The day when you discover your loving pooch has got Diabetes is without a doubt the saddest day for a dog owner. Health problems like diabetes can put you and your dog through some real tough times.
Diabetes in dogs can become a living nightmare if not treated with medical assistance on time. Diabetes symptoms in dogs are widely neglected for being symptoms of some other common illness.
If you are a dog owner of a diabetic dog and want to treat your dog with minimal antibiotics and injections, you are at the right place. In this article we bring you all the information about diabetes in dogs and how home remedies and diet changes can help in controlling it.
However, you should also remember that insulin injections are a must for diabetic dogs. Home remedies and diet tips do not completely strike out the insulin injections. Your dog might still need them.
Table of Contents
What is Diabetes in Dogs?
Diabetes in dogs or Diabetes mellitus causes high sugar levels in the blood glucose. The symptoms for diabetes in dogs are almost similar to us humans. It is a chronic disease.
The worst thing about diabetes is that it can’t be cured. However, it can be reversed by changing your dog’s diet and lifestyle habits. Diabetes in dogs is a metabolism disorder where body reduces the speed of converting food into energy.
Diabetes is all about the connection of glucose and insulin. In this disease your dog’s body will not use insulin the way it is supposed to. Further, this affects the metabolism of dogs.
Metabolism of dogs (and humans) involves the conversion of food into energy by using two things interchangeably, glucose and insulin. When dogs get diabetes their glucose-insulin connection is not connected anymore.
There are also two types of diabetes in dogs, insulin-deficiency diabetes and insulin-resistant diabetes. The former is when the dog’s body is not producing enough insulin. While the latter is when insulin is produced but the dog’s body doesn’t utilize it well.
No matter what type of diabetes your dog has it will cause only damage to his/her body. Like humans, diabetes in dogs can also be Type I and Type II diabetes. These types can further make dogs partially or completely blind.
The high sugar levels in the bloodstream puts other organs at a high risk of damage. Early detection and treatment can help your dog from developing severe health issues.