Diabetes in Cats

Chasing the Mouse of Evolution To Feed the Diabetic Cat

Diabetes is a disease that we see frequently in cats. This disease is the result of persistently high levels of sugar in the blood. Diabetic cats drink lots of water and urinate excessively; they also lose large amounts of sugar in the urine. As a result, diabetic cats suffer frequent urinary tract infections. Diabetes results because the cat is unable to use the sugar circulating in its blood. Insulin helps sugar enter the cells, where it provides the energy needed to carry out life functions. Therefore, diabetic cats starve even though they have plenty of sugar in the blood. If left untreated the animal may become depressed, stop eating, become dehydrated, build up acidity in the blood, and eventually die. Most cats with diabetes are middle-aged cats; less often but not uncommonly older cats develop the disease.

There are two important types of diabetes: Type I diabetes, which can be managed with diet and type II diabetes, which requires insulin. Type I diabetes may progress into type II. Most cats diagnosed with diabetes are treated as having type II diabetes and end up on insulin. However, that may not be necessary if we understand the evolution of the cat.

Cats evolved as hunters of small mammals and birds. Cats are perhaps the least domesticated of our domestic animals. Some argue that cats are not fully domesticated. Most cats if left in the wild return to their ancestral patterns of hunters and can live a successful Iife. We cannot say that of dogs. Therefore, a natural diet based on evolutionary principles is particularly important for cats. In the wild, cats will have a diet that consists mostly of meat – mouse meat to be more precise. They may consume a very small amount of vegetable matter, either with intestinal contents of the hunt or by grazing. Yet cats are commonly fed diets containing significant amount of carbohydrates, which they cannot properly utilize.

To illustrate how important it is to look at the evolution of the animal to explain their dietary needs, we can look at the example of Taurine. Taurine is an essential amino acid for cats. Amino acids are the building blocks of protein. Cats have to consume in their diet high levels of Taurine or they develop a number of problems, including blindness. When commercial diets became the norm, Taurine deficiency became a problem. Taurine is now added to all commercial diets. It is interesting to note that mouse carcass contains the staggering amount of 7,000 mg of Taurine per kg of dry weight, while uncooked chicken contains just 1,100 mg/kg. Cats require Taurine in their diet because they evolved eating mice.

Coming back to diabetes, since cats evolved eating mostly meat, they are ill-equipped to process carbohydrates. In addition, commercial diets contain gum, which is just like straight sugar. Animals have an inherent ability to adapt to many changes in the environment, therefore, most cats will be ok with the commercial diet. However, some susceptible cats will not. They will become obese and sedentary and eventually develop type I diabetes which, unnoticed, will turn into type II.

I do not advocate feeding mice to your cat, although it may not be a bad choice if it were commercially available. But a diet as close to the natural is the best. In my practice, cats with diabetes are first put on a natural diet consisting of lean raw meat, taurine and bone meal. Frequently, this measure will bring the blood sugar down to a level where insulin may not be needed at all, or only very small levels may be required.

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