Diabetes In Dogs Almost Always Requires Insulin Administration.

Diabetes in dogs approximately requires insulin administration. Cats can sometimes be maintained for long periods of time using dietary alterations and medical treatment, although it may be preferable to start treatment for diabetes with insulin in all cats and then to try to maintain the cat later without insulin if it looks like that might be possible.

There is completely no doubt that the best way to monitor pets with diabetes to aid in adaptable insulin levels is for the veterinary client to learn to monitor blood sugar at home using a blood glucose meter. It seems that about 50% of veterinary clients can manage this task readily and most can manage it with support from their vet and the vet's staff.

Purchasing one of the newer blood glucose meters that entails very small blood samples is best. It can be hard at times to get blood from a pet and they tend to move around a lot during the blood drawing procedure making it vital that whatever blood we can get can be utilized immediately. Spending a little extra to get a good glucose meter, such as the One Touch (tm) glucometers will pay off over the long run in ease of use.

Regulating insulin dosages and blood glucose levels requires a lot of communiqué between the veterinary client and the vet. It can be an annoying process that can take months in some cases. There are a few patients who are tremendously hard to regulate. Despite this most insulin regulation failures are the result of insufficient communication between the veterinarian and the client.

Choosing the type of insulin can be puzzling. Most vets always start with human NPH insulin, either Humalin N (Rx) or Novalin NPH (Rx) because these insulin's are easily available. It is imperative to try and stick with an insulin type once good regulation is achieved so it is helpful to use insulin that is likely to be available when we need it. Since it is also a human product there is a good possibility that it will be available at all times.

A blood glucose curve is a plot of blood sugar levels during the day. It is usually done by obtaining a blood glucose level at the time of the morning meal and every 2 to 4 hours afterwards for at least 12 to 16 hours. Plotting the blood glucose numbers on a chart allows visualization of when the level is too high, too low or just right.

Even though most powerfully believe in the value of blood glucose monitoring at home, it is possible to monitor sugar levels using urine testing when totally necessary.

Some vets explain how to monitor behaviors such as drinking, urinating, appetite and attitude to evaluate whether blood sugar is too low or too high and hope for the best. If their pet makes it to a stable condition there is a good chance of long term survival as long as insulin continues to be provided. Sometimes, when there is early success, these folks start to believe their pet might make it and go ahead and purchase home glucose monitors or work with us in other ways to monitor their pet's diabetes.

• Juliana Breckinridge
• 17/04/2009, 2:59 PM
• 0 Comments