Dogs can be born with diabetes or get diabetes at any time in their life, just as humans do. When a dog has this illness, it is no different than the form that people have. Diabetes in dogs is a chronic disease. This means that treatment can not cure this and make it go away. Any person or dog with diabetes will need ongoing treatment to control it, manage it and keep symptoms from becoming troubling.
This illness causes a dog’s body to be unable to breakdown glucose (sugar). If not managed properly, this can cause the sugar level in the dog’s blood to be either too high or too low. The most devastating effects of this come in later stages if the diabetes in the dog is left to worsen: blindness can occur. Loss of digits, such as toes can happen as well because of improper blood flow to limbs. This can also cause kidney damage and heart disease. The final stages of an untreated diabetic dog will be death.
Therefore it is vitally important to have your dog begin treatment immediately if he or she is found to have this. The treatment or management of this illness will be the same as a human. Your dog may need to have insulin shots to balance the glucose levels. While most dogs will certainly not enjoy having daily shots; this is required to maintain your dog’s good health. After a while, a dog may become compliant to the injections. A very strict and exact diet is needed as well. Certain foods can shoot sugar levels to dangerous heights. Lack of certain foods can allow sugar to become so low that a dog can go into shock.
Your dog should have their blood checked at regular intervals for any type of illness, including dog diabetes. When found, treatment should begin right away. If you are in-between vet checkups there are some early warning signs to look out for. If you notice that your dog sleeps a lot more than normal, shows signs of dizziness or drinks excessively it is suggested to schedule a vet checkup right away for your dog.
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