Help Keep Your Pet Healthy
Introduction
Caring for you Diabetic Dog or Diabetic Cat means getting their medication right, their diet right and also making sure they get enough exercise.
Humans with diabetes have exactly the same problems, insulin, diet (not being overweight) and exercise are the most important factors when trying to manage diabetes.
Here, we give you the information you need to give your little friend the best possible chance at living a full life.
Is Your Pet Overweight?
Lots of research has established that in humans, being overweight increases your chances of getting diabetes and if you have diabetes - means it will be harder to control. There is no reason to suppose the same is not true of cats and dogs.
In some cases, once an overweight cat has been given a very low carb diet, with no sugary or fatty treats and has returned to its correct weight, treatment for diabetes can stop. This is not always the case, but underlines the importance of the weight of your diabetic dog or cat.
- Regulate the amount of food your dog or cat has carefully, reduce the amount a little.
- Cut out all fatty or sugary treats (unless treating a hypo)
- Always have fresh water available
- Consider special prescription dog or cat food that is low carb, low fat.
Using Exercise to Help Manage Diabetes
Put simply - in diabetic dogs and cats, after a meal they are unable to reduce their blood glucose levels to normal. Exercise uses energy and thus helps to reduce glucose levels.
Unfortunately, it is not as simply as taking the dog out for a walk or playing with your cat after a meal. Timing is important and so is the amount of exercise.
- If exercising more, you may need to reduce the insulin medication in consultation with your Vet
- Always carry a sugary treat with you incase your dog shows signs of a hypo.
- Try and give the same amounts of exercise at about the same time each day to make diabetes management easier
It is really surprising how much difference exercise can make to blood glucose levels, so if you end up doing more than usual, make sure you have some sort of sugary treat available. If you don't you are putting your dog's life at risk.
Still need more information? Check out our ever expanding Q
& A section ...
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More Resources
Cat Diabetes
[ www.felinediabetes.com
]
[ www.sniksnak.com
]
[ www.vetinfo.com ]
[ www.petremedy.com
]
Dog Diabetes
[ www.caninediabetes.org
]
[ www.vetinfo.com ]
[ www.canismajor.com
]
[ www.petremedy.com
]
[ www.sniksnak.com
]
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Pages in this section...
[ Cats ] [ Home Testing Cats ] [ Dogs ] [ Pet Diabetic Diets ] [ Weight & Exercise ]
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