If your dog has diabetes you need this app

The growing epidemic of canine diabetes is a very serious issue. Researchers are now estimating that 1 in every 200 dogs will develop the disease within their lifetime. Thankfully, treatment of the disease has come a long way in the last few years, but it still has a long way to go.

Video: Dog saves diabetic boy: Diabetic alert dog Jedi saves life of sleeping 7-yr-old boy - TomoNews

Merck Animal Health has developed a free app that will help pet parents track their companion animals’ diabetes quickly and easily. Even better, all the data collected by the app will be available in the palm of your hand. Imagine the positive effects that this could have on your diabetic pet’s care!

The company is known as MSD Animal Health outside of the U.S. and Canada, and they announced the release of Pet Diabetes Tracker earlier this month. The free app is available for iOS and Android operating systems. The company is hoping that it will allow pet owners to care for their diabetic animals more effectively and enhance communication between the pet owner and the veterinarian.

When a dog is diagnosed with diabetes, it is up to the owner to work with their veterinarian to create a health plan for the pet. According to Merck, the number of dogs diagnosed with diabetes has tripled in the last thirty years. The good news is that with proper treatment, dogs with diabetes can have the same lifespan as a non-diabetic canine of the same breed, sex and age.

Pet Diabetes Tracker allows the dog owner to input information about their Fido and create a daily routine. The app will monitor the dog’s blood glucose levels, weight, body condition and food and water intake based on the information input by the user. These are all very important factors in correctly monitoring a dog’s diabetes.

Video: Canine Diabetes Blood Glucose Monitoring YOU can do AT HOME

One of the most important features of the app is that the dog’s veterinarian can also stay up-to-date with the pet’s health management plan, as the dog owner can quickly and easily send reports to the vet with the touch of a button. This app will be beneficial to all pet owners with diabetic animals, especially those that have been newly diagnosed and have not yet worked out an appropriate schedule.

Of course, management of your dog’s insulin levels is one of the most vital parts of managing his diabetes, and Pet Diabetes Tracker can help with that too. Users are able to track the amount of insulin they give to their dog and set reminders for when a dose is needed. The app even allows you to reorder insulin directly, so you never have to worry about running out or missing a dose.

Video: Dog Diabetes - Insulin shot

A diagnosis of diabetes can be extremely overwhelming for a pet owner. Many automatically jump to the worst case scenario and assume their pet is never going to be able to live a normal life again. That’s not the case at all.

You can think about diabetes the same way that you think about gasoline in a vehicle. Your body cells run on sugar (glucose), much like a car runs on gas. Normal functioning bodies get glucose from breaking down carbohydrates found in the foods that the animal eats. Insulin is a hormone in the body that helps break down the carbs.

If your pet is diagnosed with diabetes, it simply means that the cells in his body do not take in enough glucose. In turn, the glucose builds up in his bloodstream. If left untreated, the cells would starve and his organs would be damaged by his sugar-rich blood. Although diabetes is not curable, it is very easily managed.

Reviews & Comments