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Diabetic cat didn't look ill

Document Cited in Related
Vincent
Published date12 March 2024
Publication titleHuddersfield Daily Examiner
A

Diabetes is quite common in cats, usually affecting middle aged to old pets, and males more often than females. Overweight cats are four times more likely to become diabetic.

Most cases in cats are caused by an inadequate response to insulin produced by cells in the pancreas. This results in hyperglycemia (high blood glucose), a failure of glucose to enter cells required for metabolism and a whole range of associated clinical signs.

In the early stages, in cats such as yours, there will be increased thirst, urination and perhaps appetite.

If not diagnosed, more obvious signs of illness follow, such as lethargy, vomiting, loss of appetite, weight loss and hind limb weakness. These more serious signs are caused by a breakdown of fats instead of glucose in cells, producing ketones, which can be found in urine. This is a serious lifethreatening condition called diabetic ketoacidosis, needing hospitalisation and intensive treatment. Most diabetic cats have traditionally been treated with insulin injections, which are very effective but labour intensive. The new user-friendly treatment is a once-daily solution by mouth. It's prescribed initially for newly diag- nosed and otherwise well cats that have not been previously treated with insulin injections.

Q

My 18-month-old male whippet eats other dogs' faeces while on walks. Do you have any advice on how to stop this?

ATHIs is apparently normal for many dogs (in some surveys as common as between 16 and 23%). It's termed coprophagia and a literature search came...

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