The owner of any cat or dog diagnosed with diabetes in November or December may be eligible to receive a free disease management kit from the sponsors of the Diabetes Pet Care Alliance.
Merck Animal Health, Nestlé Purina PetCare and Zoetis reported Sept. 6 that a previous enrollment limit of 1,000 veterinary clinics has been eliminated, meaning any hospital can take part in the program by signing up at bit.ly/2vMEM1r. The enrollment deadline is Oct. 31.
Participating clinics agree to place a diabetes awareness poster in a waiting room or exam room, and they forward the contact information of owners whose pets test positive for diabetes.
In return, pet owners receive:
- Continuing education about diabetes management.
- One 10-milliliter vial of Vetsulin (porcine insulin zinc suspension) from Merck Animal Health.
- 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 AlphaTrak 2 blood glucose monitoring system from Zoetis.
The 4-year-old program has helped facilitate the screening of thousands of pets, the organizers stated.
November is Pet Diabetes Month.