Your Pet’s Oral /Dental Health
Today due to better preventive medicine (e.g., vaccinations and heartworm preventives) and better ways to diagnose and treat many diseases our pets are living longer than... Read More
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What is Diabetes Insipidus? There are two forms of diabetes in dogs: diabetes insipidus (drinking diabetes) and diabetes mellitus (sugar diabetes). Diabetes insipidus is a rare form and is only definitely diagnosed after extensive blood and urine tests. Because my dog is drinking and urinating a lot is diabetes insipidus more likely? There are many causes of increased thirst (polydipsia) and increased urine production (polyuria) including diabetes and kidney disease. It is essential that several diagnostic tests be performed to determine the cause of your pet’s problem. What causes diabetes insipidus? Part of the job of the kidneys is to continually filter water from the blood that passes through them and reestablish the balance of the body’s water by reabsorbing fluid from the blood. Efficient re-absorption requires an adequate level of a hormone known as antidiuretic hormone (ADH) which is produced by the posterior lobe of the pituitary gland in the brain. If this hormone is not produced in sufficient quantities or if the kidney fails to respond to it, diabetes insipidus can occur. Can the condition be cured? Like sugar diabetes, drinking diabetes can sometimes be successfully controlled by administering antidiuretic hormone either by injection or in the form of nasal drops. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- This client information sheet is based on material written by Ernest E. Ward Jr., DVM. © Copyright 2002 Lifelearn Inc. Used with permission under license. August 9, 2004. |
