Feline Diabetes

This cat sickness is just like human diabetes. There are two types of diabetes. The first type, known as type one diabetes, is when the pancreas stops producing enough insulin to process the carbohydrates consumed by the cat. The second type, known as type two diabetes, is when the body’s cells can no longer process the insulin properly. This is one of the most serious cat diseases that are caused when the cat’s pancreas stops producing insulin.

Symptoms

• Drinking excessively
• Loss of weight
• Lethargy
• Weakness in the rear legs
• Urinating more often
• Over all health is run down

Causes

Our beloved felines are really a smaller version of lions, tigers and leopards. In other words, our cats were designed to eat meat. They do not process carbohydrates, such as grains, well. There are a lot of commercial cat foods that uses more grain than meat products in their cat food. The more carbohydrates a cat eats the harder the pancreas must work to produce insulin which can cause to pancreas to fail.

Preventative Treatment

Prevent excessive consumption of carbohydrates. Check the percentage of meat versus grain in your cat’s food. Feline diabetes is more common in male cats then in female cats. Cats over the age of seven years are more prone to developing feline diabetes.

Treatment

If your cat displays any of these symptoms or if you suspect your cat may be diabetic then you should get your cat to a veterinarian immediately. The vet, upon diagnosis, will place the cat on a diabetic cat food diet. They make a special kind of cat food just for diabetic cats. Just like in humans, diet is critical in the treatment of diabetes, monitoring of blood glucose levels and/or insulin shots, oral insulin medication may be given. If this cat illness is left untreated it can cause internal organ damage and death.