Have you ever seen your dog drinking excessive amount of water? Do you know that excessive consumption of water is one of the signs of diabetes in dogs? Yes, it is.
Other symptoms of diabetes in dogs might include weight loss and lethargy. Also find the other reasons your dog is suddenly lethargic and weak. Along observing these symptoms, you might notice that your dog often gets infection on his urinary tract, too!
Diabetes in dogs is simply defined as a condition when there is deficiency of hormone insulin in a dog’s body. Hormone insulin is in charge of regulating the amount of sugar in a dog’s body.
When there isn’t enough insulin in the body, then the production of sugar or glucose won’t stop. As a result, the blood concentration of glucose rises and even exceeds, and it affects the other organs, including the kidneys.
The body will produce large amount of urine and as a result, your dog might have more thirst and consume more amount of water.
This condition is not healthy of course. That’s why diabetes in dogs should be treated well. One of the ways of treating diabetes in dogs is allowing the dogs to exercise. However, not all exercises are suitable for dogs with diabetes. The amount of exercise should also be considered.
The following will give you the ideas of exercises which are suitable for dogs with diabetes.
How Intense the Exercise Can be?
Exercise is always good to maintain health, including for dogs. For normal dogs, these simple exercises for your dog to maintain its health are very easy to do. However, for some diabetic dogs, they might not.
Regular exercise is essential in controlling dogs with diabetes. It helps to utilize energy and in turn, it also helps to avoid hyperglycemia. Insulin absorption can be improved as the blood flow during exercise increases. By having better absorption of insulin, it will be helpful to lower the concentration of the glucose in the blood.
However, you need to pay attention to this factor. If you have your dog exercising regularly before he is infected with diabetes, then once he has diabetes, you should reduce the intensity of it.
Why? Because when your dog is having diabetes, its blood sugar will be low and increasing the amount of exercise will require more glucose. As a result, your dog will experience loss of consciousness as the brain of energy is deprived.
Make sure you consult with your vet about exercising your diabetic dogs as there are many factors affecting the effectiveness of it. Age, stage of diabetes and your dog’s current condition will affect the effectiveness of exercise for your diabetic dog.
Best Exercises for Dogs with Diabetes
Here are the exercises you can do to your diabetic dogs:
- Daily Strolling
Taking your dog for a walk once or twice a day at a reasonable pace is a good start to get him exercising. Besides, you need to make this as a routine. A consistent exercise will be beneficial for controlling diabetes in dogs.
Besides good for treating diabetes, your dog will also be happy, content and healthy by having a daily strolling. You can take 15 to 30 minutes a day to bring your diabetic dog strolling around.
Also read an interesting article about why dog suddenly stop during a walk. Dog is a very cute and unpredictable creature!
- Hike
Once your dog is accustomed to walk around the block, you can give a bit challenge for him. You can bring him on a trek through a challenging trail, from low to moderate level.
Make sure you keep the distance reasonable. Regarding to the amount of this exercise needed for your dog, you can consult with your vet.
- Water Exercises
Taking your dog to the beach is a good idea to have him exercising. You can take him to the special beaches where dogs are allowed to run around and play in the water.
This will surely give him a great workout as he can move around freely. Or if you have a pool in your house, you can just let him having water exercise, such as swimming.
- Play Simple Games
You can play simple games with your dogs and at the same time they allow him to exercise. The most common games is catching a ball or Frisbee. You can have this exercise for around 10 to 15 minutes. You can add the duration gradually to 30 minutes.
Additional Tips for Taking Care of Diabetic Dogs
Besides exercising, one of the main factors to be successful in taking care of diabetic dogs is to control their diet. See the ways on how to manage diet for your diabetic dog too!
You can simply do make your own dog food and snacks or treat for your diabetic dog. They are simple to make and safer instead of the dog food sold out in the pet store. It’s worth trying!
- Baking a Yummy and Healthy Treat
Some dogs with diabetes are probably obese. One of the ways to keep your diabetic dog well-shaped is by providing good food that are safe for him. You can start researching the recipe for diabetic dogs, such as yummy-tested dog biscuits.
The biscuits can be made from healthy ingredients too, such as oats, eggs, chicken broth and wheat germ. You can bake this and let your dog lick it right from the bowl! Make sure you also know what you should do if your diabetic dog won’t eat.
Besides, you can also make some frozen treats. You can simply use yogurt and dog-safe peanut butter. Mix these ingredients and pour into the cupcake molds and freeze it overnight.