American Eskimo

What is it?: 

The glucose-insulin link is dysfunctional in diabetes. Diabetes manifests itself in two ways in dogs:

Insulin-deficiency diabetes: This occurs when the body of the dog does not produce enough insulin. This happens when the pancreas is injured or not working properly. Dogs with this kind of diabetes require daily insulin shots to compensate for the lack of insulin. Diabetes is the most prevalent kind in dogs.

Insulin-resistance diabetes: This occurs when the pancreas produces insulin but the dog's body does not use it properly. Because the cells aren't reacting to insulin's "message," glucose isn't being drawn from the blood and into the cells. This kind of diabetes is more common in older, fat dogs.

Clinical signs

Treatment

Diabetes is not treatable or reversible in dogs, however, the symptoms can be treated. Long-acting insulin is the preferred treatment for diabetes in dogs. There are prescription diets that can help with nutritional management, but diabetes in dogs has no chance of being successfully controlled unless insulin is used. A newly diagnosed dog will be given a conventional, weight-based dose of long-acting insulin to be given subcutaneously twice daily with meals. Long-acting insulin means that, while it may take longer to drop blood glucose, it remains in your dog's system for several hours.

You do not need to monitor your dog's blood glucose before each medication, as you would with humans, but after at least a week on this regimen, your veterinarian will want to see something called a glucose curve. A dog is fed and administered insulin as usual in the morning and evening, but serial blood glucose levels are collected throughout the day to trend the dog's response to the insulin. Based on their glucose readings on that curve, their insulin dosage may be modified.

What is it?: 

Canines, like humans, develop cataracts as they age. An opaque film grows on the lens of the eye, blocking light. Water and proteins can be found in the eyes of a Lowchen dog. Cataracts, which look like clouds, form when proteins in the eye's lens begin to clump together. Proteins begin to accumulate and eventually fully cover the lens. Cataracts can emerge suddenly or develop steadily over time, blinding your dog.

Clinical signs

Treatment

Once a cataract has formed in a Little Lion Dog, there is just one known procedure that can halt it: surgery. The primary goal is to restore functional vision following cataract surgery.

Cataracts are removed surgically while under general anesthesia. The veterinarian removes the lens and replaces it with a plastic or acrylic lens. Depending on the circumstances, the veterinary ophthalmologist may need to operate on either one or both eyes.

Because diabetic dogs are more prone to cataracts, extra caution and care are essential. Because diabetes can exacerbate and accelerate the development of cataracts at an unusually rapid rate, you must actively monitor your dog for the aforementioned symptoms. Cataracts can form overnight in diabetic dogs and cause blindness. However, cataract surgery has a high success rate, ranging from 80 to 90%.