Diabetes

What is it?: as for the humans, diabetes in dogs is a failure of the pancreas that cannot produce enough insulin anymore in order to regulate the amount of sugar in the blood (glycemia). The pancreas also produces enzymes essential to the digestion of food (lipase - lipids, protease - proteins, amylase - starch, ribonuclease - RNA, desoxyribonuclease - DNA). This disease can be fatal if not addressed rapidly.

Cause: high concentration of sugar in the blood (hyperglycemia). A diet too rich in sugar can cause an hypersecretion of insulin and therefore drain the cells that product insulin. Obesity highly contributes to diabetes. But there are also hereditary or hormonal reasons.

Symptoms: the dog drinks a lot (polydipsie) and therefore urinates a lot more than usual (polyurie). He/she is always hungry and loses weight. He/she is lethargic. Diabetes provokes cataract and often leads to blindness.

Diagnosis: a blood test performed by a vet will analyze the amount of glucose in the blood. Then the required daily dose of insulin will be prescribed, administered by a syringe.

Natural treatment: a natural treatment can help reduce the dose of insulin required, but not replace it at all. Natural supplements like chromium (that helps stabilizing the rate of glucose in the blood) that you can find in brewer's yeast and vitamins C and E (that have an hypoglycemic effect) are beneficial. There are also natural supplements that contain a few plants that maintain the pancreas's health and help to the production of insulin like GlucoEnsure from PetAlive or Régulateur de Glucose by Floralpina.

Food: it's best to feed the dog twice a day (two portions), that should always consist of the same quantity and be given at the same time, it's very important to keep that balance for the organism, because any variation leads to a malfunction. Prefer kibble of quality low in starch, rich in proteins and antioxidants, although a human-grade diet is best.

The right diet (low sugar, few fat, proteins, fibers, vitamins and minerals) contributes to a better general state. Of course, any fast burning carbohydrates are to be banned (biscuits, table scraps, etc.).

If you wish to cook for them, prefer poultry to red meat (less fatty), vegetables with a low glycemic rate and that are rich in fibers (lentils, navy beans, peas, spinach, etc.). Wholegrain rice can replace lentils as carbohydrates if you don't follow a grain-free diet. Add a little bit of plain yoghurt to the daily ration to add calcium and potassium (helps the kidney to function well), because their retention is hard for a diabetic dog. 

On a daily basis: consistency is key. Walks and exercise always at the same time and of same intensity. Same for meals and quantities. Any change of habits can cause an hypoglycemia crisis (dangerously low sugar level in the blood). The symptoms of such crisis are a sudden lethargy, weakness, tremors, loss of orientation, lack of reactions. It is then essential to always have with you a little bit of honey that you can apply on the dog's gums to quickly administer some sugar.

Useful links:

The Chichi Factory Rescue case: when she arrived in our home, Tania was a senior needing an important dose of insulin (15 units each time, twice a day). We started a diet consisiting of adequate kibble in the morning and homemade food in the evening (chicken or fish, lentils, green beans or any other vegetable rich in iron), together with the GlucoEnsure supplement. That way, we have been able to lower her need of insulin by half little by little, and it lasted for two years!

With age, which is sadly one of the consequences of this disease, she became blind and her kidneys began to malfunction. She has been under hepatic treatment and sometimes had hypoglycemia crisis, doses became hard to rebalance. When she was 12, she started having epileptic seizures, which made her weaker and made her senile. She was under Pexion, Epileptyl (homeopathy) for the epilepsy and Candilat for her brain. She had ups and downs, but after she reached 13, her body was becoming too weak and we sadly had to let her go... She had been with us more than three years, keeping her strong character until the end, which helped her coping with this disease for so long.

Tania still in pretty good shape despite the disease.

After a series of epileptic seizures, back from a few days at the vet's to stabilize her.

In the end, she was blind and senile.

HealthStephanie Graf-Vocatdiabetic dog, natural treatment for dogs, senile dog, senior dog, blind dog, rescue, cooking for dogs, epileptic seizure, hypoglycemia, insulin, bichon, diabète chez le chien, natrual supplement for diabetes