Diabetes is treatable, and the cat can live a long time with it. But we have to give the cat a shot every day, and monitor their food intake carefully. Our vet will probably want more frequent checkups to monitor the cat’s treatment and check on their levels of blood sugar.
Diabetes, in both humans and cats, is a disease where the pancreas stops producing insulin, a hormone that handles the levels of sugar in the blood. Eating releases sugar to all the parts of the body, and this is vital to power our cell metabolism. Without insulin to move this sugar from the blood to our cells, all the cells know is: we aren’t getting any food here! So they signal the body to eat more. And the cat does.
But if the level of blood sugar gets too high because the body cannot produce enough insulin, this leads to systematic damage to all parts of the body. That’s because sugar that is not burned up in the cells will bind with cell protein and literally gum up the works, like corrosion in a car engine. The body tries to get rid of this extra sugar by excreting it through the kidneys, using extra water to do so. This signals the body to urinate more, and drink more. And the cat does.
It’s a good idea, especially in older or overweight cats, to ask the vet to check our cat’s blood sugar. That’s because the overwhelming number of cats with diabetes are not diagnosed until the disease expresses symptoms, such as sudden hunger or thirst. By that time, it is well advanced, and some damage could have occurred. Monitoring the cat’s blood sugar levels can act as an early warning sign, which is invaluable.
Because if we catch it early enough, we can usually prevent it. This will save both us and our cats from the pain, expense, and damage of cat diabetes.
The key is to feed the cat only foods they are designed to eat. Which would be a low carbohydrate diet.
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I get rather upset when I consider how much misinformation circulates about the proper food for cats, and how the pet food industry promotes and makes money from this bad information. The simple fact is that cats are complete carnivores. Aside from some leafy greens, such as kitty grass, which are naturally low in carbohydrates, the cat’s food should consist of primarily meat and fat. They should get as few grains as possible.
Yet the common dry foods offered for cats in the grocery stores are 70-80% grains and other carbohydrates. They are even adding grains to the cat’s canned food for some brands. This is good for the pet food companies, because such ingredients are cheap and have a long shelf life. But it’s not good for our cats.
It’s not a coincidence that cat diabetes has been on the increase for the last thirty years. Ironically, this has been a side-effect of cats becoming more treasured as pets. Instead of leaving them to their own devices outside and letting them rely on their hunting ability, modern pet cats are more likely to be indoor, non-hunting, pets than previously. They are then more dependent on improper pet foods and more likely to live long enough to develop diabetes.
Fortunately, this bad aspect of the situation can be easily reversed by feeding the cat the food they are designed to eat. Check those labels! If the first several ingredients are not meat-based, we are throwing our money away. Twice.
The first time is because cats can’t digest carbohydrates. They don’t have the enzymes. The second time is going to be in larger vet bills.
It just doesn’t make sense, does it?
Read more about the cat’s proper diet with Low Carb for Cats.
What are you feeding them now? Find out with The Cat Food Calculator.
Read more about the causes of diabetes in both dogs and cats with this excellent article, Canine and Feline Diabetes Mellitus: Nature or Nurture?
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Great article. I’m a strong proponent of raw feeding (or failing that, feeding a high quality canned food.)
I find the tactics that the pet food industry employs to be disappointing at best and fraudulent and malicious at worst. It doesn’t help that veterinarians with next to no nutrition education are helping to spread the misinformation about proper cat diet, be it out of ignorance or desire to sell more over priced Prescription Diet.
Common sense should tell anyone that cats should not be eating a diet comprised mostly of corn, but as a society we tend to be very susceptible to advertising, and that same common sense that should lead us in the right direction tells us that veterinarians should be trustworthy and should know about something as basic as what kind of food is appropriate.
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Most people get Diabetes because of the lack of exercise and overeating. We should be more aware of our lazy lifestyles and start exercising regulary to avoid Type II Diabetes.
Based on all considered research, most people get diabetes because they eat far too many starches and sugars. The book, Good Calories, Bad Calories, reviews 100 years of science, and it’s still a good read.
Diabetes can be prevented by just having a physically active lifestyle. Just exercise everyday and avoid eating too much. Avoid sweets and high carb foods too.
diabetes can really crap your body, i now resort to sugar free foods.~”
diabetes can really cause lots of health complications which are damaging*,.
I’m studying medicine, I loved how diabetes is explained here, especially how you explained glucose’s protein binding properties. I just noticed a few things a little bit innaccurate, I hope you don’t mind if I elaborate on them. Just seemed too good an opportunity for revision to miss.
Type II diabetes is caused by cells initially becoming resistant to the effects of insulin. The pancreas attempts to produce more insulin to rectify this but is unable to keep up with demand and becomes worn out, it essentially gives up and no longer produces much insulin at all.
In humans, both diet and exercise prevent obesity, a major diabetes risk factor.
Exercise also helps to increase glucose uptake from the blood and increases the bodies sensitivity to insulin. If your at the very beginning stages of developing type II diabetes this can allow your insulin producing cells to not have to work as hard, and may prevent them getting to a stage where they give up. Eating meals that does not cause a flood of glucose (such as avoiding foods high in sugars) can also make it a little easier on your pancreas to keep up with the bodies insulin supply needs.
Also, yes the kidneys do start to excrete glucose into the urine in diabetes, however this is not intended by the body. The kidneys try to reabsorb glucose from urine, however if there is excessive glucose in the blood they are unable to do this effectively, and as you mentioned this results in more water in the urine as glucose pulls water and electrolytes with it. More water in urine = greater urine volume = having to pee more. This makes the cat dehydrated, and therefore thirsty.
Thank you, Daniela, for the endorsement and the expansion!
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