• Question: Have you ever seen diabetes in any other animal other than mice and humans?

    Asked by mohall to Jen, Jill, Mel, Phil, Stef on 16 Mar 2013.
    • Photo: Stefan Piatek

      Stefan Piatek answered on 16 Mar 2013:

      Yeah definitely, they can have both main types of diabetes just like humans. A classic would be cats and dogs – if you want more information have a look here http://www.diabetes.co.uk/diabetes-and-pets.html

    • Photo: Melissa Brereton

      Melissa Brereton answered on 17 Mar 2013:

      Lots of animals get diabetes. This is because the way our bodies control the levels of sugar (glucose) in our blood are the same between lots of different types of animals. Diabetes is caused by problem an organ called the pancreas where it cannot produce insulin. Insulin normally acts to reduce the glucose levels in the blood after we eat and if is not released properly, the blood glucose levels increase. All animals such as dogs, cats, sheep, horses have pancreas’. In fact, a long time ago, diabetic people used to inject insulin which was produced from pigs!

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