You should seek the advice of your veterinarian if your pet is ill as only he or she can correctly advise on the diagnosis and recommend the treatment that is most appropriate for your pet.

The Somogyi effect is a rebound hyperglycaemia following insulin administration which can confuse the management of diabetes mellitus cases

The body has some elaborate self-preservation mechanisms and one of these is the release of hormones (eg glucagon) which counter the effects of insulin in response to a sudden hypoglycaemia. So, if excess insulin is administered to a patient glucose moves rapidly out of the blood into tissues, and blood glucose concentrations fall precipitously. This stimulates insulin antagonists to be released, plus glucose is  mobilised from the liver. The result is a rebound massive hyperglycaemia with glycosuria, polydipsia and polyphagia (called the Somogyi effect). An unsuspecting clinician seeing these signs and finding high blood and high urine glucose concentrations might think that the dose of insulin is inadequate - and increase the dose...which of course is unlikely to be effective due to the influence of the antagonists blocking insulin, or, if they have gone, the higher insulin dose precipitates the same effect. The extreme glucose fluctuations seen in these patients can be controlled by reducing the daily insulin dose.

Last updated : October 2013