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Preventing Dog Diabetes in 3 Simple Steps

Submitted by Michael Adams on December 22, 2009

Dogs are just as susceptible to diabetes as human beings are. The factors that are likely to predispose your pet to diabetes the most are a faulty, unbalanced diet and lack of sufficient physical exercise. These factors are usually responsible for causing weight gain and obesity, especially in older dogs, and may consequently make the dog vulnerable to diabetes.

There are a few symptoms that you should look out for if you suspect that your dog might be diabetic. Check whether there are fat deposits around the dog’s ribs. You can do this easily by running your fingers horizontally along the ribs.

If your dog is healthy, you should be able to feel the ribs with your fingers quite distinctly. If not, your dog is at least in the danger of getting the disease, or may already be diabetic. Another easy way of detecting the condition is to observe if your dog urinates more frequently than s/he used to before. Frequent urination is often a tell-tale sign of diabetes in dogs. Sometimes, the dog may also urinate indoors or even in the bed if s/he has been suffering from the disease for a long period of time. You might also notice a tendency in your dog to drink more water, which could be a sign of diabetes. You should, however, never try to restrict the dog from drinking as much water as s/he wants, otherwise s/he could suffer from dehydration. The appetite of the dog might also increase. In a few cases, the dog may also start to lose weight all of a sudden. This may be accompanied by symptoms like weakness and lethargy in the dog. In addition, the dog might also start suffering from problems relating to vision and may even turn completely blind in later stages of the disease. The symptoms are more pronounced in dogs that are older than 7 years of age. It has also been observed that female dogs are far more prone to becoming diabetic than male dogs. Also, those dogs that are naturally big and heavily built stand a greater risk of getting diabetes than those belonging to smaller breeds.

Though diabetes in dogs is not a curable condition, there are a few simple preventive measures that you should follow in order to avoid the problem altogether. Make sure that your dog eats a healthy, nutritious and well balanced diet. Keep a check on the amount of carbohydrates that your dog eats. Most commercial dog food contains a very high amount of carbohydrates so you should be careful about feeding your dog such food. Feed your dog organic supplements containing antioxidants in order to reduce the risk of diabetes. Also, exercise your dog regularly and adequately to prevent obesity and diabetes.

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