There is hardly a dog – especially as a senior – that is immune to an organic disease.
A particularly rare organic disease is diabetes insipidus, which can occur in dogs of all ages and breeds.
what you Identifying diabetes insipidus in dogs we can now tell you – along with the causes and possible treatments.
What is canine diabetes insipidus?
Canine diabetes insipidus is a very rare disease Kidney affects and to the endocrine diseases heard.
This is a kidney function disorder. A distinction is made between two different forms of diabetes insipidus:
- renal diabetes insipidus
- central diabetes insipidus
The second variant is more common than renal diabetes insipidus in dogs.
This disease is the result of a genetic defect, making it one of the rare hereditary diseases in dogs.
What both forms have in common is the high water loss that a dog suffers. This in turn leads to a lack of electrolytes and dehydration.
Important
If your dog is in pain or the symptoms don’t go away, please take him to the vet immediately – and definitely refrain from self-medication!
What are the causes of diabetes insipidus in dogs?
The cause of diabetes insipidus in dogs is a hormonal imbalance. The hormone ADH, the antidiuretic hormone, is either incomplete or not present at all.
This leads to low water permeability, i.e. water permeability – between the so-called distal tubule and the collecting tube.
If this is the case, extremely high amounts of urine/fluid are released, which ultimately leads to extreme water loss in the affected dog.
A brain gland is responsible for the formation and release of ADH.
The cranial gland can be affected by both a skull injury and a brain tumor in dogs.
We try to break down the two terms “distal tubule” and “collecting duct”.
distal tubule
The kidney has several tubules, which are also known as renal tubules or renal tubes.
The distal tubule is a kidney tube that extracts NaCl, i.e. common salt, from the urine, which then enters the bloodstream via the kidney capillaries.
Collecting tube (tubulus renalis colligens)
This is also a tube found in the kidneys. Its job is to drain urine from the kidneys via the nephrons.
Why is diabetes insipidus so dangerous in dogs?
The kidneys are like the body’s catalyst. They filter both toxins and important minerals from the urine before it is excreted.
In fact, of the fluid processed in the kidneys, only a very small portion is expelled through the urinary tract.
A large part remains in the body – including the salts and nutrients that are essential for the organism to survive.
The kidneys can no longer do this because diabetes insipidus is present. As a result, the dog no longer gets the nutrients that are important for its health.
In the long term, this not only leads to kidney failure, but also to the failure of other vital organs.
In many cases, organic problems are the trigger for diabetes insipidus anyway.
So it is essential that the exact cause of the disease is found out as soon as possible. If left untreated, diabetes insipidus is life-threatening for dogs.
Symptoms: Correctly recognize diabetes insipidus in dogs
You can recognize diabetes insipidus in dogs, among other things, by the fact that he passing a significantly higher amount of urine.
This behavior is one of the most common symptoms of diabetes insipidus in dogs with it.
In addition, the dog usually drinks significantly more.
Good to know
Incidentally, increased urination and increased drinking are referred to by the technical terms polyuria and polydipsia.
In addition, urinating no longer occurs at the normal times. It’s not uncommon for a dog to urinate while lying down at night, even while sleeping.
Since this behavior can be caused not only by diabetes insipidus, but also by stress, incontinence or a urinary tract infection, the cause should be clarified quickly.
Diagnosis & treatment of canine diabetes insipidus
Canine diabetes insipidus are usually treated with medication, but a complete recovery of the dog cannot be achieved.
This means that the diseased dog must be medicated for the rest of its life.
diagnosis
In order to be able to diagnose diabetes insipidus, a so-called thirst test is usually carried out.
In this case, after the dog has completely emptied its bladder, it does not get anything to drink for several hours.
The amount of urine that has formed during this time is then measured. If this is as high as before the thirst attempt, diabetes insipidus is present.
The dog’s vasopressin level can also be measured. For this purpose, blood and urine samples are examined.
However, these tests are complicated and are therefore not considered routine investigations.
Treatment
Diabetes insipidus is treated with various medications. If central diabetes insipidus is present, synthetic ADH is often used here.
This artificially produced hormone is also called desmopressin.
In many cases, the triggering disease of diabetes insipidus is also treated, if this is possible.
The medication administered will, of course, depend on that disease, such as diabetes mellitus.
What is the life expectancy with diabetes insipidus in dogs?
If the dog has diabetes insipidus, it can affect the life expectancy of the four-legged friend – especially if left untreated.
How much it can shorten the life expectancy always depends on the overall condition of the dog and the success of the treatment therapy.
Dog life expectancy is also affected by other conditions that have led to diabetes insipidus.
How can you prevent diabetes insipidus in dogs?
Unfortunately, you cannot prevent diabetes insipidus in dogs. Ultimately, the only thing left for you is to make sure that your dog does not injure his head.
In addition, you should take the annual check-ups very seriouslyas possible triggers can already be identified here.
If renal diabetes insipidus is present, prevention is also not possible because it is a genetic defect.
Does your dog suffer from diabetes insipidus? How do you two deal with this? We say thank you if you share your story with us in our comments.