To many in America, diabetes has for years, been a truly scary possibility. About one in 15 people in America has it. More and more though, our pets, are beginning to show a human tendency for diabetes as well. And for treating pet cats and dogs with diabetes, veterinarians have no option but to use the tools that have been developed for the treatment of diabetes in humans. 

Veterinarians have used human medicines for cats and dogs with diabetes for a very long time now. There would be nothing newsworthy over there. What's different in the way veterinarians choose to treat pet diabetes now is that they've brought in the continuous glucose monitor as well to help pet owners make sure that their pets are getting timely treatment. The continuous glucose monitor is a device that a surgeon implants under the skin. The device is constantly in contact with the blood of the host and can put out glucose readings in real time. These devices could be very important to the survival of the pet with diabetes. A person with diabetes, if he doesn't feel too well, feels a great deal thirst; they go to the toilet all the time and feel tired. These can actually tell the doctor how the patient feels so that he can understand that there is a high blood sugar problem that the person is struggling with. Since a pets can't really complain, an automated full-time monitor might be of considerable use. If diabetes is left untreated, it can end up in kidney failure or even blindness.

Before continuous glucose monitors came along, doctors would keep dogs with diabetes right there in the clinic for a whole day and test their blood from time to time to try to form an idea of the kind of blood sugar levels the dog had through every hour of the day. They would use this as a way to prescribe insulin supplements. The problem is, a dog sitting it in a clinic all day isn't a happy animal. And that changes the way its insulin levels show. A continuous monitor that allows an animal to live in its home happy and unmolested makes for better quality readings. It's been quite a revolution in the way pets are treated for diabetes.

For dogs as well as cats, diabetic diagnoses have been going through the roof. About 40 years ago, only 2 out of every 1000 pets that was brought to any hospital, came in for diabetes. Today, that number has jumped to six times as many. There are certain kinds of dogs that are the most at risk for diabetes. Miniature schnauzers, bichon frises and Alaskan malamutes are breeds that happen to be particularly at risk.

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