Home / Gaia Toast / Your Dog’s Best Chance to Beat Diabetes
The answer is quite simple really: You.
Yes, you are your dog’s best chance at a healthy diabetes-free life.
Here’s how you can help your dog beat diabetes:
Better Dietary Habits
Exercise, Loads of It
Awareness of The Risks
Tracking Changes/Symptoms
Ready? Let's dive in.
1. Better Dietary Habits
You get to decide your dog’s eating habits and train him accordingly. A healthy dog diet comes down to just a few key practices:
Quantity - Don’t overfeed your dog
Content - Understand what you are buying
Habit - Don’t share food with your dog or get into the habit of feeding him table scraps. Pet owners should also be careful not to give too many treats. Using fresh foods as treats e.g. carrots will also help.
It is best to check with your vet for recommendations of the type of diet, quantity etc. suitable for your dog based on his age, breed, medical history etc.
2. Exercise, Loads of It
Give yourself and your dog plenty of opportunities to be engaged in activities together! Daily walks and active play is not just great to maintain your dog’s weight, but also awesome for bonding. Even if you can’t find time to get out of the house, a simple game of fetch at home will also help keep your dog away from a sedentary lifestyle.
3. Awareness of Risks
If you are aware of the risk factors of diabetes, you will be better prepared to act accordingly. Aside from obesity, there are a couple more factors which put certain dogs at a higher risk of getting diabetes:
Age - As your dog gets older, his metabolic rate starts to slow down and may require a diet change. Senior dogs are also more prone to degenerative diseases such as arthritis which makes them less active or mobile. Combining these factors, your aging dog may start to gain weight and be more likely to get diabetes.
Breed - Certain breeds have been found to be genetically predisposed to develop diabetes, e.g. miniature schnauzers, poodles, spitz, bichon frise etc.
Underlying health conditions - dogs with chronic pancreatitis and Cushing’s Disease are at higher risk of developing diabetes. Certain autoimmune diseases and viral infections can also trigger diabetes.
4. Tracking Changes/Symptoms
Knowing your dog’s baseline for behaviour and health status is very important. Because this helps you to be sensitive to any signs or symptoms that is out of the norm.
There is no shortcut to understanding your dog’s baseline for behaviour. You just got to spend time with him and observe his eating habits, energy levels etc. As for health status, get a health check for your dog every year with your vet. This will also give your vet a baseline to work off if anything is out of your dog’s norm, and helps in early detection of diseases (not just diabetes).
Having done the above-mentioned, you should also look out for these signs of diabetes:
Early signs of onset of diabetes include
Excessive thirst - you seem to have to refill his water bowl more often
Increase in urination - more accidents in the house or your dog is asking to go outside more often
Increase in appetite
Weight loss
Advanced signs of diabetes include
Lack of appetite
Lethargy - your dog seems to sleep more and is significantly less active
Vomiting and/or diarrhoea
Rapid weight loss
Oily hair coat
Recurring or chronic infections
Developing cataracts - cloudy eyes and vision changes i.e. your dog starts to bump into things more often or have trouble moving around
Let's start today. We owe it to our pets who depend on us for their needs and wellbeing. It is never too late and our team at Gaia Vets is always here for you. Book a consultation with us today!
