Diabetes in Felines

Diabetes mellitus is a common endocrine disease of cats, caused by insulin resistance and a relative deficiency of insulin. Treatment involves insulin injections and changes to diet. The goals of treatment are to improve clinical signs (normal thirst, urinations, appetite, stable weight), and prevent diabetic ketoacidosis. Some cats go into remission and come off insulin temporarily or permanently. A normal blood glucose concentration is 70 to 120mg/dl. Diabetic cats commonly have blood sugars above 350mg/dl. With treatment, we would like the blood glucose to lie between 60 and 300mg/dl, with a daily average glucose <250mg/dl. Cats are usually very tolerant of insulin shots.