Petwatch – diabetes awareness month.

November 2009

Have you noticed how every month seems to be nominated as a special month for promoting something or other, and that’s no less true in the sphere of veterinary medicine. So in recent times we’ve had pet smile month, arthritis awareness month, vaccination amnesty month, discount neutering month, and months to promote weight control and good worming treatment to name but a few. So guess what – November will be Pet Diabetes Month!.

Surprisingly, in one recent survey of pet owners, less than half knew that pets can suffer from diabetes. Even those who were aware were not always certain of the presenting symptoms of the disease. Yet the condition is thought to affect more than 1 in 500 pets, and some estimates go as high as 1 in 100. What everyone agrees upon is that the condition in dogs and cats, it’s on the rise.

Therefore, in conjunction with a leading manufacturer of veterinary insulin, many veterinary practices will be running a PR campaign during November to highlight the condition, and to invite owners to perform a simple test on their pets to determine just how common the disease has become.

A client information leaflet will inform owners of the signs to look out for, and will include a urine dipstick designed to help owners to detect the presence of sugar in their pet’s urine. This is being heralded as “The Great Pet Pee Test”! Information will also be available online at petdiabetesmonth.co.uk, and for every reported urine test result, a 10p donation will be made to the PDSA animal charity.

Diabetes symptoms do differ between dogs and cats. Typically in dogs, owners will notice an increase in appetite and a marked increase in water intake and output. There is usually noticeable weight loss in the early stages too. By contrast in cats, we often see the condition in obese or overweight cats, where there has been no appreciable loss of weight and, since cats are often relatively private about their drinking habits, any increase in drinking can be easily missed.

It is also true that some cats diagnosed with diabetes will improve on dietary control alone, and may not require long-term administration of insulin. In dogs, however, it is more often the case that regular injections of insulin will be required for the rest of an animal’s life, and this can represent a huge commitment from its owner.

If you are concerned, or merely curious about your pet’s health, and about diabetes in particular, do visit your vet during November, and enquire about your free dipstick!

Martin Hall is a partner at Copthorne Veterinary Clinic in Shrewsbury.

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