Is there too much sugar or something else?

To understand diabetes, you need to know the basic facts about controlling blood sugar (glucose) in your body. In healthy animals (or humans), blood sugar levels are maintained at the correct levels of 3-8. When blood sugar levels rise above this, specialized cells in the pancreas produce higher levels of insulin, which is the cause of this hormone. The cells around the body absorb more glucose and lower blood sugar levels. Second, when blood sugar levels drop, less insulin is produced and blood sugar levels rise. As your insulin levels go up and down, your blood sugar goes up and down. It’s more complicated than this, and other hormones also play a role, but that’s the basic story.

In diabetes, blood sugar levels become very high, causing many signs of illness (from increased thirst to weight loss to behavioral changes). The usual mechanism of increased insulin production and lower blood sugar levels ceases to work. There are two different ways this can happen, and across species, diabetes (or, as it is known correctly, “diabetes”) can be divided into two types.

Type 1 occurs when the pancreas stops producing enough insulin due to the autoimmune destruction of specialized cells in the pancreas that produce and release this hormone. No one knows why the body’s own immune system destroys its own cells, but it’s partly a genetic problem (more common in some breeds).

The problem is “not enough insulin” and the answer is usually to replace the deficient insulin by giving an insulin injection. Type 1 diabetes causes about 10% of cases found in humans and tends to develop in childhood, regardless of diet or physical condition.

Interestingly, type 1 diabetes is common in dogs but rare in cats.

Type 2 diabetes is the most common adult-onset type in humans and accounts for 90% of cases. This is associated with obesity, lifestyle, and poor diet. Instead of reduced insulin production, the problem is primarily “insulin resistance”. Receptors in cells around the body do not respond to insulin in the usual way. Cells are supposed to ingest more glucose as their insulin levels rise, but because they don’t do this, their blood sugar levels continue to rise even when insulin levels are high. Type 2 diabetes is often helped by paying attention to physical condition, exercise, diet, or taking oral medications, but insulin injections are also often required. This type of diabetes is common in cats but rare in dogs.

Therefore, 1 in 500 dogs will have type 1 diabetes and will need insulin injections.

One in 100 cats has type 2 diabetes, which may be helped by a special diet, but usually also requires insulin injections.

It’s not as black and white as it is, but it’s a useful general guide. It is useful to remember that dogs are like a few human diabetics (type 1) and cats are like the most common human diabetics (type 2).

Therefore, diet is relatively unimportant for diabetic dogs. Traditionally, it was thought that a diet that was high in fiber and had a high glycemic index would work, but recent studies have begun to question the need for this. It is still important for them to have a uniform diet daily so that their bodies are accustomed to processing the same amount of nutrients, but a standard dog diet is often sufficient.

In contrast, in cats, as in humans, diet can be a very important part of treatment. A high protein, low carb diet is recommended. Equivalent to a diabetic who avoids sugary foods. Wet foods tend to be better than dry foods because it is easy to lower carbohydrate levels. Come to think of it, you need flour and fat to make biscuits, and because pet kibbles are a type of biscuit, you need carbohydrates and oil. As with humans, just changing the diet can allow some cats to completely relieve (that is, diabetes “cure”). If it does not heal, cats on a special diet can often be managed by lowering their insulin injection levels.

For most pets, treatment means regular visits to a veterinarian to check blood sugar levels and one or two daily insulin injections for the rest of your life. New technologies can quickly help with devices that are implanted under the skin, allowing owners to use their home handheld devices to measure their pet’s blood glucose levels from a distance.

Advances in science do not change the biggest challenge for diabetic pet owners. Paying for continuous monitoring and treatment is costly. Diabetes is another reason to get insurance when your pet is young.