Insulin Resistance
Stress, infections and obesity
Stress or infections (urinary tract infections, pyoderma) can lead to a decline in the sensitivity of target tissues to insulin. Obese animals have reduced insulin sensitivity.
Other hormones
Endogenous or exogenous hormones may reduce the effects of insulin. When treating an animal for diabetes mellitus, medication with progestagens should be discontinued immediately. Intact bitches should be spayed.
If animals are being treated with corticosteroids, alternatives to this treatment should be sought. If this is not feasible, efforts should be made to minimise the corticosteroid dose.
See the following two graphs for examples of blood glucose curves in a case of insulin resistance. Insulin was injected at time=0 hours.
Blood glucose curves
Blood glucose measured in mmol/l Click on icon for full image: | Blood glucose measured in mg/dl Click on icon for full image: |
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See blood glucose curves for details on making a glucose curve.