Understanding your cat's diagnosis
Finding out your cat has diabetes can be overwhelming and stressful. However, you should know that a diabetes diagnosis doesn't necessarily mean a life of hardship for you or your cat. Rest assured that with your good care and commitment, your cat can live a long and happy life.
To provide good care, you will need to learn about feline diabetes and how the diagnosis will affect you and your cat.
About feline diabetes
Feline diabetes occurs when a cat's body doesn't produce enough insulin or doesn't respond effectively to insulin. Some signs of feline diabetes are:
- Increased thirst demonstrated by drinking more water than usual.
- Urinating more than usual. If you use clumping litter, you may notice more clumps or larger clumps than you normally see in the litter box.
- Increased appetite demonstrated by eating more food than usual.
- Weight loss, even with increased food intake.
- Weakness in the back legs. You may notice your cat's stance is different.
- Acting lethargic or sluggish.
Diagnosing feline diabetes
Blood glucose
The defining feature of diabetes mellitus is high blood glucose (sugar), also called hyperglycemia. In the U.S., blood glucose is usually measured in milligrams per deciliter, abbreviated mg/dL. The minimum blood glucose concentration that may raise suspicion of diabetes in a cat ranges from 200 to 300 mg/dL, depending on the individual cat and the presence of clinical symptoms or signs.
When a veterinarian suspects a cat may have diabetes, a blood sample is drawn from the patient. Collecting the blood sample does not hurt the cat; it is done by pricking the skin with a thin, sharp instrument called a lancet.
The blood sample is used not only to test glucose, but also to measure other parameters such as kidney and liver functions. These tests help to rule out other possible causes of hyperglycemia and screen for other diseases.
Fructosamine
Serum fructosamine is another common feline diabetes test using a small blood sample. While a blood glucose test reveals the amount of glucose in the blood at the moment the sample was drawn, the fructosamine test result provides a longer-term view of blood glucose over the previous 1-3 weeks. Fructosamine is measured in micromoles per liter, abbreviated μmol/L. A fructosamine measurement above 400 μmol/L could suggest diabetes.
Urinalysis
Glucose is not normally a component of urine in a healthy cat. The presence of glucose in the urine indicates a failure of the kidneys to filter the glucose out of the blood, which suggests the cat is hyperglycemic and may have diabetes.
Feline insulin needs
Insulin is an important hormone for regulating a cat's blood glucose (sugar), which is a critical metabolic process. Healthy cats can produce all the insulin they need on their own. Some cats with diabetes can also produce enough of their own insulin; for these patients, lifestyle changes such as an exercise plan and a special diet can help their bodies respond to their own insulin more effectively. In fact, these changes may be the only treatment they need.
Many cats with diabetes cannot make enough insulin to meet their needs. In some cases, their bodies' need for insulin is higher because they are unable to respond to it efficiently. The increased demand requires more insulin than the cat can produce.
Other diabetic cats produce too little insulin on their own, or in some cases, none at all. The insulin producing cells of the pancreas have become damaged and no longer function properly.
In both of the situations described above — excessive demand for insulin or impaired ability to produce it — these cats must get the insulin they need another way: through insulin injections.
Today, your veterinarian has a new kind of insulin to help you provide good care for your cat. It is called PROZINC insulin and is approved by the FDA as safe and effective for diabetic cats, like yours. PROZINC will help you manage your cat's diabetes more easily and effectively. Click here to learn about PROZINC.