Diabetes Mellitus (DM) is a common disease in canines with many different complications. Some of these complications include cataracts, urinary tract infections, metabolic acidosis, nephropathy, hepatic lipidosis and liver failure (Hiblu et al., 2015). It affects middle aged to geriatric canines in the majority of cases, which are characterized by hyperglycemia, glycosuria and weight loss, which leads to deficiency of insulin. There are two types of DM in canines that are classified as either Type I or Type II (Kumar et al., 2014). Type I and Type II varies slightly in terms of symptoms and types of treatment depending on the type of insulin deficiency that is present. There have been many studies done to compare diabetes in canines …show more content…
Most dogs suffer from Type I (>50%) and are insulin dependent (Kumar et al., 2014). More specifically, DM is a disorder of carbohydrate, protein, and fat metabolism caused by insulin deficiency. Insulin is a hormone that is produced in the pancreas. It is released in response to the digestive conversion of proteins into glucose in the blood. Food is broken down into glucose and then used as a source of energy. With normal insulin function, this will occur by the liver and muscles taking up glucose from the blood cells, and then converting it to energy to be used by the body …show more content…
This can be because glucose is not making its way to the brain, which causes glucose levels to be too low to register that it is receiving food. The increase in thirst is due to the increase of urine excretion as well. Some later signs that you will notice are anorexia, complete loss of appetite, lethargy, depression, and vomiting. Some additional symptoms include: enlarged liver, cataracts, bladder or kidney infection, and obesity (petMD). Some issues caused by the disease include cataracts, urinary tract infections, metabolic acidosis, nephropathy, hepatic lipidosis and liver failure (Hiblu et al., 2015). Abnormal carbohydrate metabolism is responsible for the PU-PD and cataract formation in diabetic dogs. Cataracts may develop within five to six months, and approximately 80% will have significant formation of cataracts by sixteen months. There are several factors involved in cataract formation such as osmotic changes in the lens, glycosylation of structural proteins, and a decreased concentration of antioxidants. Spontaneous lens capsule rupture associated with DM and rapid lens intumescence can also occur in dogs (Kumar et al.,