Feline Diabetes

Cats develop a form of diabetes that is similar to human type 2 diabetes mellitus.  In this type of diabetes there is decreased insulin secretion and resistance to the action of insulin.
Most cases develop because of  obesity that is caused by feeding too many calories and a high carbohydrate diet. High carbohydrate diets cause increased insulin secretion so the insulin producing cells have to work harder to form and release adequate amounts of insulin.  This combination of increased insulin secretion causes the body to store the excess energy as fat and eventually damage the insulin producing cells.

New research indicates that a hormone amylin that is secreted along with insulin eventually causes deposits of an abnormal protein in the pancreas that damages and reduces the number of islet cells that produce the insulin.
Eventually the combination of increased demand for the insulin and decreased production capacity causes diabetes mellitus. Clinical signs of diabetes develop once total insulin secretion decreases to about 25% of normal levels.
Diabetes diagnosed  early is often uncomplicated and is usually treated with dietary control and insulin injections. Occasionally a diabetic cat will go into remission after a period of insulin injections with good dietary control. Other cats may be very difficult to control and can develop severe complications that require hospitalization.
Treatment consists of insulin injections that are usually given twice daily to maintain a blood glucose that ranges from 100 to less than 200 mg/dl. The dose for insulin is determined by closely following the blood sugar response with daily and sometimes hourly blood tests.

We try to reduce the risk of diabetes by preventing obesity and reducing the amount of carbohydrates in the diet. Fat cats are stabilized on a calorie controlled, high protein or high fiber diet. Because of their high carbohydrate content most commercial diets are avoided. If no other problems contraindicate a change to a high protein diet, the cat may be fed a high meat food such as Fancy Feasts or a kitten food but these are high in calories and only small amounts may be fed. Recently several diets have been formulated to both control weight and reduce to need for insulin. These have limited calories and should be fed at about 15-20 calories per pound of an estimated lean body weight.

When you treat your cat, you will need to test blood sugar levels. The level of blood glucose must be tested to determine the time of maximum effect and the duration of insulin action. To do this timed glucose samples are required and occasionally a test called fructosamine is run to determine the level of control over the past few weeks. The blood sugar tests can be done at the veterinary clinic or can be done at home using the same equipment developed for human diabetics. The fructosamine test is done at the veterinary hospital to monitor blood sugar control over a 3 week interval. Urine samples are sometimes tested for glucose and ketone bodies. Periodically larger blood panels are tested to disclose concurrent disease.

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