"My name is Boo, I am gorgeous. Come and adopt me at the Humane Society.
 941-955-4131.

Make no bones about it! Your pet's diabetes is serious, but taking the steps to control the disease will help prevent any catastrophes.

It's been estimated that about 16 million Americans have diabetes. That statistic, however, doesn't tell the whole story -- it fails to include some of our most important residents with the disease, our beloved dogs and cats.

It's true: Diabetes has been diagnosed in virtually every breed of cat and dog in this country. Research, however, has yet to show any family history of diabetes among animals. Yet, it is well known that diabetes is common among Miniature Poodles and Cairn Terriers while some of the common dog breeds (such as Cocker Spaniels, German Shepherds, Collies, and Boxers) are seldom affected.

It is also known that diabetes typically occurs toward the tail end of a dog or cat's life. For dogs, diabetes usually occurs between the ages of seven and nine years and in cats five years or older. In dogs, diabetes favors the females - twice as many get the disease. Male and female cats, on the other hand, share the risk.

Although people and animals with diabetes have some things in common, we have yet to classify different types of diabetes in animals the way we do in people, such as type 1 and type 2 diabetes. But, there are some similarities. For example, some dogs and cats with diabetes are like a person with type 1 diabetes and need daily injections of insulin to survive.

Most animals with diabetes, however, are more like people with type 2 diabetes. Many are slightly older, overweight, and, usually, their diabetes can be controlled through proper diet and exercise regimens alone. But, like some people, some of these animals do require insulin injections to keep their diabetes in check.

It is also true that if left untreated, diabetes can lead to your pet's death. This is because diabetes affects the way your pet's body uses food. Normally, food is converted into a form of sugar called glucose. Glucose, which the body uses as fuel, is carried to the body's cells by the bloodstream. Insulin, a hormone produced by the pancreas, helps glucose in the bloodstream.

In diabetes, the body either doesn't produce enough insulin, or it cannot use it properly. Therefore, glucose cannot enter the cells and builds up in the bloodstream. The goal for treatment is to achieve a balance between food and insulin so that blood sugar levels are close to normal (nondiabetic) as possible.

Diagnosing the Problem
How do you know whether your cat or dog has diabetes? Animals who have diabetes display many of the same symptoms people do - excessive thirst, frequent urination and hunger. Of course, your pet can't tell you what's going on so it's up to you to recognize the symptoms. One good signal is if your pet, even though house broken, is urinating more than usual or urinating in the house. Another good signal is if your dog or cat spends an unusual amount of time around the water bowl or begins to beg routinely for more food.

If you recognize these symptoms, take your pet to a veterinarian. The veterinarian will look for other signs of diabetes such as cataracts (many pets also develop these vision impairments), a swollen liver, obesity, or an unhealthy coat.

These signs will probably prompt your veterinarian to do more tests. This could mean admitting your pet to an animal hospital where urine and blood will be collected and tested to confirm the diagnosis. In the hospital, a complete blood count and chemistry profile is routinely ordered to check not only glucose levels, but also kidney and liver functions, as well as cholesterol and serum electrolyte levels.

Curbing Diabetes
Once the diagnosis is confirmed, the next step is learning how to care for your pet. Most owners willingly give their animals the care they need to keep their diabetes in control. Some owners, however, believe they are unable to make the commitment and have their pets put to sleep.

Caring for your pet's diabetes is a commitment on your part and may not seem easy at first. You'll likely find, however, that it will get easier as you - and your pet - get used to the regimen.

Basically, the methods for keeping an animal's diabetes in control are not much different than the methods used to control a person's diabetes. (By control, we mean keeping your pet's blood glucose level at or near the same level as an animal that does not have diabetes.)

For example, your veterinarian may ask you to feed your dog or cat specific portions of food at specific times during the day. We usually ask owners to feed their pets two separate meals a day and eliminate any snacks in between. Exercise may need to become part of your pet's daily regimen. And you may need to give your pet daily insulin shots.

One of the most difficult parts of managing a pet's diabetes is giving the insulin shots. Most people discover, however, that their dog or cat barely flinches when the needle is inserted into their pet's skin (usually, injections are given on the scruff of the animal's neck), similar to people learning to inject themselves for the first time, and you're likely to make some mistakes at first.

