Diabetes in Pets – What Pet Parents Need to Know

Evanger's Teams up with Certified Nutritional Consultant to Address "Need to Know" Facts of Nutrition and Diabetes
 

8.3% of the United States’ human population has Diabetes, a number that grows annually according to the 2011 National Diabetes Fact Sheet by the ADA and CDC.  Like many other human ailments, Diabetes can also affect furry family members.  Some studies suggest that about 1 in every 156 dogs suffers from Diabetes.*  It is a growing concern among veterinarians, who are treating an increasing number of diabetic pets each year.

What do pet parents need to know about diabetes in pets?  Evanger’s Dog and Cat Food Company teamed up with Karen Rhoads, Certified Nutritional Consultant for pets to help spread awareness during November American Diabetes® Month.

What is Diabetes?

Healthy cells in a pancreas produce insulin, which enters the bloodstream to blond with glucose, or blood sugar.  Insulin turns glucose into fuel or fat, depending on the body’s needs.  When pancreatic cells malfunction or stop functioning altogether, the bloodstream can either become deficient of insulin or flooded with too much, which can cause a variety of problems.

How Diabetes Affects Pets

One of the most serious side effects of diabetes is neuropathy, or nerve damage, in the extremities.  A dog or cat might feel a tingling sensation or numbness in the toes or the nose.  More serious symptoms may cause damage to the eye.  In extreme cases animals can go into diabetic shock, coma, or death.

Prevention and Treatment

The goal in prevention and treatment of Diabetes in pets is to stabilize blood sugar. Depending on the severity of the condition, veterinarians may recommend control of diet or insulin injections. 

“The problem with insulin injections is that the body develops a tolerance of insulin and over time, it no longer works as effectively,” says Karen Rhoads, Certified Nutritional Consultant for pets.  Rhoads has witnessed that long-term treatment with insulin can result in the opposite condition, hypoglycemia.  This means the body ends up with too little blood glucose, an issue that can be just as severe and complicated to treat as Diabetes.

Rhoads recommends prevention and treatment of Diabetes through nutrition first whenever possible.  She adds that “improvement of nutrition can sometimes actually get the pancreas to work properly again.”

Improving Nutrition to Combat Diabetes

Rhoads recommends these tips for getting on the road to better nutrition:

Find a Good Vet- The relationship between a diabetic pet and a health care professional is usually long term.  It is important trust and feel comfortable with your choice of veterinarian.  Be cautious of a veterinarian who immediately suggests insulin injections without analyzing diet first. 

Keep a Diary- Track what your pet eats at every meal, including treats.  This helps nutrition professionals better assess potential pitfalls and strategies for nutritional improvement. 

Reduce Carbohydrates, Increase Meat- Dietary changes should be supervised by a veterinary health care professional.  Reducing carbohydrates quite often reduces the load on the pancreas, and natural insulin production in the pancreas may improve as a result of this change.  The body does not process all carbohydrates in the same way.  Some cause only very small increases in blood sugar levels, while others can trigger large increases—also known as foods with “high glycemic index”.  It is best to reduce high glycemic carbohydrates and replace them with other quality ingredients that do not raise blood glucose, such as meat.

Evanger’s Dog and Cat Food Company offers a wide variety of low-carbohydrate foods, ideal for diabetic pets, such as: 

Super Premium Beef Dinner: Grain free and gluten free, these dinners offer a simple and delicious formula with vitamins and minerals, formulated to meet the nutritional needs of all life stages.  Made in the USA in the kitchens of Evanger’s, each can of Super Premium Dinner contains only human grade meat, slow cooked in small batches, and is easy to digest for optimal canine health.

Nothing But Natural Raw Freeze Dried Beef Tripe: This single-ingredient treat uses only whole organ meat, making it gluten-free, grain-free, and free of any additives or artificial ingredients.  Beef Tripe is a unique single-source protein that is rich in essential fatty acids, and known to be a great aid for digestion.

Pet parents should always keep an eye on nutrition, no matter the age or health of a pet.  Prevention through nutrition is the best defense against Diabetes.

*Guptill L et al. Veterinary Journal 165(3), 240-247, 2003 The prevalence of DM in dogs presented to veterinary teaching hospitals increased from 19 cases per 10,000 admissions per year in 1970 to 64 cases per 10,000 in 1999.