In one of its recent reports, the Banfield Pet Hospital in Portland has notified that the cats and dogs of America are becoming an easy victim of diabetes. Since 2006, the graph of diabetes victims has soared to 32 percent in dogs and 16 percent in cats.
The Banfield Pet Hospital and its members went through a grueling session to prepare the State of Pet Health Report. The researchers who were responsible for preparing the report crunched a staggering data of 2.5 million dogs and 450,000 cats from the records of 770 Banfield hospitals from 43 states worldwide in the year 2010.
According to Banfield's chief medical officer and veterinarian Jeffrey Klausner, research indicates that the association between being overweight and developing diabetes is really strong in cats. Cats are often regarded as finicky eaters. Association for Pet Obesity Prevention has reported recently that most of the cat owners provide the housecats with such culinary delights that 54% of their population is found to be overweight and 22% have been identified as obese.
In general, there are two types of diabetes mellitus found in dogs and cats. The first one is insulin dependent and is profoundly found in dogs. This diabetes form is often found in children. Here, the pancreas creates little or no insulin. Insulin aids the human cells in turning the sugar into energy for various activities of the human body. Bichon frise, Cairn terrier, dachshund, keeshond, miniature poodle and puli are some of the most common dog breeds which pose the danger of getting infected with the insulin dependent diabetes.
The second one is non-insulin dependent diabetes and is mostly found in cats. Here, though the pancreas produces insulin, but the body does not respond to it normally. Maine coon, Russian blue and Siamese are few cat breeds that can easily become prone to this deadly disease.
Excessive urination, increased thirst and weight loss, despite a hearty appetite are some of the most common symptoms of diabetes found in cats and dogs. Early detection and treatment is extremely necessary in order to prevent cataract in dogs and hind-limb weakness in cats.
Assistant Professor of veterinary internal medicine in Banfield Pet Hospital, Dr. Amy DeClue, along with her colleague Wiedmeyer adapted the Continuous Glucose Monitors (CGMs) to help the dogs respond well to the conventional treatment. CGMs are tiny devices which are inserted by an inch into the skin to provide detailed information on the sugar levels. With the help of a CGM, the blood sugar level of a dog can be easily measured at home at any situation.
Usually, the veterinary doctors create an insulin sample by taking blood from the animal in the clinic after every two hours over the course of a single day. But the test results often come out to be inaccurate due to the stress that the pets go through when they are in a different environment.
Jeffrey Klausner has notified that animals can live for many years after a diabetes diagnosis. But it needs a lot of effort. A pet with diabetes requires blood sugar testing, insulin once or twice a day, a set feeding schedule, and an expenditure of hundreds of dollars a year. And with cats, with the change of insulin requirement changing every year, things are a little more complicated and tough at the same time.
For the last five years, the Banfield Pet Hospital has been analyzing trends in common and preventive illnesses. The report by this national chain of pet hospitals has stated that as the cats and the dogs grow fatter, they become more prone to diabetes. Just like the humans, obesity is a huge risk factor for these pets also.