One common mistake is not inserting the needle in far enough, which causes the insulin to leak out from under the skin so not all the insulin is injected. Another common mistake is not removing the air bubbles from the syringe.

Some people fail to mix the insulin properly before they withdraw it from the vial. A little practice will help you overcome these problems. Your veterinarian can guide you through the steps and teach you the proper techniques.

Urine Testing
Although injections may seem difficult, more people seem to have trouble collecting urine from their pet to test for blood sugar levels and ketones. Knowing your pet's blood sugar level is important. These daily readings will help you know how much insulin to inject and the amount of food to feed your pet, thereby helping you control your pet's diabetes.

Knowing the amount of ketones in your pet's urine is also important. Ketones are acids that appear in the urine when your pet's body doesn't have enough insulin. So instead of using glucose for energy, your pet's body is burning fat. These ketones are a warning that your cat or dog's diabetes is out of control. (Ketones in a human's urine also indicate that diabetes may be out of control.)

Your veterinarian can teach you how to make adjustments in your pet's food and insulin based on the results of the urine tests. The tests are taken by dipping a special test strip into a small amount (about one tablespoon) of your dog or cat's urine. These test strips change colors when they come in contact with the glucose in the urine. You match the color on the strip with the color on a chart (usually on the test strip container). Each shade of color represents a range that the glucose level falls into. The same method is used in testing for ketones. Some strips measure only urine glucose or only ketones. Other strips measure both in one test.

Doing the test itself is easy - the tough part is getting your pet to cooperate by urinating where and when you'd like. So, you may have to try several methods of collecting the urine. We encourage dog owners to follow their pet around in the early morning and place a pan to collect the urine under their dog at the crucial moment. This technique may work with dogs, but if you own a cat you need to be more ingenious.

If your cat is trained to use a litter box, you may be able to collect the urine there. Cat litter, however, is a chemically treated compound, thus it's not easy to test with. So, you'll need to come up with other methods. One alternative is to fill the box with shredded newspaper. The newspaper will absorb the urine, but you can dab the newspaper on the test strip. Still, a better method is to tilt one end of the litter box, using a book or piece of wood, so that the urine drains to the other end of the box. Of course, you need to completely drain the box so that the next test will be accurate.

It is important that you are committed to testing your pet daily. The best time to test is first thing in the morning. Knowing your pet's urine sugar level is important in making adjustments in food and insulin. Knowing your pet's urine sugar will also help you spot and treat problems before they become major ones. You'll need to learn to make adjustments based on tile urine glucose tests. You may also need to test your animal again in the evening (about 12 hours later). We encourage people to call the hospital with questions for at least the first week to discuss any problems they may have.

Reacting to a Reaction
One of the more serious problems with diabetes in pets, and people, is hypoglycemia (low blood sugar), also known as an insulin reaction. An insulin reaction happens when an animal has too little food or too much insulin. Sometimes this happens because an owner misreads the urine strip and gives the pet too much insulin or too little food.

The most common cause of an insulin reaction is when an animal vomits soon after an injection. As most pet owners know, it is typical for even healthy animals to vomit at times. In a healthy animal, this doesn't cause much alarm. But in an animal that has diabetes, it can be serious. This is because once the insulin is injected, it's going to do its job to lower blood glucose no matter what. Vomiting stresses your pet's system and robs your pet of that day's food supply. The loss of food combined with insulin's ability to lower blood glucose causes your pet's blood glucose to drop below normal - and that's not healthy.

How do you know your pet is having a reaction? If you notice that your pet is weak, unusually tired, or is convulsing, you should treat it for an insulin reaction immediately. You treat reactions with a quick-acting sugar source that raises the animal's blood glucose. We advise owners to have corn syrup or some other form of liquid sugar handy to treat reactions.

The best way to treat your pet's reaction is to pour some corn syrup on your fingers and rub it on your pet's tongue and inner cheek. After treating the reaction, take your pet to the animal hospital where its glucose level can be better stabilized.

The steps to keep your dog or cat's diabetes in control are necessary to keep your pet healthy. Getting used to everything will take some time -- but consider the hours of companionship and love you'll get from your pet.

Adopt or Befriend Animals

Click on to see the Humane Society of Sarasota Event and Adoption Calendar. Adopt An Animal

Sarasota Humane Society http://hssc.org  

www.humane.org

Animal Rescue Coalition
www.animalrescuecoalition.org