Editor’s note: Although Dr. Lee Pickett has retired, Creators continues to distribute columns from her archives. This is from 2021.
Q: My 9-year-old terrier, Pebbles, was diagnosed with diabetes a few months ago. I give her insulin injections and monitor her diabetes with urine dipsticks. Is there a better way to determine how well her diabetes is under control?
A: Diabetes most commonly occurs in middle-aged dogs, usually around 7 to 9 years of age. Three-quarters of diabetic dogs are female.
Clinical symptoms include increased alcohol consumption and urination, increased appetite with weight loss, and lethargy. Some dogs with diabetes develop cataracts and urinary tract infections.
Although humans can experience many different types of diabetes, dogs most often have insulin-dependent diabetes, which is similar to type 1 diabetes in humans. In either form, the pancreas does not produce insulin normally.
Insulin has many roles, one of which is to move blood sugar, or glucose, into the body’s cells, where they produce the energy that tissues and organs need to function properly.
When insulin is unable to pump glucose into cells, glucose levels in the blood rise and glucose is excreted in the urine.
However, for various reasons, urine tests are not an effective indicator of diabetes control. Therefore, you should test your Pebbles’ blood or tissues for glucose.
There are several ways to do this. The most common method is to test a drop of blood at home using a pet blood glucose meter such as AlphaTrak or VetMate. Pet blood glucose meters are more accurate than human blood glucose meters.
It may seem difficult, but my clients have easily learned the technique and are happy to be able to check their pet’s blood sugar levels regularly and test them whenever they think something is wrong with their pet. Masu.
Alternatively, your veterinarian can check your Pebbles’ blood sugar levels periodically throughout the day at the veterinary clinic.
An even easier method is to use a sensor called FreeStyle Libre attached to the skin to monitor glucose levels in Pebbles’ tissues. The sensor is replaced every two weeks and reports blood sugar levels wirelessly to a scanner or smartphone.
Finally, testing your blood fructosamine or hemoglobin A1c level reflects your average blood sugar levels over a period of time. However, these tests cannot determine the highest and lowest blood sugar levels and are not a substitute for actual blood sugar measurements.
Regardless of how you monitor Pebbles’ blood sugar levels, you should also pay close attention to her clinical symptoms to ensure that her diabetes is properly controlled.
Q: We provide fresh water for our cats every day, but they prefer to drink from the litter box. why?
A: I shudder when I imagine a cat drinking water from the toilet. To prevent this dangerous practice, keep the toilet lid closed.
If you use detergents, fragrances, or other chemicals in the litter box, drinking the litter water can potentially poison your cat. Also, even after flushing, disease-causing bacteria, viruses, and parasites can spread from you to your cat.
Cats are attracted to the litter box because the porcelain keeps the water cool and flushing it frequently keeps the water fresh. Similarly, in the wild, cats prefer to drink cool, running water from streams, which may be healthier than stagnant pond water.
Placing a few porcelain or ceramic water bowls around your home will provide you with cool, fresh, and well-aerated water. Make sure the bowl is wide, as cats don’t like their whiskers touching the sides. Sometimes I drop a few ice cubes in there.
Simply washing and refilling doesn’t actually get it clean, so scrub it with soap every day.
Consider a pet fountain. My cats love this pool because the water forms bubbles and flows into the pool like a waterfall. Porcelain fountains have two filters, but they still need to be cleaned weekly.
One of my cats jumps on the bathroom counter and drinks water from the sink whenever I’m there.
For your high-tech kitty, consider touch- or motion-activated bathroom faucets. To keep the cooking area sanitary, avoid allowing your cat to jump on the kitchen counter to drink water from the kitchen sink.
