Not only humans, but even dogs and cats can be affected by diabetes and even for them an early diagnosis can avoid unpleasant consequences. Diabetes is caused by the lack of insulin, a hormone that regulates blood sugar levels. The diabetic dog has a high concentration of sugar in the blood that can be a health threat.
Diabetes can be of different types and a veterinary visit is essential to diagnose it, to understand the causes and suggest the most appropriate therapy. Knowing the dog’s diabets wake-up-calls can be life saving an early diagnosis can also avoid irreversible consequences, such as the onset of cataracts and so vision decrease. For this reason, the owner daily and careful observation is essential to notice the dog’s diabets wake-up-calls.
Pay attention when you notice your dog:
- is more thirsty
- urinates more
- is more hungry
- losses weight
Once diagnosed, living with diabetes following some rules is easy and can ensure a quality and long life as the one of a healthy dog. First of all, a suitable medical therapy, which will be studied by the veterinarian, then enough exercise time and a proper nutrition. The veterinarian can provide you some guideline for the last two points, but for these your role as owner is essential for the health of your pet.
When structuring a diet, the dog body weight should be the beginning point: if overweight or underweight. Then a diabetes-suitable diet should have no sugars, include foods rich in fibers such as legumes and cereals as barley, oats and trye to reduce the absorption of sugars and then combine them with high quality protein sources, preferably of animal origin. Two complete dog foods with balanced formulas and suitable for diabetic dogs are Diet Complete Herbs and Diet Fish Herbs, which combine the properties of aromatic herbs with a daily fiber dose and protein source of chicken and salmon fillets for Diet Complete Herbs and only of salmon fillets for Diet Fish Herbs.
Furthermore, the treats choice should also be careful and accurate: avoid those rich in sugars and use moderately the ones containing only fruit, since it is naturally rich in sugars. Treats suitable for diabetic dogs are the snacks from the Herbs line of 2G Pet Food: Salvia Cookies; Rosemary Cookies and Basil Cookies which provide the properties of herbs as sage, rosemary and basil and a healthy snack without added sugar, preservatives, artificial colorings and flavors.
With the right habits you can take care of your dog’s health daily, without making him miss tasty and also diabetes-friendly foods, ensuring him a long and healthy life.