Diabetes in Animals - Type 1 Only ?

They can get both type 1 and type 2 just like us.

Hi Heathenlass, My cat was diagnosed with diabetes last October. Basically, diabetes in animals is much the same as in humans, but it is much easier to control their blood glucose with insulin and diet. My cat is on a strict diet and had a spot blood test every week and his insulin was gradually increased to prevent him going hypo. He now has a fructosamine test every six weeks to see what his blood glucose have done over that period and his insulin is adjusted accordinly.

Hope this helps.

Marilyn

Yep, a number of years ago my ex boss had a Jack Russell terrier that was T1.

From memory it had one injection a day in the scruff of the neck & my gaffer had to chase the animal round the garden with pee test strips to check its sugars.. In a discussion with my old manager at the time he had trouble keeping the dogs blood sugars down, so I went to his house to have a look at what the animal was eating..
There is a surprising amount of carbs in a can of dog food... I concluded he should cut out the biscuit mixer he was putting down with it.
By all accounts dogs don't really need that much carb anyway, (if at all.) they function on proteins & fat...?

Jaylee said:

Yep, a number of years ago my ex boss had a Jack Russell terrier that was T1.

From memory it had one injection a day in the scruff of the neck & my gaffer had to chase the animal round the garden with pee test strips to check its sugars.. In a discussion with my old manager at the time he had trouble keeping the dogs blood sugars down, so I went to his house to have a look at what the animal was eating..
There is a surprising amount of carbs in a can of dog food... I concluded he should cut out the biscuit mixer he was putting down with it.
By all accounts dogs don't really need that much carb anyway, (if at all.) they function on proteins & fat...?

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Hi Jaylee, yeah my cat has 2 injections per day, and fortunately my vet is pretty clued up on low carb and put him on a strict low carb prescription cat food, it did take a while to get his bg under control cos they can't tell you how they feel so it is a gradual tweeking of the insulin in order to prevent hypo's.

It's a real shame that the HNS haven't realised that carbs are no good. I think I will see my vet next time lol.

Marilyn

Mazzer said:

Hi Jaylee, yeah my cat has 2 injections per day, and fortunately my vet is pretty clued up on low carb and put him on a strict low carb prescription cat food, it did take a while to get his bg under control cos they can't tell you how they feel so it is a gradual tweeking of the insulin in order to prevent hypo's.

It's a real shame that the HNS haven't realised that carbs are no good. I think I will see my vet next time lol.

Marilyn

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Hi,

To be honest I think my gaffers vet (like some of the story's we read on here regarding the NHS) left him thinking the injections were a "cure" so everything back to normal...
I'm no vet myself, but I am diabetic.. Some layman's terms helped him to understand the dogs condition, which in turn enlightened him on mine as well..
Explaining the possibility of a hypo event in a dog was a learning curve for me too.. Lol
After the science of what he was injecting into the animal & how it works.. I then had to explain the course of action if the hound displayed any strange drunken or repetitive behaviour... An educated guess on my part that any hypo symptoms in an animal with the IQ of a 3 year old wouldn't be any different from a human....

Jaylee said:

Hi,

To be honest I think my gaffers vet (like some of the story's we read on here regarding the NHS) left him thinking the injections were a "cure" so everything back to normal...
I'm no vet myself, but I am diabetic.. Some layman's terms helped him to understand the dogs condition, which in turn enlightened him on mine as well..
Explaining the possibility of a hypo event in a dog was a learning curve for me too.. Lol
After the science of what he was injecting into the animal & how it works.. I then had to explain the course of action if the hound displayed any strange drunken or repetitive behaviour... An educated guess on my part that any hypo symptoms in an animal with the IQ of a 3 year old wouldn't be any different from a human....

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I am type 2, so no experience of hypo's, but I was told to look out for him being a bit wobbly on his legs, twiching, or looking dazed, I have some gel to rub in his cheek in an emergency, but so far so good he has been absolutely fine.

Marilyn

My parents cat was diagnosed as diabetic over a year ago. She has her blood sugar checked at home and insulin injected accordingly. She actually goes and jumps on the bed and lies down ready for the injection now, she knows she feels better afterwards They also have to do a blood glucose curve every so often just to make sure that it is all working properly. She is on a high protein diet (apparently the recommended diet varies between different animals) she won't eat the special cat food so it is a case of checking the ones at the supermarket to get the best and supplementing it with chicken.

I had a cat diagnosed with diabetes sever years ago, unfortunately at that time the insulin dosing and food timeing restrictions were very tight and unfortunately we worked it out that my husband would have to try and change his shift pattern to give her the insulin after her morning feed and I would be getting home hoping the bus wasn't late as I would be just in time to feed her again. We decided it wasn't practical and the stress would be too much always wondering if I would be too late, I couldn't face giving her tablets every day so we took the hard decision to let nature take its cause. We had her for 9 months after diagnosis before she just gave up wanting to live. Apparantly 6 months was considered normal, so we did well really.

