Dogs: Monitoring and controlling diabetes mellitus
Insulin control
Insulin resistance
Stress, infections, and obesity
Stress or infections (urinary tract infections, pyoderma) can lead to a decline in the sensitivity of target tissues to insulin. Obese animals have reduced insulin sensitivity.
Other hormones
Endogenous or exogenous hormones may reduce the effects of insulin. When treating an animal for diabetes mellitus, medication with progestogens should be discontinued immediately. Intact bitches should be spayed.
If animals are being treated with corticosteroids, alternatives to this treatment should be sought. If this is not feasible, efforts should be made to minimize the corticosteroid dose.
See the following graph for an example of a blood glucose curve in a case of insulin resistance. Insulin was injected at time=0 hours.
Blood glucose curve
Blood glucose measured in mg/dL
Click on icon for full image:
The duration of action of insulin is less than desired (10-12 hours for twice-daily administration; 20 hours for once-daily administration).
Blood glucose curve
Blood glucose measured in mg/dL
Click on icon for full image:
Solution
- Increase insulin dosing from once to twice daily
- Change to a longer-acting preparation
See About glucose curves for details on making a glucose curve.