. Symptoms of diabetes in cats and hamsters, like many people, diabetes – a disease of inheritance. The fact that birds can be diabetes, wrote at the beginning of the century, in 1914, the Russian veterinarian LM Makarevskyy: “Can there be a bird disease mochepuskannya, or simple sugar, it is hard to say … but sometimes the birds begin to devote a lot of urine. Such a state of polyuria I watched a parrot … But first diabetes was registered in 1971 in the wild pigeon living in captivity in Germany. Five years were reported detection of diabetes in four budgerigars in the United States. A in 1984 in one of the clinics brought budgerigar, the male, who was three years old. Bird was a lot of drinking, and it was “diarrhea.” Doctor, which showed her to strip poultry of “diarrhea” appointed antibiotics. however, after six weeks of treatment, “diarrhea” is not stopped. parrots, nevertheless felt well, was lively. However, a week before he was brought to the hospital, was grim.

Diabetes in dogs

Diabetes insipidus sick cats and dogs. Symptoms: increased urination and increased thirst. The disease develops gradually. Urine increases and more frequent depending on the water you drink. Dogs midsize may allocate a day to three to four liters of urine instead of one-half, and large dogs – to eight to ten liters. Urine clear with low specific weight, but sugar in it. appear all the signs of dehydration, such as: dry mucous membranes, skin, palpitations, thirst. Amount of water consumed animals is increasing dramatically. appetite in patients usually reduced. Developed weakness. Animals strongly lose weight, they observed constipation. needed help. When diabetes insipidus from a diet sick animals must be excluded salt and to minimize protein foods. As far as possible, limit drinking water.

Insulin deficiency, diabetes II , Diabetes in dogs and cats

 Reduce thirst can, giving the animal water with lemon juice or vinegar pidkyslyayuchy it. diabetes mellitus sick animals give cooked meat, fish, broth, oatmeal, mineral water. Appeal to the doctor necessarily because the symptoms of psychogenic polydipsia, Diabetes insipidus and diabetes in monkeys, dogs and birds alike. Inappropriate come as some owners of animals, particularly dogs. Finding that a dog drinks a lot and urinates often they agree with laboratory technicians and pass urine for analysis at regular clinic.

Insulin path., Insulin deficiency, Diabetes in dogs and cats

And if it turns out that the urine is sugar, begin to treat dogs on your own, the most prescribed drugs, doses, slightly smaller than take their familiar, diabetes, and without any further control the level of sugar in the urine and, moreover, in the blood. diabetes – a serious chronic disease: affects almost the entire body. However, with a slight increase in blood sugar treatment is limited to dieting.dogs and cats suffering from diabetes, as without treatment and at arbitrary treatment live a little. Treat diabetes can and herbs.

Q & A: Best Diet for Dogs with Diabetes Mellitus

I have a 10-year old, male, 4-kg Miniature Pinscher that has been on twice daily NPH insulin injections (0.75 U/kg per injection) for the last 6 months. Because of his diabetes, we have been feeding Hill’s Prescription w/d diet. Overall, the serum glucose curves are quite good, the polyuria and polydipsia have resolved, and the dog seems to feels great. However, despite being well controlled, the dog has been losing weight and has lost over 1.5 kg since diagnosis.

The main problem is that the dog continues to be ravenous and is loosing weight. Despite being well controlled on his blood glucose curved, the dog has lost over 1.5 kg since diagnosis.

Am I feeding the wrong diet? I thought that all diabetic dogs did best when fed a high fiber diet such as Hill’s w/d.

My Response:

First of all, there is not one type of diet that is recommended for all dogs with diabetes. Diabetic dogs can do well when fed a number of diets as long as they are nutritionally complete and balanced, do not contain simple sugars, are fed at consistent times in consistent amounts, and are palatable to ensure a predictable and consistent appetite. As we all know, it’s difficult enough to regulate a diabetic when they are eating consistently well— if they refuse to eat their diet, adequate glucose regulation can become next to impossible.

In many newly diagnosed diabetic dogs, I don’t change their diet at all.  The most important dietary factor in the diabetic is consistency, so that you can match your insulin dose to the degree of post-prandial hyperglycemia. The owner must understand that the key is to feed the same amount of the same diet at the same time every day!

