Dogs With Diabetes ・What Causes It?

Were you aware that diabetes is an increasingly common disease in domestic pets? Up-to-date research indicates that one out of one hundred dogs is diagnosed as having diabetes. Because of that it is perfectly reasonable to expect that you learn what causes the illness and take the necessary measures to hopefully prevent it and to secure your pet’s health and wellbeing.

How Can Dogs Get Diabetes?

Sometimes specific breeds of dog are genetically disposed to acquiring diabetes. Some of these breeds are the golden retriever, the schnauzer, and the poodle. These breeds can acquire diabetes even when they are young just because they are a certain type of dog.

For other kinds of canines it is generally believed that results from another disease in the dog that destroys cells in the pancreas, then leading to diabetes. But for the majority of dogs, the cause of diabetes is too many carbohydrates in the diet combined with a sedentary way of life, which then leads to being overwight, and then – diabetes results.

Information About Carbohydrates

The same as when human beings eat too many carbohydrates, a canine’s blood sugar level will increase to a large degree after consuming a meal that is rich in carbs. It occurs very fast too. In response to this, the body then produces insulin to force the blood sugar back into the cells. These cells all have insulin receptors that open and close like a door for the purpose of regulating the flow of blood sugar.

If you consume too many carbohydrates for years and years, these “doors” start to fail and eventually stop working properly. Your canine’s body then creates more insulin which results in sporadic cycles of insulin resistance. After a while the body is no longer able to produce the insulin required to push the blood sugar back inside the cells. The end result of this phenomena is diabetes.

What Else Can Cause Diabetes in Dogs?

Overweight and aging dogs can also get diabetes from another very different way. Oftentimes, these dogs got diabetes after being given corticosteroid medication.

Either by injection or by tablet, the corticosteroids given to overweight dogs seem to have been a cause of the disease. Researchers suggest that these dogs were already genetically predisposed to getting diabetes and that the medicine was merely the trigger it needed.  The light at the end of the tunnel for such diabetes cases is that the disease may go into remission with proper diet and medication, and the dog may be able to stop his insulin indefinitely.