Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Aerobic exercise lowers glucose for 2 hours in diabetic dogs
By Mampe, Jessica R et al.·Published in Frontiers in veterinary science·2025·Department of Clinical Sciences and Advanced Medicine, United States·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Aerobic exercise decreases interstitial glucose concentrations up to 2 h after exercise in dogs with insulin-treated diabetes mellitus: a preliminary study.
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
A group of five dogs with diabetes that were treated with insulin participated in a study to see if aerobic exercise could help lower their blood sugar levels. Each dog exercised for about 30 minutes daily, and the results showed that their glucose levels were significantly lower one and a half to two hours after exercising compared to before they started. This suggests that regular aerobic exercise might be a helpful addition to managing diabetes in dogs. If your dog has diabetes, consider discussing an exercise plan with your veterinarian to help control their blood sugar levels.
People also search for: dog diabetes management · exercise for diabetic dogs · insulin-treated dog glucose levels
Abstract
INTRODUCTION: The effect of aerobic exercise on glucose concentration has been reported in healthy normal and over-conditioned dogs and in experimental dog models. However, the effect of aerobic exercise on interstitial glucose concentration (IG) has not been reported in dogs with insulin-treated naturally-occurring diabetes mellitus. OBJECTIVE: Determine if aerobic exercise decreases IG in outpatient diabetic dogs. METHODS: Five NPH insulin-treated client-owned diabetic dogs were prospectively enrolled into this interventional longitudinal cohort study. Dogs with a flash glucose monitoring system performed once daily aerobic exercise over 30 min for 7 consecutive days, if IG was60 mg/dL during the preceding 12 h of observation. Dogs weighing <10 kg exercised (walked or jogged) for 1.5-2 miles, dogs 10-20 kg exercised for 2-2.5 miles, and dogs >20 kg exercised for 2.5-3 miles. Multivariable mixed-effects linear regression models followed by post-hoc analyses were used to estimate the marginal mean differences between IG 0.5, 1, 1.5, 2, and 4 h after exercise compared with marginal mean baseline IG measured twice over 30 min just before each daily exercise period, which served as the control. RESULTS: Marginal means (95% confidence intervals) of IG were significantly lower 1.5 h after exercise [188 mg/dL (96-281 mg/dL)] and 2 h after exercise [185 mg/dL (82-287 mg/dL)] compared with marginal mean IG measured just before exercise [223 mg/dL (129-317 mg/dL, = 0.03, = 0.008, respectively)]. Marginal means of IG were not significantly different 4 h after exercise compared with marginal mean IG measured just before exercise. CONCLUSION: Our preliminary data suggest that aerobic exercise may reduce IG levels up to two hours following exercise. These findings indicate that exercise could potentially serve as an adjunct approach to managing insulin-treated diabetic dogs in a home setting.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/40612145/