Healthy Cats

Diabetes Treatment in Cats

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Obesity greatly reduces tissue responsiveness to insulin and makes diabetes difficult to control. Accordingly, overweight cats should be put on a diet until they reach their ideal body weight.

Daily caloric requirements are determined by the weight and activity of the individual cat. Once this is established, the quantity of food offered each day can be determined by dividing the daily caloric requirements by the amount of calories per cup or can of food. To prevent high levels of blood glucose after eating, avoid feeding the whole day’s calories at one meal. Divide the daily ration into a number of smaller meals. For cats on once-daily insulin, feed half the food at the time of injection and the rest at peak insulin activity-8 to 12 hours later, as indicated by your cat’s glucose curve. With two injections daily, the ration can simply be split in half and fed at the time of the injections. Cats on oral medications should be given small meals throughout the day.