In general, the goals of dietary therapy in canine diabetes mellitus are four-fold:

1. Optimize the dog’s body weight and body condition score (i.e., weight loss versus weight gain, as needed)


2. Minimize post-prandial hyperglycemia


3. Control hyperlipemia and hypertriglyceridemia


4. Modify the diet based any concurrent conditions (e.g., pancreatitis, kidney disease, gastrointestinal disease)

Optimize Body Weight
In diabetic dogs that are obese, I always recommend feeding a reduced calorie diet designed to help the dog lose weight. The high fiber diets are good for this purpose (1-4). No matter what diet is fed, however, it’s also important to limit the amount of fat in the diet when weight loss is the goal. To me, an appropriate weight loss diet should contain restricted amounts of fat — less than 30% on a metabolizable energy (ME) basis, which means <30% of the calories in the diet supplied by fat.
(For more information about how to calculate ME values for fat, protein, and carbohydrates, see Calculating the Metabolizable Energy (ME) Values of a Dog Food, below.)

In underweight dogs with diabetes, the goal of dietary therapy is the complete opposite. In these thin dogs. our priority is to normalize body weight and restore and preserve muscle mass. These dogs may never regain the weight needed if a food with moderate to high amounts of fiber is fed — they may even continue to progressively lose even more weight. Therefore, these thin to emaciated dogs should be fed a high-quality, higher energy diet that can contain a slightly increased fat content to ensure that they regain their lost body weight (3,4).

Minimize Post-prandial Hyperglycemia
Several “older” landmark studies showed that feeding high-fiber diets can improve glycemic control in dogs with diabetes (1,2). The extra dietary fiber slows the digestion and absorption of carbohydrates, and thereby helps to minimize post-prandial hyperglycemia (1-4).

However, there are disadvantages in feeding all diabetic dogs a high-fiber diet. Again, because these diets tend to promote weight loss, they are not suitable for the thin or emaciated dog with diabetes (5). In addition, the high dietary fiber content of the food can result in unwanted side effects, including inappetence, diarrhea, and flatulence in some dogs.

Other more recent studies fail to show a clear-cut clinical benefit of feeding a high-fiber diet over a typical adult maintenance diet with moderate-fiber content to diabetic dogs.  In one study, no significant differences in insulin requirements or glycemic control were found in dogs fed a high-fiber, moderate-carbohydrate, moderate-fat diet versus an adult maintenance diet with moderate fiber, lower carbohydrate, and higher fat (5). As expected, weight loss occurred when the dogs were fed the high-fiber diet, whereas body weights were maintained with the moderate-fiber diet.

For any dog food, the major potential influence on the postprandial glycemic response is the dietary carbohydrate source (6-8). Foods and snacks containing simple sugars which rapidly increased blood glucose should always be avoided, of course. Feeding carbohydrate sources that have a low glycemic index (e.g, sorghum and corn) are preferred for diabetic dogs. Carbohydrates with a higher glycemic index (e.g., rice) are best avoided (6).

Because dogs are omnivores, they can tolerate higher amounts of carbohydrates better than do diabetic cats. Therefore, I recommend a diet that is moderately restricted in carbohydrate content — that is, a diet with <30% metabolizable energy (ME) as carbohydrates— for diabetic dogs to limit their post-prandial glucose load and help control hyperglycemia.

Control Hyperlipemia and Hypertriglyceridemia
A diet containing restricted amounts of fat (again, <30% ME) should be fed to diabetic dogs with concurrent hypertriglyceridemia or hyperlipidemia (4,9).

The presence of hyperlipidemia (i.e., hypertriglyceridemia and, to a lesser degree hypercholesterolemia) has long been associated with pancreatitis in dogs (9). Hyperlipidemia is common in untreated or poorly controlled diabetes mellitus and may contribute to the concurrent pancreatitis that can develop in these diabetic dogs. For my diabetic patients with concurrent pancreatitis, I’ve had good luck with the Royal Canin Veterinary Diet Gastrointestinal Low-Fat LS diet — it contains the lowest amount fat of any of the commercial diets (15% ME for fat), and most dogs find it quite palatable.

However, some dogs with diabetes secondary to chronic pancreatitis also have partial loss of exocrine pancreatic function and can be at risk for excessive weight loss when fed a low fat diet. One approach for the underweight diabetic dog with hypertriglyceridemia is to consider restricting dietary fat intake only after adequate glycemic control has been established. In these dogs, both body weight and serum triglyceride concentrations are followed carefully, and dietary adjustments are made as needed.

