The Facts

• When a dog eats food, that food is digested and broken into the simplest possible pieces for use and processing. Proteins, fats and carbohydrates go on their way as building blocks. Sugars are processed into glucose, which is carried through the bloodstream to fuel the body.
  
  

Processing Glucose

• According to the Dog Owner's Guide on Canine Diabetes, glucose is a body's primary fuel, and provides the impetus for the entire metabolic process. To use glucose, a body's insulin "picks up" and moves the molecules into the blood cells. Without adequate glucose, the body can't function. But without adequate insulin, the body can't use the glucose that is there.
  
  

Diabetes

• The Dog Diabetes Guide states that diabetes, the result of a glucose imbalance, is a hereditary autoimmune disease. Dogs are born with a genetic tendency to insulin imbalances and the resulting misuse of glucose.
  
  

Types

• Diabetes may be Type I or Type II. In Type I, the dog's body does not produce insulin to pick up the glucose. Glucose remains in the bloodstream as blood sugar, and fails to fulfill its role as nourishment for the dog. In Type II, the dog's body is resistant to insulin. Although insulin may be plentiful, the body refuses to use it, and glucose once again goes to waste.
  
  

Results

• Symptoms of a misuse of glucose in a dog match many symptoms of starvation. The dog's body is incapable of using glucose for nutrition and begins to waste away, with weight loss, anemia, excessive thirst and urination, depression and vomiting. This inability to utilize glucose (diabetes) is treatable, but requires medication and lifestyle changes.