Diabetes: A Health Risk Shared by Dogs and Their Owners

Owners of dogs with type 2 diabetes are more likely to develop the disease themselves—specifically, they are 38% more at risk. However, this correlation does not hold true for cats. Here’s why. Birds of a feather flock together. This expression takes on particular meaning for dog owners, who tend to choose companions that resemble themselves. But a new study takes the parallel even further, showing that it’s not just physical attributes that are similar—physiological similarities can also emerge. In particular, the risk of developing type 2 diabetes appears to be shared . Previous research had already suggested that overweight owners tended to have overweight pets, likely due to shared overeating and a lack of physical activity. Researchers at Uppsala University in Sweden therefore set out to determine whether this correlation extended to the risk of diabetes, which is often associated with significant weight gain. By sifting through and combining (anonymous) data from veterinary insurance companies with population-based health registries, they were able to extract and compare data from 208,980 owner-dog pairs and 123,566 owner-cat pairs. The results show that owning a diabetic dog is associated with a 38% increased risk of developing type 2 diabetes, compared to owning a healthy dog. In contrast, no shared risk of diabetes was found between cats and humans. According to the study, the elevated risk for owners cannot be explained by their personal or socioeconomic circumstances, nor by the dogs’ age, sex, or breed. Unfortunately, the researchers did not have access to information on the lifestyles of the households involved, but they believe the association could be due to shared exercise and dietary habits, which would also explain the common weight gain. The possibility of shared environmental exposure to pollutants or chemicals should not be ruled out either. In particular, activities shared between the dog and its owners—but of course not with a cat—could be a key factor. Although this study is purely observational and cannot confirm the underlying cause of such an association, it highlights diabetes in dogs as a marker and a warning sign for their owners. Its onset could thus underscore the need for early screening and a reassessment of the family’s health habits and lifestyle.