"Diabetic cats" refers to cats that have a medical condition called diabetes. It means that these cats have problems with their blood sugar levels, similar to humans with diabetes. They require special care and treatment to manage their condition.
Full definition
The prognosis
for diabetic cats depends in part on the owner's commitment to treat, and the presence of concurrent disorders.
Low glycemic ingredients may reduce or eliminate the need for insulin
in diabetic cats.
After doing an internet search I found a huge online community
of diabetic cat owners that convinced me my vet was not treating my cat's diabetes properly.
I wanted to check her facts since she mentioned that she didn't work
with diabetic cats very often.
Though diet needs to be tailored to a cat's individual needs, high - protein, low - carbohydrate foods are ideal for
many diabetic cats.
There are some commonly held beliefs, based on a handful of clinical studies, that support the use of low - carbohydrate diets in
helping diabetic cats control their blood sugar better.
The majority of articles and studies on
diabetic cat diet point to the low carbohydrate diet as being the first to try.
Fortunately, properly
managed diabetic cats live long happy lives, with some doing so well that their insulin injections can be stopped.
A well -
regulated diabetic cat should no longer have the four clinical signs of diabetes, though you should be actively looking for these signs at all times.
In my experience,
diabetic cats do better on high protein / low carbohydrate diets.
I do not suggest any of the commercially available dry formulas for
diabetic cats as a first - choice diet.
The concentration of these proteins is not affected by stress, therefore they are often used by veterinary practices to diagnose and
monitor diabetic cats.
Although diabetic cats have been successfully managed with both types of diets, some cats respond better to high - fiber diets and others to low - carbohydrate diets.
Typically diabetic cats should be on specialized veterinarian - approved diets to guarantee nutrient requirements are met, whether that is achieved with specialized high quality commercial cat food or homemade cat food.
This can be a tricky situation since an
unregulated diabetic cat is starving internally — at the cellular level — and restricting calories, in some cases, can be very dangerous.
However, appetite may decrease if your cat has other issues common to
diabetic cats such as pancreatitis and urinary tract infection.
Even diabetic cats can often maintain themselves with a dietary change and some closer monitoring.
Each
individual diabetic cat's requirements are different, so you and your veterinarian will need to find the appropriate dose and treatment regimen.
Between 85 % and 95 % of
diabetic cats suffer from type II diabetes, which is commonly associated with obesity.
Most studies support a low calorie, low carbohydrate and high
protein diabetic cat diet over a high fiber alternative.
Regardless of food intake levels,
diabetic cats lose weight because the cells are unable to process glucose normally.
Regular monitoring of glucose levels
in diabetic cats is important for evaluating the overall status of the disease.
You may feel anxious doing it the first time, just like many others but your vet will demonstrate the injection techniques as well as other aspects
of diabetic cat care.
This gives them for a decent amount of carbohydrates, so you'd want to look elsewhere for treats
for diabetic cats.
Taking this information a step further, I began recommending diets with virtually no carbs, and found that
many diabetic cats could be cured.
One of the most interesting recent developments is that
diabetic cats respond quite well to dietary management and there are new commercial diets developed to help.
Oral hypoglycemic (low blood sugar) medication
Healthy diabetic cats can sometimes be treated with glipzide (hypoglycemic medication) to lower their blood glucose.
The video on this page is provided as a resource to owners of
diabetic cats who wish to learn how to conduct home tests that determine blood glucose (blood sugar) readings for their cat.
Difficult cases of
getting diabetic cats under control is an area that not all veterinarians are comfortable performing.
It is thought to occur in about 50 to 80 percent of
diabetic cats on glargine insulin.
In
untreated diabetic cats, excessive ketones are produced, resulting in ketonuria and DKA accompanied by electrolyte imbalances.
Recent data suggest that with appropriate diet and the use of a new insulin preparation called insulin glargine, more than half of newly
diagnosed diabetic cats will return to a non-diabetic state within a few months.
Thanks to his dedicated foster parents and the Seattle Animal Shelter, Kojak has blossomed from a malnourished,
diabetic cat into a healthy cat with a big personality who found his ideal home.
Clinical signs exhibited
by diabetic cats reflect the underlying pathological mechanisms of the disease and aid diagnosis.
Therefore, it is important to be able to
test diabetic cats for urine ketones — daily, if possible — whenever there is a threat of DKA.