Mia is a lovely little Maltese Terrier who visited the clinic a few weeks ago because she was drinking more than usual and was also urinating in her bed. She had lost quite a lot of weight too, despite eating her usual meals. A urine sample was taken from Mia and the results indicated that she had a urinary tract infection and had a lot of glucose (sugar) in her urine. A simple blood test done that same day confirmed that Mia had diabetes mellitus.

Diabetes mellitus is a disease of blood glucose regulation where the pancreas stops making sufficient insulin to control the glucose in the bloodstream. This meant Mia's blood glucose was very high, causing her to urinate more and drink more, as well as lose weight.

Mia has started treatment which consists of twice daily insulin injections and a controlled diet. Diabetes is one of the diseases we can pick up early by regularly testing our senior pet's urine. This is why we recommend our senior health check up program.

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