While a diagnosis of pet diabetes mellitus is never good news for a pet owner, the good news is an early diagnosis of this chronic disease could lead to a positive prognosis.

The opportunity to help pets enjoy long-term successful management of diabetes is what drove company partners Merck Animal Health, Purina and Zoetis to form the Diabetes Pet Care Alliance™ program in 2014. Now in its sixth year, the program goal is to facilitate the screening of more than 2,000 pets during Pet Diabetes Month in November.

The Diabetes Pet Care Alliance encourages patient screening, owner education, and early intervention for dogs and cats with diabetes. The program is timed to help veterinarians leverage Pet Diabetes Month by giving them access to important tools and resources they can use to raise awareness of diabetes among pet owners and increase the number of pets screened for the disease.

Clients whose pets are diagnosed with diabetes are provided with free kits to help jump-start management of their pets. Program kits include the following:

• One AlphaTRAK® 2 Blood Glucose Monitoring System from Zoetis

• One 6-pound bag of Purina® Pro Plan® Veterinary Diets DM Dietetic Management®Feline Formula for cats or Purina® Pro Plan® Veterinary Diets EN Gastroenteric Fiber Balance® Dry Formula for dogs 

• One 10 mL vial of Vetsulin® (porcine insulin zinc suspension) from Merck Animal Health

Clinic enrollment begins Sept. 1 and ends Oct. 31, 2020; clients whose pets are diagnosed between Nov. 1 and Dec. 31, 2020, are eligible to receive the free kits. To enroll or learn more, veterinarians can visit usa.petdiabetesmonth.com.