I'm glad for other pet owners that things have eased up but as my parents would say it is still very tying for them

Heathenlass said:

Thank you all for your replies and clarification - it came from a post where a VN seemed unfamiliar with the concept of Type 2 in humans, and it got me thinking about diabetes in animals. There has been mention of dogs and cats with diabetes , but no one has ever said " Tiddles is Type 2", or "Tyson is Type 1" , so I wondered if it was different in animals, and the treatment was always the same?

@Mazzer - it's interesting that your cat is on a low carb food, obviously Veterinary science is clued up on this one!
@Jaylee , the idea of trying to get our collies or any other animal to pee on a stick boggles my mind
@Mazzer - do you have to test your cat's urine? Cat's are particulary problematic to try and do that !

Signy

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Hi Signy, I am lucky there, my cat is 18 years old so goes in his tray, so when he goes in there I shove a tin foil dish under his bum once he starts peeing and catch it. I guess you could try it with the dogs.

It is interesting that you have 2 collies with diabetes. I have a collie, is this something that they are prone to? I read on here some time ago another person had a collie with diabetes, but can't remember who it was.

I don't think it matters whether animals are T1 or T2 they are all treated with insulin, something to ask the vet next time I go.

Marilyn

Ruth B said:

My parents cat was diagnosed as diabetic over a year ago. She has her blood sugar checked at home and insulin injected accordingly. She actually goes and jumps on the bed and lies down ready for the injection now, she knows she feels better afterwards

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Funny you mention this...

A few years ago when the authority owned the big house next door & used it for "sheltered housing", this unusual cat used to walk into the side door to our kitchen, stand by the fridge, then silently mew..
.
Now, i'm not a fan of cats but i used to let this animal visit & at that time if i came home from work after my wife she'd let it crash on the sofa for a couple of hours..
We gave it the name "Mr Manky puss". But i found out later its real name was Whisky & not to feed it as it was Diabetic.
I never got the impression it was hungry when it waited by the fridge... I'm now wondering if it could smell my insulin...?!!

Heathenlass said:

Heh! It is a lovely cat! And looks as imperious as cats do when sitting by a fridge

"Feed me, mere mortals, for we were worshipped as gods in Ancient Egypt, and we have never forgotten that "

Signy

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I don't think yer average cat has a degree in Egyptology.. LOL
They do however have a knack of blagging a certain "status" in the household with a culture, which due to a civilisation skilled in stone masonry & even crude "plastic surgery" still never managed to haul their **** out of a blind pagan ritualistic lifestyle...

This got me reading a little bit about diabetes in animals, apparently type 1 is more common in dogs and type 2 in cats.

This is interesting too..
http://www.topspec.com/laminitis-in-horses/
I already understand the treatment of a horse with Laminitis.. I had a lamanitic nag years ago which was well controlled, treating the diet as you would T2..?
But i've never come across a diabetic horse..

Heathenlass said:

Thanks Marilyn!
I don't know if Collies are prone to diabetes for sure, and never asked, but I'm inclined to think it is maybe genetic . Our diabetic collies were mother and son, and working sheep dogs, I'm talking, oooh, about 15 years ago now. The advice we were given at the time was injections, no wee testing and that was pretty much it The subsequent collies have been unrelated, and no problems, touch wood. Both were retired from working at diagnosis because it's physically intensive, and we were advised about "hypos" after insulin. They became pets rather than working dogs, not that they were treated any differently anyway, apart from work!

By the time the son was diagnosed, we were old hands at injecting the dogs.

In my experience, the animals have generally had better care from the vets than I experience from the local practise

Signy

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Hi Signy,

Thanks for the information, my collie was trained as a working dog, but failed her training and was bred at a very early age and then abandoned. She was badly treated and in a right state when we rescued her at 18 months old so don't know much about her. She has been with us for 5 years now as a pet and certain things still freak her out, like keys, her eyes flicker and she cowers, we think she was chained up because her teeth have been ground down, and she hates people walking behind her, I have to wait until they pass. When I first had her she wouldn't even walk on the lead but with lots of love and a lot of coaxing she has come on in leaps and bounds and is now a much happier and contented dog.

I was her saviour and she is my dog, she follows me everywhere. Little does she know that she is my saviour now making me take her for long walks in the morning and evening helping to keep my bg under control. I love her to bits and she knows it. I love collies, they are almost like people, she picks thing up very quickly and just love to please me

I hope your dogs continue to do well, and I certainly agree they do get better care than we do as diabetics.

Lovely chatting to you, take care.

Marilyn x

Our beautiful retriever had diabetes insipidis.

She waited by the fridge every morning n evening for her eye drops.. She knew she had treats afterwards...

Different from T1 and T2 totally but if not controlled horrendous drinking and wee probs!!


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