Is your pet overweight and suddenly drinking a lot of water? Did you know that your pet could get diabetes like humans do? Diabetes Mellitus is one of the most common endocrine diseases that we see in pets. Most pets that develop diabetes are overweight and suddenly have an increased thirst for water, naturally causing excessive urination. They will usually have sudden weight loss at this time without any dieting. Other conditions to keep in mind that are involved in a differential diagnosis are: Cushing disease, renal disease (kidney failure), thyroid problems, liver problems and Addison’s disease.
The only way to diagnose diabetes is to go to your veterinarian and have a urinalysis and some blood work completed. There will usually be glucose or sugar in the urine and the blood will show an elevated glucose level. Once a diagnosis has been made, the pet needs to be started on insulin. When pets get diabetes, it is like juvenile diabetes in people in that there is a complete lack of insulin. If diagnosed, insulin injections are then required for the rest of the pet’s life. Diet is also very important but it is rare that diet alone will solve this issue.
Treating pets for diabetes is not as expensive as many people think. Once the pet is regulated on insulin, it is primarily just the cost of some blood work every 3-4 months to make sure that they are staying properly regulated. Fortunately, insulin is not horribly expensive either. Without treatment, diabetes can be a fatal disease and sometimes animals will go into what is called ketoacidotic shock before the diagnosis is made; this is certainly life threatening and a veterinarian needs to be involved immediately.
If your pet is overweight, it is essential for their health that you get them to lose weight. Decreasing calories and increasing exercise are the only ways to accomplish weight loss. So if your pet is suddenly losing weight for neither of these two reasons or drinking excessive amounts of water, take them to your veterinarian to have them examined. As your pet ages, they should be examined by a veterinarian at least twice a year, remember animals’ age almost seven years for every human year. You should also request that your veterinarian run blood tests on your pet and do a urinalysis on a yearly basis to watch for any possible changes before anything becomes severe. As in people, prevention is always best.