High Protein Diets in Canine Diabetes?
The optimal dietary protein for diabetic dogs has not been determined. But it does not appear that the protein requirement for a diabetic dog would be much different than a non-diabetic dog. However, because we frequently aim for either carbohydrate or fat restriction (or both), dietary protein will often provide a substantial source of calories for diabetic dogs (for example, protein >30% ME).

Calculating the Metabolizable Energy (ME) Values of a Dog Food
The most accurate way to evaluate pet foods and their composition is to consider the calories or metabolizable energy (ME) that comes from the protein, fat, and carbohydrate fractions (10). This allows us to compare various diets without worrying about their different fiber, ash, or moisture content.

Remember that the percent carbohydrates, fat, and protein of any diet can be expressed in at least 3 ways — as fed, on a dry matter basis, or on a metabolizable energy (ME) basis. Depending on how the diet composition is expressed, the same food may list a percent carbohydrate value that appears to be very low to rather high (for example, 5% or 25%). As an analogy, if you buy hamburger at the grocery store and the label says it’s 90% lean and 10% fat, you might determine that it is composed mostly of protein and is low in fat. But if you calculate the composition of the hamburger on a caloric or energy basis (ME), the hamburger is actually half fat and only half protein. That’s why the ME basis is the best to really determine what we are actually feeding.

However, unless you are able to obtain the ME values for a diet from the company (always the best way), you may need to estimate the values from the guaranteed analysis (GA) listed for the diet. I like to use the Guaranteed Analysis Converter found on the Balance IT Professional web site to help make this calculation easier (11). The actually calculations are not that difficult but are somewhat cumbersome to perform (10).

The Bottom Line
Dogs should never be fed a high-fiber diet just because they have diabetes. Many dogs do just as well on other maintenance diets containing lower amounts of fiber and carbohydrate and higher amounts of protein. A consistent diet —that is, the type, amount, and time of feeding —is generally much more important in diabetic regulation than any particular fiber content or specific type of diet.

References:

1. Nelson R, Duesberg C, Ford S, et al. Effect of dietary insoluble fiber on control of glycemia in dogs with naturally acquired diabetes mellitus. Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association 1998;212:380–386. 


2. Graham PA, Maskell E, Rawlings L. Influence of a high fibre diet on glycaemic control and quality of life in dogs with diabetes mellitus. Journal of Small Animal Practice 2002;43:67–73. 


3. Rucinsky R, Cook A, Haley S, et al. American Animal Hospital Association.AAHA diabetes management guidelines. Journal of the American Animal Hospital Association 2010; 46:215-224. 


4. Zicker SC, Nelson RW, Kirk CA, et al. Endocrine Disorders. In: Hand MS, Thatcher CD, Remillard RL, Roudebush R, Novotny, BJ (eds), Small Animal Clinical Nutrition. Mark Morris Institute. 2010; 559-584.


5. Fleeman LM, Rand JS, Markwell PJ. Lack of advantage of high-fibre, moderate-carbohydrate diets in dogs with stabilised diabetes. Journal of Small Animal Practice 2009;50:604-614. 


6. Rand JS, Farrow HA, Fleeman LM, et al. Diet in the prevention of diabetes and obesity in companion animals. Asia Pacific Journal of Clinical Nutrition 2003;12 Suppl:S6.


7. Elliott KF, Rand JS, Fleeman LM, et al. A diet lower in digestible carbohydrate results in lower postprandial glucose concentrations compared with a traditional canine diabetes diet and an adult maintenance diet in healthy dogs. Research in Veterinary Science 2011;96; 288-95. 
   


8. Nguyen P, Dumon H, Biourge V, Pouteau E. Glycemic and insulinemic responses after ingestion of commercial foods in healthy dogs: influence of food composition. Journal of Nutrition (12 Suppl):2654S-2658S. 


9. Xenoulis PG, Steiner JM. Lipid metabolism and hyperlipidemia in dogs. The Veterinary Journal 2010;183:12-21. 


10. Laflamme DP. Determining metabolizable energy content in commercial pet foods. Journal of Animal Physiolology and Animal Nutrition (Berlin). 2001; 85:222-230. 


11. Balance IT Professional Website. Guaranteed Analysis Converter. 

Diet for Dog with Diabetes

I have a 6 year old diabetic dog that has been on insulin for eight months now and still having a little difficulty regulating.  I’m thinking about trying your GlucoEnsure and a new food. 

