The most common symptoms of diabetes in dogs are:
• Extreme thirst
• Frequent urination
• Weight loss
• Increased appetite
• Problems of vision due to cataracts
Biology of diabetes
Every cell in the body needs energy to live. Like other animals, dogs get energy through the conversion of foods that ingest into sugar (glucose). This glucose travels in the bloodstream of the dog as a normal component of blood. Each cell individually takes the blood glucose for energy. The substance that allows the cells to take the blood glucose is a protein called "insulin".
Insulin is produced by the beta cells in the pancreas. The pancreas is an organ located next to the stomach. When the blood glucose increases, beta cells release insulin into the bloodstream, which is distributed to the cells in the body. Insulin binds to the cell surface proteins and allows glucose to pass from blood to the cell, where it is converted into energy.
Almost all dogs have diabetes type 1 diabetes, which means that his pancreas does not produce insulin at all. Without this hormone, the cells have no way of using the glucose that is in the bloodstream so that the cells "die of hunger", while the blood glucose level rises.
In response to the lack of energy, the brain sends signals that tell the dog to eat more. Meanwhile, other cells in the body are trying to obtain glucose asking the body to break down fats and proteins of muscle, the liver can be converted into glucose. A vicious cycle happens: more glucose is synthesizing, but can not be converted into energy, because there is not enough insulin to transfer glucose to cells in the body.
All this continues to accumulate glucose in the blood of the dog. When there is too much glucose in the blood, begins to infiltrate "in dog urine. Healthy dogs urine does not contain sugar. In a dog with diabetes, sugar in the urine extract water as a dry sponge absorbs water. The diabetic dog produces large amounts of urine because of all this water. All this causes the dog to feel thirsty, so you drink too much water.
Responses to the lack of insulin with diabetes leads dogs to show the same symptoms as people with diabetes: lose weight despite an increase in appetite, drinking excessively and urinate mucho1.
Diabetes and cataracts
Many dogs with diabetes remain blind, although diabetes is treated with care. Cataracts cause the lens of the eye becomes white. When this happens, the light can not pass through the lens and your dog becomes blind.
Cataracts develop in a dog with diabetes, because high blood glucose levels cause water to accumulate in the lens of the eye, resulting in swelling, rupture of lens fibers and the development of cataracts.
The development of cataracts cannot be reversed once it begins. This condition is almost inevitable in dogs with diabetes, people with blind dogs must have everything very well ordered, especially at home and in the yard.
In many cases, cataracts can be treated with surgery so the dog can restore his vision. After surgery you can recover from a 75 to 80 percent of the vision. However, some dogs can remain blind even after surgery and some simply cannot remove cataracts.
In humans, a common cause of blindness for diabetes is retinopathy, but this condition is rare in dogs.
Diabetic Ketoacidosis (CD)
Diabetic Ketoacidosis is a condition that occurs when a dog with diabetes have a deficiency of insulin, is a serious medical condition that should be treated. In dog CD is frequently associated with an infection of the urinary tract, skin, dental, (disease of the adrenal gland) Cushing's disease or an infection or inflammation of the pancreas.
Ketoacidosis develops over a period of days. Ketones are formed because there is not enough insulin available for cells to use glucose for energy, by which the body breaks down fat instead. When the body fat in the absence of glucose is metabolized, products called ketones are formed. If the ketones go up to a dangerous level the dog may require emergency treatment.
Symptoms of Ketoacidosis are:
Vomiting
Diarrhea
Lethargy
Depression
Decrease or loss of appetite
Breath to fruit or removes enamel
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