Diabetes is one of the increasingly prominent and widespread malaises that affect the human world but this disease is not just limited to humans and affects cats and dogs too. As far as dogs and cats go, there is a slight difference in the disease than in humans. All three mammals can suffer from either Type 1 or 2 diabetes.
Type 1 diabetes is caused by the pancreas not producing insulin and is usually controlled by administering pancreas stimulating drugs. Type 2 diabetes is different in that the disease is caused by the body being resistant to insulin that is created; both of these variants of the disease cause high blood sugar levels and the body to start using fat reserves in the body to survive. The use of fat in the body as a primary source of energy over a period of time or ketogenesis will change the acid balance of the blood in a condition called ketoacidosis.
This is a condition that can be fatal.
In animals, unlike humans, Type 1 diabetes is more common and is typical of some kind of pancreatic damage like in pancreatitis. To this effect, it has been noticed that simply giving the pancreas some rest from digestive and endocrinal use goes a long way in even curing the problem altogether. The key is in the diet. Reduction of carbohydrates from dog diabetes food will on one hand reduce the secretions of insulin required from the pancreas while on the other hand reducing fat intake will ensure that ketogenesis is reduced. Animals are at an advantage because fat and protein conversion for energy needs is much slower and a reduced but regular carbohydrate intake is usually the perfect cure.
A diabetic dog diet is one that consists of smaller but more frequent meals. Remember to never feed your dog anything sweet during this time. There are some proponents of feeding grain and oats to the dog but dogs are not used to this addition to their diet and there could be some consequences to this. Protein is probably the best way to go; just ensure that you remove the fat from meat before feeding your dog. Exercise is an important part of dealing with this disease. Ensure that your dog gets a lot of exercise after a meal so that the excess amounts of sugar are burned off in exercise. In time, the diabetes could even go into remission.
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