He is on XXXXX which I personally think is poor food because of the ingredients.  The only thing it has going for it is high in fiber.  After lots of research, I would like to try Wellness Core or Innova EVO. Would it be better to use the soft food or the hard food or a mixture? The soft food has less protein.�
Laurie

Hello Laurie,

I do agree that the XXXX is not an ideal diet. Wellness Core or EVO are excellent diets to offer a diabetic dog. You may also offer canned pumpkin, sprinkle Benefiber on the kibble or even add raw vegetables to the diet to increase fiber. Canned food is actually higher in protein per dry matter basis, so if your dog prefers some canned, it is suitable. It does have more water so the cost is higher than the dry form. Best of luck.

Sincerely,
Colleen Smith DVM, CVA

Note: For more information about Diabetes, visit our webpage “Natural Treatments for Diabetes in Dogs and Cats.”

Followup Question:

Dear Dr. Smith:

You had suggested Benefiber as a supplement for my diabetic maltese.  I just started the Wellness Core and was wondering if I need to sprinkle the Benefiber each meal and approximately how much? On the days I supplement vegetables or pumpkin I’m I not to use the Benefiber?   I know the XXXX  food that he was on has a 10% fiber guaranteed anaylsis and the Wellness Core doesn’t have near that much, but all the other ingredients are so superior I had to switch.  I know the fiber is very important and I want to make sure he is getting enough.  He just had another two week blood work test and his sugar is still fairly high 285.    I did purchase your GlucoEnsure recently and started him on that as well.  

Also, what kind of raw vegetables and fruit are good for the fiber?

Hello Laurie,

Fiber is important but don’t over analyze the food. I find the protein and carbohydrate ratio is much more crucial. Too many poor and grain carbohydrates will cause a greater swing in glucose levels. You may leave out the Benefiber if you are supplementing with vegetables. You may also offer any raw veggies such as carrots, green peppers, cucumber, broccoli and cooked canned green beans. For fruits you may offer apples, melons, pears and bananas. Please avoid grapes, raisins and onions, as they are toxic to pets.

Best of luck.

Regards,

Colleen Smith DVM, CVA

Response:

You have been so very helpful Dr. Smith!!!!  Can you move to the DFW Texas area?  LOL!  I have been sprinkling a little Benefiber in the morning on his wet can Wellness Core and in the evening putting a dollop of pumpkin on his dry Core food.  He’s just loving the new routine.  My other babies love the pumpkin too.  It’s a nice healthy treat for them.  Thanks again for all the information and wish me luck on his next test at the vet.

Take care.

Followup Question:

You have been so helpful with questions concerning the care of my diabetic dog and I so respect your opinion.  I have a new question for you.  My vet left me a voice mail last week wanting to take my dog off of Vetsulin and transition him to a human insulin because of the FDA alert.  After reading some information online, I would have to agree.  What is your opinion for the brand of human insulin that can be used as an alternative? I have had trouble regulating him for a little over a year since he has been diabetic and maybe Vetsulin is the reason.

Response:

So far the best alternative for Vetsulin on the market is NPH. Most dogs do very well on it, though it has a shorter duration than Vetsulin.

Your dog may very well have had problems regulating due to the Vetsulin, so it’s best to work very closely with your Vet during the crossover process. Best of luck.

Sincerely,

Colleen Smith DVM, CVA

Followup:

I just wanted you to know that I just had a Frotosomine test done and it was 276 which is great since the acceptable range as you know is 260-378.  That’s the first really good reading he has had in over a year since the onset of diabetes.  I want to thank you for steering me to Wellness Core.  I supplement the Core with Benefiber, real pumpkin and cooked green beans also as you suggested since Core has great ingredients, but not much fiber content.  He also gets occasional boiled chicken and carrots.  I am so glad I made the decision to take him off the Purina DCO and start the Core diet.  He is also on Cataplex and Diaplex from my vet and the GlucoEnsure from Holistic Pet.  I didn’t, however, see a difference in his sugar until I started the Core and the GlucoEnsure.  His eyes even are much clearer and the cataracts haven’t advanced and I think that is because of the Bilberry in the GlucoEnsure and getting his sugar more regulated.  Next step will be to switch from Vetsulin over to your suggested insulin below.  I kinda hate to do that now since I just got the good check-up.  Anyway, all of your advice has really paid off and I want you to know that! I really appreciate you Dr. Smith!!!