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04/03/08

Pets May Save the Lives of Humans with Diabetes
Dr. Eric Barchas, DVM

The March, 2008 issue of Diabetes Forecast, the healthy living magazine of the American Diabetes Association, contained an article (PDF format) describing yet another way in which pets are beneficial to the health of the people with whom they live.

From the article:

No one knows for sure how they do it, but a growing number of canine companions are helping people with diabetes avoid dangerous hypoglycemia.

Diabetes is a disease marked by abnormal blood sugar levels. Most of the time, diabetics suffer from levels that are too high. However, in some instances sudden drops in blood sugar can occur. This may lead to hypoglycemia, or dangerously low blood sugar levels. Extreme hypoglycemia can result in coma, seizures, or even death.

The article describes several instances in which dogs, cats, and even rabbits and birds have alerted their human companions that their blood sugar levels were too low. Many people credit their pets with saving their lives. In some cases, dogs are able to detect an impending drop in blood sugar even before it occurs.

Dogs now are being trained to assist diabetics, much like they aid people with vision or hearing deficits. Dogs4Diabetics, based in Concord, California, is a nonprofit organization dedicated to training dogs for this purpose.

Dogs are helpful for the prevention of diabetes (because they cause people to exercise more). And it turns out that for people who have diabetes, a pet can be a true lifesaver.

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There are 3 Comments

  1. Cookie TN posted a comment on April 3rd, 2008 at 12:39 pm

    I once read about a smooth Collie named Silver who saved her diabetic owner from low blood sugar by trying to wake her up and prod her to the kitchen. The owner ate a candy bar and had enough strength to call an ambulance.

  2. Karen Pasanen posted a comment on May 5th, 2008 at 7:06 am

    This is a kinda of odd thing i have been juvenile diabetic since i was 9 years old and without any training or anything my cats would wake me up when i was having severe low blood sugars, and now i do not have cats due to allergies, but my three dogs pick up on the same thing mainly my min pin. it makes sence i guess i mean they can sence when you are emotionally upset why not sick right???

  3. shadow posted a comment on May 9th, 2008 at 7:33 pm

    one of my friends had a dog that was the same way. whenever she would go low, the dog would start pacing. it would get her mom’s attention, so they usually managed to get her blood sugar up before she had a sezure. i read and article suggesting dogs can smell when a person’s blood isn’t right, and they were actually using that info to train alert dogs.

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